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Milan to Dolomites, to Florence, to Rome -- Honeymoon!

Posted by on

Hello,
This is my first time posting. This forum seems to be a great resource, and I did some light research but couldn't find to much that was similar to our itinerary.

My fiancée and I are going on honeymoon in September, we will arrive September 11 around 4 pm in Milan, then want to head to the Dolomites for at least 3, maybe 4 nights. From there we would like to head to Florence for 3 nights, and then lastly Rome for 3 nights until we finally fly out of Rome at 8 am on the 22nd of Sept.

We are both ural American Ranchers, and a slow pace and small town vibe is really appreciated for the first few days, so for our dolomites town I am currently looking at Ortisei or Kastelruth. We really want to be able to use cable cars, hike, and go to a nice, small, tasty cafe for breakfast and dinner each day. A little B&B would be perfect, with nice views. Being a honeymoon we want plenty of time to ourselves during this portion. What town(s) do you recommend? Any good restaurants?

From the dolomites we want to hit Florence for a few days, then Rome. I know nothing of Florence yet have heard it's praises sung from the mountain tops. All I know is I want to see some churches or cathedrals there and in Rome. But, for Rome, our biggest attractions are the Vatican and Roman Empire historical buildings. We also definitely want to take at least 1 cooking class in either city.

So after the intro, our questions are such:

  1. Should we spend the night in Milan after arriving at 4pm, or try to head straight to the dolomites (if possible even)?
  2. Where do we stay in the dolomites? Ortisei, Kastelruth, or somewhere else?
  3. How do we get from Milan to that selection, and then from there to Florence? We would prefer to avoid renting cars at all on this trip, but are not completely adverse to it.
  4. Any recommendations for B&Bs in those towns?
  5. Lastly, are there any good scenic train routes we should look for either on the way to Florence, or to Rome? That appeals to us but may not be possible, or just not in our budget.

Thank you so much!

Posted by
1297 posts

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like this is your first trip to Europe so I'd lean towards staying in Milan and heading to the Dolomites the next day. Otherwise you'll need to get from the airport to the train station, take the train to Bolzano, and then the bus up to town. It's doable but can be a lot after a flight from the US, and it would already be late afternoon. Given that flights can be late you'd want to do a lot of research to understand the train times to Bolzano from Milan and the hours the bus runs before planning on going all the way after landing.

I recommend staying in Ortisei. It has 2 cable cars and a funicular in town, more than enough for a few hikes. Kastelruth is the recommendation in the RS book but it doesn't have any mountain access in town. Given your short stay it seems easier to stay in the town with the easy access.

We were there last Sept and If I was going on our trip again I'd stay at a place with half-pension so breakfast and dinner are provided. There weren't that many restaurant choices in Ortisei, a bit to our surprise. Some low-end places and a couple that were very pricy. Then again on your honeymoon maybe the splurge places will be right for you. Generally breakfast is going to be provided where you are staying.

As your trip gets closer look up the activities offered including guided hikes on the https://www.valgardena-active.com/en website (summer activities probably aren't posted yet). We did several from Ortisei last year and they are free if your hotel is a Val Gardena partner which most are. Keep in mind the weather in the mountains can be anything from the 80's down to snow so you might want to pack to accomodate a reasonable range of possibilities.

Posted by
2661 posts

Spend the night in Milan. It’s a long trip to the Dolomites, at least 4.5 hours with two transfers by train. You might also consider flying into Munich instead.

Ortesei is a great location for access to the lifts. Make sure they’re still running on your dates. Don’t miss Seceda and Seiser Alm. From Santa Cristina, we also went up to Col Raiser. We stayed in Santa Cristina at La Tambra. It’s a fabulous family run restaurant/hotel. Ortesei is a lot busier. Maybe not so much in September, but in June it was very busy.

Posted by
6007 posts

Yes, spend the night in Milan. It will likely be at least 6pm before you get to Milan after clearing the airport and taking the train into the city. Then it's a series of trains and bus to reach Ortisei- another 4+ hours, if they even run that late. Too bad you already have your flights booked. Travel time from Venice would be about half of that from Milan.

Up to you, but many recommend Orisei.

