My wife and I will be traveling to Italy in April. She has been there numerous times, but this is my first trip crossing the Atlantic Ocean. We are starting to finalize our itinerary. We will be there for 10 days. We are flying into Milan and will be going to Cinque Terre first. We do know that we will be in Rome our last 4 nights and then take the train back to Milan for our return flight. We will be renting a car, but will drop it off in Rome. Here is where my question begins. After we leave Cinque Terre, we will be driving to our next destination. She gave me ideas like Siene, Naples, and Pisa. I guess my question is how bad will the drive be from Cinque Terre to all these place for those that have been? Any recommendations?

You should definitely spend some time in Florence and please don't even mess with Naples.

I would add that Pisa is vastly overrated (at least imo). Seeing the tower is about an hour event and after that I wasn't sure what else to do. The town seemed more cramped and dirtier than Florence. Perhaps we just didn't see some of the nicer areas of town.

Of the list you provided Siena seems to be the best option to me. I would also recommend Florence. Certainly more culture, art and sights to see than in Pisa.

For that matter, if you are doing Tuscany I would suggest spending some time in some of the hill towns. San Gimignano would be a good one to look at (or similar town). Certainly more of a rustic itialian country side feel than you would get in either Florence or Siena. Also, if you enjoy wine you can do a tour or two!

When in April is your trip? I fly to Venice on April 9th and fly out of Turin April 17th (back to Madrid). Planning on squeezing in Florence (quick visit to Pisa) and Cinque Terre during that time. Give a shout if we overlap! goldentista03@gmail I was in Rome over Thanksgiving, so if you have any Rome questions, let me know. Other than that, I've only been to the lakes in the north (Como & Lugano) so I'm not familiar with the places you listed.

that's what I was wondering too. we really haven't sat down and discussed it thoroughly enough as to how we will navigate Italy, but I will bring that up cuz to me renting a car does not make a lot of sense to me either.

We will just miss you. We will be arriving in Milan a couple of days later. Thanks for your and everyone's advice so far.

Hubby & I took our Aggie daughter to Italy for 3 weeks last May. Our original plan was to rent a car. I am so glad we didn't! Way too much trouble. You can get to all of the places on your list by train. I agree w/Pisa being a one hour stop. We literally arrived by train, checked our bags, hopped a bus to the tower, snapped a few pics & we were on our way to our next stop. We spent 5 nts in Florence & I loved it. Lots of culture. We did lots of day trips so our entire 5 days was not in Florence. We rented a car w/a private driver. Best splurge ever (I am a budget traveller). He showed up in a Mercedes sedan & drove us to the winery (Verazzano) where we had a tour & an unbelievable lunch. He also took us to San Gimi & Chianti. Well worth the money. It was so relaxing. He just dropped us off, gave a few must see tips & we met him at a designated time. Siena is a great town & we originally planned to spend 2 nts there but because of the train schedules it ended up being a day trip. We had one of our best ever meals there. My son lived in Italy for 5 months at the TAMU campus so he was really helpful w/tips on where to eat, what to do, etc. We also loved CT. It rained most of the time we were there but we still walked some of the trails. I had hoped we would be able to walk all of them but some were closed. I highly suggest staying in CT. Some people stay in the larger town & take the train in every day so when they all leave you feel like a local!

A car will be a useless headache in the Cinque Terre and Rome. The only place it can be useful is if you plan on hopping around Tuscany.

Personally, I would forget the car. Go to Florence from CT and stay a few nights there. You can take a couple of days trips by train/bus (maybe Siena and Bologna). Pisa isn't worth much more than a couple of hours to see the tower. Just stop for a few hours on the way to Florence...you can check your bags at the train station. Naples is definitely not worth the trouble with only 10 days.

My wife and I went the week of Thanksgiving a few months ago.

We flew into Pisa from Paris and rented a car. Don't mess with Pisa, it's nothing special. We drove from Pisa to Volterra then to Sienna and on to Montepuciano. Volterra is a small hill town that is interesting. Sienna should be high on your list, large town with quite a bit going on. Montepulciano is medium size town with enough to do. We rented a car so that we had more flexibility in Tuscany and we stayed at an agriturismo outside of Montepuciano. Driving in Tuscany is sporty, but not bad. The train stations are not all close to the towns so you're looking at cabs or buses to get from the station to the town.

If you do drive, get a good guide book, we used rick steves. He tells you exactly where the public parking lots are and put that location into your gps, not the town. Get the Rick Steve's book either way, it's a ton of great info.

