12-night Italy-round-trip from Venice in July
Hi, my girlfriend and I are planning our holiday in Italy from the 16th of July. We'll have 12 nights in total.
Our plan looks like this atm:
- Venice 2 nights
- Bologna 0
- San Marino 1
- Florence 2
- Livorno 1
- Pisa 0 (car from here)
- La Spezia 1
- Portofino 0
- Genoa 1
- Milano 3
- Venice 0
We're planning on relying on public transportation until Livorno/Pisa, where we'll be renting a car for the remainder of the trip.
Are we missing any places where we should stop. Is there anything we should drop? Will this feel very rushed?
First time in Italy for both of us, but we are used to travelling. Thanks!
Posted Jun 16, 2022, 6:34 AM UTC
411
I mean, everyone has a different travel style, of course, but I would consider this crazy rushed. All the places you have included on here are worthy destinations, but this just has you spending so much time on trains and getting to hotels and packing and unpacking. For just one example, if you are using trains, getting to San Marino is not straightforward--Trenitalia is suggesting routes that would take 3.5-4.5 hours to get there from Bologna and 4+ hours to get to Florence from San Marino.
What has attracted you guys to San Marino, La Spezia, and Livorno, and what has attracted you to spending three nights in Milan? San Marino and Livorno (especially the latter) are not generally places that first-timers tend to choose, and first-timers are also not generally inclined to want to spend much time in Milan. First-timers are also not generally interested in La Spezia on its own, but as a gateway to Cinque Terre. If we could know more about what attracts you to these places, and whether or not you are particularly interested or disinterested in the following categories: food; nature/beaches; art/museums; shopping/theater it might help us make more helpful recommendations. For example, it might make sense to make either Genoa or La Spezia your base in Liguria and then spend more nights there (La Spezia and Livorno are only about 75 minutes by train, so you could consider a visit there if you based in La Spezia). It might also make sense to cut out San Marino and add extra time in Florence. Or, if you don't like art/museums that much and are more about food, it might even make sense to base out of Bologna and then visit Parma or Modena from there?
Also, forgive me if I'm not understanding this correctly, but are you planning to depart from Milan in the morning for a flight out of Venice later that day?
Also, a word of caution to prepare you: 16 July is the Saturday of the Redentore festival in Venice. While there will be a nice fireworks show, the vaporetto system (already confusing for most first time visitors) will be disrupted and anything that can close early in the city (like grocery stores, etc.) is going to do so; this is a very big deal to the Venetians. If you haven't made restaurant reservations, you need to try and address that like RIGHT NOW, if you can. I don't want to make it sound too miserable, because it is a festive mood and it is still Venice, but it will be a bit chaotic.
This is a really helpful comment, thanks!
We will arrive in Venice in the morning on the 16th, and we will fly home from Venice in the evening of the 28th. Flights are already booked. Everything else may still be changed, as nothing else is booked.
We want to visit San Marino as it's another country we would like to tick off our list, especially since it's so close to where we'll be staying. I'm not sure if we have a good reason for visiting Livorno. My gf wanted to go there, I'll check if there is something special. Or else we could cut that out. La Spezia just looked like a good stop, when looking at the map. The plan is to have a car at this time, but it might make more sense to aim for Cinque Terre. I hadn't researched that, but it looks nicer to be honest, so thanks!
I doubt we will visit many museums, but we still like to walk/drive around and look at old/beautiful buildings/streets etc.. We want to get a mix of both beachlife and citylife. Food is important, but we're not very picky. Shopping would be nice if there are any special markets or something like that. We don't really care for malls that have the exact same shops that anywhere else in the world. We're not big on art/theater, so that can be skipped.
We were unsure as to how much time is needed in Milano. It just looked like too big of a city for anything less. Do you think 2 nights or less would be better? Maybe we should stay one night somewhere between Milano and Venice on the way back?
Does it make sense at all to rent a car from around Pisa to the end? Is it better to do it earlier/later? Should we drop it off at Milano, or are there places that are worth seeing from Milano to Venice, so it's better to keep the car?
And we have not made reservations. We will try to do it asap.
Thanks a lot for your help!
