We are flying into Milan on Sept 22 and out Oct 4th. I wanted mix up nature with history. I was thinking from the airport straight to Rome for two nights, then to cinque terre 2 nights to Florence for 3, with side trips to Sienna and or Chianti, 2 or three night in Venice ? I'm so overwhelmed with how long to stay in each spot and all the time on the trains traveling! Help me please
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8371 posts
Too bad you're not flying open jaw into one city and out of another. It's more efficient way of traveling.
Since the first day after arriving is wasted, you probably need more like 4 days in Rome to sufficiently see the city. Then take the train up to Florence for 3 days minimum. You can also do day trips to Siena (an hour south by bus) and some other hill towns like San Gimignano by tour bus out of Florence. (We also really liked Volterra.)
Without more time, I'd tell you to spend the balance of time in Venice before having to take the train back to Milan. Save Cinque Terre for another trip as it's out of the way from the bigger tourist cities
Posted by
Laguna Niguel, CA
138 posts
Hi David, You always have such good advice for posters. We are thinking of doing a similar trip to Italy in 2017, but we have the luxury of having more days: minimum 14 - maximum 18 days, which other cities would you suggest including? We would opt for an open jaw for our air tickets. We would prefer to spend 2-3 days at each city, but don't want to cram in too many cities or take too many train rides. Many Thanks!
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8371 posts
Dee: I used to fly into Europe, rent a car and drive as far and to as many cities as possible. With the price of gasoline being so high, especially in Italy, we now are trying to travel slowly. Our trips are no longer one big blur, and we are getting so much more out of staying in central locations and taking day trips. We'll often stay in places with kitchens and do our own cooking.
Two Italy trips ago, we flew into London for 3 days and flew Gatwick to Pisa Airport--taking the 1 hour train into Florence. We toured Florence for a long weekend before picking up a rental car and heading 40 minutes south to an agriturisimo. We spent 4 days visiting the hilltowns in the area before driving down to Orvieto for one night. It's a great place to turn in rental cars (Hertz) and take the train into Rome Termini (70 minutes.) We stayed 20 mi. south of Rome in Zagarolo at OliveTreeHill.com, a very highly ranked B&B. We'd go into Rome on commuter trains mid morning and hit the tourist sights. There are also a bunch of sights outside Rome that most travelers never see--like Palestrina which is an ancient pagan temple. Then we flew to the U.S. from Rome (Philly).
That's typically how we travel on the ground now. In 2 weeks, we might take in 3 major cities that are in relatively close proximity to each other. We also keep our eyes out for really bargain cruise deals--like the Grecian Islands and the Baltics--both great trips.