Spring 2020 Italy trip

You are at that early stage of planning where your options are virtually limitless, and you don't really have an idea of what you want to see yet.

The first thing to begin your trip research will be to get a good guidebook. You can purchase Rick Steve's Italy 2019 on this website or on Amazon. Read the book; read others. Try to narrow down your bucket list. If you haven't experienced Back Door travel, spring for Europe Through the Back Door to take a look at a very successful travel ethic. It's on this website as well.

Your request is a little general, even for your first post. Good luck with narrowing it down and feel free to ask about specific areas and events in Italy.

Thank you for your response. We already have Rick Steve’s books and have been researching for a time. We thought it would be fun to add some thoughts from others who have traveled this area, how long you’d spend in different places and why. If you have any ideas you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you again 🤗

This is what I would do based on research for my own visit to Italy next May as well as a previous visit.

Fly into Milan. Take train to city center and then train to Levanto. Stay 3 nights either on Levanto or one of the Cinque Terre towns.

Train to Florence and stay 5 nights. Day trip by bus to Sienna. Perhaps second day trip as well depending on interest (how many museums want to see).

Train to Venice. Stay four nights in city proper.

Train to Milan and then to Lake Como. Stay in Varenna that you can reach by train. Stay 3 nights.

That is 15 nights so could add one or two depending on interests.

Beth, thank you!! Excited to look at this option and see how it works for us!! 🤗

If going to Switzerland, you need to end up in Lake Como not start. So Fly into Venice, Florence next. Siena day trip you take the bus; there are others by train. For Levanto & Cinque Terre you take the train from Firenze Campo di Marte at 7:28AM, changing to the local train at La Spezia:

https://oraritreniitalia.com/orari-treno-regionale-21182

Train schedules for Italy, and for Varenna [mid-lake, Lake Como] to Lugano in Switzerland--a good gateway to the country; avoids Milan enirely:

https://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

Swiss trains:

https://www.sbb.ch/en/timetable.html

I agree about ending up in Como if you are going on to Switzerland. Fly into Venice, then head west to Florence, then CT, and then north to Como. 2-3 weeks isn't much for a trip this large. You don't want to spend all your time traveling--you want to actually BE there. You could skip CT, in my opinion... It was heaven 10 years ago, but it's been loved to death by tourists. If you do go, stay overnight--it's best early morning and evening, when the other tourists go home.

I love Venice, and spring would be a good time to see it (both in terms of weather and crowds). Pick up a Donna Leon mystery and read it before you go. Be sure to see the islands. Book big sites (museums, operas, etc.) online and well ahead of time. I also love Florence. Both cities are great choices.

I just got back from Lake Como. I recommend Bellagio (despite its unfortunate association with Vegas) as your base. I posted some recommendations in RS's hotel and restaurant review forum, if you are interested. The lake ferries are hard to navigate but the scenery is beautiful.

Have fun!

Monty, thank you! Wonderful suggestions!

If you decide to drop Cinque Terre, you might consider adding a few nights in Tuscany, in a small town that's a good base for exploring the area by car.

I'm sorry - I should have indicated that we would be traveling primarily by train :)

We're traveling to Florence next year and planning to utilize a couple of airbnb experiences to extend our Florence trip (after seeing the musuems/duomo/markets/etc.) One is a sunset-bike-back-into-Florence from Fiersole. The other is a mini-van food/wine tour of hill town San Gimignano. We're traveling by train, also, and both of these do not require a car.

Based on my research for my upcoming trip (this October), I would do several days in Florence, and from there to Genoa for several days, then Milan for a few days, then Lake Como. Cinque Terre holds little appeal for me, but you did ask what I would do.....if I was going to fit it in, it would be between Florence and Genoa.

I've loved perusing the Atlas Obscura site that offers ideas of unusual places of interest in among the more common sights to see.

My grandma used to say, "'Everyone to their own taste,' said the old lady who kissed the cow."

Personally, I hated Milan--just a big, dirty city. I'd go if I had tickets at La Scala, but not otherwise. But I know some people see things I don't see.

Also, I am in and out of Genoa a lot--I have family who live in Chiavari, Calvari and Sestri Levante (east of Genoa, north of Portofino)--and I only go to Genoa to get through it and out the other side. Again: big, dirty city. The surrounding small towns are real Italy, however. That can be wonderful. Be prepared to attempt Italian. (Or Genovese.)

The tourist favorites are favorites for a reason. Florence, Venice, CT, Como...they are all beautiful. Chock full of tourists, of course, but like Sophia Loren, the beauty is still there.