Would like to plan a trip to Italy. I'm looking for suggestions on where to go(first time). We'd have only 10 days thinking about maybe 14... we want to stay in different spots and move around... what are some must sees/do? thank you in advance!

Megan Lindsay I'd like it please!

Hi Megan, may I know what other cities did you visit? I would love to take a similar route

Megan Lindsay can I get a copy too?

Rome Venice and Florence!!! Florence is the absolute best! We also fit in Pisa and cinque terre. Pisa was cool for the tower but there’s not much else around it

I agree, Florence is a must

How long did you go for? These are the same five places we were hoping of targeting. Did you take the train to each place?

Lynda what was your fav part about Florence?

Lisa the Doumo ,Santa Croce, the statue of David, walking around the streets and a very special Birthday dinner at Tre pini, the people are amazing in Italy!!

We are going as well and were thinking of Venice Florence Rome and Sorrento

I am partial to the Tuscany area...lits to see and do in a week! Florence is spectacular...we stayed in the Lucca area and it was WONDERFUL...Pisa is interesting...Cinque Terra is closed wonderful . Plus it is reasonable to get to Siena.

Venice is lovely but taking the aqua bus to Murano and then my favorite Burano is a must. It’s quiet and so pretty.
Florence is also amazing.

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What is best way.to see place with a senior. We are doing 15 days with our mom starting in Venice then Florence then Rome then Sorrento

Pompeii and Capri were my favourite spots!

I agree with Florence being a favourite. Rome to see the sights. Pisa for a day or part just to visit the tower. Be sure to book that in advance so you can go up. Venice has the canals but our gondola ride was almost as big a ripoff as the pickpocket that got me. And there is nobody more careful than me - they are that fast and that good. Loved Pompeii for a day. Sienna was a nice time for something slower paced. Did a day trip to Positano from there.
The hop on hop off city tours are great. We’d ride all the way around once and listen to the spiel then get off and explore.
Any other specifics send me a message.

Cinque terre 3 days Florence 2 days 3 days Venice 2 days amazing

We did 10 days last May - 2 days in Venice, 2 days in Florence, 2 days in Tuscany, 2 days in Rome (& 2 travel days). It was fast but a great taste of Italy.

Amalfi Coast, beautiful

We did Venice (and got the boat over to Murano) a day was enough for us but we were only there for a week and wanted to fit a lot in. The we did Florence (which was my favorite), Naples, Pompei and Rome. We spent 3 days in Rome ( there's a lot to see in Rome). Wished we had been able to do Tuscany as it looked absolutely beautiful from the train.

Allow five days for Rome - so much to see!! Recommend Florence - great art museums in beautiful city - have a great trip.

We had a week in Rome but so many things in the first three days as us was low crowds in November that 3-4 days was plenty especially as we were in Paris and saw loads of art there if you are in Florence too they have amazing art too definitely can imagine less than three full days there and more if high season

Depends on what you like, we have done Rome, Venice and Florence which are all amazing, but now we go to Cattolica, Misano and Gabicce Mare areas. Beautiful beaches, great food. The train station is close and you can travel to Bologna , Rimini and so on. You can jump on a boat between towns for 5 euros. We were just in this area the last two September’s, if you need any ideas on hotels I have two amazing ones that are family run and they actually treat you like you are.

We want beach, quaint, relaxing, but also some city sights, nightlife, etc.

Lynda beautiful!!

Melissa this has it all,

Melissa if you need anything, we have been to Italy 4 out of the last 5 years. PM me

Melissa if you need anything, we have been to Italy 4 out of the last 5 years. PM me

appreciate it!!! might take you up on that

Capri and Positano are absolutely amazing! Sorrento is a good place to stay as it is very accessible to the islands and the almafi coast.

https://www.globaljourneys.com/.../italy/trafalgar/itgl.php
They have faster paced tours that let you do more.

Rome anf Tuscany were my fav.. Sorrento Pompeii and San Gimignano (day or overnight trips to these)
Vience and than Florence for me.

These are all amazing tips!

Stay as long as you can. Most romantic is the Amalfi Coast, particularly Positano, Capri, Amalfi and Ravello.

Tuscany/Florence also romantic and beautiful.

Fly into Rome, two days on both ends, then head to the Amalfi Coast.

Or fly into Florence then rent a car and drive Tuscany.

