Traveling to Italy Oct 2017...Travel suggestions??

creshetn, Oct 2016 not possible, its already 2017!

1) I was thinking of flying into either Milan or Rome and then flying out home from a different country. Is this a good idea?

Flying into Rome and out of Milan (or vice versa) makes sense, saves doubling back. Why do you want to fly out of a different country?

2) Wanted to visit a part of Tuscany. Any suggestions for the best places?

Arrive Late 12th Oct, leave 22nd, that is only 10 nights in Italy. The absolute minimum to stay in any one place is two nights, three or more recommended.
You could do Rome: 3 nights, Florence: 2N, Venice: 3N, Milan 2N.
If you want to visir rural Tuscany, you need a car and more than 2 nights.

3) Was thinking of doing Rome- Venice-Milan. Not sure of the details of the itinerary yet, any help would be appreciated.

Rome - Florence - Venice - Milan is in a line, and starts and ends at cities with major airports. Good plan.

4) I have read that the best wat to get around Italy is via train. Is it not recommended to rent a car?

In all these cities a car is useless, and they are all linked by high speed trains. You only need a car if you are venturing out into the countryside (e.g. Tuscany), and then only for that part of your trip. But I don't think you have time for that.

P.S. for information about the trains in Italy, see here: https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

I was thinking of flying into either Milan or Rome and then flying out
home from a different country. Is this a good idea?

No. Leaving NYC on Oct 12 and Italy on Oct 22 only gives you 9 nights/8.5 days to work with: barely enough time for 3 locations in Italy.

Wanted to visit a part of Tuscany. Any suggestions for the best
places?

If you want to visit Tuscany, then fly into Venice, skip Milan, and fly out of Rome: go to Florence (capital of Tuscany). Take a day trip from there by train or bus to Siena, or train to Lucca. Or skip Venice for Milan. In any case, you really don't have time for a 4th destination.

I have read that the best wat to get around Italy is via train. Is it
not recommended to rent a car?

For a plan that includes urban areas, trains are absolutely the best way to get around. A car is essentially worthless in Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan due to many pedestrianized areas (Venice is ENTIRELY pedestrianized) and vehicular streets which are restricted to locals (ZTLS). Parking is also a challenge. Trains are the fastest way to get from one city to the next when time is tight, as yours is. You can hop one in the middle of one city and be dumped out right in the middle of the next in shortest order.

All of these cities have good public transit and, frankly, some are really best explored on foot anyway. A car is a bonus if planning to spend a lot of time in the countryside but not for a plan which is focused on cities.

Anyway, an itinerary which skips Milan and includes Tuscany might look like this:
10/12: fly out of NYC
10/13: arrive Venice (3 nights) Flying INTO Venice is recommended as flights OUT are often really early in the morning
10/14: Venice
10/15: Venice
10/16: early train to Florence, Florence, (2 nights)
10/17: Day trip from Florence
10/18: Train to Rome, Rome (4 nights)
10/19: Rome
10/20: Rome
10/21: Rome
10:22: fly home from Rome

If there's ANY way to add another day or two I'd advise it so that you had 1 more for Florence. Or subtract one from Rome, although I consider 4 nights the minimum for that one as there's so much to see.

A plan which skips Venice might look like this:
10/12: fly out of NYC
10/13: arrive Rome (4 nights)
10/14: Rome
10/15: Rome
10/16: Rome
10/17: Train to Florence (4 nights)
10/18: Day trip from Florence
10/19: Florence
10/20: Day trip from Florence
10/21: Early train to Milan: you can sightsee enough highlights with a partial day.
10/22: Fly home from Milan Malpsensa (1 hour from central Milan)

Considering your limited amount of time actually "on the ground", my suggestion is that you limit yourself to two (or not more than three) locations. Every time you change locations you almost always lose more time than anticipated. Even if you have a car (which in my opinion really isn't needed) there is still the packing up, checking out, travel time itself, getting to the new hotel, checking in, and unpacking. If you are going by train there is the additional time getting to the station and the waiting time. Consider flying into the northern part of the trip (either Milan or Venice), working your way south and flying out of Rome. Don't mean to be Debbie Downer, just food for thought.

