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Thoughts on itinerary?

Posted by (NYC) on

I am heading to Italy for the first time this July (only time that worked for my nephew) to celebrate my 50th and his graduation. What was initially going to be a week tagged on to his semester abroad has become 15 days through 5 cities throughout northern/central Italy! We will not have a car, have booked air b&bs in central locations in each city, and booked walking food tours in each city for our first meal plus the excursions below. Would love your thoughts on whether you think we are doing too much/too little or missing anything in the area that you think is a must. Also - if you have any must do shops/restaurants/sites that are less known- I would love to hear! Many thanks!!

2 nights in Milan (day trip to Lake Como)
3 nights in Verona (day trip to lake garda/Sirmione/lunch at http://pastificioremelli.it/ + pasta cooking class)
2 nights in Venice (trip to burano/Murano)
2 nights in Bologna (factory tour - cheese, balsamic, wine)
4 nights in Florence (day trip to San Gigmignano + pizza/gelato cooking class in Tuscany)
1 night in Milan - hotel near train station, quiet day/night before flight home.

Posted by
2502 posts

Two nights in Venice would give you only one full day, which is not nearly enough in general, and particularly if you also want to go to Burano and Murano.

Posted by
15798 posts

I would have suggested changing your itinerary around, but since you've already booked lodgings, that doesn't seem to be an option.

The only way to stretch your time in Venice is to arrive as early as possible (hopefully you'll be able to store your luggage somewhere) to have the better part of a day there, then taking a late train to Bologna (again storing luggage somewhere) so you have most of another day. As Insbig pointed out, you only have one full day in Venice. IMO the ferry ride to Murano is the best part of the trip. Venice has much more to offer than any of the other islands, with such a short time.

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you both! Excited to have found this (even more so when I take my niece in 2 years). As soon as I read the first comment I attempted to see what I could do to flip things a bit - but as you mentioned, it is a bit difficult to change now. However, we were already getting to town early and I just secured somewhere to keep our luggage on the last day - and bought us 3 more hours to explore at the tail end of the trip. Thank you both again!
And if you are still reading - the excursions are much easier to switch around. Are there any other day trips/activities you would suggest instead of the ones I chose?

Posted by
3 posts

Yes! But - we do have about 24 hours at the tail end and only need to test during that time. Our flight is late the following day and get late check out. Figured we would fit in one or two things and plan to see more next time.

Posted by
872 posts

There is no reason to stay in Milan twice, proceeding direct to Verona by train. Also these one-night stays yield only a full day, and result in too much travel-related time—checking in and out of hotels, waiting in stations, etc. It is unwise to get locked into anything until the plan is fully vetted. All our hotel reservations are made on booking.com and cancellable.

Posted by
1244 posts

Check your Airbnb's cancellation policies, or if you are able to add or subtract a day from any of them. I agree you need more time in Venice, Burano/Murano can take a most of a day. I wouldn't go to Milan twice, but that is just me.

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