Hi,
Just need some advice on a trip to Northern Italy in 2026. Start and end point is Rome and travel by train, These are the towns we are looking at:
Rome (5 days), Florence (5 Days), Venice (3 Days), Lake Como (4 Days), Milano (2 days), La Spezia - Cinque Terre (4 days).
And Genova to hop on and hop off a MSC Mediterranean cruise.
Thank you.
To save time, why not book MultiCity Tickets? Fly into Venice and out of Rome . . .
Pick different entrance and exit airports.
What about the order of the cities? I don't want to waste time on the trains?
That is a lot of big cities for me and no small, charming towns. What month? I would pick either Rome or Florence not both. And if you're not flying in or out of Milan then skip it that would be three big cities. I love Italy, everywhere is great. But imagine someone telling you they are going to visit the USA and they are going to New York, LA and Vegas (I have had that happen to me several times). Then I say "what about the Grand Canyon, Bryce or Yosemite? J
When in the itinerary is the cruise-beginning -middle - end?
Fly in to Venice out of Rome or whatever works with the cruise
Look at a map to determine best route
hey hey ffino2510
what month is this trip taking place and how many people with plans of 30 days? where does this MSC cruise begin and end at? where are you flying from, USA/Canada/europe/australia?
it always amazes me how many cities you want to see but round trip from rome, when i think you should do a multicity flight like others have mentioned. you say travel by train but don't want to waste your time on trains and backtracking. check the train schedules (trenitalia/italo) which is too early now but keep an eye open for it. check into hotels is 2-4 pm and checkout is 10-11am
every city you're hoping will be busy and crowded with all the people wanting to do the same as you, italy is top country to visit.
fly into milan, lake como, venice, genova, cinque terre, florence rome and fly home. or vice versus.
if flying from states/canada remember about JET LAG, it's real. pack light and all carry their own bags. i have brought small container of laundry soap and did some sink washing and hanging in room to dry overnight or during day i'm out and about.
good luck planning and researching, at least you're starting early, if you see hotel you like book it when available.
aloha
Hi,
The cruise is at the end from Genoa. Flying in from Australia but what I didn’t mention was that we were arriving in Rome and spend a few weeks in Sicily to visit all of the relatives then head back to Rome and start the trek to the north. It’s 4 of us and not till the end of next year (September and October). So time to plan the trip and get it right.
Regards Frank.
You're spending generous amounts of time in places and that's great to see. I see no glaring errors of issues in your order and you have clearly thought it through.
My suggestions are based solely on my personal preferences, but here goes.
- If you're going to spend that much time in La Spezia/CT area I would advocate taking the time to check out the southern side of the La Spezia bay. There are three interesting towns including San Terezno, resorty Lerici with a marina and Tellaro which is very much like a little CT town. It is beach summer touristy but it's Italian touristy with people in for the summer.
- I would also advise considering staying north of CT on the Ligurian coast in one of the towns like Chiavari or Sestri Levante. It gives you train access south to CT and north to Rapallo and Santa Margherita Ligure/Portofino if that interests you.
- With five days in Florence I would advocate a day trip to Siena.
- Venice deserves at least one more day.
Milan to La Spezia is a long day on the train - longer if it is Como to La Spezia. I'll be honest and say that Milan holds little interest for me as a large busy modern city. If it were my trip I would add a day to Venice, swap Lake Como for Lake Garda taking the bus to someplace like Malcesine and cut out MIlan. And if you were to do this I would go Roma > Venice > Lake Garda > Florence > La Spezia > Genoa. This would also give you big city, Venice, lake, big city, CT, and break up the back to back cities with smaller locations. You would then need to figure out what to do an additional day in the schedule assuming one goes to Venice. If you stay in Chiavari I would add it there because there are a lot of destinations from both directions from there.
My $.02, I'm not criticizing your solid schedule I'm just adding my opinions.
It sounds like an amazing trip!
=Tod
Tod,
Thanks for the suggestions. Especially Chiavari, I actually wanted to go there because I have a cousin that lives there. Didn't consider
it as a place to stay only for a day trip to say hello. So could be a good alternative.
Thanks Again.
