We are doing the Rick Steves Village Italy tour In June. We finish at Lake Orta on July 1. We will be staying in Italy for an additional week and would like some guidance about what we could easily do in that week, ending up in Rome or Milan for a flight back to US. I’d love to do a cooking class, so one idea is heading to Rome for the week and possibly stopping by Cortona for a couple of nights and taking a cooking class in Cortona, then on to Rome. Also would love to see the Dolomites. And Lake Como. I know we can’t do all of that but just looking for a nice way to end our trip. We won’t have a car so whatever we do needs to be easy to reach by train. Thanks in advance.
Posted by
Washington DC
27138 posts
The Dolomites should be great in June. You'd have Lake Como on the way, though I'm not sure I'd go straight from one lake to another. In any case, if you headed east from Lake Orta, you could hit Verona (did I miss it on the tour itinerary?) and Vicenza; I know the tour goes to Padua. Several people here have liked Ferrara. Bologna is perhaps the food capital of Italy and has a huge medieval district. I'll bet there are cooking-class options in Bologna or one of the foodie towns nearby (Parma for ham, Modena for balasamic vinegar).
Posted by
Shawnee, OK, USA
396 posts
Have you been to Lucca? I took a great cooking class there and really enjoyed the walled city. Very unique city with good shopping and sites. If you like Puccini, his home is there and you can eat at café he frequented. A local church sings from his operas each night. Stay inside the walls for the best experience.
Posted by
Sapulpa, OK, USA
6302 posts
We spent several days after our 2017 Village Italy tour in Milan, and had a wonderful time. There's plenty to see - lots of museums, a great city park, and of course, the Duomo. Don't miss the improved Duomo museum which now does have information in English. This has changed since Rick's 2017 book.
Posted by
OP
6 posts
Thanks so much for these ideas. Much appreciated.
Posted by
Morrison, CO, USA
891 posts
We did Village Italy some years ago. From Lake Orta we went to Rome since we loved our first trip to Rome. Since the tour spends 2 nights in Lucca, you may not want to go back there. And the RS tours do stay inside the wall.
Have you thought of Florence? Milan, Florence or Rome would be fun, but Rome is my favorite.
You should be able to find a good cooking class in Florence or Rome.
My advice for the beginning of your trip would be to fly into Venice and spend 2 nights there. We did this and it was great. Train from Venice on the day the tour starts. Train is cheap and very quick.
Have a Great Time! This was our first RS tour and one of our favorites. We have taken 6 more.
Mimi
Posted by
Big Island of Hawaii
677 posts
We did the Village Italy tour in 2016 (LOVED IT!). We went a couple of days early and spent time on our own in Venice. It was an easy train ride to meet our tour at the first stop in Padua. At the end of the tour, we went to Lake Como. Your tour guide will arrange transportation to Milan; we got dropped off at the Milano Centrale train station. We then took the train to Lake Como and stayed in Varenna for two nights. I wish we could have stayed longer because I think it is fairly easy to do a tour of the Dolomites from Lake Como. We took the train back to Milan where we spent another night before flying back home.
Posted by
Sacramento, California
44 posts
We finished off our Village Italy tour last May by spending three nights in Milan, specifically to see Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" painting and the magnificent Duomo, and then we went to spend a week in Venice for all that is wonderful there. We flew in and out of Venice.
Posted by
Texas
26 posts
Karen, do you happen to remember who taught the cooking class in Lucca or who you arranged it through?
Posted by
San Diego
1540 posts
Here is another vote for the Village Italy Tour. Stayed an extra night in Orta
and then 2 nights in Milan.
I also loved one of the very first Sicily/ Southern Italy tours that ended in Rome -
but they don't have that one any more. Stayed 3 extra days in Rome
Guess the tour was too long (I think it was 17 days???), they do shorter tours now.
Posted by
Sapulpa, OK, USA
6302 posts
The OP didn't ask for what to do before the tour, but we went three days early to Padua and loved it. We never left town, but got the Padova cards which covered transportation and almost every museum in town. Can't wait to go back.