Suggestions about less crowded summer spots

Last summer, Italy was packed with travelers and visitor numbers spiked. This summer is looking like it too could be a banner year for tourists choosing Italy above all the other countries in Europe.
With the exception of Pienza, every location on your itinerary— from the “holy trinity” of Venice, Rome and Florence that are the top 3 cities visited in Italy—to the Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast, will all likely be overwhelmed with tourists this summer. If you want to visit those cities- that’s fine. But go with your eyes open as to the type of trip you’re likely to have. No one can tell you what you “must see” during your family’s vacation. It is your adventure and the only must sees are the places you enthusiastically want to go to as a group. I like your idea of an Agriturismo in Pienza because that seems the most likely place where you’ll be able to interact with local residents. You might consider mixing up the itinerary with a few destinations that see a lot fewer tourists. You might consider swapping out the overtouristed Cinque Terre, which is almost always thronged with international visitors, and instead visit an Italian Riviera Town such as Finale Ligure with its beaches and castle above town or Alassio which is frequented by Italians. Instead of the Amalfi Coast, you could relax on the beaches of Santa Margherita Ligure.
You could overnight in Padua and take the 20-minute train into Venice. ( Did you know the drought in Italy has caused Venice’s canals to dry up this month?) When I’ve visited Florence, to get away from the crowds, I have overnighted in Fiesole or Siena- each of which can be respectively reached on a 20-minute bus and a 75-minute bus from Florence. The walled-city of Lucca, the hometown of Puccini, is another possibility.
Your itinerary is a blank slate at this point. Italy is a fascinating country with plenty to see and do. If you find yourself uninspired by the itinerary you have- there’s plenty of time to come up with a new one.
Have a great trip!

google is your friend.

https://avoid-crowds.com/italy-where-to-go-to-avoid-crowds/

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/12-secret-towns-in-italy-you-need-to-visit-before-theyre-overrun-by-tourists/

https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/bay-of-poets-ligurian-coast-region-italy

https://www.insider.com/italians-share-tourist-free-destinations-to-visit-in-italy-2020-7

Also, something I concluded for sure this past summer is get up and out early, have a nice lunch somewhere and then a nap in the afternoon. More than a few sights we enjoyed almost to ourselves arriving as soon as they were open only to see the hordes arriving an hour or two later just as we were leaving. Or the opposite, in summer when many sights are open later, go in very late afternoon or early evening after the bus loads have left.

Finally, even if a city has a "must see" sight, it likely has others (small churches, small museums, small lanes) very near by that if you just go over a block or two you leave the crowds behind.

Enjoy the planning!

I agree in general with most of what has been said so far.

No city or sight is a must-see. It depends on your interests and the time you have available. It does appear to me that you have an unusual percentage of time allocated to picturesque little places and scenic areas (and only three nights in Rome), but perhaps you don't care all that much for museums, historic sights and churches.

If you give yourself enough time to do some things beyond just the most famous sights, you can enjoy very lightly touristed spots even in the busiest cities. It's the little places like the Cinque Terre and Amalfi Coast towns where it can be very difficult to escape the daytrippers--until they leave at the end of the day.

My reaction to seven days at the Pienza agriturismo is that it's a heckuva lot of time in vineyards and small Tuscan hill towns. I like picturesque little places myself, and with a car you'll be able to target less touristy ones as often as you like, but for me, those little towns would begin to look alike by Day 3, if not earlier. You can visit an awful lot of little villages with few indoor sights in 3 days with your own car.

Padua, Vicenza, Ferrara and Ravenna have interesting sights but are not generally overrun. Ravenna is at risk of becoming so once the cruisers who port there learn about the fabulous mosaics. So far, they're nearly all getting on buses and heading to Venice. None of those towns is unknown. You have to prebook the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua and I think one or two of the Ravenna mosaic sites, but there's not usually a problem with availability.

If you tell us what sort of sights interest you, folks will be in a better position to suggest alternative destinations.

CT will be a daytime crowded near-nightmare in June/July. Here are some locations to consider for fewer crowds but plenty to see & do:

Parma - a gem of a city and easy access to smaller villages.
Genoa - Perfect for a base if the Italian Riviera as well as having access to all that city has to offer.
Lake Garda - Under-appreciated.
Turin - A great base for visiting western Italy.

Just one guy's opinion.

I always have to smile when I read Lake Garda under-appreciated :-) For Germans it is a popular holiday destination. And it is crowded as well. Nevertheless it is a dream destination.

