What to see in Northern Italy

guidebooks and travel shows will tell/show you what is out there. I don't think you're going to find a consensus on what the best places to visit are, its a personal decision.

First question: Where's your northern Italy southern boundry? For me, it's Rome geographically and Naples current culturally. My wife thinks of it as the Genoa-Bologna line.

Jennifer, I have the same question as Ed. With only 10-days to work with, you'll need to be veryive in which places to visit. Does that time frame include your travel days? I would suggest not trying to fit too many stops in, as each time you move will use valuable travel time. It would help to have some idea what sort of things you're hoping to see? I suspect the two daughters will lose interest in Museums and Galleries very quickly, so that's something you'll have to factor into the plans. I'd suggest return flight to Milan / MXP, as you'll have lots of choices of places to visit in that part of northern Italy. Some locations to consider would be Florence, Venice, Cinque Terre, Stresa (with a day trip to Locarno, Switzerland on the scenic Cento Valli Railway) or Lago di Como (Varenna & Bellagio). You'll find LOTS of information in the Italy 2011 Guidebook (available now). I usually pack the book along as it's an excellent source of reference during trips. Given your location, all of your group might consider attending one of the Italy sessions in the Test Drive A Tour Guide lectures on January 15th in Edmonds (they're FREE, but you have to register). Although these are primarily designed to sell tours, you'll get a lot of valuable information on different locations in Italy which will help in the planning of your trip (and many items in the Travel Store will be discounted 20% that day!). Check the "Tours" page on this website for the details. Happy travels!

Thank you for your suggestions and advice. We are planning on staying north, didn't think we would have time for Rome so that is not on the list this time around. We do not plan to rent a car and instead rely on trains to get around, starting in Milan and considering Verona, CT, Florence and Venice. The girls do have a tolerance for museums, both are interested in history and art. We would also like to find some sort of local cooking class while there and other "experiential" opportunities.

Jennifer, First, is the 10 days on the ground? If so... Fly into Milan. Train the same day to Verona ( 2 nites) Train to Venice (2 nites) Train to Florence ( 2 nites) Train to La Spezia (regional train into one of the CT villages ) 2 nites. Train CT-Genoa-Milan 2 nites.
If not, make Verona and Milan 1 nite each.

A friend visited us last year with her 14 year old daughter and we took them all over central and northern Italy. By far her daughter's favorite place was Venice.

A suggested plan above illustrates why I think you take your chances when you ask other people to plan your trip. The poster may have done these things at this pace and loved it. For me, I like to spend my vacation walking around the cities I'm visiting and not looking at scenery passing by a train window. Even for a two hour train ride, it takes until noon or later when you add in the time to pack up in the morning, get to the station in time to buy tix and board, ride the train, and haul your bags to the new hotel. Like I said, others may really enjoy visiting all the places suggested in 10 days. My preference is to spend two or three nights in smaller towns, and three to four days in cities. I use my stay as a base to explore both the town and the surrounding area. Since this is an advice forum, my advice is to first take the excellent suggestion given earlier and take some of the free classes offered by Rick Steve's. Then find out what is out there to visit by looking through some guidebooks, and figure out what pace is right for you. At that point you'll know enough to put together your trip.

As has been suggested, you should get a guidebook and read it thoroughly to determine what appeals to you. Ten days is not a lot of time. Does that include your travel days? Are you interested in outdoor activities? If yes, then you may enjoy the Cinque Terre. Assuming you will be there for 10 nights, one itinerary you might like is to fly into Pisa, check out the Leaning Tower, etc. before taking the train to the Cinque Terre. Spend 3 nights there. Then take the train to Verona. Spend 4 nights there. There is a lot to see in Verona, and you could do a day trip to Lake Garda and maybe somewhere else. Then take the train to Venice. Spend 3 nights there and then fly home from Venice. I would suggest getting apartments. That would generally be less expensive than a quad room or two rooms. Hotel in Italy are NOT like hotels in the U.S. I have not seen any hotel rooms that have two large beds like you find here. Venice is quite a bit more expensive than other locations, in my experience. If that is not a factor for you, you could spend 3 nights in Verona and 4 in Venice. Another option, fly into Florence. After Florence you could go to Verona and end in Venice, flying home from there. Try to minimize your travel time so you can enjoy your time actually sightseeing! Have a great trip!

As has been noted, a lot depends on how much time you actually have on the ground. We generally prefer, on our vacations, to spend some time in the cities, and some time in the countryside. If that appeals to your group, and you have 10 days actually in Italy (not travel days), then maybe you can squeeze in the Cinque Terre, Florence and Venice. I'd skip Verona, even though it's a very pretty small city, just in the interests of time. If your daughters already know they like history and art, then you may spend more time in museums than you anticipated. That's what happened when we took our then-10yo (almost 11) daughter to Italy. We visited LOTS of museums, and she loved everything.