First trip to Italy in May 2012
Nov 22, 2011, 9:52 pm
#16
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: SFOSJCOAK
Programs: AA-EXP & 1MM+, AS, MR-LTT, HH Gold
Posts: 7,581
Be sure to book tickets for 'The Last Supper' well in advance.
http://www.tickitaly.com/tickets/las...er-tickets.php
They are often booked months in advance, so if you know your dates already you should book as soon as you can.
http://www.tickitaly.com/tickets/las...er-tickets.php
They are often booked months in advance, so if you know your dates already you should book as soon as you can.
That said, we (2) popped in after lunch and checked if we could get in. This was last month. We had reservation for a 5:00pm, same day.
I concur with up-posts. OP wants to do way too much in such a short time. We stay in Rome alone for 8 days last month (and this was our 4 visit to Rome).
Maybe OP can do the "classic" Italy: Venice, Florence and Rome (leave the lake and Tuscany for a furture trip). OR, Do Florence. Pick up a car and drive through (slowly) Tuscany Chianti wine road, then to Rome.
Nov 30, 2011, 9:04 am
#17
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: CLT
Programs: AA / DL / MB
Posts: 92
Venice is sinking, but slowly...you've got time to go back. See the last supper and then train it down to Florence. Your first trip to Italy will make you swear you will come back for another. Split your time between Florence, the Tuscan countryside, and Rome. You can rent a car when you leave Florence and return it when you arrive in Rome. You'll want a few days in each place.
Buon Viaggio!
Buon Viaggio!
Nov 30, 2011, 10:00 pm
#18
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 62
We were in Venice - Tuscany - Rome for 10 days during the same week this year that you are visiting next year!
My thoughts - in concurrence with previous posters - slow down!! We spent 3 nights in Venice, 6 in Tuscany and 1 in Rome. We felt we did not have enough time in Tuscany so in 2013 we are returning to Panzano (Chianti) for 10 days to do more. You can't rush Tuscany.
The best days were not ones that we had to rush places, but when we sat and drank wine and people watched.
If you need any rec's, let me know!!
My thoughts - in concurrence with previous posters - slow down!! We spent 3 nights in Venice, 6 in Tuscany and 1 in Rome. We felt we did not have enough time in Tuscany so in 2013 we are returning to Panzano (Chianti) for 10 days to do more. You can't rush Tuscany.
The best days were not ones that we had to rush places, but when we sat and drank wine and people watched.
If you need any rec's, let me know!!
Dec 9, 2011, 8:57 am
#19
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: SYDNEY
Programs: *A Gold, HH dia,Hyatt plat,Sixt PLAT,QF , EY Gold
Posts: 1,890
Sorry to barge in but I'm doing the same thing but with wife and two kids 4 and 2. I was going to take the ferry over from zadar I don't have much time tho maybe a week. I have booked Hilton stucky Venice 1 night park hyatt Milan 1night waldorf Rome 2 nights (120k 
).
With no points left how am I doing ?
I have to go to croatia wife from there we renting a car there and returning it there. I have no idea really what I'm doing first time out of australia
). With no points left how am I doing ?
I have to go to croatia wife from there we renting a car there and returning it there. I have no idea really what I'm doing first time out of australia
Dec 10, 2011, 6:40 am
#21
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: SYDNEY
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Posts: 1,890
Im planning on doing a clark grizward holiday stop pull over get out get it move on . Both of us don't drink so no interest in wine reall just want to go there to say I have been and had some pasta in italy had a coffee in Milan . Then make my way down to nice.
Dec 19, 2011, 4:34 am
#22
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: AVL
Programs: Hhonors Diamond, Bonvoy LT Plat, TSA vilifier extraordinaire, Once upon a time... US Silver, AA Gold
Posts: 1,313
I remember a Katherine Hepburn movie (Summertime) filmed in Venice and just have to go there. Hopefully we will not spend all our days in museums but relax some, sit in gardens or cafes in Florence and take a day trip to Sienna or Lucca (never heard of this before, will have to look it up). A couple of days in Rome to whet the appetite - and then time to go home.
