Travel to Italy in September 2021

We are traveling to Italy for our 25th Wedding Anniversary - we will be going from Rome, to Cinque Terre, to Florence, to Venice and Milan. We plan on traveling exclusively by train. Is there a need to buy any/all tickets in advance? Is a pass worth considering or do we by individual tickets for each journey?

Thanks in advance!



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How Not To Look Like A Tourist in Italy- Updated for 2021

My wife and I are traveling to Italy in September for our 25th wedding anniversary. We will be in Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan. I do not want to "stick out" like a tourist. In addition to the obvious - not carrying around a massive backpack and having a camera around my neck at all times, what would you suggest? Are shorts and white tennis shoes still a no-no? Should we wear jeans or comfortable long pants instead? What shoes would you recommend? I have some dress shoes that are very comfortable and would be happy to walk all over Italy with them.

Thanks in advance!!

itinerary help

Hey there. We are planning a trip to Italy (and Paris) next June. We are bringing our DDs, first timers to Europe, ages 21 and 16. I’ve been reading through itineraries, guide books, youtube videos of Italy and getting so excited. We have limited time (only 10 nights in Italy) and we are packing in A LOT I know. We are considering using Zicasso or another company to make the most of our time, especially since we are trying to do so much...Here’s our latest itinerary so far. (we like to see as much as possible/get a taste so we know where to spend more time the next time:)

. Summary. 2 nights, 1 1/2 full days in Venice,

4 nights in Florence with day trip to Cinque Terre, 5 nights in Rome with day trip to Pompeii and Amalfi

*We already bought our tickets flying into Venice

Day 1. Arrive Venice from Paris on the 13th. Half day in Venice

Day 2. Venice

Day 3. Take a late train from Venice to Florence.

Day 4. Florence

Day 5. Florence. (Day trip to Cinque Terre)

Day 6 Florence

Day 7. Train to Rome by 7pm. Stay near Piazza Novana

Day 8. Rome

Day 9 Rome

Day 10. LONG day with private guide to Pompeii/Amalfi

Day 11. Rome

Day 12. Departure day

Grazie!

Edited: 12:57 pm, August 13, 2021

Train question

We will be Italy for 2 weeks. We will be traveling from Rome to Sienna (one day), Florence , Venice and back to Rome. Is it better to get a pass for the trains for the duration or buy the train tickets individually? Thank you.

Last minute trip - can I wing it??

Long story short, I had two other trips in planning that my teen daughter eventually vetoed :)

She has requested a culture/sightseeing/city trip over the 'nature' and 'beach' options. She's had a really tough year and with all the anxiety about heading into high school, I would love to make this happen for her. I have about a month to plan this trip, so here's my first attempt at an itinerary. We will be flying in and out of Rome (only option for a direct flight), which we'll be skipping as we have previously visited:

Day 0: overnight flight into Rome, arrive 7:30 am

Day 1: Rome to Naples via high speed train, Napoli, Overnight in Napoli

Day 2: Pompeii tour, Overnight in Napoli

Day 3: Amalfi coast tour (bus tour or private driver), Overnight in Napoli

Day 4: Napoli in the morning, leave for Florence via high speed train, Overnight in Florence

Day 5: Florence, Overnight in Florence

Day 6: Tuscany day trip (bus tour or private driver), Overnight in Florence

Day 7: Train to Cinque Terre w/ stopover in Pisa, Overnight in CT

Day 8: Cinque Terre, Overnight in Cinque Terre

Day 9: Train to Milan, Overnight in Milan

Day 10: Milan in the morning, train to Venice, Overnight in Venice

Day 11: Venice, Overnight in Venice

Day 12: Venice in the morning, Venice to Rome via high speed train or flight, Overnight Rome near airport

Day 13: fly home

Would love to hear your thoughts:

- We like fast paced, but is it too fast paced? Any suggestions?

- I feel like Milan is a bit of a 'detour' and I wonder if it's worth just for one day?

- Should we get TrainItalia passes? Which one?

- I would love to have some flexibility and not prebook hotels in case we want to linger in one area more - is this too much of a risk? (I wouldn't have considered it but i feel like we could 'wing it' this year?)

- Is there anything else I need to pre-book? (ie. tours, transportation, admission tickets, etc).

Thanks all in advance!

Edited: 11:46 pm, July 10, 2021

Trains in Italy

We will be traveling to Italy in August and are planning to take the train from Milan to Vicenza.