Happy to help! I apologize if I'm misreading, when you say "nothing else is booked," does that also include accommodation? If not, then ignore the rest of this paragraph. If so, I would say that you also need to take care of that for your arrival in Venice (at minimum) as soon as you can, not because hotel rooms will run out, of course, but because affordable options for that time will become thinner on the ground as you go.
With respect to Venice, I would have to disagree with the advice elsewhere in this thread to only spend one night there, especially since you are arriving a time where there will be some degree of disruption that may slow down your ability to see even the most minimal, basic itinerary while also denying you anything like a typical, quiet Venetian evening (that entire weekend will be less quiet than average, but Saturday night will be markedly more chaotic than Sunday night).
If you want to keep San Marino in your itinerary, I agree 1000% percent with the other poster who said to rent the car to drive there. The reason why so few tourists in Italy visit San Marino is because it is, to be blunt, a pain to get there via train/bus. I would cut it without hesitation, but I also hear where you and your gf are coming from.
If you spend two nights in Venice and then drive down to San Marino and spend a night there, I would personally suggest that you pick TWO additional major cities (or one major city and La Spezia + Cinque Terre) and stay in one for three nights and the other for four nights each. Then maybe you could stay somewhere like Padova for the night before you leave.
If you felt antsy at your two main bases, you could devote two days to each major city and then take three day trips. However, just be sure you don't create a situation where you won't absorb or enjoy anything--don't feel pressured to feel like the trip isn't a success if you don't get to check off the most cities/regions possible. You don't have to visit a new place every day--I think even for the most energetic traveler, that would be exhausting.
It sounds like your possible bases would include:
Bologna: This is the capital of Emilia-Romagna, the home region for some of Italy's most well-known culinary products, and so people who are really interested in food are attracted to this region. While Bologna's architecture and religious sites are not as well-known as those elsewhere, the historical center is quite attractive. Modena, Ferrara (truly an underrated stop), and Parma are all possible day trips from Bologna.
Florence or elsewhere in Tuscany: If you are not really into art and museums, then there is actually some case for not basing yourself in Florence, despite its reputation as one of the major tourist draws in Italy. It has that reputation because of its staggering artistic legacy. If you fear that you would be bogged down by feeling that you 'have' to go to a bunch of museums and things that you're really not interested in on this trip because you're in Florence and they're all right there, then maybe it's not the best base for you. However, Tuscan cities and countryside views are obviously very compelling, especially to first-time visitors. Honestly, from what you've said, if you decide you want to include Tuscany, you might almost consider basing yourself in Siena, which is a lovely and suggestive city for walking, has a really lovely cathedral and public palace, and would allow a very easy trip to San Gimignano.
La Spezia + Cinque Terre: Cinque Terre's strength, of course, is in its physical beauty and the nature/outdoor opportunities it offers. It's weak in terms of access to first-rank art and destination dining, but it doesn't sound like those are your primary priorities this trip, so I am sure that if you enjoy hiking and other nature experiences, ocean views, and rustic seafood, you would find this a wonderful experience, as so many others do. This would also give you the opportunity to stay fresh and experience lots of new places.
Genoa: Despite not personally preferring CT, I love Liguria, and when I visit there, I always establish myself in Genoa. Genoa is a fascinating city to walk, as it exists on multiple levels and there are quarters that exhibit distinct architectural influences of certain periods. While nearby coastal towns like Santa Margherita Ligure, Rapallo, and Recco are not as suggestive as the towns of the CT, Portofino certainly is, and all of these towns are both less crowded and (save Portofino) feel more lived-in by actual people who exist outside of servicing tourists, so if that is an important vibe for you, this may be something to consider.
Thanks again! We have now booked 2 nights in Venice and 1 in Bologna, and we've almost totally written off San Marino for this trip. So that should leave us with a more relaxed schedule.
Just a bit unsure about how to structure the rest of the trip now, as for where to sleep and for how many nights. We have 9 nights left.
If we do:
Then we still have 2 left. Would it make sense to add 1 more in Genoa and 1 in Padua at the end?
Edit: Or add 1 more in Florence, so we can do a daytrip to like Siena?