First Time Italy - Need Help w/ Planning

In article . com, Rich
wrote:

My wife and I will be taking our first (and likely only) trip to Europe
in October. We'll be there 21 nights. We're in our late 50s and
will be vacationing those 3 weeks with our 22 yr old son who is living
north of Venice. We will be flying into and out of Venice from the U.S.

Since this will most likely be our only trip to that part of the world
we want to squeeze as much into the experience as we can while also
making our Euros stretch as far as we can. Our son has a car (he says
sufficiently reliable) so we'll have that where needed. I assume
we'll take the train to some areas.

In this case it is good you picked Italy, because it's the best place
in all of Europe for touring. So say I. I don't live there like some
on this group, but I've toured through Italy so we'll see how this
works.

We know there are no doubt dozens of places we could visit and enjoy.
We would like to see some of the major well-known stops but we also
wish to have some slower days where we can enjoy the countryside and
relax in addition to the historical sites, the museums, etc.

Our son would like for us to go into Austria and Bavaria and we also
have discussed such areas as Venice, Florence, Pisa, Siena, rural
Tuscany, several days in Rome, side trips perhaps to Pompei, Naples.
But there may be better places or additional stops we just don't know
about. Below is a very uneducated early attempt at an itinerary.

A guidebook I've found to be very very helpful in getting ideas for
touring are the DK Eyewitness Guides. They have a lot of photos, you
see, which are far better than pages of text when it comes to giving
you ideas. Those photos spark the "Ooh, I've got to go THERE"
reaction.

I assume we should be able to accomplish a lot in 3 weeks but we are
totally at a loss as what kind of an itinerary to put together that
really makes sense and is somewhat affordable.

Sure. I'll add my two cents below:

Day
1 Leave US
2 Arrive Venice
3 Aviano
4 Venice

There is a good bit to see in Venice, maybe 2 full days? The
highlights for me were St. Marks (get there when they open to avoid the
lines) with its surperb architecture and lots of gold leaf mosaic, the
nearby Doge's Palace which rivals Versailles outside Paris and
Schoenbrun outside Vienna, and the Accademia art gallery.

5 Florence
6 Florence - Pisa

Pisa is a good day trip from Florence; I recommend it. There is a big
all-in-one ticket for the cathedral, the baptistry, the museum, and of
course the leaning tower. The view from the tower is incredible. And
in the baptistry wait for them to close the door and start singing -
the acoustics are so good one singer can harmonize with himself.

As for Florence, one day just isn't enough. I appreciate you desire to
move around a lot, really, but consider moving around a lot... in
Florence. The Uffizi art museum is incredible, there are Michelangelo
sculptures in the Accademia (get there early, for both), and the
cathedral and baptistry are also amazing, with a huge dome on the
former (go to the top) and gold mosaic all in the interior of the
later. There is a nearby museum too with the original golden doors of
the baptistry.

7 Siena -rural Tuscany
8 Siena -rural Tuscany
9 Open

Good, keep some spares. The flexibility of a car will be a big asset.

10 Rome
11 Rome
12 Rome

Swell. Don't miss the Vatican Museums and St. Peters. The view from
the top of its dome is also amazing.

13 Naples

Very hectic, wear a moneybelt, crazy traffic, pushy vendors. Good
thing you'll have gone through all those places by this time, as Naples
is like a concentration of all of the rest of Italy.

The big archeological museum is a MUST MUST. Especially when also
visiting Pompeii.

14 Pompei
15 enroute Aviano
16 Aviano
17 Austria
18 Bavaria
19 Bavaria
20 Austria

What I've see of Austria and Bavaria are nice, but for those five day I
would visit more Italy. Such as add two each to Florence and Venice,
and another for someplace like Bologna, Modena, or definitely Orvieto.

21 Open
22 Aviano
23 Fly Home

Suggestions from those willing to share ideas would be most
appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Sure. And have a fun time. Visit your local bookstore, they have lots
of Italy guidebooks.

Rich


--
Dan Stephenson
Photos and movies from US Parks and all over Europe:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

"Rich" wrote in message
ups.com...
My wife and I will be taking our first (and likely only) trip to Europe
in October. We'll be there 21 nights. We're in our late 50s and
will be vacationing those 3 weeks with our 22 yr old son who is living
north of Venice. We will be flying into and out of Venice from the U.S.


Thanks everyone for the suggestions. We already had our tickets bought when
I posted . . . RT Venice . . . so that part won't be changing. We will
arrive too late for Oktoberfest which is quite ok with me. I do own a
couple of Travel books as a couple of you suggested and I'll be making some
decisions soon. My proposed itinerary was a bit misleading as it implied I
would be staying overnight in both Pompei and Naples while my actual plans
are to stay in Rome those nights in addition to the nights shown and make
day trips to those areas.

I will be posting again later for more help as I consider transportation
options and lodging ideas and options.

Thanks again for all the input.

Rich

In article , Rich
wrote:

My proposed itinerary was a bit misleading as it implied I
would be staying overnight in both Pompei and Naples while my actual plans
are to stay in Rome those nights in addition to the nights shown and make
day trips to those areas.

Whoa, maybe your should reconsider that. It's a good haul from Rome to
Naples alone, not to mention there is the "Circumvesuviana" commuter
train to go on to get to Pompeii. And Pompeii's HUGE. I highly
recommend you either stay in Naples (don't forget, the archeological
museum is a must, esp. given you're visiting Pompeii) or Sorrento.
Sorrento's a little much more relaxed place on the other side of
Pompeii from Naples. At any rate, that'll save you hours on the train.

Wear a moneybelt, particularly in Naples.

--
Dan Stephenson
Photos and movies from US Parks and all over Europe:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
...

Whoa, maybe your should reconsider that. It's a good haul from Rome to
Naples alone, not to mention there is the "Circumvesuviana" commuter
train to go on to get to Pompeii. And Pompeii's HUGE. I highly
recommend you either stay in Naples (don't forget, the archeological
museum is a must, esp. given you're visiting Pompeii) or Sorrento.

I would agree with Dan. If you propose to spend one day in Naples and
another in Pompeii, it really makes no sense to go back to Rome overnight
between the two.

Alan Harrison

Rich wrote:

My proposed itinerary was a bit misleading as it implied I
would be staying overnight in both Pompei and Naples while my actual plans
are to stay in Rome those nights in addition to the nights shown and make
day trips to those areas.

Forget it. It doesn't make sense. IMHO, I would skip Naples and Pompei,
giving more time elsewhere.

--
Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail:
Home page: http://www.angelfire.com/ar/archivarius
(musicologia pratica)