Suggestions for Italy Itinerary

I'm a bit confused about your plans, because you say you have five nights booked in Montecatini, but then you talk about an overnight in Venice. I'll assume this means you have some flexibility and could cancel your booking in Montecatini.

Five nights is really just enough to give you a taste of Florence and Venice, so I would recommend limiting your trip to those two destinations. My choice would be three nights in Florence and two nights in Venice. You can easily take trains between all these destinations, so I wouldn't bother with a car.

Beyond that, it is hard to give you any specific advice without knowing more about other things you'd be interested in. You could easily fill your time just within the two cities, but if you have any interest in exploring other nearby destinations (such as Tuscan hill towns or islands surrounding Venice), let us know and I'm sure I or others on this forum could offer suggestions.

Have a great trip!

Six nights isn't very much time for Italy, but I'll offer some suggestions. You can easily hit Florence for a day as Montecatini is pretty close. I would not drive into Florence though, as the ZTLs (roads where only certain vehicles are allowed) could end up costing you a lot in traffic fines! Find a place to park on the outskirts of town and tak a bus in to the center. Other places that might interest you (all easy drives from Montecatini) are Pisa/Lucca (can combine these into a day trip), Volterra, Siena and San Gimignano. You will arrive on Tuesday so if you go to Venice on Friday, that only leaves you with about 3 full days to tour Tuscany. You may want to see if you can return the rental car in Florence and then take the train to Venice and from Venice back to Milan. Assuming you keep the car, here is one possible itinerary that will allow you to hit the high spots:

Monday - depart for Milan
Tuesday - arrive Milan, drive to Montecatini, explore the town.
Wednesday - Day trip to Florence (get reservations for the Accademia / Uffizi if you plan to go to either)
Thursday - Day trip to Pisa (just a couple of hours at the Leaning Tower) then on to Lucca for the rest of the day.
Friday - Half day in Florence or other Tuscan town and then head towards Venice (will have to park outside the city). Evening vaporetto cruise down the Grand Canal and drinks on St. Marks Square listening to the orchestras.
Saturday - Venice until mid-afternoon, then drive to Milan.
Sunday - Fly home

My suggestion: start each day early because you don't have a lot of time!

Edit: another option for Venice is to take the train early one morning and make it a day trip. It's not ideal, but you won't have to drive. Check timetables on Trenitalia.com.

mk,

The first thought that occurred to me when reading your post was that it would have been prudent to have worked out the details before booking flights and hotels. I'm also a bit confused about your Itinerary. Are you planning to stay in Montecatini and then take day trips to each of the locations you mentioned?

Given the very short time frame and the fact that flights and hotels are already booked, that tends to limit the possibilities somewhat. It would help to know....

• when is this trip taking place?
• where are you flying from?

As you are not "experienced overseas travellers", you may find that you'll be affected by jet lag, so won't be up to full touring speed for a day or so.

Travel by train will likely be the best option as it will be much faster and more efficient, especially on the high speed routes where the trains travel at up to 300 km/h. However there are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of when using public transit in Italy. If you need more information on that, post another note here.

A car rental may not be the best idea. It's important to note that for driving in Italy, each driver listed on the rental form must have the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. (so you must carry both). These are valid for one year, and easily obtained at any CAA/AAA office (two Passport-sized photos required, which may be provided by the issuing office).

You may also want to have a look at some of the posts on the forum concerning the dreaded Zona Traffico Limitato (limited traffic) areas that are becoming increasingly prevalent in many Italian towns & cities (especially Florence!). Some of these are enforced by automated cameras and some by local police. Each pass through one of the automated Cameras will result in a €100+ ticket and visitors often don’t know of these violations until several months after they’ve returned home. In addition to the actual fines, renters will also be charged by the rental agencies for providing information to the authorities. You may find this website helpful - http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/driving/traffic_cameras_speeding.htm

There’s also the possibility of fines for driving in bus lanes, parking tickets, tolls and speed cameras including the devious Traffic Tutor system which not only monitors instantaneous speeds but also average between two points. Violate either or both parameter and expensive tickets will follow! Be sure to budget for the high fuel costs and note that some automated fuel pumps may only accept Chip & PIN credit cards.