Sicily is beautiful and the most reasonable. Great beaches, and it’s the warmest in the off season. Too hot in the summer

Tanya lots of great tips here!

Stephani We’re planning just that in April. Where would you suggest we stay besides Florence? We’re there for about 3 or 4 days ending up in Rome. Planning on looking at airbnb’s.

Sandy stay in Mondello for the beaches and go to Taormina and Erice. Palermo is amazing too. Pure marble sidewalks?? The ruins in Sugesta were BETTER than Greece, and no tourists!! Awe inspiring

Segesta:

Stephani thank you!! I’m goi g to check those areas out. Awesome info

Sandy check the weather, summer is very hot. It is the cheapest place to stay and eat. The food is different than the rest of Italy. This is the only place in Italy that uses oregano.

Of course, Corleone is there too, where “The Godfather” was from.

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Really depends on your interests. For a first trip Rome, Venice and possibly Florence or Tuscany. The countryside is beautiful and gives you a different aspect. We. Have visited many times, some years twice. Cinque terre was beautiful but has been severely damaged by landslides and over tourism.

Florence

I did this and started and ended in Rome. We spent 2 days there then took the train to Sorrento for about 3 days. From there we went to Pompeii, Amalfi and I think Siena. We took another train and went to Florence for 2 days and Venice for 1 day before going back to Rome for another 2 days. I stayed in hostels and used busses to get around Rome.

Quite the little traveller hey..I had no idea you went to italy! Thays awesome. Pics!?

There is an album or 2 on Facebook!

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What is the best way to get around Italy? Train? Rent a car? Bus?

We did the train, but I have friends who rented a car and loved it

Spent 2 weeks there last summer with 9 pple in our group. We used the train or bus to get everywhere. Rented a place in Rome for a week and did a day trip to Pompeii/Positano and another day we went to a local beach. Rented another place in Florence for the second week and saw Pisa and Venice on side day trips. Agree that an early tour of the Vatican is a must. We also prebooked our Accadamia and Uffizzi tickets to avoid the lines which were super long. Amazing place to visit

we rented a car because we stayed in tuscany which was 30 minutes from florence but it allowed us to add on cinque terre and pisa since they were far away, trains i think are easier but it was nice to see the country side

Train. Definitely Train but it depends where you want to go. I did Italy for 3 weeks and we wanted to go to Matera so we rented a car for a couple days.

The trains are almost never on time so keep that in mind. Ours from Pompeii to Rome was 3 hours late

Rome was amazing. I recommend staying away from Naples. Amalfi Coast is definitely something to take in. We rented a car and drive it, I will never do that again. While there we learned that there are boat tours you can take to bounce to all the towns in Amalfi. This is absolutely how I would recommend doing it. When you drive it is SO crazy and hectic, you really don't get to see much of it. The boat would be amazing.
It up Capri it will blow your mind. Also, Venice. I can't say enough good things about Venice. We on;y did 2 days there, next time we go, I will spend at least 4-5 days there.
I loved Florence, and have found that people either love it or hate it. The night life there is great and the wine, even better. We took an amazing wine tour to San Gimignano. It was a full day tour and we got to see most of the Tuscan countryside. Beautiful. From there you can also do Cinque Terre (be prepared for tourist overload) and Pisa. both easily accessible by train.
I just bought a Eurail pass, it was super easy.

Holly Parker what wine tour did you take?

Deborah oi.....I dont remember who it was with, I found it on viator. I do know that it was the tour that took us to San Gimignano!

Holly Parker

Florence and Sorrento/ Amalfi Coast we’re our top favs. Rome was amazing of course too because there is so much to see. Really I don’t think you can go wrong anywhere in Italy
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Agreed.

If you go to Amalfi, take the train from Rome to Naples, then I think there’s boats from Naples. If not, train to Sorrento. Don’t drive it, it’s crazy and way too long

Venice is beautiful, but soooo busy. The only way to get good pics in Venice is to wake up at 5:00 AM, then walk the empty streets and get the sunrise pics and there will be nobody in your pics. Otherwise you have 50 tourists in each picture with any ground in it.

We stayed in Florence and took a day trip to Cinque Terre by train (12 Euros), best trip ever! Go for 14 days....long trip on either end and you'll be jet lagged.

Ive been to Japan for two weeks and I was the only one out of the group that wasn't jet lagged... i tend to do well with jet lag.. knock on wood. But definitely need 14 days from all the feedback

Skylar - did you do the day trip on your own?