After staying in Vicenza for 5 nights we want to go to Rome from Vicenza by train again.

From what I understand I should reserve these tickets in advance and I don't know which website to use to do so.

Can someone tell me the right website? Do I use the same website for both these tickets?

Thank you very much for your help

italy travel

My husband and I are planning to vacation in italy for our 25th wedding anniversary next year.

i am so overwhelmed with decision making and he is no help as he is very go with the flow and says yes to everything. which doesn't help me decide. lol.

we want to go to rome, pisa, florence, tuscany, amalfi coast

is it better to rent a car and travel this way or is it better to travel via train with all our luggage as we move from city to city?

or

could we be based out of one city for the entire vacation and travel to each place for the day trips?

if so, which city do you recommend to be based out of?

is renting a car a good idea?

i am planning a 14 day vacation to Italy, what is the best time of year to go?

thank you so much in advance for all of your help in planning this trip.

Overnight sleeper trains from Milan to Paris

First off- this may be a bit of a 'bouncing around' post. Sorry! Trying to keep it clear...

I'm planning a trip for Spring 2022 Italy and France. So far, I have booked:

A) Flight into Rome and out of Paris

B) 3 nights in Rome and the following 4 nights in Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore).

This leaves 8 nights before my flight home.

I planned to get from Rome to Riomaggiore by train, via Florence, but this isn't booked yet.

I had thought after check out in the CT that I would go to Milan on an early bus or train, spend the day, and take a night/sleeper train from Milan to Paris, which I would then make my base, and do day trips here and there. I have been to Paris before, as well as Marseille and Nice. LOVE all three - want to see more of France, but also want to have a home base, to feel less nomadic.

I've found plenty of advice to take the Thello train for this. However, I also saw somewhere credible (of course...I can't find it again to quote here... it was on the Thello or Eurail website or something like that...), it looks like the Thello Paris-Milan/Venice is discontinued. Is this true? Are there any other sleeper train options Milan to Paris? I would really like to be able to do a few hours/day in Milan, but am completely open minded.

As a follow up question - I had thought it may be worth it to get the Eurail global 10 day pass. I believe it's good for 10 random days within a one or two month time period. Is this a better plan, to get me to my base camps, and use for the day trips from Paris, allowing me to do them solo rather than booking viator, or some such tour company?

Appreciate all friendly pieces of advice and responses!

Scenic Route, Rome to Pienza

We are planning again for our revised 40th anniversary trip next September 2022. Like so many, we were canceled last fall 2020. So, Italy 2.0! I know I will have many questions going forward so I appreciate these forums tremendously. Our plan is for 5 nights in Rome, 5 nights near Pienza, 5 nights in the Chianti area, 4 nights Florence and 4 nights in Venice. I am checking what route would be most scenic? Would it be possible to drive through Bagno Vignoni and San Quirico to Pienza? Is Lake Bolsena worth driving to or by? Thank you in advance for your input. Planning is part of the journey!

Flying to Sicily through Italy

Hello everyone I have a question and have been looking thoroughly to find an answer but no luck.

I have been in Italy since the 18th of August and plan to fly to Sicily (Palermo) on September 9th from Milan. Throughout these days I been traveling through Italy only. Since Sicily is on yellow zone would I be asked a negative Covid test?

Or when I fly back to Italy which I plan on the 18th of September to Rome will they ask me for a test?

I am American & fully vaccinated with a “letter of recovery from Covid”.

Hope anyone has any insights or information, much appreciated!

Milan, Cinque T., Tuscany, Venice - What to book in advance?

Hi everyone,

We are scheduling a 1-month trip to Italy in August, including the below spots.

While we will of course make advance bookings for rooms according to our itinerary, we are interested to learn whether there are any additional things you highly recommend booking in advance. (e.g., Last Supper in Milan, scooters in Tuscany, ...)

Of course we realize this depends a lot on what we will do exactly, but that is something we are still planning over the next weeks. Therefore, any suggestions on 'what to definitely book in advance' for the below destinations would already be very much appreciated.

- Milan

- Cinque Terre

- Pisa (optionally also Lucca, both on the way to Siena)

- Tuscany (incl. Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra, Chianti, Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, Saturnia ; no Firenze as we've been there before)

- Bologna (night stop on the way to Venice)

- Venice

- Verona (night stop on the way to Como)

- Como

Additionally, any additional comments / tips on the itinerary above are of course also very much appreciated.

Thank you,

TraVeL