Looking for feedback on an itinerary

Your plans seem reasonable.

First, I will caution you about driving in Italy. Many tourist go there and get tickets (very expensive tickets) several months after returning. It is easy to get one, speed cameras will nail you for going any amount over the speed limit. I had a friend that got an expensive ticket for going 3 KPH over the speed limit. Also, you may unintentionally drive into a restricted zone in a city or town where no cars can go our only approved cars can go. If you rent, just be careful.

Second, with young children, I understand staying at Airbnbs for lengthy periods. No problem with that, but by not staying in Florence, you miss so much about that wonderful city. I am a bit surprised how much you ignored Florence.

Como is great, but it will be chilly. Personally, I would not go there that time of the year, but I am more of a warm weather person. Still, I think you will enjoy it. On passing Bologna, Modena, Parma and Verona, not sure you have time to spend stopping there. I enjoyed Verona which has a huger Roman Arena that is well preserved.

Too bad about Venice, it is special. If you didn't spend two weeks in Tuscany, you could spend 2-3 days there.

Thanks for your reply.

Understood regarding the driving that is certainly one of my biggest concerns with this trip, I will do some more research in that regard to make sure we don’t run into any surprises.

Florence has been a tough one for me. We certainly want to experience all it has to offer, but as mentioned did not want to add another leg with our extended stay in Tuscany so close by. FWIW I did book a walking tour to try and maximize our time in the city - https://thetourguy.com/tours/florence-tuscany/florence-walking-tour-with-david

If you have any additional thoughts on what to do with our last 5 nights instead of Como I would appreciate hearing your perspective. The only consideration is our flight out of Milan.

Hello Jtb212,

A few thoughts - I'm jealous of you spending that much time in Tuscany and just relaxing and exploring. We spent a week doing that from a farmhouse and it could have been longer. But I also feel that you may be missing some of what makes Italy Italy. You do have some good days in Rome and you will probably need to relax after that, but I think you are right to wonder about the Como portion.

I would suggest looking at turning the car in after you are done with Tuscany and choosing a smaller, urban area to explore for those remaining days and engaging in some more urban Italian experiences. I think Verona would be a good choice if you can find somewhere in or near the old Roman section of the city which is virtually traffic free. It is a beautiful city which feels much smaller than it is, has a Roman Arena and Theater (which still host performances) and is well placed for day trips to Brescia (Roman ruins), Bologna (food) and even Venice (wonder). And it is an easy train ride to Milan when the time comes.

My honest advice would be to shave some days from the Tuscany BnB - say a week and a half there - turn in the car in Florence and spend a couple of days there. Train to Verona and use Verona as a the base for the rest of your stay. This sounds like a wonderful trip to me but everyone has their own needs, wants and restrictions.

Lucca would be another good, nearly traffic free urban city to explore but aside from Pisa and Florence it is light on daytrip possibilities as it is so far west.

If you do travel from Badia Agnano to Florence as a day (or two) trip I would look at stopping somewhere along the train to Florence - such as Montevarchi-Terranuova and taking the train into the city rather than drive into Florence. You don't want or need a car in the city but if you do drive in have a very clear idea as to where you are going to park on the outskirts and then bus or shuttle into the city itself. I would never "wing" driving into Florence due to traffic and strict ZTLs.

Also just to note that Italians love kids and are used to raising kids in urban environments. I wouldn't worry about kids in restaurants or public places if that's part of your concern about traveling with children. Italians won't hesitate to make accommodations or allowances for children.

Have a wonderful trip,
=Tod

Thank you - really appreciate the thoughtful response and the note on kids in Italy :) it helps alleviate some concerns.

Based on the feedback I am leaning towards spending a few days in Florence after the BnB and doing the city properly. I also really like the idea of ditching the car in Florence since it sounds like it will be more of a hindrance than a help after exploring Tuscany.

Verona sounds great so will likely scrap Como and head to Verona as a base. The train from Florence to Verona looks straight forward.

