Itinerary help: Milan/Lake Como/Dolomites/Cinque Terre/Florence/Orvieto/Rome

Hi,

Just wanted to mention that Bolzano is not in the Dolomites. It's a fairly large, busy city on the very outskirts of the Dolomites. To experience the Dolomites, head another 45 minutes north to the Val Gardena (Ortisei, St. Christina, Selva).

www.val-gardena.com
www.valgardena.it

Paul

You are moving very fast and may need to put the brakes on a bit so you can remember what you have seen other than a car windshield. My suggestions:

• Skip something, at least Lago di Garda. Not worth is especially for one night. Add it to either the Cinque Terre or the Dolomites. 2 nights mean one full day and with your driving times, you'll need some time to RELAX.

• Jetlagged you'll maybe get an evening and most of one full day at EXPO. That should be adequate but you won't see it all.

• Pick the car up in Milano on your way to Bolzano, OR better yet, take the train to Bolzano and rent your car there, if you must. It will only take about an hour longer by train than with a car. By the time you stop in Milano to get the car, you will spend at least an hour doing so. We do the Dolomites without a car (we prefer Ortisei) all the time.

• As Paul said, go further than Bolzano for a better mountain experience. Spend 3 nights so you have two full days and also a better chance at good weather at least part of the time. A shame to go so far and miss the views.

• Take a night away from Tuscany and add it to the Cinque Terre. Again, good to have two FULL days there.

• I can see driving to the Cinque Terre from Bolzano as the train trip is long, but I would dump the car in La Spezia and rent one again at La Spezia on your way to Tuscany. No sense paying for a parked car.

• Pick Tuscany OR Umbria. It is a vast region and too large to "do" on 5 or 6 nights. If you want to see Firenze, then stay there, preferably without a car. You can drive from La Spezia to Firenze, perhaps stopping in Lucca for a couple of hours, and frankly at that point I would dump the car, and enjoy 4-5 nights in Firenze, staying in one spot, and take a guided tour of Chianti if you want to get out into the country a bit, or a bus to Siena for the day.

• Take the train to Roma for your last three nights.

I think every trip needs a centerpiece, one place you stay a little longer and get to know a little better, where you have time to do laundry, think, dream, absorb some of the culture. Two-night stays are the bane of such experience. Make Firenze a centerpiece and slow down. You can always come back again!

BTW, I think a lot of tours, including Rick Steves, do two-night stays and it is tempting to plan that way for travel on-your-own, but oj a tour you have the benefit of someone doing all the logistics for you. You do not have to get oriented, figure out where to eat, how to get to the hotel, etc. It's not the same on self=guided travel.

If you don't have a reason to get a car, I wouldn't get a car. You can reach Cinque Terre by train, but have to transfer somewhere. This is according to RS Best of Europe. (Maybe you want to get RS Italy?) Rick says you need 2 nights, 3 days there.

I would scrap the Dolomites/Lake Garda portion because it involves renting a car, travelling across the top of Italy, and it's not really worth the effort for only 3 days. Spend an extra night in each of Varenna, Cinque Terre and Rome.

You could pick up a hire car at Pisa after CT, spend 6 days near Siena somewhere, then return the car in Orvieto.
Or without a car I would split your time - 3 nights in Siena and 3 nights in Florence.

Thanks for the replies. I actually designed the itinerary using Rick's suggestions for number of days per location in his Italy book. I really do not want to give up on the Dolomites though. I did see that east of Bolzano is where the real beauty is, but I have a the option of a 'free' hotel(using points) in Bolzano for 2 nights, so I thought we could base ourselves there and do a few drives.

I also believe the 2, and especially 1 night stays, are a negative. Two nights gives 1 full day in the Dolomites. If it rains that day, no second chance at seeing them. To really get into the Dolomites, you'll have at least a 45 minute to an hour drive from Bolzano.

Paul

Sometimes you need to stop and ask yourself, "Will this give me maximum enjoyment for my holiday?"
Ticking off boxes, or getting an unmissable deal, are for me the wrong approaches to take.

I actually designed the itinerary using Rick's suggestions for number of days per location in his Italy book. I really do not want to give up on the Dolomites though. I did see that east of Bolzano is where the real beauty is, but I have a the option of a 'free' hotel(using points) in Bolzano for 2 nights, so I thought we could base ourselves there and do a few drives.

Rick moves a bit fast for my taste, and maybe a little in contrast to his advice to absorb the culture.

Don't give up on the Dolomites! I would suggest giving up Lage di Garda and adding at least one night. I understand the allure of free nights, but once you see the Val Gardena you will wish you had saved those points to use somewhere in the U.S. or a big city.

I agree 100% with the above. Use the hotel points elsewhere, anywhere, just not Bolzano. To stay in a city when you could stay among the amazing Dolomites so close by.

Thanks for the replies. We are on a very tight budget. I have followed Rick's advice in the past when visiting Europe and the pace is fine for us. I don't know when/if we will get back to Italy, so I would really like to see the places I have a dreamed of for years.

I realize the weather may be against us at times, but at least I will have tried to see the Dolomites. I will see if we can find a very cheap place to stay in Val Gardena. Maybe we can make Malcesine a stop on the way either up to the Dolomites or back down. That is what I wanted to see on Lake Garda.

My main question had to do with driving as opposed to trains. Along with how to split our time in Tuscany and Umbria. I have read that people are disappointed in Florence and the real beauty is outside the city in the countryside. That would indicate the need for a car to me. But of course, everyone's taste is different.

Budget is an important driving factor for any vacation -- balance it with your time to truly absorb the beauty of the places you will see! I chose Orvieto as my home base for a year living in Italy. It is a beautiful ancient city and well worth seeing.

If your personality likes the freedom that a car offers -- rent one, but the trains are both a mode of transportation and an opportunity to let your brain rest! Driving in Italy absolutely requires a SatNav system -- most roads don't have signage when you get south of Florence.

I personally love Lake Como -- it has several small villages that offer great views, restaurants and the water ferries let you sit back and enjoy the beautiful villas perched on the hills. If your first priority is to see the Dolomites, you may have to make a choice in order to give yourself the time to travel and to stop and enjoy the beauty.

Not sure if you are a "foodie" but you can schedule a truffle hunt excursion during your dates. I have one booked on 10/2 and am very excited for the experience. Your dates are also very good for scheduling a wine tour -- some of the best known Super Tuscans offer a morning tour and a lunch with their prestige cru vintages. For these activities a car would come in handy.

The beauty of Tuscany and Umbria deserves to be enjoyed without checking your watch every few minutes worried about missing your train or trying to check off every village and hamlet. Lucca, Siena, Pisa, Assisi, Orvieto -- all special and worthy of your time to see and experience. RS is right on track about getting off the main tourist drag and finding small trattorias and even a sandwich - have a sandwich picnic on the steps of a Duomo or in a nice park, like the locals!

Don't miss seeing at least a couple of the weekly markets. Como actually has a very good one on Saturdays --Everything from the produce stalls, cheeses, meats, clothing, linens, and jewelry, etc. Orvieto has a much smaller version on Thursday and Saturday mornings from 8:30 until around 12:30. There are specialty markets in many small towns that are fun, and sagres to experience a food theme for a taste of the region and its culture. Coming up in early October are truffle festivals!

Send me a PM if you are going to visit Orvieto -- I would enjoy meeting for a glass of wine and hearing about your trip -- and perhaps a drive into the countryside (I do have a car).

Enjoy your trip!
Catherine