Some good points have been made. Based on our Cinque Terre visit back in 2001, and then again in 2021, the area’s definitely not off the beaten path. Riomaggiore is where we based both times, and it was magic 20 years earlier, but the crowds this last time were overwhelming. And this was in October, “off season.” I can’t imagine what the summer hoards must be like, and would suggest your 4 nights go for another location.

Bologna’s not a small town, but it’s a food haven, and not nearly as touristed as Florence or Rome. I get the sense it will becoming more and more popular as a destination, so now’s the time to go, if you’re interested.

Rome’s a must-see, and so is Florence. For a bit less crowds, stay in the Testaccio neighborhood, on the south end of Rome, and the Oltrarno part of Florence, on the west side of the Arno River. Private guides for part of the time might help you navigate/minimize crowds for any sightseeing you want to do.

A basic rule of thumb would be to visit places not easily accessible by cruise ship day trippers. That rules out Venice, CT and Rome. The last time we were in Rome, our Walks of Italy tour guide, who has nearly 40 years experience, talked about the change brought by cruise ships. She said it's not just a matter of sheer numbers, but also the prevailing attitude. The day-trippers live in fear of not seeing everything and also not getting back to the ship on time. This leads them to want to muscle their way to the front of every site. The alternative for Venice and Rome is to visit sites off the beaten path during the heart of the day and wait for the day trippers to go back to their ship. That still leaves some time in the morning and evening.

Staying at the agriturismo is a wonderful idea. We spent a week at an agriturismo just outside Greve and used it as our home base to explore Tuscany. I'm assuming you'll have a car at least for this portion of the trip.

Finally, I was reminded of how things have changed. I was in Venice on a school trip the last of July in 1966. I was looking at photos from the trip recently and there's a picture I took of St. Mark's square mid afternoon. At most there were maybe 200 people in the square, it looked pretty empty.

On the Amalfi Coast, visit Praiano....walk down 300 stone steps to Il Gavitella Beach for the morning. Have lunch in the upper town at Kasai. Walk from Kasai up to the Convent of San Domenica.

Be aware that a rental car will be needed during your stay at the agriturismo near Pienza. Agriturismo is a farmhouse converted into a vacation villa in the middle of the country, therefore not served by public transportation. All other locations can be done using public transportation (actually a car is a hassle everywhere but Pienza).
With a week at an agriturismo, you can definitely relax and not rush. I like the idea of staying a week. There are also a lot of places one can visit on a day trip from that area.
You have 4 nights between Florence and Siena. You can easily visit Siena while you are in Pienza (one hour drive) during one of the several day trips you can take during your week at the agriturismo or even from Florence by bus (80 min ride) therefore try not to split that stay into two separate hotel stays. Changing hotels is a time consuming hassle, especially when two places are so close to each other and you can visit the other on a day trip. Just stay in Florence the full 4 nights, you will need that length of time to see Florence, and maybe take a day trip somewhere else near (Lucca, Pisa, Pistoia, etc.).
I don’t know if I would care to stay 4 nights at the Cinque Terre (3 would be more than enough for me), but in summer your kids will probably enjoy swimming in the water. I would probably choose Monterosso instead of Riomaggiore (more choice of restaurants and accommodations p, and Monterosso has also a beach). You can also try nearby Levanto or Bonassola, if you prefer smaller crowds. Both are just 5-7 minutes away by train from the Cinque Terre.
Maybe Rome could use an extra night, but it’s scorching hot in Rome at that time, so it is up to you.
All in all it is a good plan. Make sure your accommodations have air conditioning, and also the agriturismo has a pool.

If you cut out the CT, I'd add days to Venice and Rome. In Venice, stay away from St Marks Square for lodging - we like Cannaregio area, which is very quiet on the back canals, no crowds, yet a 15 minute walk to everywhere.
I would also flip the trip, as it can be hard to fly out of Venice with the early morning flights. It's much easier to fly into Venice and out of Rome. So I would put Rome at the end of the trip.
Based on input here, there's a lot of pent-up demand for Europe this summer . I would draft an itinerary and book (fully cancelable ) lodging asap. You can then play around and modify the plan, but you at least have some lodging in place. Do your research on booking.com, then book directly with the hotel, which usually results in better prices. For our Amalfi trip this upcoming May, I booked the hotel last July. About a month ago I checked to see if the price might have gone down, but instead found the hotel is almost fully booked for our dates. Also- air conditioning is a must for the summers.
Have a wonderful trip.

