Travel Advice - Italy

[ChiefDunn]

I earned a trip to Venice, Italy through work for me and wife this April. It’s a rewards trip. I have to spend the first 5 days in Venice, but I have an option to extend up to 4 more days. I can stay anywhere I want, but I have to fly home out of the Venice airport. My question is, where would you go if you had 3-4 extra days? Stay in Italy, Austria, Croatia? I’ve never been to Europe, so I’m looking for advice.

 

[EconSean]

I know this won’t really help, but you can’t go wrong with any of it. Rome and Milan were nice to visit certainly and I love Vienna. That said, if you think you’ll be back to europe again, perhaps consider Croatia now, as it may be unlikely that you would make a trip overseas just to head there. Disclaimer: I have not been there, but I would love to visit.

When I head over for work-related trips, I like to stop over at smaller, out of the way places that probably wouldn’t be vacation destination on their own (thus visits to places like Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary). The family vacation trips are to London, Paris, the biggies.

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

Venice is great but 5 days there is a lot. How will they know if you don't actually stay there the entire 5 days?

 

[ChiefDunn]

Venice is great but 5 days there is a lot. How will they know if you don't actually stay there the entire 5 days?

It’s a Presidents Club trip, we’re all there with company Leadership. We have plenty of free time to do whatever we want, but they structure it to make it hard to go too far.

 

[ChiefDunn]

I know this won’t really help, but you can’t go wrong with any of it. Rome and Milan were nice to visit certainly and I love Vienna. That said, if you think you’ll be back to europe again, perhaps consider Croatia now, as it may be unlikely that you would make a trip overseas just to head there. Disclaimer: I have not been there, but I would love to visit.

When I head over for work-related trips, I like to stop over at smaller, out of the way places that probably wouldn’t be vacation destination on their own (thus visits to places like Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary). The family vacation trips are to London, Paris, the biggies.

Not that I don’t like history, I do, but looking at old churches and statues isn’t really my thing. I think I would enjoy winery’s, the country side, villages, stuff like that. I just looked up Vienna, that looks more my speed.

 

[LikeaG5]

I'd hit up Rome and Florence as opposed to the extra travel to another country.

 

[funksouljon]

I am biased, I'd stay in Italy and revisit some locations. If I had 4 days to burn, my list would be some combo of
San Marino
Florence
Ducati Factory
Chianti or vineyards north of Florence

Due to time, you'd have to likely decide on Rome or not, that is weeks of tourism alone, but I like history, statues, monuments, etc. IMO Rome and anything else would be a waste of time.

Its spring, shoulder season so tourism will be down. Unless you are a skier, then north to the Alps.

 

[ReliableOstrich]

5 days in Venice is 4 too many! It is a touristy hell.

Spend your other 4 days in Rome or Florence, or fly across the Adriatic to Split/Hvar or Dubrovnik.

 

[FSUTribe76]

Not that I don’t like history, I do, but looking at old churches and statues isn’t really my thing. I think I would enjoy winery’s, the country side, villages, stuff like that. I just looked up Vienna, that looks more my speed.

I’m a huge history nut and even I periodically overdue it when it comes to castles and cathedrals. When my wife and I went on a Wales, Scotland, London & Paris trip for two weeks we loved everything about Scotland and Paris because we balanced history, art, food, and drinking. In Wales, other than drinking some Old Scrumpy, trying Welsh whisky and periodically having a pint or two in a pub, we pretty much just went from castle to castle to cathedral to castle. And by the second or third day in Wales we were pretty bored. Granted there’s not a LOT you can do in Wales other than look at Castles especially as all of the roads and trains to Snowdonia were closed for winter, but we should have mixed in some fishing, hunting or SOMETHING else. In Scotland, we had a really diverse itenary and we loved everything about that portion of the trip.

 

[cfbfan23]

I know it will look really inviting, but try not to swim in the canals.

