Ten Days in Italy in May

Venice is a great city with a lot to see. It's a long haul from Milan, however, you won't do it justice by making a long trip to stay one night. I think you would be happier planning a return trip to see Rome, Venice and some quieter Northern Italian towns and cities such as Verona, Balogna or Sienna.

Really? I had read that the train ride from Milan to Venice is only two hours, so I just thought it could work but maybe not. The other problem with doing it that way is that Im assuming that when we arrive in Milan on Saturday morning we will be tired and need a day to rest. If we go to Venice on Monday that would only leave Sunday in Milan for shopping and I understand most places are closed on Sundays.

Ashley, given the fact that you "DO NOT want to feel rushed or stressed", I'd drop Venice from this trip, as the travel times to/from are not really the best for a "day trip". As Rick often says "assume you will return". How important is it for you to see Venice?

You'll lose the first day in flight times and time zone changes, so you'll need to consider that at the beginning of the trip. Ten days is a VERY short time for travel in Italy, so you're going to need to plan very precisely! I'd probably arrange the trip along these lines:

Flight to Milano - 4 nights (including travel day). That only leaves three days for "fashion shopping", so you'll have to decide whether this is enough time, or whether you could drop one day in favour of another location?

Train to Firenze - 2 nights

Some clarification needed here - you stated that you would be visiting "Amalfi" - will you be staying in the town of the same name, or one of the other towns on the Amalfi coast such as Sorrento? Is your flight to Paris from Napoli?

Train to Amalfi coast? - 4 nights? Try to choose a EuroStar Italia train for this trip, as it's faster. Reservations WILL be required.

As this is your first trip, I'd highly recommend reading the "Rail Skills" chapter in Europe Through The Back Door (info is in the Rail section of this website also, I believe).

If you could clarify a few details, I'll try to offer a few more suggestions on the latter part of your trip.

Good luck with your planning!

The 16th and 24Th will be travel days , so that leaves you with 7 days. Four large cities in 7 days is too much. Venice is only about 3 hours by train from Milan but with only 1 night there it would not be worth the effort. Venice needs at least a week, as does Florence and the Amalfi area - though with a taste of the areas on this trip you will want to return for a more thorough visit.

I don't agree with Mike. Venice is beautiful, but small. I saw venice in a day and a half including walking the first half day and vaporetto to different places and walking again on the 2nd day, including the major Islands.

Asley,

Your plan sounds good to me, it depends what you would like to see. Seeing museums takes some time.
I've seen Italy in 11 days: Milan, Genoa, Florence, Pisa, Rome by train. I had 6 days left for Rome and it was too much. I saw about 85% of Rome in my first 3 days. I walked all the time in these cities with the exception of Genoa, went to a bunch of Museums, including Vatican, took more than 2000 pictures. While in Rome I went to many places less touristy, becasue I walked a lot.

Thanks for the responses! The thing about Venice is, I just don't think my husband is going to be crazy enough about it for us to stay long. I just want us to see and experience it, but once the novelty of getting on a boat to go everywhere wears off (which will be quick because he HATES boats) Im thinking we'll be over it. Hes not into art or architecture. Of course, he can appreciate an aesthetically pleasing city, but at the end of the day, the most important thing to him with Italy is fashion and shopping.

I just wanted to clear up a common misconception about Venice, although I don't think it will change your plans. Venice is much more a city of walking than it is of taking boats everywhere. Venice is a bunch of small islands linked together by bridges. The canals run between the islands, but on each island you walk everywhere. And to get to another island you just walk over one of the hundreds of little bridges.

Go to Google Earth to see what I'm talking about.

And FWIW, Venice does have a number of high end boutiques for shopping, mostly around the St. Mark's Square area.

What a great husband you have! He loves fashion and shopping.
Very rarely I met a man like that.

Just a caution note to Ken's advice to take the Eurostar to the Amalfi Coast. You can only get as far as Naples that way and then you'll need to switch to a combination of a commuter train and bus. From Florence to Amalfi, you're looking at a fairly long trip. Again, it would be good to know where on the Amalfi Coast you'll be staying.

Thanks for the tip. We are going to Positano

I got got back from Milan last week on business. I was going to take a train to Venice, but sadly it didn't work out with my schedule. But when I was planning on going to Venice, I did some research, and it's only a 2 1/2 hour train trip from Milan to Venice. Very easy to make a day trip, and if you like Venice, perhaps you can stay longer on another trip. That is what I was going to do. The shops in Milan are amazing. I couldn't afford anything, but window shopping was so much fun! I saw a wedding dress that was to die for. I took a picture of it, and soon I'll put it up on Myspace.
I enjoyed Milan a lot, but still not my favorite city. For a big city, I like Rome the best, but still, it's very much worth a visit to Milan. Have fun!!