I've been on the "We'll sleep when we're dead" European vacation (with an early morning wake up call to get up and go sightseeing). I'd really rather relax and soak it in on this trip. I'd like to just wander around the little streets of Venice, get lost purposefully, and then rediscover where I am. Same with Florence. Rome - it's a big city with too much to see. We'll barely skim the surface.
Future trips are Como in the north, Amalfi in the south, small villages in between. So many destinations, never enough time.
Last edited by dwcatty; Dec 19, 2011 at 4:36 am Reason: future plans
Dec 28, 2011, 3:38 pm
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Treasure Island, FL
Programs: Hilton Diamond, SWA CP
Posts: 13
Thanks for all of the great advice. My wife asked to get past Christmas before we started planning the Italy trip. I am sure I will be back with questions soon.
I am only planning on the one night in Milan. Long enough to see the Last Supper and get out of town. The question remains to where
I am only planning on the one night in Milan. Long enough to see the Last Supper and get out of town. The question remains to where
Jan 2, 2012, 1:06 pm
#24
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 386
Never heard of Lucca before? Wow, just wow. Still can't get my mind around that one.
Jan 3, 2012, 3:27 pm
#26
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: CLT
Programs: AA / DL / MB
Posts: 92
Day trips - Siena, San Gimignano, Fiesole (although it's not really outside of Florence), Assisi, Perugia, Viareggio (only during the summer), Pisa (only thing to see is the Tower imo). PM me if you want more specifics.
Jan 6, 2012, 1:08 pm
#27
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Santa Cruz, CA USA
Programs: AA, UA, WN, HH, Marriott
Posts: 7,290
Venice
My wife and I made our first trip to Italy last year for a similar amount of time as the OP. I can say that truly our most lasting memories, and something I would put at the top of my list of recommendations, is Venice. There is no place like it that I have ever visited. It is unique is so many ways that I cannot imagine anyone missing it.
Just in case you don't go back, don't skip Venice. Of course, it's a big IMHO.
P.S. Just saw a Travel Channel show on Venice and it just reinforced everything we had been feeling.
Just in case you don't go back, don't skip Venice. Of course, it's a big IMHO.
P.S. Just saw a Travel Channel show on Venice and it just reinforced everything we had been feeling.
Jan 7, 2012, 4:49 pm
#28
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 66
I'll add my 2¢ to the thoughts offered.
I've flown into/out of Malpensa a couple of trips and have yet to visit Milan. I do want to see it and there are quite a few reasons besides the Last Supper to plan on spending a couple days there if you have any interest in art, fashion, or design. On the must-see (for me) art list is the Pinacoteca di Brera and several other points of interest. If the cultural matters are of little interest to you, then definitely skip Milan and buy the postcards instead.
I do agree that Lucca is well worth a visit and a walk on the surrounding walls. If you get a car, I'd advise driving up towards the old spa town of Bagni di Lucca and enjoying the sight of the Ponte di Diavolo along the way.
Although I'd been to Italy on multiple occasions, it wasn't until a trip a few years back that I finally made it to Venice in early October. I'm a visual artist and I've seen Venice in so many images and formats that I did really anticipate what it would feel like before I finally arrived. There was little left to surprise me with but some of my best memories are of wandering around after dark when it really seemed as is 99% of the daytrippers-tourists had disappeared and even the Piazza San Marco had only a tiny number of people passing through it. Also of note were vaporetto trips to Torcello to see the Romanesque frescoes of the hair-raising Last Judgement. Hard to believe that 20,000 people lived here once as it only has 100 residents now.
While in the Veneto, I'd highly recommend sojourns to Ravenna and perhaps an overnight in Asolo to visit nearby Palladian Villas.
I've flown into/out of Malpensa a couple of trips and have yet to visit Milan. I do want to see it and there are quite a few reasons besides the Last Supper to plan on spending a couple days there if you have any interest in art, fashion, or design. On the must-see (for me) art list is the Pinacoteca di Brera and several other points of interest. If the cultural matters are of little interest to you, then definitely skip Milan and buy the postcards instead.
I do agree that Lucca is well worth a visit and a walk on the surrounding walls. If you get a car, I'd advise driving up towards the old spa town of Bagni di Lucca and enjoying the sight of the Ponte di Diavolo along the way.