A GPS along with a good Map is also prudent. Be sure to give some thought to the question of CDW and theft insurance. In Italy, buying CDW from the rental firm is usually compulsory, so coverage provided by credit cards will not apply. Check the Car Rental guide at http://www.gemut.com/ for more information. Their free "Car Rental" PDF Guide can be downloaded. You may also want to check the “Travel & Transportation” pages at https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/italy.html for other tips. There’s also this website - https://it.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/transportation-driving/?_ga=1.21563186.86862954.1474991758

I would highly recommend packing along a copy of the RS Italy guidebook as that has an enormous amount of information that will help you to plan efficient sightseeing.

If you could clarify the few questions above, I'll try to offer some Itinerary suggestions.

Congratulations!

Why Montecatini as a base? If I had six nights in Itsly for a special occasion, I would straight-line from Milano to Venezia with a stop in Verona or Lago di Como or Lago Maggiore.

If you drive on the Italian autostrada the tolls are quite expensive.

A car is good for driving through Tuscany and Umbria, but you can take tours from Florence.

I recommend at least 3 days in Florence. Also, recommend Sienna.

Six nights really doesn't give you much time to move about. It always takes a lot more time than one anticipates to check out of a hotel, get to the train station, travel to the destination station, get to the new hotel, check in, and then get settled. Since this is a special anniversary trip, if you are not locked into hotels already, consider splitting the time between Florence and Venice. You will find more than enough in each place to keep you occupied.

Thanks to all who have responded. I'll provide a little clarity which may help with suggestions. The trip was purchased as a package from a TravelZoo offering of a trip to Tuscany which included airfare, rental car and hotel. We will be traveling during the last full week of March 2017, flying out on a Monday and returning the following Monday. We leave from JFK to Milan. A choice of hotels was available, but not the base city, hence Montecatini. We are flexible on our travel plans in that we don't mind paying for additional hotel accommodations in order to see Venice. We would just check out of our Montecatini hotel early.

Although I have gotten an international driver's license from AAA, my thought is that I would prefer to travel everywhere by train. I don't want my trip marred by unexpected fines, parking costs and wasted time due to getting lost. We are aware that six nights is not much time. My hope is that the trip is so nice that it will encourage us to come back for a longer stay with some experience under our belts.

My initial thoughts on an itinerary are:

Monday - Depart USA
Tuesday - Arrive Milan early AM. Perhaps spend day in Milan and then take a late afternoon train to Montecatini. Explore the city and have dinner. We are open to suggestions other than Milan. Maybe straight to Montecatini and then an afternoon trip to Pisa/Lucca?
Wednesday - Day trip into Florence. See the main sites/galleries
Thursday - Day trip into Florence. Perhaps a guide wine tour of the Chianti region
Friday - Travel to Venice for arrival around noon.
Saturday - Day in Venice w/ overnight
Sunday - Morning in Venice. Late afternoon travel to Milan
Monday - Depart AM for USA

Does this sound reasonable? Also, my wife read that many train stations have places were you can check your luggage until you can check in to your hotel. Does anyone have any information about this? We welcome any tips, suggested attractions, or even changes in itinerary

Again, we are most appreciative of anyone taking the time to respond. We are well aware that we have not prepared as thoroughly as some have suggested we should have, hopefully some of you can help us overcome this shortcoming.

Excellent idea about taking the train rather than driving. Getting to any hotel in Venice can be daunting for a first timer, so let us know the hotel you'll be using there and we can probably give you pretty specific directions to get there. Trust me, after the first trip you will want to go back again.

TC,

I was looking at the Al Sole Hotel, which is reported to be 0.3M from the Santa Lucia train station. It has a large number of positive reviews and is very reasonably priced. please share if you have any hotel suggestions. We have a modest budget since we have already paid for two nights hotel accommodations as part of our package that we won't be using.

