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Need Advice for 2 week Italy trip - Venice, Dolomites, Florence, CT, Rome

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My wife and I are going to Italy for two weeks next month and need help nailing down my itinerary! Here's where we're at roughly, and questions about each stop:

  • Land in venice early AM, 2 nights stay in venice

Does it matter what neighborhood in Venice we stay? Or is it pretty easy to get around?

  • Go to the dolomites, 4 nights stay

Is 4 nights enough? We want to hike around Seceda, hike the tre cime loop, check out some refugios, and probably see at least one of the famous lakes. Which town(s) should we stay in? Should we rent a car or is public transit good enough? What about hiking and sleeping from refugio to refugio (rather than staying in a hotel), has anyone here done that?

  • Go to Florence, 2 nights stay

We'd like to see Florence for one day, and see more of the countryside one day as well. Maybe add a night or day trip in Senna?

  • Cinque Terra, 2 nights stay

It looks beautiful, but honestly worried about the crowds/how touristy it may be. Is it really worth it in 2022? Getting to the ocean for at least a day does sound nice. Should we cut out this leg?

  • Rome, 4 nights, flying out of Rome.

Not going to the Vatican or the Colosseum. Mostly just want to explore the city, eat good, maybe some nightlife. Does 4 nights in Rome sound about right?

Final thoughts:

I know this is a pretty crunched itinerary to many travelers, but we're happy to prioritize seeing more things vs relaxing in/getting to know one area. That said, we'd still consider cutting out one of the stops, or shifting days around between stops. Neither of us have ever been to Italy. We're good with trains and public trans, but happy to rent a car too outside the big cities. We'll have one suitcase each (one carry on, and one medium checked bag), plus a small backpack each. How's this all sounding? Thanks in advance!

Posted by
7261 posts

Drop CT
Add 1 night to Venice
Add 1 night to Florence if you want a day trip from there ( a 2 night stay doesn’t allow for that, you really only have 1.5 days)

Posted by
5526 posts

I agree with Christine H. Venice and Florence really do need more time, even to just see the tip of their respective icebergs. The crowds in the CT will still be there in September, and the area really has become touristy.

Posted by
3961 posts

I would concur with Christine & drop CT, add a night to Florence (to day trip). Siena is wonderful. Definitely add another night to Venice! Four nights in Rome is a great introduction. My personal opinion of CT: We were there in 2006 & it was ok for two nights. That said, no desire to go back now. Way too touristy for us. I can’t comment on a car since we’ve never driven in Italy. The trip in 2006 we took the train from Rome to Florence. Since then we’ve done a couple more tours. Enjoy your planning!

Posted by
2112 posts

The town of Ortisei ( aka “Sankt Urich”) has a gondola to Mt. Seceda and is usually the base town for hiking Mt.Seceda. Ortisei is about 25 minutes by bus from Castelrotto (aka “Kastelruth”) and 1 hour by bus from Bolzano. Most Rifugios are open until the third or fourth week of September. Reservations should be made by telephone ASAP if you will be in the Dolomites then.

Posted by
146 posts

I really like the flow but cannot comment on Dolomites as I’ve not been myself.

You could use more time in Venice but two nights will give you a nice taste of the city. We weren’t sure how easy it would be to navigate so we opted for a hotel near the train station in Cannaregio. We took the shuttle from the airport then walked to our hotel. It was much easier than expected and found it very easy to get around the city by foot.

I would stay 4 nights in Florence instead of 2 in Cinque Terre. Then you could do a day trip to Sienna and a day trip to Cinque Terre, if you really want to see it. If you like hiking, I highly recommend the day trip with walkaboutflorence, it was the highlight of our trip in 2015, However, it sounds like crowds may be heavier since we visited.

4 nights is perfect for Rome. You will have no problem filling the time.. there is so much to see and do.

Enjoy your trip!

Posted by
111 posts

Agree that Ortisei is a good base in the dolomiti with funivie (gondolas) to both seceda and alpe di suisi. With four nights you should be able to to experience several good hikes in those areas and even drive to others if there is another you are interested in doing. We have always had a car when visiting.

Posted by
15798 posts

Venice Your stay there is short and the journey to the dolomites is long, so best to stay near the train station. Venice is small, you can walk from one end to the other in an hour (if you don't get lost) but from the farther parts to the train station can take over an hour by vaporetto. Walking with wheeled luggage in Venice can be difficult - lots of bridges to cross, making the walk difficult and slow. Look at google maps, any little blue line is a small bridge, maybe 5-8 steps, the larger the blue waterway, the high the bridge. Also work out how you'll get their from the airport. Other than a very expensive water taxi, the fastest could be the bus to Piazzale Roma, but then it's a about a 10 minute walk to the train station over the Grand Canal.

Dolomites It's 3-1/4 hours minimum by train (1 or 2 train changes) to Bolzano, then a bus to Ortisei. There is one direct train that takes 3 hours, but it leaves at 1.30 pm, so that's not a reasonable option. Getting to Florence will again use up a lot of time. There's a direct train at 7.12 am from Bolzano that gets to Florence at 10.24. The next train on the Trenitalia site is not until 11.31. There's another direct train (the last train of the day) at 3.15 pm.

Going from Florence to the CT is also slow, as is going from the CT to Rome. OTOH it's only 1-1/2 hours by train from Florence to Rome and there are frequent trains all day.

Posted by
12 posts

Ended doing:

2 nights venice
2 nights Cortina
2 nights Ortesi
4 nights florence
4 nights rome

Was perfect! Didn't feel rushed. Glad we only spent 2 nights in venice, incredible looking, but looking around was enough. Also glad we dropped CT, that would have been too much, and after speaking with people who visited recently, it sounds like a total zoo.

Posted by
22 posts

Where did you stay in Ortisei and Cortina? Planning a similar trip to Dolomites Sept. 2023.

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