Hi! My partner and I are first-time travellers to Italy and would appreciate any help that comes our way.
We're planning it between 30th March and 10th April for around 10-12 days, and I am worried that we may have overplanned, haha.
We want to cover three regions -
1. Florence and surrounding Tuscan towns/villages
2. Bologna
3. Rome
Our travelling styles - Relaxed and slow-paced. We both are huge foodies and really want to spend time in Florence/Bologna. We are also aware that the Easter holidays fall, smack-dab in the middle of the trip. Neither of us particularly likes huge crowds, which makes me think that Florence might be the place to be during that period.
Here's what we have tentatively come up with -
- Fly into Venice and take a train to Florence (which will be our base). First afternoon/night for settling down and having a meal locally near the hotel.
- Spend the next 3 days exploring different museums/galleries/churches (one big touristy thing every day) and trying different restaurants.
- See the Scoppio del carro in Florence on Easter morning (couldn't find other activities to do in Florence on Easter).
- Half-day trip to Lucca via train OR hire a car and drive into the countryside for a wine tasting/tour. i really wanted to do Montepulciano, but I don't think we have the time.
- One-day trip to Bologna via train (should we extend to two??) Considering maybe doing a cooking class.
- Take a train to Rome on the 7th day and spend the last half of the day exploring the areas local to the hotel.
- Spend the next 3 days in Rome doing touristy things like visiting the Colosseum, galleries, etc.
- Fly back either on the 10th or the morning of the 11th.
Our concerns -
- Are shops/restaurants open on Good Friday, Easter and Easter Monday? We figured it might be better to be in a big town during the festivities, as there might be more options in terms of food/something to do?
- We are flying into Venice as it is cheaper, so we may have to take the train back to Venice from Rome for our return flight to London. (which I'm assuming will take up a good chunk of our time). Is it worth it?
- We know how to drive, but don't drive a whole lot back in the UK, hence a bit underconfident. Is it worth hiring a car to visit the countryside? We also looked into hiring Vespas, but my partner has never ridden on a scooter.
- Have we planned to do too much? We both get very overstimulated and prefer taking things slow, even if it means we may miss out on a thing or two.
Thanks so much in advance! We really appreciate your help x