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Looking for advice for my first trip to Italy (May 2017)

Posted by (Winnipeg) on

Hi everyone,

I stumbled upon this forum while looking up information for this trip and was really impressed by the effort that people were putting into responses so I thought I would try my luck.

My wife and I are attending a wedding in Italy in May 2017 and we took some additional time off work to do some exploring (3 weeks total). For both of us, this is our first time to Italy. We are both in our early 30s, we love being active while we travel (especially hiking), and we try to avoid crowds.

The first part of the trip is somewhat fixed: the wedding is in Fiesole and we are meeting friends in Chamonix right after the wedding (their dates are not flexible). After Chamonix, our plans are flexible. Here is what I have currently:

May 14- Arrive Rome

15 Rome

16 Rent car, drive to Fiesole

17-19 Fiesole

20-23 Chamonix

23-26 ???

26-30 Piedmont

30-2 Cinque Terre

2 Return rental car in Florence

2-4 Florence

I was really excited about the prospect of alpine hiking, in particular the Alta Via 2 through the Dolomites, but this doesn't seem possible in May. It sounds like I am somewhat limited to valley and coastal hikes. With that in mind, I thought having a few days to explore the food and wine in Piedmont was a decent compromise. I have some restaurants picked out around Alba and an appealing hotel (Hotel Castello di Sinio). Apart from having some amazing meals, I'm not sure what this area will have in store for us in May.

After Piedmont, I thought we would drive to Sestri Levante and use it as a base to explore Cinque Terre (by train). I chose Sestri Levante because I can park the rental car at our hotel and not worry about it. The town also sounds a bit more appealing than closer towns like Levanto or La Spezia, but I haven't found much info on the topic.

I also have a few days that I'm not sure what to do with. Options I considered were:

  1. Visiting the Dolomites and staying somewhere like Ortisei. Hiking options sound like they will be limited but I'm open to taking some scenic drives. There are also some alpine spas in the area that I would love to visit if the weather limits other activities (Cron4, Acquarena).

  2. The lakes area around Como. Maybe a better idea for hiking and sightseeing in May?

  3. Exploring some towns in Emilia-Romagna (e.g. staying in either Parma or Modena).

Lastly, I'm curious to know if anyone would suggest scrapping my current plans and heading South after the wedding. I don't mind driving to Chamonix, but it's a bit of a detour. Maybe a visit to the Amalfi Coast and Capri would be a better idea in May?

Thank you for your time!

Posted by
703 posts

welcome.
first off, glad to see you have 3 weeks. .
May can be a great time to visit. we usually go may/june. the weather in the alps can be varied. but a beautiful time of year. snow capped mountains roads open and spring flowers etc.
While May is not overcrowded, I would still get a wriggle on with your booking, if its in a popular place.
We have stayed in Fiesole, very nice. we just caught the local bus into Florence, easy as.
we have also been to Chamonix, in the first week of june. up on the glacier, wearing only a singlet. and down in the town was 37 deg C ( hot) in the late afternoon. so you never know. we absolutely loved the french alps.
we are going to the Dolomites in late May 2017 and I think hiking type activities 'might' be limited.
If you do consider CT, then Levanto is a good option, if you have a car. we used it as a base and worked well.

it seems like you have too many options to choose from ( not uncommon) so, maybe spend some time investigating particular places and then narrow down your options. try not to spend too much time travelling between places and remember Italy does have the fast train, very good. eg: milan-rome-naples/salerno.

you can always use the 'search' feature on this site/forum.
CT versus Amalfi, you could write a book with the responses. IMO, we are going back to Amalfi, but we did like CT.

also watch some of the RS videos ( on this site) and listen to some of his podcasts, very good for getting ideas.

if you have more questions, please ask

hope this helps

Posted by
15822 posts

Rick Steves My Way Alpine Tours begin in mid-May, so it's likely that the Dolomites will be hikable. You can get an idea by going to that tour page and clicking on the Review section. Then read comments from people who were on the tours in May. I was on an early June tour and the Alpi di Siusi were delightful with tons of wildflowers.

Posted by
29090 posts

I'd consider dropping the car off in Sestri Levante since you probably won't need it for the Cinque Terre, there's good train service from there to Florence, and Florence is full of streets you're not supposed to drive on.

The Dolomites were lovely for me in July. I realize that's not of much help to you.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you for your responses.

glennlorrainer: It's always tough to narrow down choices. To be honest, I've probably read too much on my options (I currently have around 25 browser windows open and 5 books in front of me)...the more I read, the more I feel I need to include in the trip. I guess my main question would be if any of my current plans are bad ideas in May. I think I'll do the drive to the Dolomites. It sounds like a scenic drive and I can consider it scouting a location for a more extensive hiking trip in the future.

And thank you, Chani. I hadn't noticed that particular tour...and the very first review for it (at the very bottom) is from May 2016 commenting that their favourite moment was Ortisei. Seems promising!

Thank you, acraven. The hotel I was looking at in Sestri Levante (Hotel Villa Agnese) is on the outskirts of town so the care can just sit in the parking lot while we are there. I don't plan on returning it until the end of the trip because I was considering a drive to Ristorante Lorenzo for dinner in Forte dei Marmi.

So I think I'm going to leave the 23rd-26th open for now. I'll do the drive on the 23rd to the Dolomites. If the weather forecast looks good then we will stick around. If not, we can whip over to Venice for a day or two or maybe to Como.

Any of you ever visited the spa at Cron4? I was considering spending a day there if the weather isn't nice. We loved the Aqua Dome in Austria. I'm wondering if it's comparable...?

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