Trains (at least 2 connections) to Ponte Gardena or Bolzano, then bus to Ortisei. From there, bus to Ponte Gardena or Bolzano and then trains (with connections) to Florence SMN station. From Florence it's a direct train to Roma Termini. Book tickets on the Trenitalia website and use the Italian Place names (Milano, Firenze, Roma)

Budget in €?

You have very limited time in each of the places you want to visit. Why waste any of that time taking necessarily longer train routes?

Posted by
28 posts

I’m here looking for tips on the Dolomites as I’m in the middle of planning our trip there for this July 1. But one idea for your first night would be to hop on a train to beautiful Verona for the night (or maybe two?), then rent a car in Verona to drive up into the Dolomites (then return it in Verona and train to Firenze). Of course, a 4pm arrival may mean you’re at the airport until 6pm and will just want dinner and bed. But definitely get a car for the mountains so you can get to whatever trailheads you want. Europcar is great. Cable cars can get expensive (at least in France they were). Download the Trenitalia app to plan your train trips. Verona to Florence is only 1.5 hrs on the high-speed train! Upgrade your tickets to make sure they are changeable, just in case you get on the wrong train (ask me how I know, haha), and higher class tickets mean you get Prosecco and a snack delivered to your seat. I love that. Florence will take your breath away. I thought I’d seen some exquisitely beautiful places, but the duomo brought me to tears. Highly recommend doing the Taste of Florence tour with Toni on your first day (so you get her food recommendations for the rest of your time!). Rick interviewed her on his radio show. [email protected] @tasteflorence on instagram

Posted by
28 posts

Another thought: Everyone is going to tell you how easy it is to take buses from Ortisei, and that may be true. But because you are not city people, and even if you were— planning your day around bus routes and bus schedules adds a layer of things you have to worry about while you’re on vacation, and you may not want that on your honeymoon. I lived in a big city for decades and got around by bus and metro, my husband grew up in a huge city taking buses everywhere, and we still found it to be quite a burden trying to plan our days around public transport schedules last year on vacation. We took “everyone’s” advice and didn’t rent a car (for the French Riviera), and then we literally lost huge parts of precious vacation days waiting for buses and trains, not being able to get on a bus/train that was packed full and having to wait for the next, etc. We are just not that disciplined while on vacation.

Posted by
5 posts

You can do: Milan 1n (pre book Last Supper ticket for 9/12 AM / train by noon from Milan to Bolzano / bus #350 to Ortisei 3n / bus and train to Florence 3n / train to Rome 3n.
Lodging in Ortisei will provide free bus pass, and you most likely only deal with one bus line #350. Some cable cars are within walking distance in town.

You do not want a car in Florence, all the big attractions are in town, within walking distance.

You do not want a car in Rome, learn to use subway, frequent and easy. Beware of pickpocket (anywhere crowded)
Pre book attractions in Rome and Florence.
Pre book train early with huge discount, non refundable non changeable though. Pay a little more to changable to allow some flexibility (no change for departure and destination though). Regional trains (R) has no assigned seat, I will not take a chance for long ride. Look for IC, Freccia etc which assign seats, or pick particular seat if you pay.
Hope it helps.

Posted by
2557 posts

Congratulations! Milano Malpensa Airport to Verona Porto Nuovo Train station 2:30-3:00. Verona Porto Nuovo to Bolzano by high-speed Italotreno or Trenitalia train: 1:35-2:40 Bolzano to Ortisei by Bus #350 departing about every 20 minutes directly across the street from Bolzano’s train station: 50 minutes. After Ortisei stay, return to Bolzano: 50 minutes. High-speed train from Bolzano to Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station: 3:15-5:40 hours by high-speed train. Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station to Roma Termini train station via high-speed train: 95 minutes.
For train schedules and fares www.TheTrainline.com
www.Trenitalia.com
www.Italotreno.com
Some train tix for September may not be available to buy online until June 15.

Have a great Honeymoon!

Posted by
1835 posts

4pm is too late to leave from Milan to Dolomites area; by the way, if you are landing at 4pm, you will be in Milan downtown at 6 or 7pm, there is little you can do but having a dinner and a good sleep.
Basically, every time you switch destinations, half a day is lost in transit, so you have 2 days and half in two places and 3 days and half in one place. Do not plan to do a lot of things as you won't have really much time. One cooking class should be enough.
There is not really a choice between scenic and non-scenic itineraries. Even when there are two itineraries one is a slow and one is a fast line over the very same scenery.

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