We dropped the car off in Orvieto and took the train in to Rome. Orvieto is cool and the girl at the Hertz place was probably the hottest girl I saw the entire trip.

Do not drive in Rome. Do the big stuff in Rome, but make sure the Borghese Gallery is on your list. Try to get a necropolis tour for the Vatican.

On our next trip, I plan on hitting Milan, Florence, Venice, and another couple days in Rome. Italy was outstanding!

Renting a car is only a bad idea if you plan to stick to the big cities. If you plan to just hit Florence, Rome, Cinque Terre, Naples, Milan, Venice, etc. then just get a train pass. Driving in the city is a terrible, awful, no good, very bad experience for Americans.

But, you can always rent a car to travel the hill towns in Tuscany and Umbria. I loved the small hill towns like Assissi, Montefalco, and Spoleto. As long as you have a decent GPS, traveling through the Italian countryside can be a tremendous experience. There are a ton of small hill towns in Tuscany and Umbria only accessible by car. Spoleto might have a small train station, but I don't remember one.

You can always rent a car and park it at a train station and then ride the train into Rome, Venice, Milan, etc. for a few night's stay. Or, you can rent a car near the train station or airport and then travel the countryside. Just don't try to drive into the city centers.

If you are going to rent a car you will need an international drivers license. You have to get it before you leave the states at a AAA office.

ce1994 said:

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Take the train. You will regret like hell renting a car.

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I agree with this. After the Cinque Terre go to Florence and/or Sienna. We loved both of those. Being there 10 days with the last 4 in Rome, this will eat up your entire time.

Assuming you are spending at least 2 nights in the Cinque Terre, 4 in Rome, and 1 in Milan before your flight home, that only leaves you three nights for something else. I think you should just base yourself in Florence for those 3 days. Spend 2 days exploring Florence and 1 day in Siena (easy bus access). I don't think you really have time to rent a car and explore Tuscany AND see Florence in just 3 days. Save the Tuscan hill towns for another trip. Just my two cents.

I'm going to be in Italy in April also. I have stops in Rome and Florence planned out, but does anyone have any advice on whether Pompeii is worth a day trip?

DanHo2010 said:

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I'm going to be in Italy in April also. I have stops in Rome and Florence planned out, but does anyone have any advice on whether Pompeii is worth a day trip?

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Pompeii is absolutely worth the stop! We visited there last summer as part of a group tour. It was one of the highlights of our trip! You can do self-guided tours, but I highly recommend doing a small-group guided tour. We used Walks of Italy in Rome, and they are fantastic. I believe they do a Pompeii tour as well.

DanHo2010 said:

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I'm going to be in Italy in April also. I have stops in Rome and Florence planned out, but does anyone have any advice on whether Pompeii is worth a day trip?

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Pompeii is pretty cool but a long, exhausting day trip from Rome. It is worth it if you have the day to spare. How many days do you have for Rome?

5 for Rome (counting the arrival day), 2 for Florence, 1 unallocated so far.

Well I guess it's up to what you are interested in and if you think you will return. If you think you will return to Italy at some point and go to Sorrento and the Amalia Coast then save Pompeii for next time. If you are really interested in seeing it then go ahead and make it a day trip from Rome. You can take the fast train from Rome to Naples (about an hour) early in the morning then catch the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii. Spend the day there then maybe grab a late lunch or early dinner in Naples before taking the train back to Rome.

cadetjay02 said:

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We dropped the car off in Orvieto and took the train in to Rome. Orvieto is cool and the girl at the Hertz place was probably the hottest girl I saw the entire trip.

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That's hilarious. This place either has very strict hiring standards or it's the same girl I saw there ten years ago. Hot as hell, even with the large cold sore on her lip.

Just went to Italy last fall. There is absolutely no good reason to attempt driving to the Cinque Terre.

We did the quick train stop in Pisa on the way from Manarola to Florence. As others have said don't skip Florence and the nearby towns, and use Rick Steves' book as your guide.

And don't worry about missing Pisa. Even the leaning tower is not worth the trip. Pretty crappy and touristy city.

Good to know. I'm thinking I'll play my last full day by ear and if I feel like it I'll take the train down to Pompeii.

I agree with the comments about Naples and Pisa. We spent two nights in Milan and I thought it was one night too many. Florence is far and away a must see. Four nights in Rome may be too long. Suggest spend in two, no more than three, nights in Rome. Spend the other nights in the countryside then plan your next trip to do the Amalfi coast.

I think Rome needs 3 full days minimum. Vatican City and the ancient Roman sights each take a full day each. Then you need a full day to just walk around and enjoy the city center.

