First Time Italy - Need Help w/ Planning

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.

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.

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.

Day
1 Leave US
2 Arrive Venice
3 Aviano
4 Venice
5 Florence
6 Florence - Pisa
7 Siena -rural Tuscany
8 Siena -rural Tuscany
9 Open
10 Rome
11 Rome
12 Rome
13 Naples
14 Pompei
15 enroute Aviano
16 Aviano
17 Austria
18 Bavaria
19 Bavaria
20 Austria
21 Open
22 Aviano
23 Fly Home

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

Thanks in advance for any help.

Rich

Rich wrote:
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.

You might want to head north first, that way your timing might be right
for Oktoberfest in Munich, if you'd enjoy that. Salzburg is one of my
favorite cities because of its nice mix of culture, alpine scenery, and
a few fun unusual things like a visit to a salt mine, ice caves, and
the bishop's water garden where he would play jokes with water on his
guests. Your itinary sounds nice, but 4 days for both Austria and
Bavaria are very short. I'm sure that you'll have a good trip.

George

"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.

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.

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.

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.

Day
1 Leave US
2 Arrive Venice
3 Aviano
4 Venice
5 Florence
6 Florence - Pisa
7 Siena -rural Tuscany
8 Siena -rural Tuscany
9 Open
10 Rome
11 Rome
12 Rome
13 Naples
14 Pompei
15 enroute Aviano
16 Aviano
17 Austria
18 Bavaria
19 Bavaria
20 Austria
21 Open
22 Aviano
23 Fly Home

Well, you'll see slightly less of your son, but you could do an open jaws,
flying home from Vienna or Munich. That would give you an extra day or
two--and you're going to need it. This is a pretty intensive schedule, lots
of travel. I would try to limit the moves. Maybe stay in Siena for 4 nights
and take the bus into Florence. Don't know where you're going in Austria and
Bavaria, but you could stay in Salzburg and make a daytrip to Munich. And
there are long same day tours to Pompeii from Rome. That would eliminate the
need to stay in Naples and Pompeii. Also expect to be jet-lagged the first
few days.

Marianne

I think this itinerary is far too ambitious. While I can appreciate
your desire to see as much as possible on your likely only trip to
Europe, you might be better served to either see Italy, or just
northern Italy and Austria. However, this being said... it would be a
shame to miss out on Rome.

You really haven't taken into consideration all the travel time you
will need to get to all of these places. If you have taken travel time
into consideration, then you are short changing some of these cities.
The last time I was in Rome, I was pained to leave after 5 days
(feeling like I had barely scratched the surface). A proper visit of
Austria (west and east) will require at least a week (and I am sure
some in this group will tell you that you need even more time there).

Why don't you tell us what are your interests and goals with this trip.
Do you want to see as much as possible? Are you interested in museums,
history, nature, dining...

Simone

"george" wrote in news:1118898970.553106.113270
@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Rich wrote:
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.

You might want to head north first, that way your timing might be
right
for Oktoberfest in Munich, if you'd enjoy that. Salzburg is one of my
favorite cities because of its nice mix of culture, alpine scenery,
and

heading north first is a good idea but not for Oktoberfest which will be
over in all liklihood, but because I always would want to go north first
in the fall just as I would put it off in April and go south.



--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

In September (1999) I spent two nights on park benches in Italy because
I couldn't find a hotel (any price range). University in Italy only
starts mid October so plenty of people are on vacation. Maybe October
will be OK as September was probably just the shoulder month of August
(when most of Europe shuts down).

This is what I suggest. Visit your son and stay there until he can't
stand you anymore. With his car, you can make some pretty fascinating
day trips (including Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Northern Italy).
Having saved a fortune on hotels, you are ready to head further south
(by that time the tourist season should be over). You could perhaps
make it all the way to Sicily.

