AboutLisa Expertise Can recommend day trips from Lucca, can give car directions from most places in Italy, and can help you plan an itinerary. But cannot recommend hotels and restaurants! For a train time table and info on Eurail passes, check out:
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/fares_schedules/index.htm
For general information, hotels and restaurants, visit frommers.com and tripadvisor.com
Experience I've been to Italy many times, and have traveled to Egypt, India, Nepal, Israel, Turkey, Fiji, Malaysia, and other places in Europe and the Caribbean.
Question QUESTION: Hi Lisa - I'm planning approx 5 week honeymoon trip and like to bounce my itinerary off you. Although I want to see everything, I know this is not possible, so making a homebase for a few days is hopefully enough but would love your recommendations which cities to homebase in. Here goes: From Canada, fly to Paris -3 nights;
fly to Milan/Como Lakes - 2 nights (not sure where to homebase.
Head to Verona (should I stayover?) and then to Venice - 4 nights between the two.
Bologna - 2 nights (with day trip to Modema, Parma & maybe Rimini?);
CT - 3 nights (is this enough?) would you homebase in Vernazza?
Florence - 3 nights (day trip to Pisa; Day trip to Lucca?, or do you recommend to stay 2 nights in Lucca seperately from Florence?
Tuscany - 3 days to visit: Siena & Volterra (not sure which one to homebase), San Giamignano and maybe Pienza
Umbria - 3 nights to visit: Perugia (h.b?) Spoleto & Orvieto (also was told about Gubbio, Assisi, Spello, Todi & Montefalco but not sure which ones I should try to squeeze in)
Rome - 5 days (too much?)
Almalfi Coast - 4 days to include: amalfi (day trip), Positano, Capri, Sorrento (h.b?)
Naples - not sure if you recommend me spend a couple of nights here or include in my 4 days at Almalfi Coast with a day trip to Pompeii
Ferry to Sicily (or plane? - any suggestions)
Sicily - 3 nights to: scubadive in Ustica, home base in Cefalu(?), and visit Palermo (unless you think Palermo is worth staying over). Do I have time to go to Taormina?
Fly back to Rome, to connect flight home to Canada.
Phew! The above exceeds 5 weeks so I need to trim a few days or exclude some. Any thoughts with the route & places you can comment on? (ps - if you can add your suggestions mode of TRN to each city, that would be helpful too (take a train, vs fly, vs drive) thanks Lisa, look forward to hearing from you - Bev
ANSWER: Hi Bev. Wow, that's a whirlwind trip! Maybe a little too much being planned. But it's up to you and your fiance.
You didn't tell me what time of year you're going. This is very important. If you're going during the off-season, it's possible to be more spontaneous. If you're going in the summer, some reservations are necessary. It's also possible to call ahead a few days or go to tourist offices as you enter an area to find out what's available. You can also decide to stay longer in a place and rearrange your itinerary as you go by calling and canceling reservations 24 hours in advance.
Driving allows a certain amount of freedom and allows for more adventure and exploration but can be more expensive. Also, you can't leave luggage in an unattended car, especially in cities. Traveling by train, you have to carry your luggage from place to place. In either case, traveling light is important on such a long trip. Backpacks are ideal. If not backpacks, then small suitcases with wheels. Only bring a week's worth(or less) of clothes and wash, or have them washed, as needed. Start compiling a packing list for each of you and travel as light as possible.
I think you should plan a week at the end where you just relax and recharge.
Here's what I suggest:
Day 1Travel to Paris
Day 2 Paris
Day 3 Paris
Day 4 Fly to Milan, take the train or pick up your car and drive to Como
Day 5 Rent a car for the day, check out Bellagio and/or other towns on the lake; drive back to Como or overnight in Lecco
Day 6 Drive to Verona (or take train back to Milan and train to Verona; overnight in Venice
Day 7 Venice; tour St. Marks area (a car is useless here, but can be parked in the public lot as you enter Venice)
Day 8 Venice; walk over the Rialto, tour the Dorsodura area (Dorsodura is a good place to stay, btw)
Day 9 Venice; visit Murano, Burano and Torchello
Day 10 Venice; walk around, visit anything you still want to see
Day 11Visit Florence; stop in Padova and Bologna on the way (another difficult place with a car)
Day 12 Florence
Day 13 Florence
Day 14 Florence; spend half day in Pisa; half day in Lucca (you can do this by train)
Day 15 Florence; spend day touring Chianti country, wine tasting and visit San Gimignano (can rent a car for the day or sign up for a guided bus tour or travel by train and bus)
Day 16 Cinque Terra (leave your suitcases in Florence and take the train to Vernazza and hike through to Riomaggiore. It's not easy, but can be done in a few hours. Or bring day packs with a change of clothes and stay overnight midway through. This will add another day.
