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First time traveling in Italy on my own, need trip planning advice

Posted by (Portland, CT) on

Keeping my fingers crossed that I will have the opportunity to travel to Italy mid May of next year for 12 nights. I have an initial itinerary but need to know if it's realistic for time and budget. I will be traveling with a friend with a somewhat tight budget of around or less than $3000 flight included. We can get a direct flight out of JFK for around $900. So that is my starting point. We will be getting to all destinations by train. I've only traveled by train in Germany and only did that once so train travel is a little intimidating but I think I can do it. I looked at Italiarail and most connections were quite cheap (much needed with this budget). Hotels are pricey. I've looked at the hotels RS recommended and others. All in all I think I can keep us around $1200 per person. I feel that is about average for Europe. This is the itinerary:

  1. Fly into Milan and take the train to Varenna for 2 nights. My friend wants to see Lake Como. Staying here per RS advice.
  2. From Varenna take the train to Venice for 3 nights. I want to go into the Dolomites. I've seen them one time from afar but I can't see making it happen with budget and time. Instead there is a viator tour that leaves from Venice for an 8 hour small group tour to the Dolomites. It's not the best but it's a way I can have my cake and eat part of it. This leaves us with a full day to explore Venice. (We'll be staying in Venice not the outskirts)
  3. From Venice To Florence for 2 nights. Is this enough time to see the major sites?
  4. From Florence to Assisi for 2 nights. Is this more time than needed for Assisi? Would you recommend Assisi over Pisa? (I'm personally leaning more towards Assisi.) Or cutting Assisi to 1 night and adding a night to Rome?
  5. From Assisi to Rome for 3 nights. We want to tour Vatican City and the Colosseum, both tours are 5.5 hours so we'd have more time to see other sights. Not nearly enough time but our first taste of the city.
    Fly home from Rome.

The three tours I have planned total around $350. I'm still on budget with money left for train tickets and meals and entry fees. This tour is heavy on museums, churches and scenery. Perfect for us. I tried to add either the Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre but nixed them both because of time and budget. If you wanted to add either of them what would you delete? Thanks for your help.

Posted by
27105 posts

Three days in Venice with one full day devoted to a tour of the Dolomites means really not much more than one day in Venice. I'd want an extra day there for sure. Same thing with just two nights in Florence. Perhaps if you are not all interested in art and do not intend to go inside any museums, but otherwise, it's not enough time.

I liked Assisi a lot (and two nights there is fine), but on this trip, with the limited time you have available and all the other places you want to see, I'd scratch Assisi, giving one of those nights to Florence and one to Venice.

If you find yourself thinking that you really want to see Assisi and just aren't that interested in Florence, you could scratch Florence and use the time for a real visit to the Dolomites (not as a side-trip from Venice).

Posted by
467 posts

HI realize that if you only have two nights at a place that is really only one full day of sightseeing. You need to get to the train stations, hotel checking into and out of and of course being on the train. I think it is hard to do all this in your short time. Plus all that checking out etc can really tire one out. We just did the RS 14 BOE tour and by the end staying only two nights in each location was wearing us out and I was with teens. Not sure with your days how much time you will have to really see any of these locations. Personally I would skip Assisi and add the dates to Venice and Florence. RS does a 10 day tour of Venice, Florence, and Rome and you can look at what his tours do to get an idea of how much you can possibly do in your short time in each city.

Enjoy your trip.

Posted by
7279 posts

You can save money by purchasing your train tickets 3 months ahead. Look for Super Economy tickets on Trenitalia site. They are for a specific time, so know what time you would like to leave in the morning, etc.

Definitely Assisi instead of Pisa. I like that you will be in a smaller town for at least one location, and they tend to be cheaper for hotels and food.

Food can add up quickly, so consider cheap lunches. An advantage of Italy is that most hotels include breakfast in their cost.

Posted by
796 posts

I used Monastery Stays in Venice, Florence and Rome a few years ago and it was quite cheap. make sure to look at the location as some are out of town. I had a single room with full bath. In Venice I was under 10 min ealk from St Marks near a big park where they have the Biennial, in Florence maybe 20 minute fast walk to the old town and in Rome 10 min walk to a big metro station and I could see the Colosseum from the street. The breakfast varied from great to pitiful but the bad one did say continental only. I would do it again.

Posted by
1803 posts

While I enjoyed Assisi I would think about dropping it from this trip and add time elsewhere.

Depending on the timing of your departure from Venice to Florence, I would try to stop in Padua.
Go to the Scrovengi Chapel to take in Giotto's frescoes, have lunch and continue on to Florence.

Enjoy your trip!

Rich

Posted by
15582 posts

Hotels don't have to be pricey. Are you sharing a room? If so, do you need 2 beds or will you share one? Most double rooms have a double bed. There are hostels that have 2-bed private rooms, either shared bath or en suite.

Yes, you can see the major sites in Florence in a single day - get tickets to the Academia and the Uffizi in advance.

If you leave Florence on an early train, stay one night in Assisi and take a evening train to Rome, one night in Assisi is enough. Or spend most of your day sightseeing in Florence, then evening train to Assisi for 2 nights. I find that taking evening trains maximizes my sightseeing time, then I can relax on the train and have a picnic supper or a late dinner after checking into my hotel.

You can check train prices on the official site - trenitalia. com. You may be taking some regional trains which only show up when they go on sale, 7 days in advance. Choose the nearest date for schedules and prices (they don't change much)You have to put in the Italian names of the cities (there's autofill). For Venice, you want Venezia Santa Lucia, for Florence Firenze SMN (Santa Maria Novella) and for Rome, Roma Termini.

Posted by
276 posts

Thank you everyone for your input. My friend backed out. That makes two friends who have backed out of overseas travel in less than six months. I'm destined to travel alone. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going next May by myself. It would be more fun with a friend but it's not to be. I'll take all your advice planning my trip. Thanks again.

Posted by
15582 posts

Bummer. But I am glad you are resolved to go, and you will have a great time. Consider staying in hostels. You can check them out at hostelworld.com and hostelz.com. Most hostels have a few single rooms but you have to book them well in advance. . . or stay in dorm rooms. One of the great benefits of staying in hostels is meeting people from all over - and while most are in their 20's, you'll find families and retirees as well. Over breakfast or a beer at night, you can get lots of information and ideas and often find companions for a meal or a day's sightseeing or maybe even a few days.

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