3 Weeks in Italy

[novagal]

Hi Everyone,
Fingers crossed I will be spending 3 weeks traveling around Italy next spring (looking at May right now because then I get to spend my birthday in Italy). I know it’s early but I have a tentative itinerary planned out and I was wondering if this sounds feasible, can anyone provide any suggestions, advice, etc. I’ll be traveling by myself so I like to plan things out well in advance (a little neurotic but what can I say).

A little background, I’ve traveled by myself before (2 weeks in Ireland) but this will be my first trip alone to a country where I don’t speak the language. I’m 31 and most interested in Roman ruins, quaint towns with interesting architecture, pretty scenery and art to a certain extent. (After 2 weeks in Ireland I was tired of ruined stone monasteries and I feel I might overdose on art as well, so I’m trying to mix in art galleries with other sights).

So here is what I am thinking:
Arrive Rome late morning/early afternoon
Rome – 5 days
Pompeii/Naples – 1.5 days (not sure on Naples but I would like to see the Archeological Museum and feel that Pompeii deserves a whole day)
Travel to Tuscany ½ day
Siena and another Tuscan town (Cortona, Montepulciano, suggestions?) – 1 day each
Florence – 3 days
Pisa day trip then travel on to Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre – 1 day
Travel to Venice – ½ day
Venice - 2.5 days
Padua – 1 day
Verona – 1 day
Milan – 1 day
Leave from Milan

Any thoughts?

[herrbert]

Hi novagal.

I think it looks pretty good, only in the last days you start to rush it a bit. (I know three weeks, seems long, but when you start planning you always fall short of days to spend)

Rome 5 days, is perfect, If you doubt about Naples, then see if you can stay in Sorrento and visit Naples and Pompeii from there. (On the map, it just south of Naples, on the backside of Mnt Vesuvius). From here you can also get to Capri very easy.

Cinque Terra is were you start to rush it ... first of all the question needs to be which one of the 5 villages do you want to visit. And for sure, you want to spend more time, than just the one you allocated at this moment. Especialy if you want to do the trail (or part of it).

Venice for 2,5 days seems enough, but I think the one days stops after that are rushed, and I am not sure about Milan. Unless you want to see something special, like the last supper I would skip it, and go directly to the airport (or end the trip somewhere else, where you can fly home from).

Another place worth considering, is one of the lakes in the north. In Verona, you are only 20 miles away from Lake Garda.

May is a good time to visit, the weather will be fine in most places, maybe in the north it can still be chilly from time to time, but May is also just before peakseason, which also means, that the locals (and the students) are still around. (which I like)

There is nothing neurotic about planning this ahead well in time. I believe well prepared people, see more of a town/city. I know what you mean, when you mention having an overdose of artmuseums. I have it, but only for the museums with a general collections. At this moment you would have to drag me to a museum to watch another portion of Rubens, Rembrandt, Renoir etc. But if you mix the kind of museums around a bit, you will be fine.

And you have about 9-10 months to learn a little bit of Italian.

Ciao !!

[Eagle]

novagal, Welcome! I also have a few comments to add.

May is still the "shoulder season", so it should be a good time to travel in Italy. I can appreciate your desire to have your Birthday in Italy as I celebrated my Birthday in Italy last Fall. I also travel "solo" and it's kind of hard to celebrate by yourself, but I was still happy to be in Italy on my birthday!

I certainly agree with herrbert, it's not too early to start planning. I usually plan in great detail also, and although I'm getting better at it, this still takes me a couple of months to work out the details for a trip.

I can also appreciate your comment about becoming "saturated" with Museums, as I found that to be the case. During my trip last fall, I visited so many art museums and other sites, that before too long it just became a "blur". Next time I plan on pacing myself a bit, so that I'll (hopefully) have a greater appreciation and understanding on what I'm seeing.

I also have a few comments on the tentative Itinerary you posted:

> Arriving Rome in late morning / early afternoon is probably a good idea. I couldn't tell from your Profile where you're located, but if travelling from North America you'll be dealing with jet lag (and also losing the first day of your holiday due to flight times and time zone changes). If you can do a bit of touring and stay awake for that first day, it might make the adjustment to the new time zone a bit easier. If you arrive in the morning, you would have the whole day for touring, but it might be extremely difficult to stay awake for the whole day?

> Rome - 5 days: most here seem to feel that's the minimum time to allot for Rome. There is lots to see, but if you plan your touring efficiently you should be able to see most of the significant sites.

