Itinerary thoughts? July Italy trip

Buongiorno everyone! For context we are a family of 6 (2x40s, 24, 15, 12, 11) all athletic and experienced international travelers only bringing carry ons. I have been to Florence, Venice and Rome but rest have not. Kids and hubs not into art. (I know, I know.) We have an ex au pair that is Italian living in Verona currently that is going to meet us in 5T for the first part of our trip and then leave us in Florence and see us again in Verona for a daytrip later but anyway here goes!

Day 1 (Sat): arrive FCO at 8am on COVID tested flight. Adults are preregistered for tests on arrival but it doesn't currently allow me to register the kids. Booked the 1157am fast train from Termini to La Spezia, hoping 4 hours will be enough time to test, take Leo Express to Termini, grab a bite and hop on train (its the Frecciabianca - should we wait and eat on train instead?) transfer to 5T train at La Spezia, arrive approx 1613 at Vernazza about an hour after our Italian and check in and chill.

Day 2 (Sun): See how we feel, likely do an am hike to either Corniglia or Monterosso. We can come back to apartment midday or do a private boat tour for 3 hours.

Day 3 (Mon): See how we feel, do am hike (whichever we didn't do day before), or do boat tour this day. Dinner at lovers table at Ristorante Belforte for hubs and I at 7pm.

Day 4 (Tues): Early am train to Pisa, stow bags at Stow Your Bags near Pisa Centrale and walk through Pisa to tower. Likely get Tower appointment for about 10am so we are not rushed. See how long kids last in museums, perhaps grab lunch here (any recommendations?) and then hop back on train to Florence and check in, go somewhere for dinner before Italian AP has to leave us. A lot of Americans say ZaZas is fun - recommend or alternatives?

Day 5 (Wed): Florence - the big two plus likely the Galileo museum because our kids love science

Day 6 (Thurs): am in Florence (so maybe split the big two into one each morning), check out and catch 1120 train to Venezia. Apartment is walking distance from S Lucia so check in and then one museum or activity and dinner - recommendation?

Day 7 (Fri): Venice

Day 8 (Sat): am maybe one thing in Venice, then train to Verona, spend day with Italian AP and then fly VRN to FCO at 1930, check in go to bed

Day 9 (Sun): Rome

Day 10 (Mon): Rome - Scavi tour at 1330 for adults

Day 11 (Tues): Rome

Day 12 (Wed): Rome

Day 13 (Thurs): depart FCO at 10am arrive super early to COVID test at FCO before flight

Will definitely do Pompeii one day - any recommendations for day or guide and eats?

Anything else I missed?



Similar Content



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

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

Preliminary Itinerary trip fro Rome-Florence-Venice-Rome

Hi Everyone,

Re-planning my postponed trip from 2020 this year. I seem to have forgotten all the valuable tips I had received for my previously planned trip. Is August a bad time to travel in terms of closures and holidays? Since I have nothing book yet, would it be better to travel in September instead?

I am thinking the following itinerary for now:

Aug 5-10-Roma

Aug 10-13-Florence with day trips to Sienna, Pisa?

Aug 13-15-Venice

Aug 15-16-Train back to Rome and fly home.

Is this too ambitious?

Will be travelling on a Covid tested flight in and out from Rome from Canada

Pisa Train Station - safe luggage storage?

Hello - we are staying in Rome and Venice and would like to take a short day trip to Pisa on the way. Traveling with luggage is obviously the problem. Ideally, the thought is to take the train from Rome to Pisa, store our luggage SAFELY at the train station, see the leaning tower, have lunch, then come back to the station to retrieve our luggage and jump on a train to Venice. All sounds good in theory… but is there actually a safe, secure place to store our luggage while we do the Pisa day exploring?

Thanks in advance!

Early train from Florence or Venice

We are arriving in Venice on the 19 th, 4 nights. Then on the 23 rd transferring to Florence for 5 nights.

We would like to do the Bologna food tour which starts at 7 am. The train schedules now are little help. Is there normally an early morning high speed train from Florence? Would it be better to do the tour on the 23 rd, leaving Venice very early? If so is there somewhere to store our luggage in Bologna?

Thank you.

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!

Itinerary review help

First, i should mention that i'm somewhat ADHD when on vacation so i don't like to stay in one place too long but would rather look, absorb, take some pics and keep moving along. With that said i'm very active and walking is certainly ok with me. I would be taking trains mostly . I have the following thus far:

1) Arrive Venice

2)Venice

3)Venice

4)Venice to Bologna

5)Bologna to Florence

6)Florence

7)Florence to Rome ( I've already been to Rome previously but will pick up my fiancé here)

8)Rome to Naples then Ferry to Ischia

9)Ischia

10)Ferry to Capri

11)Capri

12)Ferry to Positano

13)Positano

14)Positano

15)Positano

16)Sorrento

17)Sorrento to Naples Depart home

Thanks for any suggestions and advice. Was wanting to hike around Cinque Terre for the day at some point but was unsure if it was worth the effort since the train takes a long time to get there. Thanks

7-10 Day Family Trip

Hello! Our family is planning a trip to Italy in early June. We want to spend 7-10 days there. There are 5 of us, two parents and three kids ages 18-24. We are thinking of flying into Rome and taking the train from there to Florence then Cinque Terre then Venice and flying out of Venice.

1. Does this sound like a reasonable itinerary or is it too much to fit in?

2. I have seen some articles online about some of these places being overrated and crowded. Is this true? Is there somewhere better worth seeing?

Thank you for your help!!

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.

Italy Itinerary - Questions & Would Love Input!

After cancelling our 2020 Italy trip, I've just booked a trip for spring 2022. We fly into Venice in late April and will be in the country for 21 nights before leaving from Rome. I've booked accommodations online but everything is cancellable so I'd love to know you suggest any changes to my itinerary. And I have a few questions. Any input would be much appreciated as I've never been to Italy!

Here's what I've booked:

3 nights Venice - Wander, see Doge's palace & St. Mark's Square

3 nights in Sirmione, Lake Garda - explore Roman ruins, drive around lake, maybe boat trip to Isola del Garde

3 Nights in Florence - Museums & sights. Rent car when leaving & drive to Montepulciano via Chianti.

3 Nights in Montepulciano - Wine tasting, explore hill towns in Tuscany (& maybe hot springs?)

4 Nights in Sorrento (day trips to Capri & Amalfi Coast & maybe Pompeii, but that would be all the days and I want to just relax & wander in Sorrento too)

4 Nights in Rome - Colosseum, Vatican, and maybe day trip to Tivoli or Ninfa Gardens (though my husband won't be that excited about the latter so may skip it)

Does this look like a good number of days / nights in each place?

Also, I have a few other questions... From Venice to Sirmione - Would I be better off to simply take the train from Venice to Desenzano and rent a car there, meaning I could drop it at the end of my Sirmione stay and not pay one-way charge? Or rent a car in Venice and drive to Desenzano? And when we leave Montepulciano to go to Sorrento, am I better off dropping the car in Chiusi and taking train from there to Sorrento, or driving back to Florence & dropping it there, taking the high-speed traing?

Or should I re-order the whole trip, driving from Venice to Sirmione and then to Montepulciano, then take the car back to Florence, spend 3 nights there and then train to Sorrento?

I've noticed that a lot of accommodations are booking up already for next spring so if my itinerary isn't logical, I want to switch it around now while there's lots of options. I know there's plenty of time for booking cars & trains, but does the order make sense? Thanks in advance for any input!!