A lovely Italian friend of mine has written an itinerary for my boyfriend and I trip. We will be going for 3 weeks from around the 21st July. (this is the only time we can go because of school holidays,though i have been warned it will be super hot..i expect everything will be double the price too?)
anyway have a look at what we are doing..any suggestions/places to stay/ things to do would be greatly,greatly appreciated :D
- UK to Venice
2 nights
- train from Venice to Verona
1 night
- Train from Verona to Florence santa Maria Novella
3 nights
- Train from Florence to Rome
7 nights
- Train from Rome to Naples
7 nights
- Naples to UK
Is there a rail card or something we can get there as we are doing alot of train travel to make it quicker? what are the best places to stay for a couple on a budget of about £1,000 maximum each for the whole 3 weeks? As you may tell, we are only in the very very early stages of planning and haven't done nay extensive research as of yet but are very, very excited 😱
[Edited: 2012 Jan 07 22:38 - redshoes:141357 ]
Reply to this Looks a good itinerary, maybe one less night in Naples and add the extra in Florence - there is plenty to see in the surrounding Tuscan hills. You are missing Milan which is worthy of a couple of night if only to see Da Vinci's Last Supper and the spectacular Duomo (Milan Cathedral).
There is an Italian rail pass - that allows between 2-10 days of usage within a 2 month period. As a bonus, two people travelling together get an almost 20% discount each. I really enjoyed train travel in Italy, a beautiful way to see the countryside.
Reply to this I would agree with The Travel Camel about adding a day to Florence. There are so many things to do and see in and around Florence, including a day trip to Siena via train. You might enjoy stopping at Lucca on the same trip to Pisa since they are so close.
Check into online reservations for the Accademia if you want to see the statue of David and for the Uffizi gallery. Both of them take advance reservations which will save you a ton of time.
Have a great trip. It sounds like a lot of fun.
Reply to this I would agree to add an extra night to Florence, it really is a tremendous city. Even just walking around in the streets is lovely. Maybe you could take a night or two out of Rome. I was less impressed with the busy city of Rome and loved the small cities and country side (but it depends what you enjoy).
Have a wonderful trip!
Reply to this My wife and I spent 2 weeks travelling around Italy for our honeymoon for 2 weeks and had a very similar itinerary to you. We didn't spend any time in Naples though but used it as a station to change to go to other places. The short amount of time we spent in Naples (only a matter of hours) was more than enough, the place is filthy. I'd suggest an itinerary similar to ours.
Verona-Venice-Florence-Pisa-Pompeii-Herculaneum-Amalfi.
I would definitely recommend Rome too, the only reason we didn't include it in our honeymoon is because we'd already been but we loved it.
Brendan is right about the online reservation for Accademmia and Uffizi, we booked online and skipped a huge queue that saved us atleast 2 hours.
If you have any questions PM us or look at some of our Italy blogs.
Reply to this Thanks for all your comments/suggestions! 😊 anyone been there end of july/beg august? Im worried everything will be shut down and too hot to comfortably sight see? I am used to tropical heat after being in SEA for 7 months but im told its a different, more unbearable kind of heat? lol
anyone know anything about this? /the cities shutting down?
😊 thanks! x
Reply to this I have been there in late August/early September, and found no problems with the heat at all, and I live in a sub-tropical climate. It is a drier heat and for me for more tolerable. In a dry heat, if you can find shade, you will be cooler, but in a humid climate, there is no escape from the heat, even in the shade.
The biggest issue you will have at that time of year is that it is annual holidays in Europe. The good news is that everything will be open, but the bad news is that you will find plenty of crowds at the major attractions, and trains and hotels will be heavily booked, and prices increase at that time too.
Reply to this We went during the middle two weeks of July last year. It's not that hot & I live in a cold place so everywhere I travel to is hot lol. I can't stress the importance of booking tickets for museums/galleries in advance. Everywhere is ridiculously busy & if you're only in some places for only a couple of days there is a chance you won't get to see everything.
Reply to this We hooked up with one of the walking tours of Florence and it was fantastic. They provide a nice summary of the history and take you into the museum's without having to wait in the long lines. It is well worth the money.
Italy is all about the wonderful people, the history and amazing food.
Restaurant recommendations in Florence -- ZaZa's and Trattoria Antellesi.
Dante's Paradise: Firenze - a world of Renaissance awaits
If you read this blog you can then go to our other 4 or 5 blogs by pressing next blog.
You will have a wonderful time.
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