Getting from Verona to the Milan airport without a car is a concern that pops up. As you mentioned we could train from Verona > Milan, but once in the city not sure how difficult it is to get out to the airport - taxi, public transport etc. We should probably build in a night in Milan to make the travel day easier.

Any thoughts or insights into how to make this portion work? I suppose I could also rent a car for just Verona > Milan and stay at an airport hotel the night before our flight home.

Thanks again.

There’s an express train from the Milan central train station to the airport - here’s the link on the airport website: https://www.milanomalpensa-airport.com/en/from-to/by-train

Happy to help Jtb212,

If you are flying out of Malpensa Airport (MXP) which is the international airport there is a train from Milano Centrale to MXP in about an hour and they leave every half hour or so. So if you want to go straight to the airport you will change trains in Milano.
If you are flying out of Linate you'll need to catch a bus, shuttle or some other form of transportation since there is no train, but it is closer at about 25 minutes.
I would warn against planning to leave Verona and train to Milan and then on to the airport just time to catch your train. In italy it's always best to leave time for delays and the unexpected when making a schedule. If your flight is at all early in the day I would always recommend spending the last night in the city you're flying out of rather than scrambling and sweating the connections.

In Verona I would recommend staying in or as near to the Città Antica - the old Roman city part in the upper bend of the river - since it is largely traffic free and filled with piazzas and little restaurants etc. The area called Veronetta is just to the east of the old city and is very charming but is also uphill so with kids I would just how much of walk it would be into town proper on a daily basis.
The city is super walkable following the bend in the river with several pedestrian only bridges crossing the river at different points along with the regular car and pedestrian bridges.

In town you can tour the Roman Arena, the Roman Theater and the attached archeological museum which was really interesting but involves some hiking up and down. Hopefully the photo museum - which is housed in the old Roman ruins - will reopen soon.

Brescia is about 30 minutes from Verona by train.
Bologna is an hour by fast train and Venice is 1.25 hours.
If you're afraid you're missing out on the lake experience Lake Garda is very close to Verona as well.

You will want to book fast train tickets in advance when you can as prices rise abruptly as the date gets close. Don't worry about buying regular 2nd class tickets until you need them since they can't sell out and they don't change price. My wife and I refer to it as "get your butt on the train" class.

Get and use the Trenitalia app for your phone to check schedules, book tickets and track trains in real time. I was skeptical but it was really handy,

The train station in Verona is a bit away from the old city itself and buses tend to run 'around' the old town because of the streets, but a taxi from the train station into the heart of the old town is about 10e.

Come back to the boards as you develop more questions as your plans solidify, have an amazing trip!
=Tod

To be sure there's no confusion: You'll generally save money on second-class tickets for fast trains if you buy them early.

Thanks all for the responses... based on the feedback we are leaning towards doing the following:

• Fly into Rome (FCO) > 5 nights in Rome
• Rent a car and drive to Tuscany Countryside > 12 nights in Badia Agnano at BnB
• Drive into Florence, return rental car, 4 nights in Florence
• Train from Florence > Verona, 4 nights in Verona
• Train from Verona > Milan, 2 nights in Milan > Fly out of MXP

I feel much better about this itinerary in terms of experiencing all that Italy has to offer.

Ditching the car and relying on the trains & taxis does make me a little apprehensive especially with carrying our luggage and the kids - we will have to challenge ourselves to pack light. Appreciate any additional tips or tricks anyone might have for navigating this.

Also our original intent was to take things slowly and so I hope I have not strayed too far from that objective.

Thanks again for the helpful dialogue.

I love this itinerary - great choice!
Fly into Rome (FCO) > 5 nights in Rome
Rent a car and drive to Tuscany Countryside > 12 nights in Badia Agnano at BnB
Drive into Florence, return rental car, 4 nights in Florence
Train from Florence > Verona, 4 nights in Verona
Train from Verona > Milan, 2 nights in Milan > Fly out of MXP