TXCityAggie said:

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I think Rome needs 3 full days minimum. Vatican City and the ancient Roman sights each take a full day each. Then you need a full day to just walk around and enjoy the city center.

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To elaborate on this - we were there for 2 full and one partial days early last June. I think the Vatican alone requires two mornings - and here is why: both the museums and the basilica are must-sees, and I really enjoyed climbing to the top of the dome (it's an absolutely stunning view). That needs to be done early in the morning, otherwise it is just too crowded and miserable (it's an extremely small space). The Sistine Chapel is also best seen first thing in the morning, before it gets too crowded. So, this pretty much means two trips to the Vatican.

The day we climbed to the top of the dome, we also did a VIP tour of the Colosseum (with the Walks of Italy company I mentioned above). That was in the afternoon, and while the main part of the Colosseum was crowded, with this particular tour company, we had access to parts where no one else is allowed (we actually toured all three levels), so there were parts of the structure that our group of maybe 20-30 people had completely to ourselves. I can't say enough good things about that tour.

The same idea applies to other landmarks like the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. If you want to really see the beauty and details up close and not be mobbed by crowds, it's best to visit first thing in the morning.

With 2 1/2 days, what I mentioned above is pretty much all we did. And we really didn't get a good tour of the St. Peter's because I saved it for the end of our Vatican Museum tour, and by the time we got there it was ridiculously crowded to the point that it was not enjoyable (we should have gone in after we climbed the dome the day before).

We didn't have time to visit any catacombs, visit Castel Sant'Angelo, or visit any of the Vatican gardens, all of which are things I would have enjoyed.

I know part of our experience was due to the fact that we visited in June, but all of our tour guides told us that the city has been more crowded since Pope Francis was instated. I suspect April would be more pleasant, but some of these attractions (like the top of the dome) require very few people to become unpleasantly crowded.

I've bookmarked the Walks of Italy company. Wow. After reading through some of their tours I told my wife that our 2018 trip we're going to finally check out Italy.

We used walks of Italy for a few tours and really enjoyed them as well. Recommended from here.

A couple suggestions I didn't see while quickly perusing the thread was we did a cooking class in Florence and a walking food tour in Rome. Both were highlights of the trip. In fact, we usually do a cooking class and occasion a food tour everywhere we go.

htxag09 said:

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We used walks of Italy for a few tours and really enjoyed them as well. Recommended from here.

A couple suggestions I didn't see while quickly perusing the thread was we did a cooking class in Florence and a walking food tour in Rome. Both were highlights of the trip. In fact, we usually do a cooking class and occasion a food tour everywhere we go.

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I can vouch for the Walks of Italy cooking class in Rome. Is was fantastic and also one of the trip highlights.

We have 2 weeks coming up in May-June that we're doing. Flying into Rome and train to Naples, and 6 nights in Positano. Taking train from Naples to Milan, and Milan into Lake Como for 5 nights. Probably flying Milan to Rome for 2 nights, and Rome back to DFW.

Any suggestions of things to do while there? No real agenda besides eating, drinking, and walking around. Probably a day trip to Monaco too.

Flights are already booked and can't change them. Our last "day" in Rome our flight leaves at 6:30am, so our plan was to spend a night in the Sheraton close to FCO for an easy exit.

Wife and I were in Italy in October and had a great time. We did both train and car. Personally, I liked the freedom of the car much better.

My recommendation after the Cinque is to rent a car at the train station in La Spezia and drive to Tuscany and explore the hill towns for at least 2 days - you won't regret it. Then perhaps drive to Florence and turn you car in before catching a train to Rome or just drive straight to Rome. We got a little lost on a gravel road in Tuscany and it was one of the highlights of our trip. You can't go wrong with any of the hill towns.

If you are visiting the first Sunday of the month check out the Antique Fair in Arezzo.

The wife and I fly into Rome (arrive 4/20) and depart 5/03 - 12 full days (not counting the travel days). We have a Homeaway rental near Piazza del Popolo and plan to make that our home base. I've written down Walks of Italy. The Mrs really wants to see both Pompeii and Herculaneum. Sally-Rome City Tours offers a private tour with a private guide and private driver that takes you to both in the same day - 2.5 hours in Pompeii and 2 hours in Herculaneum. But it's quite the chunk of change. But I haven't found anything else that tackles both in the same day from Rome. Thoughts or suggestions? Also open to any other ideas anyone may have. This is to celebrate our 25th Anniversary, so I don't mind spending more than I normally would on a trip like this.