Italy - Italy itinerary help neeeded for August!

With very little time for planning I needed to reach out to the experts! I will be traveling to Italy for 3 wks this August (Aug 9-30). I am meeting my 26yo daughter in Rome and we are hoping to travel to Venice, Florence, the Amalfi Coast as well as some days in Rome. I was thinking we'd go from Rome to Venice (2-3 nights) to Florence (5 nights) with day trips to Siena and possibly another recommended place, then to Amalfi coast for 6 nights and back to Rome for 5 nights. (We need to return to Rome on Aug 25th to meet other family who will be there. This is our first trip to Italy and I know we are trying to do a lot but I don't know that we'll have an opportunity to return : (. We want to appreciate the beauty of the land and the people! Not sure about renting a car so this might be done without one. Any thoughts, suggestions would be so greatly appreciated!

You will need to book your hotels in advance for the beach locations, as August is traditional vacation time for Italians.

5 nights is a long time for Florence.

Aug. 15 is a nat'l holiday and pretty much everything is closed. Aug. 16 is the Palio in Siena which will mean massive crowds there as well.

bdemaria,
Thank you for the helpful info. Rather than 5 nights in Florence with day trips, would you recommend another location to stay for a night or two?

skip all beaches. they are not really special(seen one beach, seen them all). make certain your hotels have good A/C.(check each one in travel advisor). rather than stay in florence(expensive and hot and horribly crowded), and do day trips, i would move on to the next place, either by car or by train.

everybody who goes to italy wants to see the painting in milan, and the uffizi and the david. unless you are really interested in renaissance art, i would skip milan and the uffizi.

renting a car is not that difficult, but it is a bit expensive. make certain you get one big enough. with car, you can explore all the small towns. wine and hill towns. there is little public transport to them. rent when you are done with the cities.

Thank you Jer, how many nights do you think is good for Florence? What other locations can easily be reached from there for other nights stays?

Thank you Jer, how many nights do you think is good for Florence? What other locations can easily be reached from there for other nights stays?

i have no idea what your interests are. are you a museum goer? who likes early painting? do you like church architecture? spend a lot of time in florence.

do you like to tour vineyard country, go to tuscany. the hill towns are great, and probably a good idea in august.(i have never been to italy in summer).

one can easily train or drive from florence to naples or venice in part of a day. but don't spend all your time riding trains.

the food is terrific, but, although it has improved, many towns and cities have the same food in every restaurant. bologna has good food. but it is pretty much the same stuff in every restaurant. i have not been to ferrara, but i have been told they have interesting food. so does the south east, toward brindisi. i find milan food boring. venice has about 6-8 dishes.

check out KatieParla.com for information on Rome and some other locations. She's terrific!

Hi there,

Three weeks in Italy as your first trip is plenty of time. All the destinations you have mentioned are easily accessible by train. Check out http://www.trenitalia.com The site is in English and you would want to search on the "Super Economy" tickets ( certain tickets are as low as 9Euros one way). You can be in Florence in 1 h and 20 min and in Venice in another 2 h. It is definitely worth taking the Freccia Rossa train.

Spending 2-3 nights in Venice is a great idea. Do you already have places to stay? While there you could book a tour at the Doge's Palace and do a tour of the "Secret Itineraries".

Florence is my favorite city of all in Italy ( also my hometown ). Five days is appropriate since you would like to take a day trip to Siena. You may also want to consider taking a day trip into the hill towns of Chianti. Greve in Chianti is a charming little town. You may be interested in going on a tour of a vineyard perhaps? Both Siena and Greve in Chianti can be reached by public bus called SITA. It's similar to a couch/Gray-hound bus here in the United States. The SITA station in Florence is next to the train station SMN.

I hope this information helped. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Enjoy your trip to Italy! Buon Viaggio!

August? :eek: Expect lots of crowds, probably heat, and some traditional "aromas of Venice" - but mostly, be prepared, make your bookings in advance if possible, as you will have a lot of competition. Plan, be flexible, be patient in particular, and you will have a great time - they don;t call her bella Italia for naught!

Hi there,

Three weeks in Italy as your first trip is plenty of time. All the destinations you have mentioned are easily accessible by train. Check out http://www.trenitalia.com The site is in English and you would want to search on the "Super Economy" tickets ( certain tickets are as low as 9Euros one way). You can be in Florence in 1 h and 20 min and in Venice in another 2 h. It is definitely worth taking the Freccia Rossa train.

Spending 2-3 nights in Venice is a great idea. Do you already have places to stay? While there you could book a tour at the Doge's Palace and do a tour of the "Secret Itineraries".

Florence is my favorite city of all in Italy ( also my hometown ). Five days is appropriate since you would like to take a day trip to Siena. You may also want to consider taking a day trip into the hill towns of Chianti. Greve in Chianti is a charming little town. You may be interested in going on a tour of a vineyard perhaps? Both Siena and Greve in Chianti can be reached by public bus called SITA. It's similar to a couch/Gray-hound bus here in the United States. The SITA station in Florence is next to the train station SMN.

I hope this information helped. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Enjoy your trip to Italy! Buon Viaggio!

Welcome to FT Quid pro Quo!

What a terriric first post, thank you VERY much.

Your expertise on Italy will be most welcomed, we look forward to reading your posts. :)

I have to disagree with Jer, the Uffizi are beautiful, wether you are into renaissance art or not!

Starting from the architecture, the building, the actual gallery, paintings from Leonardo da Vinci, to Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Giotto, etc etc.. It's spectacular...

And the food is definitely never the same in every restaurant. The only way to find the same food everywhere is to eat in one of the many tourist traps that travel agents and tour operators suggest.
Milan has some of the finest restaurants of Italy, and Venice has so much to offer, from small bites that Italians usually eat before dinner or during the day along with a glass of wine (cicchetti), to many other fish-based dishes (risotti, pastas, entrees, etc etc).

A city I always recommend (55 min by train from Venice) is Verona. Beautiful, small enough to be seen in one day, full of culture, great food, a nice vibe and if you care to stay a little longer, some great day trips (lake garda, alps, valpolicella).