Are your dates definite? Just a reminder Columbus Day is Oct 9, 2017, a lot of companies give that day off (mine doesn't, but my husbands does). So maybe that can give you an extra day. Leave 4th arrive the 5th. Arrive Milan 5th & 6th, Venice, 7th, 8th, 9th, Florence 10th & 11th, Rome 12, 13, 14 leave the 15th from Rome. Otherwise, like others have said trying to squeeze Milan, Venice, Tuscany & Rome would be a lot for 8.5 days.

I found a really good deal from JFK to Milan Oct 2nd on Emirates (less that $500 each). I also have about your time frame. I arrive on the 3rd, going straight to Venice for 3 Nights, Florence 3 Nights, Siena 2 nights & Milan 1 Night. Leave Italy on the 12th. I know it doesn't leave me much time in Milan but I originally planned on Rome but being that I leave from Milan, it didn't make sense for this trip.

I decided to forego a car & take a day trip from Florence to Chianti with Tours by Roberto.

Planning is half the fun. Just to say what others said to me, don't forget this is your vacation, you don't want to feel like you are racing through Italy. Plan like you will go back. It was really, really hard letting go of Rome for me, but if I go back I plan on doing South Italy, flying in & out of Rome. Good luck!

Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for the suggestions! I really appreciate all of the advice.

I think that at this point according to all that I have read and research my itinerary looks something like this:

Oct 12: NYC to Venice
Oct 13: Venice
Oct 14: Venice
Oct 15: Venice to Florence
Oct 16: Florence
Oct 17: Florence
Oct 18: Florence to Rome
Oct 19: Rome
Oct 20: Rome
Oct 21: Rome
Oct 22: Rome to NYC
My dates of travel are unfortunately not very flexible, I only have that week approved for vacation!

Any other suggestions for great places to stay/ eat/ or visit on this itinerary? I really want to visit a winery on my trip, perhaps attend cooking class.
I feel like there is so much to see, and planning this can get a little overwhelming!

Any idea on how the weather will be like at that time of the year? I was reading that it should be in the mid 70s? Sounds like spring weather in NYC

Your itinerary looks fine: essentially the first version I posted other than exchanging one night in Venice for one in Florence.
So you will have 2 nights/1.5 days in Venice, 3 nights/2.5 days in Florence, and 4 nights/3.5 days in Rome. All of these will be efficiently reached via fast trains... which is a subject for another post if wishing to try and save a little $$. Pre-booking super-economy or economy tickets, when available, can help the budget!

Realistically, this gives you only enough time for 1 day trip from Florence. Personally? I'd skip the wineries in favor of Siena or Lucca - wineries are things we can do in the U.S. - but this is YOUR trip so I'm sure others will provide some suggestions for tours.

Other than a cooking class (something else I probably wouldn't do with your short amount of time but maybe an evening class in Rome?) what else are you interested in doing/seeing in Italy? You still have some time to read and plan so have you purchased a guidebook or checked any out of the library to browse for ideas? We tend to focus on those attractions/activities we can't do or see in the U.S. - we're pretty short on 14th-century churches, Roman Empire-era ruins and Renaissance art and architecture! - but it would help to know what appeals to you?

The weather should be cool-ish but MUCH more comfortable for sightseeing than the heat of summer! This summer has been especially hot in Italy, so we've heard from travelers there currently. I would pack jackets or raincoats, and leave the shorts at home.

http://www.holiday-weather.com/rome/averages/october/

http://www.holiday-weather.com/florence/averages/october/

http://www.holiday-weather.com/venice/averages/october/

We are also going in October and hitting some of the cities that you plan to visit

I can't give you reviews of the places we are staying or tours we are doing as of yet but after doing lots of research and talking to friends who have traveled to Italy, these are some of our plans

We are staying at Airbnb's in Venice, Florence and Rome. I can share those with you if interested. All between $120-150 a night after cleaning and service fees

Planning to do a free walk tour of Venice by Venice Free Walking Tour

Also perhaps a tour to
Pubs and experience Chiccetti. You can do this on your own. I thought it would be fun thing to do with others. His name is Alessandro. I can send you his email.

In Rome we plan to do some guided tours of Vatican - Sistine Chapel and Coliseum and Forum but I haven't chosen a company yet. This would include skip the line entry. Any suggestions ?

Florence I think we plan to do 3 tours by Artviva. Walk about Florence, Academia, and Uffizi. Plan to do a day trip
Into Tuscany with them as well!

