10 days in Italy

[mgman]

My husband and I are trying to plan a trip to Italy in late August/early September. I have been and he has not. We would like to go to the following places:

Rome
Venice
Cinque Terre
Sardinia
Genoa?

Any suggestions as to how to see all of those places in 10-14 days? We are leaving from Boston, are not planning on staying on hostels, and are open to flying between destinations.

Also,i read that their is a ferry from La Spezia (the Cinque) but cant find info for it. Any help is much appreciated! thank you!

[WillTravel]

4 days Rome
4 days CT and Genoa
2-3 days Venice
Fly into Rome and out of Venice, or vice versa.

This is still faster than my preference, but I think it makes sense.
I can't see Sardinia fitting into your plans very easily.

[madamtrashheap]

Ditto to what WT wrote. Plus, in August many Italians flock to the Costa Smeralda for their own Summer holidays so it will be quite crowded and you need at least 3 or 4 days to really appreciate that part of Sardinia, so perhaps save it for another trip.

With regards to your mode of transport, trains will be your best option for Italy as there are a lot of trains (ie times) to choose from between the cities mentioned plus there are fast trains (ICE or Eurostar Italia) trains that will help you get to your destinations quicker without unnecessarily wasting time in airports. Train travel in Italy is relatively cheap and very easy.

A few other questions/points:
August/early September is still a busy time in Europe, so once you've sorted your itinerary, get on to booking your accommodation fairly quickly as many places will already be filling up.
Where were you thinking of flying in to and out of?

[Eagle]

mgman, welcome to GFE!

I certainly agree with what the others have suggested. With only 10-days in Italy, I think it would be prudent to plan for Rome, Venice and the Cinque Terre and drop Sardinia and Genoa this time.

Even though you've been to Italy, I'm sure your husband would like to experience Rome, so you might plan 3-4 days there. A stay of about 2 days should be good for Venice, and the Cinque Terre perhaps 2-3 days. You'll need to allow some time for travel between destinations and of course you'll lose the first day due to flight times and time zone changes (even from Boston, I believe it's still about an 8-hour flight?).

I'd probably structure the trip along these lines:

- Open-jaw flight into Rome / FCO (use the Leonardo Express for the trip from the airport to the city).

- Rome (3-4 days)

- Train to the Cinque Terre (there's a direct train from Termini to La Spezia, about 4-hours; it's a nice trip).

- Cinque Terre (which of the five villages were you planning to stay in?)

- Cinque Terre (2-days?)

- Train to Venice (the shortest travel times I was able to find from La Spezia to Venezia Santa Lucia was about 5.5 hours, with one change in Bologna).

- Venice (2 days)

- Fly home from Venice

I wasn't quite sure what you were referring to with "a ferry from La Spezia"? A ferry to which destination?

As MTH mentioned, that time of year will most likely still be VERY busy, so pre-booking accommodations would be a really good idea!

Good luck with your planning!

[mgman]

ok, bummer that Sardinia wont fit in (the ferry reference from La Spezia was from the CT to Sardinia).

We were thinking of what was suggeted-flying into Rome and out of Venice or vice versa.

Not sure which town in CT we will stay in. Was hoping to figure out an itinerary then start booking hotels/hostels with private rooms. Any suggestions for accomodations in any of the places we will be staying? Thanks!

[Eagle]

mgman,

Given that you have only 10-days for travel, IMHO Sardinia would be better left for the next trip (when you'll hopefully have more time). Just curious, why did you pick Genoa? It's not usually in the "top cities" list for people visiting Italy.

It's difficult to suggest lodging choices without having some idea of your price range and the types of accommodations you prefer? Some lodgings you might consider:

> Rome

www.casasangiuseppe.it/index.php?lingua_scelta=3__Inglese&ferma=OK (great Hotel with wonderful staff, located in the Trastevere area)

www.hoteloceania.it/englishversion/thehotel.php (located closer to Termini station)

> Venice

www.albergodoni.it/ (located in an older building, within easy walking distance to Vaporetto stop and Piazza San Marco)

www.pensioneguerrato.it/ (located closer to the Rialto Bridge)

> Cinque Terre

This depends to some extent on which village you choose? Each of the villages has a unique character, and selection of lodging choices.

- Monterosso al Mare is the largest of the five villages, has the best sandy beach and the best selection of "tourist" facilities.

- Vernazza is one of the most popular, especially with tour groups, so it may be more difficult to find accommodations at specific times of the year. It's an interesting village and has a small protected harbour, suitable for swimming.

- Corniglia is probably not as well visited as the others, as it's located on the top of a large rock bluff, requiring either a trip via shuttle van from the train station or a hike up a LOT of stairs (they have a "low rise" so are not hard to climb).

- Manarola is one of the nicer of the villages and has a reasonably good choice of accommodations, including the "official" Cinque Terre Hostel. The Hostel is clean and well run, but unfortunaly has a strict lockout in the daytime which is a problem for me. A few lodging choices you might have a look at are www.torrettas.com/ or www.cadandrean.it/englishindex.htm.

- Riomaggiore is the smallest of the five villages, and is connected to Manarola via the famed via del' Amore. There are no large Hotels here, but rather a good selection of small Albergos and B&B's. Some lodgings you might check out are www.5terre-marmar.com/ or www.cinqueterre.com/eng/ricerca_localita.php?localita=Riomaggiore&strutture=affittacamere.

Happy travels!

[mgman]

We thought Genoa because my husband thought it looked pretty in guide books and we thought that we could catch a ferry to Sardinia from there.

Thanks for the hotel recs. We are looking at flying out on a night flight from Boston to Rome that gets us in at about 8am. so we can sleep on the flight and get a nap in at the hotel before venturing and still have the whole day.

Our hotel budget is 150 a night. I have found some websites that lookpromising but if you have other suggestions, please share. Having our own room is a must and private bath preferred.

We haven narrowed down what town in CT to stay in. Maybe a night in 2 different towns? We are in good shape, and the hike wasnt bad from what I can remember 5 years ago.

[mgman]

okay so we just had another idea. what if we took Venice out of the itinerary?

Is this doable: Rome (3 days tops is good for us), the CT (1-2 days maybe not spend the night and see if an overnight ferry to the island exists?) and a few days in Sardinia?

Does that sound too ambitious?

[Eagle]

mgman, yes, taking Venice out of the Itinerary would certainly help and should allow you to get to Sardinia for a short time. Have you decided which location to visit in Sardinia?

You should be able to take Fast Ferries from La Spezia to Sardinia (Olbia), but I'm not sure if these are offered all year. As you mentioned, Genova is another possibility. The trip from La Spezia appears to be about 5.5 hours each way, according to www.fromitaly.it/english/utiliti/traghett/lasolbia.htm. There is no year listed on this schedule, so I'm not sure if it's completely current?

On the return visit from Sardinia, you'll have to decide which airport you'll be flying home from. One possibility might be to return to La Spezia, train to Milano and board a flight from Malpensa. You could also consider a budget flight from Olbia to Frankfurt or Munich, as you may get a better price on flights from there. Check www.tuifly.com/en/ for information and prices.

Cheers!

[madamtrashheap]

There are ferries from La Spezia to Olbia that take around 5.5hrs, but I believe there are only 2 a day and no overnight ferries (AFAIK). If you've decided to keep Sardinia in, I'd look at booking your accommodation ASAP. Here's a site on Sardinia for transport options if you didn't plan on renting a car: www.getaroundsardinia.com/

Where will you now fly out of back home? I ask as you'll have to get from Sardinia to your departure airport and there are different options depending on the airport/city.