My husband and I are trying to finalize our itinerary... does this sound too stressful (first time in Italy... doing all travel by train)... We fly into Rome on Saturday, leave Monday afternoon for the CT. Staying in La Spezia 2 nights and then onto Florence for 2 nights... Greve in Chianti for a night, Bolonga 1 night, onto Venice for two nights and then fly out of Milan then next day. Is this going to be too hectic. We want to see as much of Italy as we can in the 13 days were are there, but wondering if we won't be able to enjoy it. Any advice?
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Stacey, you can't be faulted for wanting to see as much of Italy as you can. We see so many travelers wanting to do this. You have done well to fly into one airport and fly out of another. Hopefully, your flight out of Milan isn't really early. If it is, you most likely will have to spend your last night in Milan. You won't make it from Venice.
I would suggest considering Rome/Florence first. The high-speed Eurostar between the two cities takes 1hr.40min. You could save some time - perhaps a third night in Florence. You could day-trip to Greve on the bus. It's a short trip. Then you go onto La Spezia.
From La Spezia Centrale, there is a great train run to Venice that departs at 7:52am and arrives in Venice at 2:10pm. We've been on it. Interestingly, you change trains in Bologna. Herein is your Bologna possibility. If you want a stop over, you have to be careful about how you purchase your ticket. Get the 7:52 ticket from La Spezia Centrale to Bologna. However, instead of accepting the 11:38 ES Alta Velocita run, choose the 15:38 or 16:38 Eurostar train. This will give you about 4-5hrs in Bologna. The train station is fairly close to the city center. It's a 1hr40min train ride to Venice from Bologna.
Posted by
Orange County, USA
155 posts
I think you are spending too little time wherever you are. You will be spending too much time packing, unpacking and traveling. Also, you have to allow time to get to and from the train stations.
I would skip Bologna, Greve in Chianti, CT and save them for another time. Spend your days in Rome, Florence and Venice. At that, you won't even come close to seeing all the wonderful things in those two cities.
Also, you are backtracking - Rome, CT, Florence. Try to keep it to a rather straight line.
Can you fly out of Venice instead of Milan?
You will return...
Good luck and have a wonderful trip.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23290 posts
I think first time travelers have two big misconceptions about Europe -- First, it is same. It is not. Second, while train travel is quick, easy, and convenient, a two hour train ride does not equal two hours of lost time -- more like six or eight. We plan on losing at least a half day when changing location -- checking in and out of hotels, finding the hotel, finding the train station and platform, orientation new location, etc., it all adds up time wise. You will see a lot of the inside of train stations and train cars.
I count seven city changes. By my estimate you would losing nearly four days or nearly a third of you planned days in Italy. Do you really want to do that? I would try to reduce it by half.
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
1003 posts
"We want to see as much of Italy as we can in the 13 days were are there"
You will see plenty, but I fear that it will mostly be whizzing by on a train. On my first trip to Italy 2 years ago, I had 14 nights. I did Rome, Florence, Venice ONLY. I only even took one daytrip - to Siena. Skipped staying in Tuscany, skipped Bologna, skipped CT. That's exactly what I'm doing this time around... Bologna, Tuscany, and CT, and i'm taking 2 and a half weeks to do it. I can't even begin to imagine trying to combine what I did 2 years ago and what I'm planning for this fall into one 2 week trip. You have to assume you will get to go back. You also have to decide if you'd rather check cities off a list or actually get to experience stuff. One night in a city, if you include travel time and whatnot, actually gives you very little time to see anything. I can't imagine moving around that much. But only you and your husband can decide if you will enjoy that kind of trip. You have to try to imagine all the moving, all the on and off trains, all the time in the stations, all the time dragging your luggage, etc. I'm tired and frazzled for you just thinking about it.
Posted by
Twin Cities, Minnesota
1825 posts
You say you will be there 13 days....is that 12 nights? If so, I would do 4 nights in Rome, then a travel day to Florence, staying 5 nights in Florence (maybe do a day trip from there to the Chianti/ Tuscany area), then a travel day to Venice and stay 3 nights in Venice. Flying in to Rome and out of Venice would be best, but if you are already booked out of Milan, you would have to adjust this of course to travel back to Milan to fly out. The CT is just too out of the way for this trip and you will end up on a train most of your vacation.
Posted by
OP
Farmington, MN, US
8 posts
Thanks for the great advice! I think we will cut out Greve & Bologna and distribute them from there. We are flying into Rome and out of Milan...