> Pompeii / Naples - 1.5 days: you can do the Pompeii visit as a day trip from Rome, but it's a LONG day. My preference would be to drop Naples and plan to see the area south of Rome (Naples, Amalfi Coast, Capri) on a future visit.

> Siena / Tuscany: my preference would be to spend at least two days in Siena and other towns in that area. Generally speaking, one day stops are not a good idea; they become tiring very quickly! Rather than another town in Tuscany, you might consider Orvieto as it's somewhat "on the way" to Siena, although it's in Umbria. It's another hill town and has an impressive Duomo, an underground caves tour and an ancient Well (St. Patrick's Well). Cortona is nice, but the transportation connections are a bit more difficult than other locations.

> Florence - 3 days: that length of time should give you a good overview of Florence, although of course a day or two longer would also be nice. If you want to visit the Uffizi or Accademia, reservations are highly advised!

> Pisa day trip on the way to Cinque Terre: that's a good plan, especially if you're just planning to see the Leaning Tower.

> Cinque Terre - 1 day: this is one part of your plans that doesn't seem realistic. My preference would be to spend at least two days there, as it's a beautiful area and a great place to recover from the rigors of travel! As herrbert mentioned, you'll have to give some thought to which of the five villages you plan to base yourself in, and which activities you want to take part in while there. Hiking the trails between the five towns seems to be the most popular activity.

> Travel to Venice - 1/2 day: that trip might be a bit longer than 1/2 day from the C.T. - I haven't checked? Where did you get the time estimate from?

> Venice - 2.5 days: that's a good time allotment for Venice, although with such a short time it's difficult to see all the sights in the city as well as the islands (Murano / Burano). I guess it depends on what you want to see? Venice tends to be a bit on the pricey side, but it's such a unique location that it's worth the cost IMO.

> Padua / Verona / Milan, each 1 day: again, one day stops are really tiring, and don't really provide much opportunity to see anything significant. My preference would be to add a bit of time to some of your other destinations and allow more comfortable travel times - plan to see the other locations on a future visit.

Regarding the "language issue", as herrbert mentioned you have some time to learn some of the basics. I was told that "many people speak English, especially the young", however I found this was NOT the case. While I did find some people that could speak English, there were many (even younger people) that couldn't speak a word of English! I can manage to some extent in Italian, and found that to be extremely useful. I'm not fluent at this point, but that's something I'm working towards.

Depending on your circumstances, there are several approaches you could take in learning some Italian:

- take a night school course, if one is available in your area

- use Cassettes / CD's / Bookchips to learn the basics (I use Pimsleur and find that it works well)

- you could take a Phrasebook along, such as the Rick Steves Italian to handle the "basics"

Finally, you might find it useful to check out a few Guidebooks at your local Library or Book Store. I find the Rick Steves books fit my travel style best, but there are lots on the market - Lonely Planet, Let's Go, Rough Guides, etc.

Hope these comments are of some help? Good luck with your planning!

[novagal]

Hi guys, thanks for the advice.

I’m flying from the Washington D.C. area so I’ll definitely be dealing with jet lag so the first day in Rome will probably be just walking around a little and getting adjusted to the time change (leaving 5 full days to see the sights). I think I might leave Naples/Pompeii for a future trip when I also have time to hit Sorrento, Positano and Capri. I was actually debating on spending more time south of Rome vs. visiting Venice. People seem to either love Venice or, well, not love Venice. I'm not sure where I'd fall but I think I'll leave it on the list for now.

Sounds like Siena and Cinque Terre are both good for two days. If I skip Naples I can add another day to Cinque Terre. I haven’t looked into the area much yet but the local library is chock full of guidebooks for Italy. Hiking the trails between the towns would probably be a good break after seeing all the sights in Florence.

The one day trips after Venice are just ideas right now. Since I got conflicting opinions on Venice I thought I’d look into a couple other towns in the area if I’m ready to get out of Venice after day 1. I guess I’ll see how it goes. (The Milan is stop is only because I don’t want to have to go all the way back to Rome to fly home)

Thanks again for the advice and I’ll probably post more questions as the trip gets closer.

[pointofnoreturn]

A tip for you: There is a special event in Italy that often occurs for one week called "Culture Week" in which all state-run Italian museums/galleries (i.e. Uffizi, Accademia, Last Supper Painting, etc) and archaelogical sites (i.e. Pompeii) are free. It is usually held in either April or May depending on the dates they chose. I believe the ministry will announce the dates sometimes in February 2008.

This year, it was May 12-20 and I saved TONS of money because I happened to be in Italy for all those dates. Lucky me!