Hi all, My husband and I will be traveling to Italy for the first time in October. Due to the timing and flights, we are arriving in Milan on October 8th, and flying out of Rome 16 days later on October 23rd. We are asking for suggestions based on our current itinerary.
Milan (1)
Verenna (2)
Venice(2)
Florence (2)
Montepulciano (2)
Ovieto (2)
Rome (3)
We have a small vineyard and winery so we really want to explore Tuscany and Umbria. But since this is our first time we want to take in the tourist attractions also. Our question is at the beginning of trip we have 2 nights at Lake Como leaving only have three days in Rome, should we skip Lake Como so that we can spend more time in Rome and/or other attractions?
Posted by
California 🦋
5301 posts
As much as I loved staying in Varenna (Lake Como), I think you may want to consider skipping it this time.
IMO, you're trying to cover too many destinations, even if you skip visiting Varenna.
I count 7 destinations in 15 nights (14 days)
Keep in mind that each time you relocate, you will lose about half of that day...
So 2 nights in any particular place, will give you one full day to explore such a place; 3 nights = 2 full days, 4 nights= 3 full days, etc, etc...
We have a small vineyard and winery so we really want to explore Tuscany and Umbria.
If above statement defines your priority, then I'd suggest concentrating your time in Tuscany & Umbria, which would mean skipping Venice and Varenna.
There are so many wonderful cities and towns in Tuscany & Umbria!
Do you have some guidebooks you can refer to?
Do you plan to rent a car or rely on public transportation?
Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
OP
26 posts
Thank you so much for your input, I had a feeling it was a bit rushed. Right now I'm sitting here with 7 guidebooks! It's so hard to narrow it down. I thought we could take the trains to Venice, and Florence and the rent a car for the Tuscan area. And then drop the car off when we go to Rome. We have to spend the night in Milan because we don't land until 3pm.
Would we be better off just staying in one hill town and doing day trips?