Day 17 Siena
Day 18 Siena; day trip to Volterra
Day 19 Stay at one of the lake towns along Lago Trasimeno; use that as your base in Umbria
Day 20 Travel around Umbria to the towns you're most interested in
Day 21 Rome
Day 22 Rome
Day 23 Rome
Day 24 Naples; Pompeii, Vesuvius
Day 25 Naples; Capri; overnight or back to Naples
Day 26 Positano (base for Amalfi Coast
Personally, I think you should spend the rest of your time on the Amalfi Coast, relaxing. You could easily spend a few nights on Capri. There's lots to see and do there and it's beautiful. Or spend more time down the Amalfi Coast. Or, you could skimp a bit on the Amalfi Coast and go to Sicily, but I'd leave Sicily for another trip. If you're going to go to Sicily, the ferry from Naples or a flight is best.
Get lots of maps from maps.com. Having a good map of Venice is really important. National Geographic makes a terrific laminated folding map. Also, if you're going to drive, get maps that have ALL the roads big and small. Get a good guide book. I love Frommers. But there's also Let's Go and Lonely Planet.
Good luck! And Congratulations on your marriage. My husband and I spend 5 weeks in Europe when we got married. We stayed with his grandfather for 3 weeks in a little mountain village in Tuscany just outside Lucca. And we spent two weeks traveling by car from Lucca, up the Mediterranean to Nice, north into the Swiss Alps, back down into Italy, stopping at Mont Blanc, Lecco, Verona, Venice, and Bologna (we had friends there). We didn't have any reservations whatsoever. It was quite a fun adventure.
Best wishes,
Lisa
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Lisa - appreciated your feedback and prompt response! I did forget to say we would be traveling last week of April til end of May of next year, so not sure if the only reservations I should make is for the bigger cities like Rome & Venice (as well as book to see the Last Supper in Milan) Any other places like in the south? So many ppl I've spoken to said that 3 days in Rome isn't enough, which is why I went for 5, and I'm wondering why you suggest Florence, then CT, then Siena instead of Venice to CT, then Florence & rest of Tuscany. Also, I'm assuming I have to fly back to Canada out of Rome, so would I take a jumper either from Almalfi Coast and/or Sicily should I decide to go there? thanks and take care, Bev
Answer Hi Bev. You're very welcome. Late April, early May is a good time to go. Venice can be a tough place to find a nice room, so book in advance. It can also be very expensive. I stayed at the Pensione Accademia. It's in Dorsodura and very well situated. It's pricey, so you can do better, but check it out. Dorsodura is across the Grande Canale from St. Marks Square and a lot of the tourist sights, but it's only a short walk to everything and I highly recommend it for it's great restaurants, and more quiet atmosphere. Frommers has some very good restaurant and hotel recommendations. Rome might be a little easier than Venice because of its size, but if you know when you're going to be there, it doesn't hurt to scope out a hotel or pensione in advance.
I don't know if seeing The Last Supper is worth a night in Milan. That's up to you. You'll probably be tired when you arrive in Italy, so one night in Milan could be a good way to start your trip, although it's a very big, industrial city. Do find out what you have to do to actually get in to see The Last Supper before you decide. It's a very short trip to Como. Again, it's something for you and your fiance to decide.
And if you decide to rent a car, check out Kemwel.com. You can pick up and drop off in different cities, no problem.
I chose three days in Rome because of all the other things you wanted to see elsewhere. But if you want to spend more time in Rome, you'll need to tweak your itinerary. I had you going from Venice to Florence because you mentioned wanting to see Parma, Bologna, etc. Either way, your itinerary means you'll have to backtrack somewhere. Check out a map of Italy here:
If you go to Sicily, you'll have to fly back to Naples or Rome to catch a flight home to Canada. But if you're flying, perhaps you should fly back to Milan. Check it out. It might actually be cheaper that way. Also, don't forget that you might have to fly back the day before for an early flight home.
