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Rome and ? In April

Hello, I'm planning to travel to Italy solo in April of 2023. I will be there for 7 nights. I'm not counting my travel days from the US. I arrive April 13 & leave the 21st. I have been to Italy before & done Varenna, Venice, Florence, Rome & Sienna. My significant other & I are planning a trip in 2024 that will include Varenna again, Amalfi, Capri, Naples & Sorrento at a minimum.

Thus my question.... what can I pair with Rome Thur - Sunday that I haven't already done & won't be doing in 2024 that is easy to reach using trains & a nice place to acclimate in as this is my 1st trip internationally since 2019? Ideally the weather would be mild. I'd like to visit Orvieto & Lucca but not sure that time of year is good for either place weather wise. Someone here mentioned bike riding the wall of Lucca once & that sounds fun. But not if it's raining & cold.

I'm debating visiting Florence again as I'm familiar with it & there's something to be said for familiarity. I certainly have more to see there that I missed. But I was thinking South of Rome would be better weather wise. Was hoping forum experts here would have some good suggestions! Thank you!

Posted by
6234 posts

Why not just stay in Rome the whole time?
You won’t run out of things to do

Orvieto is lovely and a nice place to get over jet lag
You could head there for 2-3 nights on arrival then finish in Rome

Lucca seems too far out of the way from Rome

Or if going south is more appealing- head to Sorrento on arrival then return to Rome at end
I’d give Sorrento 3nights since it takes some time to get there

Posted by
15863 posts

I'll vote for Orvieto too: easy to get to and a nice place to ease into Italian time.
I am counting 8 nights?

I arrive April 13 & leave the 21st.

Posted by
208 posts

Hi, thanks for responding. Sorrento is a no go as it will be visited in 2024. I expect to visit Italy multiple times in the coming years (hopefully) & Rome is often the easiest & least expensive city to fly into/out of from the East coast. So I expect to see Rome pretty often.

Posted by
402 posts

My personal opinion is stay in Rome and do day trips such as Orvietto, Tivoli, Ostia Antica. If you had much more time, and were looking for new areas, I'd suggest either Puglia or Sicily.

Posted by
487 posts

There is no guarantee of course, but we travelled through Italy in April ( including Lucca) and the weather was great. However I agree Lucca seems a bit of travel to get to on its own.
Orvieto might be a good choice. Or Montepulciano?

Posted by
15607 posts

I spent 3 nights in Orvieto and never ran out of things to do, lovely views of the countryside as well. I don't know that the weather will be much different from one place to another. You can check past weather here for places you are considering. Though it's a hill town, there's not a great deal of up/down once you're in the center. If you get a rainy day, there are several underground sights - worth seeing in any event.

Offhand I can't think of a better destination. There are trains throughout the day from Roma Termini that take about 1.5 hours.

Posted by
11364 posts

How about Bologna? Easy high-speed train, can day trip to Ravenna from there, which is lovely. April should be great!

Posted by
208 posts

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I will definitely look into Bologna as I hadn't thought of it. I don't know why I thought the weather in Orvieto would be much different in Rome that time of year. I have some time to decide yet. Thanks everyone!