First let me say that I've been lurking on this forum for a couple of weeks (89 pages so far), and I am really impressed with the breadth of knowledge and generosity of everyone. So thank you in advance for any help/critique you can give me with my draft itinerary for a 23-day trip (solo) to Italy in October. I'm an art history, art, and architecture junkie (never met a cathedral I didn't love) but I like gorgeous scenery and interesting towns too. So I'm going to try to do Venice, Florence, CT, Hill Towns, and Rome as follows:
Day 1 Arrive in Rome from Seattle via AMS, check in. Days 2-6 Venice. Day 7 am-train to Florence. Days 8-9 Florence. Day 10 am-train to CT, stay in Monterosso. Day 11 CT. Day 12 am-to Volterra via stop in Pisa. Day 13 am-see Volterra, pm-bus to Siena. Day 14 am & early pm-Siena. pm-Rent car, drive to Montepulciano (& maybe Pienza). Day 15 see Montepulciano, pm-drive to Assisi. Day 16 Assisi. Day 17 am-drive to Civita di Bagnoreggio then Orvieto. Sightsee a little. Return car. early evening-Train to Rome. Days 18-22 Rome. Day 23 am-Fly to Seattle via AMS.
Yes, I know I have 3 consecutive nights in different towns (Volterra, Siena, Montepulciano), but I'm trying to minimize backtracking while making my way to Assisi. Is this too ambitious? Just right? Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Chicago
32 posts
Hi Therese! Did you realize that Volterra and Montepulciano are both an hours' drive from Siena? I think, for sanity purposes, it may make more sense to pick Siena or somewhere else central as a home base, and then take day trips with your rental car to Volterra and Montepulciano. It takes more time than we realize sometimes to check in to and out of hotels!
Posted by
Tulsa, OK
355 posts
I definitely understand the urge to see as many places as you can during your trip, but in my opinion you have way too many stops for a little over three weeks. You could potentially pick a place in central Tuscany and see most of the hill towns as day trips - or cut out a few of the places. Remember that every time you change hotels/cities, you lose most of the day in just travel and getting settled into the next town.
I, too , am planning a solo trip to Italy in October. I'm staying a week in Venice, 6 nights in Florence then the last couple of night in Milan. My first trip to Italy sounded a lot like your proposed trip. When it was over, I had seen a lot, but didn't really get to enjoy it as much as I could have because I was so busy packing and unpacking and traveling to another place.
If you can prioritize just a few places, I'm betting you will enjoy it more than trying to see everything in one trip.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32405 posts
Theresa,
I'd have to spend some time working on the details, but one glaring point that I noticed right away was the fact that you're flying into Rome, and then going to Venice straight away the following day. That's a waste of valuable travel time so using open-jaw flights, inbound Venice and outbound Rome would be a much better idea.
Good luck with your planning!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Well, you don't say how much energy you have, but that itinerary would kill me. I think you're trying to see and do way too much. Keep Venice, Florence, Rome, Assisi and Orvieto (for the Signorile chapel alone). Volterra and Montepulciano are very similar experiences to Orvieto, so I would save them for a future trip. The CT in October will be pretty iffy with the weather.
Posted by
Seattle, Wa, USA
663 posts
I sent you a pm...
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11852 posts
When you arrive in Rome (in the morning I presume?), you could take your train directly to Venice and avoid a one-nighter in Rome. While Ken's idea to fly into Venice ix excellent, if you cannot avoid RT SEA/FCO, it's easy enough to connect to a train to Venice and spend your arrival day napping on the train to Venice. We did this on a trip prior to moving here and found it a relaxing way to start our trip and we had enough energy to stay up until 9:00PM in Venice so we adjusted to local time quickly.
I love the CT in October: Have been three times at that time of year. Can it be chancy? Sure! But we've had good luck and would go again in Oct. If it rains, you can take a train to Genova for the day.
I agree with the poster who suggested Siena as a base. Stay there 3 nights and daytrip to Volterra and Montepulciano. Like this:
Day 12 - train to Siena from CT; stop in Pisa on the way and get it over -- this is a funny train trip, usually 4 segments so leave early and break it up with a stop in Pisa. You'll still have late afternoon and evening to enjoy Siena.
Day 13 - Rent car for Volterra (2 hours driving time RT); Siena in the PM
Day 14 - Montepulciano/Pienza via car (2.5 hours of driving time RT); Siena evening
Day 15 - drive to Assisi
The trick is to find a place that offers parking in Siena. Perhaps a B&B or hotel just outside the walls, or an agriturismo. We stayed at Antica Residenza Cicogna and they had a parking spot a short walk away that we were able to rent for a reasonable price making the car less of a hassle.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
I agree, fly into Venice and out of Rome. Stop in Ravenna to see the fabulous mosaics, or if it makes too long a day, spend a night there.
Tou can cut out the one-nighters. I used Siena and Assisi as bases and made daytrips by car to many other hill towns. Hotel Minerva is at one of the city gates of Siena and has a garage onsite. You might enjoy Arezzo, too.
I'm an art, history and archeology geek, too, PM me if you want suggestions.
Posted by
OP
Seattle
109 posts
Well, Thank you all so much.
First thing, thanks to Ken for pointing out my dumb typo at the beginning -- I am flying into Venice (via AMS), not Rome.
I eliminated CT, and added one of the nights to Venice -- since it seems like such a magical place.
I also consolidated my 1-nighters into Siena with a couple of car day trips elsewhere. I think I was avoiding using Siena as a home base because the parking situation there seems so troublesome. But a couple of you gave me good ideas for places to stay.
The whole thing seems less frenzied now. Grazie to all!