Hi All.
we fly into Venice on the Saturday 18th May .we are now staying 3 nights. we have accommodation booked from the 25th -28th may at CT Riomaggiore.
we would love to see lake Como, bologna, parma. and are going to stay 2 nights in Lucca when we leave CT. does any have any ideas of the best way to utilise out time. should we base at 1 place? we understand that there is heaps to see and can't see everything and thats ok. We also don't want to be on a whirlwind. im trying to figure out the best routes and I know that it may not be to my favour!
Also we will be on public transport. Venice and CT are the 2 places that we have locked in accommodation.
Any thoughts, ideas, recommendations would be amazing. this will be my 1st trip to Europe and we are flying out of Rome on the 20th June. The great attractions eg Pompeii colesseum etc we want to see but no so interested in all the religious statues, but in the same breath we are. want to do AC and see if we can get over to Bari.
many thanks in advance.x
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16287 posts
I am glad to see you have added a night to Venice.
As you make your way to Cinque Terre, you should consider a mix of “daytrips” from a base, and moving on to a new location. To include Lake Como, bologna/Parma on the way is easy. From Venice, you head to Milan and take a regional train to Varenna, or other town of village on Lake Como. Varenna is easy as it is only one hour from Milan by direct train, and is a charming village, worthy of 3 nights if you want to daytrip around the lake by boats.
Then you would return to Milan and head to Bologna, or Parma. They are close and you could visit one from the other, but Bologna offers more options for other daytrips—-including Ravenna which is highly recommended.
From Bologna it is a short train ride to Firenze, where you transfer to the train toward the Cinque Terre villages. I hope that Rome, the Amalfi coast, and Pompeii come after that. If you want to leave time for Bari and Puglia you will have to figure out the timing. There are direct trains from Bari back to Rome for your last stop.
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
799 posts
So if I'm reading this right you're
Venice: 18, 19, 20
...21-24
CT 25-28
Lucca 29,30
Venice to Bologna is an easy 1.5 hours by fast train but the problem with the timing is that you really have time for Bologna or Lake Como but both would be whirlwind fast. Keep in mind that 2 nights somewhere is only 1 full day. Both of the other days are filled with checking in, travelling with bags etc.
The whole of the Po Valley is worth exploring there and I would suggest 4 days in Bologna exploring Modena, Reggio Emilia
and Parma or 2 nights in Bologna and 2 nights in Parma exploring the surrounding area. Parma is about 2 hours from La Spezia which is the jumping off point for CT so you're set for the 25th.
La Spezia to Lucca is an easy 1.5 hours by train. You'll probably have to change trains but that's not a big deal. Lucca is lovely town to explore for a couple of days. Pisa is an easy trip if you want to do the Leaning Tower sightseeing experience.
Your next obvious spot to visit is Florence with a ton of must see thins, but you'll need to keep an eye on your schedule. Especially around the AC the travel infrastructure isn't great and travel can be time consuming.
Naples is your best departure point for Bari but it will still be 4+ hours on the train crossing the peninsula.
I would recommend staying in Sorrento as a jumping off point for both Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast.
So I would recommend some combination of Florence > Naples
and the either Sorrento > AC > Naples > Bari or Bari > Naples > Sorrento > AC > Naples.
You're going to be doing some backtracking but that's inevitable with the list of places you've listed. I would then finish in Rome with as many days as you have left before flying home.
With 21 remaining days I would suggest something like:
Florence 4
Bari 3
Sorrento/AC 5
Rome 5
Even with these day allocated you still have some days to spend other places - maybe Siena for some Tuscan hill town experience or something else that appeals to you. You could also spend time in Naples and see the amazing Archaeological Museum and Herculanum, but Naples is a crowded chaotic city and since this is your first trip to Europe it's up to you how much chaos you're up for.
Personally I recommend using a spreadsheet to track your nights (helps you know where to make hotel reservations) and the tracking your travel between locations. Fast trains have assigned seats and have bargain prices if you book early but you're trading a good price for a lack of flexibility because you have to take that seat on that train. Local regionale train tickets are always the same price and can't sell out so buy them when you need them. Trenitalia (the state train agency) has an app for checking schedules, buying tickets and tracking trains in real time so you'll want it. There is another private fast train company .Italo that offers only fast trains with similar pricing to Trenitalia and si worth checking for travel between big cities - Venice to Bologna, Florence to Naples, Naples to Rome etc.
https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html
https://www.italotreno.it/en
You're on a big first trip to Europe so make a plan, take it in small pieces, read and listen to advice and build a schedule that works for you.
Plan what you can, leave room or adventure and have a great trip,
=Tod
Posted by
871 posts
E-tickets for regional trains require internet connectivity for confirmation in advance; better to buy paper tickets.