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Itinerary Help from Rome to Dolomites

Hello,

Our family is planning a 20-day trip to Italy (late May–early June) by rental car. Draft itinerary:
1. Rome – 4 nights (incl. Pompeii day trip)
2. Montepulciano – 2 nights (Tuscany, Val d’Orcia, Assisi)
3. Florence – 4 nights (Siena, maybe Cinque Terre)
4. Sirmione, Lake Garda – 2 nights
5. Dolomites – 6 nights (fixed)
6. Venice & Rome – 3 nights (1+2 or 2+1)

Questions
Is this too rushed for a family?
Is Montepulciano a good base for Tuscany?
Pompeii as a Rome day trip – realistic?
Better split: Venice 2 + Rome 1, or Venice 1 + Rome 2?
We’ll be in the Dolomites in early June — any hiking/trekking trails you recommend?

Thanks for any advice!

Posted by
3 posts

We’ll rent a car for the trip (except in Rome), and plan to return to Rome from Venice either by train or by car.

Posted by
8459 posts

What will you do with the car while in Florence?
You can’t drive in Florence
Your planned day trip to Siena is easy by bus
CT is too far as a day trip

A 2 night stay is just 1 full day-i would add a night to all of those
(from Montepulciano I doubt you will have time to visit Assisi since you’ve only got that 1 day)

Venice should get 3 nights
By the time you drive there from Dolomites and drop car you have used up almost a day

If you fly home from Venice you eliminate split stay in Rome

It’s actually easier to fly IN to Venice so if you can change the order of trip it might work

You really only need car for Dolomites (maybe) and Tuscany (but not Florence)

Posted by
1369 posts

There seems to be some doubling-back that could be removed. Drop off your car before reaching Florence. From Florence take the train directly to Venice and spend the day there, sleeping in Venice that nite. The next day take the train to Lake Garda. Leaving Lake Garda take the train to Bolzano and use the extensive bus network in the region to get around. Many Dolomite hotels include a transit card good on all buses in the region. From Bolzano take the train to Rome.

Or you could switch the order of Venice and Lake Garda in the plan above.

For Dolomite hiking use the search function at the top of the page as it is frequently discussed on the forum.