Remember, there are no motels in Italy and few locals speak English.
The south is much cheaper (as in the USA), but the sights are more
compact around Rome. Avoid Milan unless you want to see how blue collar
Italians live. _Always_ have lunch as restaurants are closed at 5PM.
Normal supper is around 8PM. Inexpensive menus turn out to be pricey
once all the extras are factored in (sit down fee, bread fee, service
fee, terrace fee, taxes (don't tip)).

If you drink lots of wine the trip will pay for it's self. Venice,
Florence and Rome are all you _have_ to see. You could even leave out
Florence. Austria has mountains and Croatia has beaches, but I'm
guessing you have seen both. Rome and Venice, however, are truly
unique.

The best Italian chefs all moved to the USA/Canada. You wont miss much
if you bag a few meals instead of eating out. Italian Pizza sucks but
you should have it once to compare.

Finally, there is no way this will be your last trip to Europe. Spain,
Greece and Eastern Europe are almost affordable and would make great
trips using your son's home as a base on a future prolonged early
retirement trip.

Oh, and Italy has to be the pickpocket-purse snatch-hotel room robbery
capital of the world. _Expect_ to robbed and be happy if you are not.

Sam

Top posting for brevity: Back in the 90's, I did something like this
over the course of 2 - 10 days trips, so IMO, it is tight, but do-able.
I'd head North first -- Vienna (2N), Salzburg (2N), Munich/Bavaria
(2N), Return to Aviano (1N). Then South -- Venice (2N), Florence
(2N), Tuscany: Pisa-Siena (3N), Rome (3N), Pompeii/Amalfi Coast,
Sorrento (2N), Return to Aviano via Umbria (2N). =R=

"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.
1 Leave US
2 Arrive Venice
3 Aviano
4 Venice
5 Florence
6 Florence - Pisa
7 Siena -rural Tuscany
8 Siena -rural Tuscany
9 Open
10 Rome
11 Rome
12 Rome
13 Naples
14 Pompei
15 enroute Aviano
16 Aviano
17 Austria
18 Bavaria
19 Bavaria
20 Austria
21 Open
22 Aviano
23 Fly Home

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

Thanks in advance for any help.

Rich

Mimi wrote:
Well, you'll see slightly less of your son, but you could do an open jaws,
flying home from Vienna or Munich. That would give you an extra day or
two--and you're going to need it.

This is good advice that can be improved on (in my opinion) in two ways. (1)
Fly open jaws into Naples(and out of Vienna or Munich) so all your travel is
in the same direction--no doubling back. (2) Fly into Vienna or Munich and
out of Naples so that direction is north-south, more agreeable that time of
year as another poster suggests.

If you can't find a good flight out of Naples then make Naples your
second-to-last stop, ending in Rome, and fly home from there.

Along the same lines: combine your time in Venice into one contiguious
chunk. That is, if you want to spend two days there, try
Venice-Venice-Aviano, not Venice-Aviano-Venice.

With an itinerary like yours, every little trick that squeezes travel time
out of your plan is worth the effort and expense.

Have a great trip!

Le 15 Jun 2005 20:16:11 -0700, "Rich" a
écrit :

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.

If you stay one day in Naples and one in Pompei, you will not see the
Costa Amalfitana which is a must if you ask me (I don't even mention
archeological site like Herculanum or the Vesuvio that you could climb
if you had more than 2 days in Campania).

I would prefer to spend more time in a few place but that's me.The
problem when you do so many sights in a short time is that you finish
to mix everything. In 10 years, you will probably say that Florence
has the best pizze in the world and the Coliseo in Pompei is gorgeous
!

On 15 Jun 2005 22:16:10 -0700, "george" wrote:

Rich wrote:

You might want to head north first, that way your timing might be right
for Oktoberfest in Munich

The original poster is planning on going to Europe in October.
However, despite the name, the "Oktoberfest" in Munich mostly occurs
in September. It typically runs only a few days into October; this
year the dates are 17 September to 3 October.

Regards,

George
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