I think your itinerary looks fine. If you want to see The Last Supper, try to book tickets online (ASAP) either on your first day in Milan or your last. For train tickets, you may be able to save some money if you buy up to 120 days in advance. You can do a search on trenitalia.com from Montecatini to Venezia Santa Lucia station. You should be able to find economy or super economy fares. The downside is you are locked into a specific train, but if you know when you want to go, that's not a bad thing.

I think your itinerary is good. It's unfortunate that your visits to Florence will be day trips, and you might find you wish you had more time there, especially if part of one day is spent on a wine tour outside the city. You could consider a third full day and postpone your trip to Venice until Saturday morning.

At least you won't have to worry about hot weather at the end of March, so you might not get worn out too quickly and may have the energy to spend long days there, well into the evening.

I agree with the plan to skip the rental car. Train travel will be convenient and more relaxing.

When I was in Venice and had an early flight out of Milan, I checked out of my hotel, checked my luggage at the train station, and spent the full day in Venice, then took a night train (leaving around midnight I think) that got us into Milan around 5 am, and then took a taxi to the airport. Something to consider to maximize your time on a short trip.

Have a great trip.

Thanks Lane. The fortunate thing about day trips to Florence is that the trains do run fairly late and are quite inexpensive, so we should be able to easily stay until mid-evening to help maximize our time there.

Our favorite hotel in Venice is Pensione Guerrato which is in the Rialto Bridge area. It is on a little side alley away from most of the crowded area, but is quite close to the local produce and fish markets. The RS tour groups stay here at time so reservations need to be made well in advance. Let us know where you decide to bed down and we can probable give you directions from the train station.

If you are staying in full-service hotels that aren't too small, there's a very good chance you'll be able to store your luggage there before check-in time on your arrival day and after check-out time on the days you plan afternoon or evening trains to new cities. Email the hotels to ask. That will be more time-efficient than dealing with the luggage-storage folks at the train station.

Unless you are both uncommon travelers who can sleep well while sitting up on the plane, I think on your arrival day you will not want to deal with two separate train rides. Montecatini Terme is a 4+ hour train trip from Milan Malpensa, and I don't know how much longer it will take to get to your hotel. You may find yourselves wide awake when you arrive at Montecatini, but I'd be surprised if you are, so I would not expect to be ready to get back on the train to go to Pisa, a 75-minute trip. Incidentally, although Pisa has the calendar view, most of us find the walled city of Lucca to be worth more time, and Florence and Siena would be higher priorities.

You can check the train schedules on the TrenItalia website. It looks as if the fares from Montecatini to Venezia S. Lucia top out at 45.40 euros. Although you can save 10 - 15 euros each by booking that trip now, you'll be locked into the specific train you choose (both date and time). On a short trip like yours, I wouldn't do that. I'd retain as much flexibility as possible about the timing of my move to Venice. You'll have your hotel pinned down, so you'll know which day you must make that switch, but you'll be free to take an early train if you're ready to move on and anxious to get to Venice or a much later train if there's more you want to see in Tuscany.

Definitely consider the weather situation in Venice before deciding on your departure time. Venice can be wet and raw in late March, and if the weather's not good you might prefer a later departure from Montecatini, unless you expect to spend a large proportion of your Venice time inside (which would not be my choice).

Congratulations! You will want to return after this trip.

Your trip is doable. Take the train and not the car. Tuesday will be a long day for you. Make sure you have train schedules for your destinations so you will know when the next train departs.

In Venice, you dont have to close to the Santa Lucia train station. Double check your hotel on a map. You need to be close to Vaporetto (water bus) stops. A friend was staying in Venice a few years ago and she told me her hotel was canal side on the islands but the picture showed a driveway. After researching, she was on the mainland. I would not have a midnight departure from Venice, you will not sleep on the train or if you do you might sleep through your stop. Departure day is always rough doing it after trying to sleep sitting upright is too much to ask.

Thanks to all for the advice, in particular regarding the trains. I was thinking about purchasing in advance, but the added flexibility you mentioned seems definitely worth the small added cost.

If I'm reading correctly, most seem to be saying that Pisa is more of a picture stop and could easily be skipped for more interesting locations.

Our hotels seem to be a short walk from the train stations (less than a half mile), so we won't have to worry about additional travel.