I don't know what sequence of locations you planned (that may depend also on flights availability from your home airport) but the best IMO would be:

Fly to VCE
VENICE
train to Florence
FLORENCE
train to Cinque Terre
CINQUE TERRE
rent car at La Spezia drive to agriturismo near Pienza
AGRITURISMO PIENZA AREA
drive to Sorrento, return car in Sorrento
SORRENTO
train to Rome (via Naples)
ROME
Fly home from Rome FCO

hey hey nancy055
you are traveling during high season. more expensive with the places you picked will be crowded. i really don't think the locals will come knocking at your door to meet you.
go to small towns with transportation nearby, not all this big cities everyone wants to see.
cinque terre will be overload crowded plus the cruise ships that stop at a port along the area. if there is 3 ships in, you have more than 3,000 to 5,000 people walking around, trains are crowded like sardines, restaurants are packed during the day time
florence is another area that is always crowded, same as rome, even sorrento/amalfi coast
must do spots are different for everyone. this spots are not off the hidden path. look at the beaches not that far from rome taking the train.
book what ever needs to be booked ahead of time, skip the line does not mean faster entrance since you will have to go thru security
these are the places that first timers go to and moving around in a short time. if you are staying at pienza agriturismo, which is usually in country side and will need a car, get an IDP needed when renting a car, available at AAA/CAA for every driver. research into it.
look at rome2rio.com to see towns nearby with train connections. the other two in family are kids and how old? how much can they take, understand, like where they are before getting grumpy/tired?
look at your schedule/itinerary if other changes need to happen or be prepared for the crowds. so many people are traveling everywhere nowdays through many countries and the states and wanting the same thing you want and hope for. ask the kids what they want/hope for, let them do some research and put in the opinions.
are you flying into rome or naples and out of venice? always check your arrival/departure times, 3-4pm check in, 10-11am check out, most hotels have luggage storage till checkin, just be aware. apartments usually not so you have luggage to worry about
good luck and have a great vacation. so much to see and do, remember to sit at cafe and people watch
aloha

Thank you so much for all of these great suggestions! I think based on this advice we will probably skip CT, and shorten time in Sorrento. Then, stay in Padua or Siena and visit nearby cities.

I can't believe you've mentioned renting a car. Florence is the transportation hub for Tuscany. Be sure staying in Siena will m provide decent reach for your planned side trips. It would be deadly to have to start multiple day trips by traveling from Siena to Florence to pick up onward transportation (and do the same thing in reverse at the end of the day). Also, note that the Siena train station is located well below the historic center of town, which might be a bit of an annoyance if taking side trips by train (or possibly not, since you wouldn't have luggage with you).

I think based on this advice we will probably skip CT, and shorten time in Sorrento. Then, stay in Padua or Siena and visit nearby cities.

I think it would be really helpful for you to sit down and plan out your transportation needs. How will you get from one area to another? Where will you need a car? Where do you fly in and out? Do you want to have a car both in Pienza (you need one to get around) and also in Padua?

Here's a possibility. Do Amalfi coast first. Return to Rome, assuming that's where you fly in. Take the train from Rome to Siena. Stay in Siena two nights. Rent a car and drive an hour to Pienza and spend your time at the agriturismo. Return the car to Siena and train to Florence for 3 nights. Train to Padua. Consider using it as your home base and rent a car after using it as your place from which to day trip to Venice. Return car, train to Rome. An alternate would be to return car in Padua, train to Venice, then train to Rome.

Yes, the transportation thing would be the next piece to figure out. We are planning on renting a car in Pienza for sure. We fly in/out of Milan, although we are open to flights within the country, too. We were planning to take a short flight from Milan to Naples to reach Sorrento as the first stop.

For the Amalfi Coast, it seems as though Ravello would be more of what we are looking for (less crowded, touristy) and a good alternative to Sorrento, but when I research that online it says that transportation to the rest of the Amalfi Coast is tough from Ravello. So it seems that the tradeoff for the convenience of Sorrento is to stay in a very busy place. I'm wondering if Ravello would be good if we were ok with not seeing every single sight on the Amalfi Coast.

Nancy, our initial plan was to fly from Milan to Naples for our May trip, but after input from the Forum here, I realized that I wasn't saving any time by flying, once we took into account travel to the airport, arriving early for security and boarding, ( not to mention paying even for small luggage and carryons). The fast trains also offered more flexibility schedule-wise.
Safe travels!

Yes, the transportation thing would be the next piece to figure out.

You will be moving over a significant amount of territory. As you work on your transportation plan, be sure to calculate how much time it will take to move from one place to another. Luckily you have a good bit of time. Have you locked in any of your plans, for instance the agriturismo? That will affect your logistics.