trip to Italy in March

Way, way too much even without trying to squeese in the Dolmites. You have not taken in consideration your travel times between locations and just generally lost time for checking in and out and moving. If I understand you correctly you are arriving on a Thursday and departing the next Tues? -- 5 nights???? It might be possible but still very pressed to land in Milan, go to Venice (1 night), Florence (2 nights) and Rome (2nights). That is it -- cannot be any more. If I didn't think you were serious, I would classify your original question as being a troll. You physically, time wise, you cannot do what you have suggested unless you are capable of staying awake 20 out of 24 hours.

PS Just to layout your first day while you are jet lag --

7am - Land in Milan
9am - Cleared immigration and custom - on train to Milano Centrale (could be later depending on immigration)
10.30 am -- on train to Venice
1.00 pm -- Arrive Venice with luggage
4 pm - on train to Florence
6 pm - Arrive Florence
Drive to Chianti ?? Arrive ??? There is no provision for rest room breaks, food, etc.

This is a long-weekend trip, and I think it's imprudent to do day-trips to Venice and Rome (two of Italy's three top sights, worth a minimum of 3 nights in the case of Venice and 4 nights for Rome) when you're flying in and out of Milan and are tied to two nights in rural Tuscany. You'll probably be sleep-deprived and jetlagged after a semi-sleepless night on the plane, so that first day in Venice would be pretty unproductive anyway. Stick to the area around your lodgings in Tuscany. See Florence, Siena and Lucca. Perhaps get to Milan early enough on Monday to see the Duomo. That will be a memorable trip. What you are proposing will be memorable, too, but more in the way that a nightmare is memorable.

I'm wondering what the vineyard stay will be like in March, too, but it's not something I've ever researched.

What Frank said.

You have 5 nights on the ground, at the pace you've set up, here is what it would look like to get to Venice.

Arrive MXP 7:00
Deplane... 1/2 hr.
Customs passport control...1 hr.
Malapensa Express... 1hr.
Milan Central-Venice... 2 hr 57 min.
Vaporetto to lodging area 15m-45 m.
Check into lodging. 30m.
You've consumed 6+ hrs. you have 1/2 day in Venice.

Please reconsider this pace, max of
Two places would give you a more enjoyable trip.

acraven has given you a great itinerary.

Listen to Frank! It might be helpful to check out the rome2rio.com website and plug in the cities you are contemplating traveling between to get a better idea of how much travel time is required. (Then add in lots more time for all the complications that WILL happen, e.g., finding locations, parking, buying tickets, getting lost, unpacking and packing up again, waiting for trains and vaparettos, etc.

Frank is so right on this. You actually have only 4 1/2 days, and you're planning to spend much of that time traveling, packing, unpacking, etc.

Please rethink this. Your "memories of a lifetime" should be of enjoying the wonderful Italian sights and ambiance; pick one or two places, settle in, and revel in the wonder that is Italy.

ok thanx guys. I guess i should have said that venice is a day and a night ( arriving 7 am thursday milan going to venice and staying overnight) Friday is trip to Florence (specifically Chianti) for 2 nights and checking out Sunday) At this point we head back to milan for 2 nights where we will be departing on Tuesday. I guess more than anything I am wondering Dolmites over Venice?

Another agreement with Frank. Hope it turns out well.

I don't understand how you can arrive at the Milan airport at 7 AM and also be in Venice at 7 AM. Are you catching a connecting flight? Are you traveling by train (that takes about 4 hours, plus you need to get to your Venice hotel and check in)? Again, arrival day for many of us is pretty worthless except for wandering around in a mental fog. Then the next day you'll have to get back to the train station (can take some time in Venice, where public transportation is by boat), take the train to Florence (2 hours), find your way to a car-rental office, deal with the paperwork (said to take longer in Europe), then drive to the vineyard. When did you see Venice?

