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Itinerary for 18 days in Northern Italy: Comments Appreciated

Posted by (New Orleans) on

My wife and I finished our planning for Italy 2019, and have booked airlines, and all locations. Except for flying from London into Milan Linate, and out from Venice, and Verona on the 29th, we can cancel any of our accommodations without penalty. We plan to use trains, however we are considering renting a car from Florence to drive South, but that's still under consideration.

Here is what we have:
London 4 full days + 1/4 - June 21 (including the late afternoon - evening of arrival)

Milan 2 full days + 1/2 - June 26 ( including the afternoon - evening of arrival)

Verona 3/4 day - June 29 (an opera in the outdoor Arena at 21:00 (https://www.arena.it/arena/en/shows/traviata-2019.html)

Varenna 1 full day + 1/2 - June 30 ( including the afternoon - evening of arrival) This is a substitute for Cinque Terre. Last year when went to the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain, as examples, the crowds were quite thick, and from what we have read, Cinque Terre at this time of year looked to be even tighter.

Florence 5 full days + 1/2 - July 2 ( including the afternoon - evening of arrival)

Bologna 3 full days - July 8 (train is 35 minutes)

Venice 2 full days + 1/2 July 11 ( including the afternoon - evening of arrival)
Outbound July 14, 2019

Comments or suggestions welcome.

Posted by
11156 posts

Can you add another day to Lake Como? A lot of traveling for such a short visit to this beautiful area. Maybe take a day from Florence?Or are using Florence as a base to visit more of Tuscany?

Posted by
906 posts

The odd thing about this itinerary is going to Varenna after you have traveled all the way over to Verona. If you could swap those two it would be more efficient. I see that you have an opera ticket so it may not be possible.

You drive right by Bologna to get to Florence. Is there somewhere else you might like rather than Florence? Parma, Modena, Padua, the Dolomites, Trieste? Might be more efficient. Pus, 5 days is a lot of time in Florence, doable though.

Posted by
15582 posts

Is there some reason you want to spend 2-1/2 days in Milan? I like the idea of going to Lake Como instead. I would add time to Verona. It has enough sights to fill a day and it's one of my favorite Italian towns. I haven't been to Varenna, so I can't compare it. If you love Renaissance painting, sculpture and architecture, you will love 5 days in Florence. If not, you can see the highlights in one day. I really liked Bologna, and it's a great base for day trips, so I'd consider adding more days there. Day trips include Padua, Ferrara, Ravenna (the mosaics are one wow after another), Modena.

I don't think a car would be useful for this trip. Trains are fast, frequent, and comfortable.

Posted by
7662 posts

Why 3 days in Verona. Perhaps you want to visit places nearby? Been to Verona, it is worth 1 day.

Bologna, 3 days, again, been to Bologna and one day was enough, unless you plan on visiting Ravenna.

I would put more days into Florence and do day trips to places like Sienna or go to Perugia/Assisi/Orvieto.

Posted by
63 posts

andrew.reis Thank you for your comment. Last year we visited Rome and took a day trip to Pompeii. We are going to Verona to see our first opera, and rather than one of the more famous opera houses in Milan or Venice, we thought to try the open arena in Verona. It was difficult to find a date which would work, so it requires us to back track somewhat.

Posted by
63 posts

Suki Thank you for your comment. You are correct, we are using Florence as a base for Sienna, Pisa, and Lucca.

Posted by
63 posts

Gordon Thank you for your comment. We are headed to Verona only to work out a trip to the arena for an opera, which has limited performance dates. As to Bologna and Florence, I noted the express trains only pass through Bologna to move further south. I was hoping for another route, but I'm unsure if I want to take a local train to do so. We hope to visit Parma and Modena from Bologna.

Posted by
63 posts

Chani Thank you for your comment. In Milan we want to see the main tourist attractions, including the Last Supper, and also perhaps a day trip to Genoa. We are planning day trips from Florence, south to Sienna, north to Pisa and Lucca. We may rearrange after many of the comments here to shorten Milan and Florence time.

Posted by
63 posts

geovagriffith Thank you for your reply. We only have one day in Verona, to attend an outdoor performance in the arena, we have 3 days in Milan and 3 days in Venice. Yes, we plan to use Bologna to visit nearby locations, and also the same with Florence.

Posted by
996 posts

Based on your existing plans and tickets, I think this looks like a good plan. If this is your first time to Venice, you might want to spend one more day there...BUT you can easily develop an appreciation for the city based on the time you have there.

I saw that you're headed on a day trip to Sienna. You'll love that city!

Sounds like a wonderful trip!!!

Posted by
63 posts

aquamarinesteph Thank you for your comment. We work from a dry erase board, and keep refining the locations (other than flights, and the opera in Verona). I'll have to admit, it's time consuming, but overall we enjoy the planning and help we get from online commentators.

Posted by
1 posts

Agree with all on this post. Growing up in the Verona/Vicenza Area (the son of a soldier and a mother from Asiago), if you stay in Verona, a quick day trip to Vicenza and seeing the Villa Rotunda (Thomas Jefferson visited the Villa and used this villa as the plans for Montecello). The Villa is located not to far from the train station about 1.5 miles. If you rent a care, drive up to Monte Berico for more architecture from Palladio

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