We went to Milan last year for 4 days and really liked it. We figured the stores would be closed on Sundays, but they were also closed on Mondays til about 1400. So if Sunday and Monday were going to be your shopping days, you might have to find something else to do.

We liked the Duomo and the surrounding area and buildings which are really beautiful, the Opera house, the Da Vinci museum, various churches, a huge old fort that I cant remember the name of, walking the side streets and yep, window shopping.

It does look like you are rushing around a lot.

Lisa- thanks for that tip! That's exactly what I decided we're going to do. We're going to go to Venice for the day on Sunday because most of the shops in Milan will be closed anyways. Ive already realized that we are going to have to go back at some point to see Rome, Tuscany and whatever else we miss this time. I'll just add Venice to that list!

Doug- thank you also, that was really helpful. The package that my travel agent put together includes a private transfer from the train station in Naples to our hotel in Positano. Do you have any idea how long a direct ride like that would be? Also, do you know anything about hotels in Positano? Specifically, the Eden Roc Suites and Le Sirenuse?

Ashley, thanks for clarifying you'll be going to Positano. Beautiful town. The travel details are these: You can get to Naples from Florence in about 3 1/2 hours. At the Naples train station you'll go downstairs to the Circumvesuviana commuter train. It goes to Sorrento - I think about an hour for the trip. Pompeii is on the way if you want to budget more time to see it. Then, in Sorrento, you catch the SITA bus for the trip to Positano. I'm remembering that trip being about 45 minutes. The bus can be very crowded so you'll want to be in line in Sorrento as soon as possible. You can buy the ticket at the train station and the bus stop is in the piazza below the train station.

Ashley - a private car transfer will make things a lot easier! The travel time should be an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half depending on local traffic. It should be a memorable ride. Both of the hotels you mention have great reputations. You can probably find more reviews at Tripadsvisor.com or on Fodors.com.

Ashley, the private transfer from Napoli to Positano certainly makes that part of the trip much simpler. I didn't provide information on the Circumvesuviana in my first post, as at that point I wasn't sure which town in "Amalfi" you were going?

I don't have any informtion on Eden Roc, however Le Sirenuse is wonderful! I often check their web cams when I'm feeling "homesick" for Italy. It's very "high end" so allow for that in your budget. You might also have a look at Hotel Savoia, which is just slightly down from Le Sirenuse.

You noted in your last post that you're dropping Venice this time? From Positano you might enjoy a day trip to Capri? It's an easy trip, but be sure to note when the last boat returns to Positano (about 17:00 as I recall). Also be sure to allow enough time to get to the harbour from the main part of town, as the Funicular can be REALLY busy at that time of the day. I used a Taxi, as I didn't want to miss the last boat.

Happy travels!

You're very welcome Ashley.
Here is another tip that is very important.
Before making any plans, please check this site often, because Italy has many transportation strikes. So please check it out here.
http://www.summerinitaly.com/planning/strike.asp

Hi Ken. We are not dropping Venice per say, we are just going to do a day trip there from Milan on Sunday 5/17 since everything Ive read says that most of the stuff we'd want to do in Milan (basically shopping) will be closed on Sunday. I really like your idea about Capri. Im thinking we will do a day trip there on Saturday, 5/23. Thanks for all your help!

Lisa- thanks for that tip too! You guys are the nicest bunch of bloggers Ive come across in a while!

Ashley

We went to Italy for the first time last year and planned everything with help from Rick and this wonderful group of people. It was great. After reading your posting and all of the responses, I wanted to ask if this is a shopping trip, sightseeing trip or for learning about culture and history. It seems that you will spend a lot of time on public transportation, i.e. airplanes, trains, buses, etc., shopping in stores and rushing through sights to say you've been there. What we found is that most things you can buy in the bigger Italian cities can be found in the large US cities as well. We discovered that Italy is a place to be savored, slowly like its fine wine and food, and not to be rushed. For example, a 20-person tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel reminded me of walking down the concourse of the Superdome in New Orleans where I live after a Saints game. Loud and hurried. I long to go back and take the same tour by myself, stopping to understand the paintings and sculptures done a thousand years ago, by whom and why. That's a very simple explanation of trying to do too much in a short time throughout your trip.

For what it's worth, might I suggest that you decide which is more important to you, shopping for fashion in Milan (are you really going to buy it at 30% more than you'd pay here) or the Amalfi coast. If Milan, I'd confine my trip to Milan, Venice and Florence and stop to smell the roses. It's your anniversary and what I imagine is a significant one. Allow time for romance in these cities and go back (as you will want to do) to see Rome and the southern part of the country in a few years. It will certainly still be there. If the Amalfi coast, reverse the process.

Regardless of your decision, you WILL go back. It will just be a matter of how you do it and when. Compare this to trying to do Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami in a week, and I assure you that Italy is far more interesting and addictive.

Jim