Hello! We are a family of 6 traveling to Italy this June. We have 8 nights to spend in Italy. We are flying from the NYC area which combined with budget reasons limits our flights. We are thinking of flying into Florence - 4 nights there. Then 1 night in The Cinque Terra. Followed by 2 nights in Venice. And lastly one night in Milan as this is where we will be flying home from. What do y'all think?Thanks for your suggestions!
Posted by
Wilmington, DE, USA
1070 posts
Check prices for flying into Venice just in case that saves you some euro. That could mean starting your vacation nights there and then heading west to Florence and Cinque Terre. It isn't easy, but not impossible, to get from Cinque Terre to Milan for the flight home. The opposite could work for you too - check all those possibilities. I only used Florence once - not at all convenient. Look at train schedules, if you're going by train, to help figure out travel time (aka lost time). With only 8 nights you want to maximize your time in a location and minimize the time getting there.
Posted by
Rural Georgia
2214 posts
Two nights in Venice = 1 day. Skip CT and add day to Venice.
CT is west of Florence and Venice is northeast. You'll spend a lot of time traveling.
Look at your trip this way:
Night 1 - Florence
Day 1 - Florence
Night 2 - Florence
Day 2 - Florence
Night 3 - Florence
Day 3 - Florence
Night 4 - Florence
Day 4 - Travel to CT, with maybe half day there
Night 5 - CT
Day 5 - Travel to Venice, will take most of the day
Night 6 - Venice
Day 6 - Venice
Night 7 - Venice
Day 7 - Travel to Milan
Night 8 - Milan
Day 8 - Home
That gives you 3 days Florence, 1/2 day CT, 1 1/2 days Venice.
Posted by
Fort Lauderdale, FL
1245 posts
Depending on the ages (any children?) and interests, you might be better staying in Florence 3 nights and Cinque Terre 2 nights. If there are children they might start to get bored with Florence, Cinque Terre has hiking and beaches. Or, skip Cinque Terre and stay in Venice 3 nights. A one night stay anywhere is usually more of a pain in the neck, except for having to fly out the next day.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Flight times into Venice were more expensive than flying into Florence. I actually would have loved to have ended in Florence but because of the cost difference flipped it to start in Florence rather than Venice. We are traveling with 2 young teenagers and a 22 year old. My sister who is traveling with has CT on her must list. (or Lake Como but I feel that is too far out of the way). I am trying to cut down on amount of stops. For Florence, I thought we could do some day trips that the kids might enjoy.
Posted by
Oregon
650 posts
Lake Como would involve less travel time, not more. Based on Rome2rio by train: Florence to Cinque Terra 2.5 hrs, Cinque Terra to Venice 5.5 hrs, Venice to Madrid 2.5 hrs totalling 10.3 hours. Versus Florence to Venice 2.5 hrs, Venice to Veranna 5 hrs, Veranna to Milan 1.3 hrs totalling 8.8 hours. So:
3 nights Florence
2 nights Venice
2 nights Lake Como
1 night Milan
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12043 posts
Venice to Madrid 2.5 hrs ???
Must be typo?
With the rest of your destinations, Lake Como, is a much better fit, logistically.