My husband and I are planning a trip for next June 2018 with our 3 teenagers. I've been doing a lot of research and would like some feedback as to what we've loosely planned so far. Here's what we're thinking: Fly from the USA into Milan, then take a train to Monterroso in Cinque Terre where we will spend 4 nights. We want to do some hiking and visit the beach. Not sure if we should fly into Pisa instead of Milan but on initial look, there were more options if we flew into Milan. Open to ideas on how to best get to Monterroso. From Cinque Terre, we would take a train to Pisa and rent a car from Hertz. Drive into Florence and stay for 2 nights. Or perhaps we should take the train to Florence and rent the car when we leave Florence. Advice needed on that. From Florence we want to go into Tuscany and stay 5 nights at an Agriturrismo. Will drive around Tuscany and visit the hill towns and also find time to relax. in the beautiful country. On the day we leave the hill towns, we will drop the car off at the Hertz at the Orvieto train station and take the train into Rome. Spend 4 nights in Rome. Then fly out of Rome back to the USA. Thanks for feedback and advice as to how this plan sounds.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon, United States
907 posts
I have some ideas.
Pisa would be better as you would not have as many train changes.
Four nights in 5 Terre is a lot, you could reduce it to three nights easily
Pick up the car in La Spezia instead of Pisa, its closer and no train changes.
But, don't get the car before you go to Florence, you won't need it there. Train to Florence, do your thing, and then rent a car.
I used Villa Arnilu at Agritourismo Niccolai, near San Gimignano, but you might want one somewhere else.
Otherwise, looks good.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
I agree with Gordon, fly to Pisa if at all possible. Use trains until you leave Florence. Trenitali. Com/en
Reasons: MXP is 4H45m from Monterosso. Cost is 58E p/p.
Kids dependent on age may be less. Check. Pisa is 1:30 to Monterosso.
Pisa- Firenze SMN 1 hour. I would take a night from CT and add one to Florence. Lots to do and see here.
Pick up the car as you leave Florence.
Lodging.
Florence...stayed here last sept. Great location.
https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p6878661
Tuscany... Our favorite. Very centrally located, only Assisi and Volterra over an hour.
Wonderful hosts.
Rome...this may work as well. Great rooftop views, Borghese gardens could give the kids room to roam. Bike rentals, and of course the Borghese.
https://www.cross-pollinate.com/rome/apartment/4327/Queen-Rome-Apartment
Have fun planning and have a great adventure.
Posted by
OP
43 posts
Thank you Gordon and Gerri. I have a few follow-up questions. Gordon said to fly into Pisa as there would be less train changes and Gerri agreed as the time to get from Milan airport to Monterroso is 4 hours 45 minutes. However, I'm curious about both of these suggestions because I checked the train schedule and it looks like there's a fast train from Milan airport that goes direct to Monterroso with no train changes. And the time said 3 hours and the price varied depending on the class of ticket, but it looked as if mid-range price was around $27 pp. So now I'm wondering if I looked at it wrong or something. In Rick Steves' Italy book, he even mentions there's a direct train from Milan airport to Monterroso. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks!
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11731 posts
The Deutsche Bahn site--- https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml ---- shows non stops from Milano Centrale. From what I saw there is no non-stop from MXP
Trenitalia----http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en--- also shows non stops from Milano Centrale
From the airport (MXP) there are no non-stops
Fares start at about $15 ("super economy")
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11658 posts
MXP to Monterosso does require a change at Milano Centrale. There are some schedules with only the one change. some with two changes. Yes it is four-plus hours. I think you need to balance the combination of cost and time. Assess Fly to Milan/Train to Monterosso with Fly to Pisa/Shorter train trip. What would be the routing to Pisa and where would you change planes? How long will that take? If you have to cool your heels in Munich, for example, waiting for a change of planes to go to Pisa, maybe it is more efficient to just take the train from MXP via Milano Centrale.
Since you want to spend time in Florence, I recommend renting your car after that stop.
As to number of nights, it depends on what you like to do. If outdoors and hiking and the sea call to you more than Renaissance art, four nights in the Cinque Terre and two in Florence might be the right mix for your family. Four nights in Rome is the minimum, though.
Your stay in Florence is too short for an apartment but in Rome that would be a good option for you with 3 teens. Ditto in Monterosso. You might try Arbaaspa for an apartment there.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16396 posts
Cathy, I 'm wondering what website you're looking at for train schedules? Like Joe, Gerri and Laurel, I'm not seeing anything from Malpensa Aeroporto direct to Monterosso on the Trenitalia website, and certainly nothing taking only 3 hours. The 3-hr. direct trains are from Milano Centrale: you'd catch an express train there from the airport and it takes about an hour.
As above, I wouldn't rent the car until you leave Florence as a vehicle there will be more hinderance than help. Lastly, I'll agree with taking a day/night from the CT and adding it to Firenze. There's a lot to see there, and 2 nights will barely get you settled and acclimated before having to pack up and up move on again.
You mention having the R.S. Italy book so you're probably doing the reading up on this but if not, make sure you understand where you will and will not be able to drive the car within towns, OK?
Posted by
OP
43 posts
Hi Kathy, I wasn't taking into consideration that I had to get from the airport to the train station! Obviously I'm a newbie!! Anyhow, I guess I need to take the Malpensa Express from the airport to Milan Centrale and then, as you said, there are direct trains to Monterosso. I also didn't realize that if I want my first night in Italy to be, say, on a Sunday, then from the USA, I need to fly on the Saturday before because of the time difference. Wow, that would have been bad if I was a day off on all of my hotel reservations. I think I need a travel agent to help me!! Thanks to all the advice!!
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Cathy,
Believe me, there are some funny stories on this forum of first time travelers. We've all been there! My first trip was BEFORE the Internet. Just imagine the things that could have gone wrong.
One of the reasons many of us do this is to make sure you don't make some of the mistakes we have made.
You're doing great.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
Choosing Milan or Pisa as your entry point will probably depend on your flight options from the USA. There is no point choosing Pisa if it means enduring a long connection in London, Paris or Frankfurt. I would prefer to choose a direct transatlantic into Milan or Rome.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
It might even make sense to fly in/out of Rome. Pick up a car on arrival, drive the coast to Tuscany (Volterra) and your agriturismo. Drop the car in La Spezia before hitting Cinque Terre and Florence by train. Return to Rome by train (via Orvieto) to fly out.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16396 posts
I wasn't taking into consideration that I had to get from the airport
to the train station! Obviously I'm a newbie!!I also didn't realize that if I want my first night in Italy to be,
say, on a Sunday, then from the USA, I need to fly on the Saturday
before because of the time difference.... I think I need a travel
agent to help me!!
You don't need an agent because you have us....and we were ALL newbies once. 😉
I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, and our flights to Europe are always overnight. Most of the locations we've flown into - during spring or fall season when we travel - are 7 hours ahead of Minneapolis time so we leave on one day and arrive on the next. Going home, we leave and arrive on the SAME day.
A lot of newbies don't understand how far from Milan Malpensa airport really is? There is an airport that's much closer (Linate) but it handles almost exclusively continental flights within Europe so international flights almost always come into Malpensa. So, travelers frequently have to get from the airport to central Milan FIRST to catch trains to locations further afield.
Ask lots and lots of questions, OK? It's tough to know just how much research/experience a new-ish poster has done/had so we might provide an overload of info only to have them say, "Well, duh, I KNOW that" or assume they know more than they do and get, "Well, duh, you didn't tell me about THAT!" HA!
If you intend to rent a car, there's some pretty important stuff you need to know about traffic cams and ZTLs and fun stuff like that so ask lots of questions!