Although I'd been to Italy on multiple occasions, it wasn't until a trip a few years back that I finally made it to Venice in early October. I'm a visual artist and I've seen Venice in so many images and formats that I did really anticipate what it would feel like before I finally arrived. There was little left to surprise me with but some of my best memories are of wandering around after dark when it really seemed as is 99% of the daytrippers-tourists had disappeared and even the Piazza San Marco had only a tiny number of people passing through it. Also of note were vaporetto trips to Torcello to see the Romanesque frescoes of the hair-raising Last Judgement. Hard to believe that 20,000 people lived here once as it only has 100 residents now.
While in the Veneto, I'd highly recommend sojourns to Ravenna and perhaps an overnight in Asolo to visit nearby Palladian Villas.
Jan 7, 2012, 5:08 pm
#29
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 1
bagnidilucca
Thanks for the ping back to my post on The Devil's Bridge. There are also posts on Venice and Torcello and lots of information on Bagni di Lucca, Lucca, Pisa and other Tuscan towns. Italy is a great place to visit.
I'll add my 2¢ to the thoughts offered.
I've flown into/out of Malpensa a couple of trips and have yet to visit Milan. I do want to see it and there are quite a few reasons besides the Last Supper to plan on spending a couple days there if you have any interest in art, fashion, or design. On the must-see (for me) art list is the Pinacoteca di Brera and several other points of interest. If the cultural matters are of little interest to you, then definitely skip Milan and buy the postcards instead.
I do agree that Lucca is well worth a visit and a walk on the surrounding walls. If you get a car, I'd advise driving up towards the old spa town of Bagni di Lucca and enjoying the sight of the Ponte di Diavolo along the way.
Although I'd been to Italy on multiple occasions, it wasn't until a trip a few years back that I finally made it to Venice in early October. I'm a visual artist and I've seen Venice in so many images and formats that I did really anticipate what it would feel like before I finally arrived. There was little left to surprise me with but some of my best memories are of wandering around after dark when it really seemed as is 99% of the daytrippers-tourists had disappeared and even the Piazza San Marco had only a tiny number of people passing through it. Also of note were vaporetto trips to Torcello to see the Romanesque frescoes of the hair-raising Last Judgement. Hard to believe that 20,000 people lived here once as it only has 100 residents now.
While in the Veneto, I'd highly recommend sojourns to Ravenna and perhaps an overnight in Asolo to visit nearby Palladian Villas.
I've flown into/out of Malpensa a couple of trips and have yet to visit Milan. I do want to see it and there are quite a few reasons besides the Last Supper to plan on spending a couple days there if you have any interest in art, fashion, or design. On the must-see (for me) art list is the Pinacoteca di Brera and several other points of interest. If the cultural matters are of little interest to you, then definitely skip Milan and buy the postcards instead.
I do agree that Lucca is well worth a visit and a walk on the surrounding walls. If you get a car, I'd advise driving up towards the old spa town of Bagni di Lucca and enjoying the sight of the Ponte di Diavolo along the way.
Although I'd been to Italy on multiple occasions, it wasn't until a trip a few years back that I finally made it to Venice in early October. I'm a visual artist and I've seen Venice in so many images and formats that I did really anticipate what it would feel like before I finally arrived. There was little left to surprise me with but some of my best memories are of wandering around after dark when it really seemed as is 99% of the daytrippers-tourists had disappeared and even the Piazza San Marco had only a tiny number of people passing through it. Also of note were vaporetto trips to Torcello to see the Romanesque frescoes of the hair-raising Last Judgement. Hard to believe that 20,000 people lived here once as it only has 100 residents now.
While in the Veneto, I'd highly recommend sojourns to Ravenna and perhaps an overnight in Asolo to visit nearby Palladian Villas.
Jan 8, 2012, 8:02 am
#30
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: south of WAS DC
Posts: 10,131
torcello is home to Locanda Cipriani. when we went about 10 years ago, the concierge at the danieli arranged for us to share a taxi that was arranged by cipriani. this taxi left from Harry's bar, and there was no charge. there were about 5 couples on the boat. i think only done on weekends. maybe not done any more, but ask. will try next week.