Recommended seeing the sunset from Piazalle Michaelangelo
Also plan on reserving time tickets ahead of time to climb duomo

These are the planned activities and the rest is exploring and meandering. I do have
Some recommendations of restaurants from
Someone who has lived
In Rome

We are also going to some
Small towns but we have more days in Italy than you

Have a great trip

Andrea

In Rome we plan to do some guided tours of Vatican - Sistine Chapel
and Coliseum and Forum but I haven't chosen a company yet. This would
include skip the line entry. Any suggestions ?

Andrea, you don't have to book a tour for skip-the-line tickets to either. All can be done simply by purchasing entry tickets ahead of time. Do be aware that while ticket lines can be skipped, everyone must go through the security queues: no exceptions.

If you wish to book a tour at the Vatican, various options are available on their website for economical prices:

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html

Entry tickets for Colosseum/Forum/Palatine can be ordered from the official website here, and 5-euro tours of the Colosseum are possible to book by phone. All info is on this page:

http://www.coopculture.it/en/colosseo-e-shop.cfm

Audioguides are available for all as well.

For the budget-conscious traveler, Rick offers free downloadable audioguides of select attractions in Rome, Florence, Venice, Siena and Assisi as well as a few self-guided walking tours.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours

The major museums all offer rental audioguides for very reasonable prices too.

As far as restaurants, a search through previous threads on the topic for a specific city will turn up oodles of recommendations. If you haven't found the search function yet, it's a grey bar with a magnifying glass and word "search" at the top of the forum pages.

Type, say, "Restaurants, Rome" in the box and hit "Go"
Choose "Travel Forum" from the "Filter by Type" selections on the left.
Then under "Filter by date", choose entries which are "6 months and newer" or "1 year and newer"

Great way to find all sorts of info on frequently discussed topics, including ticket sources, private drivers and guided tours.

Thanks for the info. I will look into thAt. I do want some kind of guided tour so we can understand and appreciate what we are seeing.

Always good to know what you're looking at, eh? I'm in favor of that but like to provide the budget options for the folks - like students - who must stretch the pennies. There are multiple ways to skin the cat depending on what's in the wallet. :O)

Vatican: aside from tours offered by the Vatican itself, this service is probably top of heap with quite a number of RS posters:

https://www.walksofitaly.com/vatican-tours/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour

And the same for the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine:

https://www.walksofitaly.com/rome-tours/roman-colosseum-tours

The Roman Guy sees really good reviews as well:

https://theromanguy.com

Thanks. All so helpful. I really appreciate the links as well. We are a bit past the young traveler :).

In your opinion, do you think the tour companies do a better job of enriching your experience than the guides a available on site?

Andrea, that is probably a great question for a NEW thread? I think you'll get more responses than burying it here, and I'm afraid we've sort of hijacked our poor OP's post!
(Apologies, creshetn!)

Thank you to everyone for all of the suggestions. Hopefully I can book the plane tickets this week!

Just a quick note, all of the guides, have to go through the same requirements to get their license. It doesn't mater if they're private, work for a tour company or for the sites themselves.

For a wine tour from Florence check out this one.

https://www.getyourguide.com/florence-l32/chianti-siena-tour-with-dinner-in-piazza-del-campo-t44272/?referrer_view_id=fc1374074491ca33ab8fc76279f7a382&referrer_view_position=2

Food and wine: ArtViva has both tasting tours and cooking classes, mainly in Florence. Highly recommend their tour of the Uffizi, btw.

Elizabeth Minchilli is an American (NYC) that married an Italian and has been blogging beautifully about Italian food and culture (but mostly food!) since 2009. She offers food tours and cooking classes in Rome. She also has some very handy apps (Eat Italy, Eat Florence, Eat Rome) for finding good food (and even a cooking class or two). http://www.elizabethminchilliinrome.com/cooking-events/
I used both Rick's guide and her app and found many recommendations in common with helpful pics too.

Awesome! Thank you SO much. I will have to check out everything that was referenced.

So I was researching plane tickets, and it seems like a roundtrip flight is significantly cheaper than an open jaw flight.
Any opinions on flying into Rome, making my way up through Florence and then to Venice, and then taking a train back from Venice to Rome? Versus flying into Venice and going south towards Rome and then just flying back home from Rome?
It seems kind of inconvenient to me, but the difference in plane ticket prices is significant :(