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Recommendations for a long tour next summer?

Oh Tony� you are soooo lucky! How long will you be spending in Italy? What are your interests when traveling?

Below is a list of places I hope you can fit in to your itinerary.

I suggest a combination of cities, seaside resort towns and rural smaller towns. I�ve listed how long I would suggest spending there to get a good first-timers feel for the destination on a three-week schedule.

If you have more time or you have a preference for one type of destination over another, please adjust accordingly. If you find your dream destination when you get there � obviously STAY ON and forget the rest of the suggestions! Never be a slave to an itinerary.

Venice (2-3 days)

Rome (3-4 days)

Florence (2-3 days)

Umbria and Tuscany (3-4 days) - Assisi, Lucca, Orvieto, Perugia, Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena

Italian Riviera (3-4 days) � Cinque Terre, Portofino, Santa Margherita

Amalfi Coast and Capri (3-4 days) � Pompeii, Positano, Ravello, Sorrento

Italy has so much to offer. If you have more time, I would suggest the Lakes in the north and Sicily in the south. But don�t try and cram too much into too little time. How much time do you actually have to spend there?

Sarah...
Lily here from Polish web site...my husband and I have been to Italy four times - extended each time. Your post above is perfect.....perfect advice and time frame.

Lily

Thanks Lily. Do you have any "hidden gems" you can share with us?

Those are wonderful suggestions. I spent a few weeks in Italy this past summer. I especially loved Cinque Terre in Tuscany. They are five small villages connected. The scenery is amazing and there is a wonderful walk between the different villages - magnificent!

I recommend you to travel by train. It's quick and trains leave and come quite often. It also allows you to stop along the way. Imagine you're travelling from Milano to Venice, you can stop at Verona, have a snack, a capuccino and visit the city, then you go back to the station and continue travelling.

I would agree with all the above posts.

But definitely focus on Rome, and Florence.

There is enough there to keep you busy for your whole trip.

Then i would probably go to Venice.

It all depends on how much time you have.

But you will definitely enjoy Italy!

Larry

Italy would be a great trip, but I am reluctant to take on all that history.

SRS,
I hope that Italy will be my next stop and I'll be using your suggestions!

Still can't believe that I am from Russia and have never been anywhere in Europe...

Hi Larry...
We need an Italian-American forum in the Society and Culture section, don't you agree? I know there's an Italian Food forum, and that is beloved to our heart.. ...but it would be nice to chat with others who share this great culture and heritage.
I am half Italian ( My father is Italian- his family before him Sicilian ) and half Native American, by the way.
I checked out your site..very nice!
Ciao~

Hi all special you Rueben and welcome

Great culture, yeah. if we assumed Persian the first culture and heritage!! Italian will be second surely. lol
Just kidding

I second the idea of an Italian-American forum!
Ellen
(My mom is half-Piemontese and half-Soranese; Sora is in Lazio)

Another wonderful place to visit in Italy are the Italian lakes, particularly Como and Maggiore... They're both a day trip from Milan and some of the inhabited houses around the lake date back to Roman times!

Tony, you'll love it!! We only had two weeks in italy last October but saw heaps in just four days in Rome. Here's a couple of helpful sites - www.stuardtclarkesrome.com and www.astheromansdo.com

We spent some time up in Tuscany in the Arezzo region, staying at Sansepolcro and doing tours out from there. We only had two days in Florence and it was so beautiful - we walked around in the rain for the two days. Then we caught the fast train down to Rome, stayed overnight and flew out in the morning.

Now we are looking up rentals in Florence for the next trip. We'd love to stay about a month there and travel around to San Gimignano, Siena, the Cinque Terre, possibly Venice - if we can afford to do so!! I am in love with Italy, I could easily live there. The history is incredible!!

Savanah

Hi all!I agree with all of you! Italy is a wonderful place!Although it's cliche my favortie places are still Venice and Florence.. Everything is so pretty there

I spent a wonderful week last October on Ischia, an island in the Bay of Naples. Beautiful, less overdeveloped than Capri, with small towns, hot spring spas, vineyards, gorgeous sea views and lots of history to explore. By October the tourist trade (mostly Germans looking for the spa experience) dwindles and so do the prices. I loved it!

I feel a little foolish as I've just noticed that the originator of this thread, Tony Verdigi, posted in November 2004! And here I was saying that he'll love it, in 2008! Oh well, I hope he did indeed love his time in Italy! I suppose he could tell me more than I, myself, experienced!

We've just had a house guest, a young man we met in Italy, stay with us for five days. He lives in Milan. His mother is a London girl and married an Italian. He has never visited England but speaks perfect English so the last few days haven't been at all a strain as far as language goes.

We're looking forward to going back next year - fingers crossed!

Cheers,
Savanah

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Here is a sample Italian Itinerary,BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

I visited Calabria about five years ago. It was fabulous.