I don't know that the Dolomites are a good destination in March. It can be chilly and damp even in Venice at that time of year. In any case, the Dolomites are more time-consuming to reach from Malpensa than Venice--it's 4 to 5 hours just to Bolzano, then you need to get on a bus to go up in the mountains.

I don't know where you're staying in Chianti, but Rome is more than a 3-hour drive from Florence, and you'd spend extra time in Rome finding a place to ditch the car. The express train from Florence is much faster, but you'd have to use the car to get near the train station, presumably in Florence, and find a place to park it. Driving in Florence can be an extremely costly exercise in the form of traffic tickets received long after the trip is over. As with Venice, you'd see very little of Rome for all the effort spent getting there.

You can go anywhere you want in Italy, you can fly into and out of any airport you choose, and you can stay as short a time as you want, but all these factors must work together to produce an enjoyable trip. You need to spend some time with ViaMichelin or Google Maps, plotting out what your days are going to look like hour by hour. That will show you that your itinerary simply doesn't make sense. You're going to be spending a great deal of money for not much in the way of pleasant experiences.

I guess i should have said that venice is a day and a night ( arriving
7 am thursday and staying overnight)

jilpinder, you don't have "a day" for Venice. You arrive in "Milan" at 7:00 AM and I'm guessing you're flying into Malpensa? That's an hour from central Milan. From the city you're another 2.5 hours from Venice. By the time you got there and to a hotel, you'd have 1/2 day; not worth it.

Realistically, you only have 5 nights/ 4.5 days to work with. If two nights are tied to Chianti (Fri/Sat) and two to Milan (Sunday/Monday), you have no time for anything else but these two locations, IMHO. I wouldn't try to fit either Venice, Rome or the Dolomites into this compressed schedule. Honestly, I think I would have gone straight to Florence by train for 3 nights/2.5 days, spent 1.5 days exploring the city (arrival 1/2 day could be a jet-lagged haze). Spend your 2nd full day exploring the countryside by 1-day rental car, another town (Lucca? Siena?) by train/bus, or take a wine tour. Heck, I probably would spend a 4th night there and cut one out of Milan.

You do not want to deal with a car in Rome or Florence.

You don't mention exactly where in Chianti you are staying and exactly when in March?

As others have said, you have too much even without adding the Dolomites. March is not a great time in the mountains so you are not missing anything. Stick with Tuscany for your five nights and skip Venice and Rome as well. Time in Florence after Chianti then out of Milano where you may have to spend one night.

On a trip this short, I wouldn't spend any more time in Milan than necessary for travel (Monday night). Just go to Florence on Thursday morning, maybe rent the car that evening, so you can get an early start on Friday morning. Enjoy Tuscany from Friday morning through Sunday late afternoon, then either return to Florence or go to Bologna and drop the car. Spend Sunday in that town, then take a late train to Milan for the night. Or keep the car, spend 2 nights in a town not far from Malpensa, drive to the airport on Tusday morning and drop the car. Maybe Stresa?

As others have said, you have too much even without adding the Dolomites. March is not a great time in the mountains so you are not missing anything. Stick with Tuscany for your five nights and skip Venice and Rome as well. Time in Florence after Chianti then out of Milano where you may have to spend one night.

Posted by Chani
Tel Aviv
12/30/17 04:45 AM
9858 posts
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On a trip this short, I wouldn't spend any more time in Milan than necessary for travel (Monday night). Just go to Florence on Thursday morning, maybe rent the car that evening, so you can get an early start on Friday morning. Enjoy Tuscany from Friday morning through Sunday late afternoon, then either return to Florence or go to Bologna and drop the car. Spend Sunday in that town, then take a late train to Milan for the night. Or keep the car, spend 2 nights in a town not far from Malpensa, drive to the airpo

Ok great ! Thank you Laurel for info on Dormites in March! That is kind of information I am looking for. And thank you Chani for your itinerary. How much time to spend in Milan is crucial when we have just so many days and I appreciate your thoughts!