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Northern Italy Itinerary - too much?

Posted by (Princeton Junction, NJ) on

My husband and I will be taking a road trip from May 29-June 13 (15 full days). We are here partly to visit my husband's ancestral towns (Vinchio and Domodossola). We love to wander, nature (walking), architecture, castles, a cooking class, some churches, people watching, little adventures). We are flying into and out of Milan. I've done a lot of research and have a basic itinerary. It's so hard because there's so much we want to see! We've never been to Italy, and Im sure this won't be our only trip.

Fly into Milan (MXP)
Lake Maggiore/Lake Orta ( 3 nights)
Domodossola ( 1 or 2 nights)
Valle d'Aosta ( 2 nights)
Vinchio -Asti area ( 3 nights)
Cinque Terre ( 3-4 nights)
Parma ( leave CT, explore Parma/lunch) then MXP hotel at airport before flight home next day

As you can see, I'm not sure how much time to spend in Domodossola and Cinque Terre. I keep cutting back places to visit, trying to stay with the two places per week advice. I'm close, but these are the places we really want to see. Please feel free to offer opinions and suggestions. Thanks!

Posted by
1321 posts

I hate to pack and unpack and many of the places you have selected can easily be day trips from a couple of "home bases"
1) I'd skip Lake Orta and pick Maggiore - stay in Stresa and day trip to Domodossola or stay in Domodossola and say trip to the lakes 4 nights
2) Stay in Asti and day trip to Aosta and Vinchio 4 nights - lots of great places you can access from Asti drive from Asti to Genoa to CT
3) CT - 3 nights is plenty (2 is plenty for me)
Parma??? Not sure why...not much to see there really.
4) Florence 3 nights
5) Milan 1 night

Posted by
28450 posts

Since you have a family connection to Domodossala, I want to mention the Centovalli railroad line that connects that town to Locarno, Switzerland. It's a scenic ride through an area most tourists don't see; I learned about it from a list of the most scenic train rides in Europe. The trip takes about 2 hours each way.

Posted by
907 posts

Agree with Donna, unpacking/packing meeting timelines, all a hassle.

Also, agree skip Orta and Valle d'Aosta unless you have good reasons to be there, say trips if you want to see them. You can drive there on the way to Asti but it is out of your way. Also agree on 5 Terre, 2 nights/1 day is good for me. However, I don't agree on Parma. I like Parma, and if you have the time you can day trip out of there to Modena and Reggio Emilia. but, you have a trip that is a bit out of your way there too. I would take add a night there if you really want to jump around that much.

Posted by
14 posts

Thank you for your help. We want to go to Valle D'Aosta because we want to do the gondola ride to France or the balloon ride over the alps. You can't get that in the US. Keep the advice coming. Appreciate it.

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