Yep we looked the train times up and bought them on-site. Not crowded, clean. Toured around several of the tiny communities....I think it was 50 cents to take the train between each one. There's also a path to hike it but check beforehand because sometimes they're closed. So beautoful! Hung out on the beach and ate at amazing seaside restaurants. My fav part of our trip.

Skylar oh, I read it wrong....thought you went there for just a day from Florence. We are only in Florence 3 days, so guess this will have to wait til next time

Yep we went for the day. Left early around 0800 and got back in the evening. Its only a coupke minutes between the town by train and I think it was 1.5 or 2 hours trip from Florence. Totally doable!

Cinque Terre is totally worth a visit. We spent 3 days there and it was amazing.

Anywhere specific in Cinque Terre you would recommend?

Florence, Florence, Florence!

have three days there mid May (Friday, Sat, Sunday). Recommendations?

Caroline it has some of the best museums but buy your tickets online in advance or you won’t get the chance at all!

If you're nerdy at all go to Galileo's museum in Florence. Very accessible and you get to see his telecopes!

If you're in Rome, take a train to Ostia and sit on the beach for a day. Totally worth it and a nice getaway from touristy stuff.

We’re more into the outdoors - beaches, scenery, shopping, some touristy things.. but mainly good food, wine, and outside. The odd museum will be ok but not spending days doing it

No kidding. We did almost no museums. Too overwhelming. Made the HUGE mistake of going to the Vatican Museum. DO NOT do that. You will regret it.

The Vatican does have the Sistine Chapel, Raphael’s frescoes, the most amazing art... I am not religious but that was out of this world. It’s all what you like, I guess. I love art and history so it made a huge impact in my arsenal of the most visually stimulating art I’ve ever seen. Add on the history. Speechless

I love art too but being coraled all the way through, shushed in the chapel and told to keep moving was not an enjoyable time. Quite ridiculous actually.

Yeah, it had rules, but we were allowed to stay and look at the art for as long as we wanted... it’s worth it to see the most famous art in the world... the Tower of London put us on a conveyor belt and no photographs to view the Crown Jewels. Now that was crazy!! Lol

We also went to Pisa to see the leaning tower. I didn't realize how beautiful it was. One of the BEST things we did.

Yes we want to see that!! So cool!!

Go do the evening tower climb for the sunset. Worth it . Stay in Pisa overnight then go to cinque Terre.

We also did a wine tour out of Florence into Tuscany and they also took us to see Sienna. Really wonderful time.

Great!! Wineries are right up our alley

Definitely 14 days! I recommend 3 nights in Rome, take a train or bus to Sienna then on to Lucca and Florence. Cinque Terre takes extra time to get in and out of but is unique and beautiful and very busy! Stay in Montorosso.

Nicole Caron

Make sure to check out cinque terra, adorable little sea side towns. Rome is great for walking around and site seeing. Definitely check out Venice. If you have time they do also have an adorable abandoned town filled with cats (Civita di Bagnoregio). Montepulciano for wine, and pienza for cheese. If you want to see a beautiful town where the patron saint of Italy was born, check out Assisi. Pompei is awesome if you have time as well

Verona is very beautiful! You can visit Romeo and Juliet’s balcony and get to the top of the city for amazing scenery

Better wine in the North too!!

We went and booked our own hotel online, so Florence- watch the prices we paid about $60 /night included breakfast in am. Don’t drive there, its nuts. There are hop on hop off busses. Then take the train a day trip to see Pisa. Goto Rome. Coliseum for sure. The Vatican likely worth paying extra to skip the line. Its long. Hop on hop off busses there, walk around.most places can speak english. We booked a cruise from north of Rome- citiavecchia and went to Sicily, Athens , Crete, turkey. That’s another week but you are there.expedia i think we booked hotels through. I booked the cruise through ama. Ok if you fly out of Rome do stay your last night at the airport hilton, they have a free bus in and out of town and the traffic was jammed like crazy there at the airport. There is an advertisement for summer jamboree on the east coast that always looks fun. Beer water-take a water bottle, pop are all the same price. It was hot.august. Churches want sleeves no tank tops. Be prepared to buy a leather purse or 5. We have lots of pics. Ama was going to charge us 300 each to stay at the hilton in Rome , we booked it for much less.

Bologna, Ferrara, Verona. Not touristy and incredible.

Great advice, the hordes goto the same places when there is so much else to see!