 

[321Nole]

Look up Cinque Terra

 

[NotGuiltyNole]

I have not been, but you are close to Modena. Which is on my list of places I want to get to. I would go and eat Ham and Cheese the entire time.

 

[Nole Lou]

5 days in Venice is 4 too many! It is a touristy hell.

Spend your other 4 days in Rome or Florence, or fly across the Adriatic to Split/Hvar or Dubrovnik.

My wife has been to Italy three times and hates Venice, and we didn't go on our Italy trip as a family. We'll be going back to Italy eventually (family) and I want to see Venice, but my main interest is in getting back to Rome. I love the old stuff.

The only advice is that if you have any limits on your time, grabbing tour guides outside of "attractions" was a really good value play. You can't see everything, but we got more out of say two hours with an English speaking tour guide taking us through a selection of highlights than we would have wandering around with our nose in a guidebook for six hours. You walk into a room with 40 statues or works of art, and unless you're really prepared, it's hard to know what you're looking at or why you should especially care beyond the visceral impact of taking it all in. Having a tour guide that would take you to say 2-3 pieces that were either particularly historically notable, or had really interesting stories, was really great.

Sure, we might have stood right next to another piece that they didn't even mention with it's own compelling story...but unless you're going to make it a point to research each and every piece, we got a lot more out of it than just walking into a room and "hey, look at all these statues!" would have been.

 

[Funk#49]

My wife and I went to Italy for two weeks (with a short sidetrip to Switzerland on the Bernina Express) this past October. I can't imagine what you all are going to be doing in Venice for 5 days. We spent two days there and that was enough.

Be prepared to spend out the ass for the gondola ride. It was 100 euro for a 30 minute ride after (I think) 4:00 or 5:00 pm. I went ahead and splurged for a full hour, 200 euro, because when the hell am I ever going to do that again and the wife wanted it so.... Also be prepared to get lost every time you leave your hotel. I've never seen anything like it. The whole city is like a rat maze.

St. Mark's Basicila and Doge's Palace are musts.....watch out for restaurants intentionally overcharging you for food and drink. There's a small island directly across from Venice that I would recommend called Church of San Giorgio Maggiore. You can go up into the tower there and you will have a very good overview back onto the city of Venice.

Siena, in the Tuscany region, was one of our favorite places we visited as was the guided tour we took through the Tuscany area. Milan reminded me of one of our large cities up north....kind of dirty, very busy, not that friendly, but we saw The Last Supper which was more beautiful in person than I can describe. I highly recommend that but you do need to have a reservation to get in. You can't just show up and see it.

 

[PortaJohn]

I’d definitely hit Florence and possibly Rome. Florence might be my favorite city in the world and Rome is something you have to do once. I know most love Cinque Terra, but we weren’t fans at all. 3 very long days there. Looks great in pictures but we were bored out of our mind.

 

[Funk#49]

I’d definitely hit Florence and possibly Rome. Florence might be my favorite city in the world and Rome is something you have to do once. I know most love Cinque Terra, but we weren’t fans at all. 3 very long days there. Looks great in pictures but we were bored out of our mind.

We "hit the wall" in Florence on our trip and even though we still went to the Academia and the Uffizi Gallery, we didn't get to enjoy Florence like we would have. Just worn out when we were there. Rome was amazing. I can't wait to go back. We had several, highly recommended guided tours through a company called "Walks of Italy". We actually used them in Venice and Rome, including The Vatican, Colosieum, and the catacombs. Well worth the expense.

 

[ReliableOstrich]

I’d definitely hit Florence and possibly Rome. Florence might be my favorite city in the world and Rome is something you have to do once. I know most love Cinque Terra, but we weren’t fans at all. 3 very long days there. Looks great in pictures but we were bored out of our mind.

I gave this a like but then pulled it back when I read the cinque terra part. I loved it. Hiking from town to town was great. Hanging out in the two farthest west was great also

 

[ncnole1975]

Florence is one of the best cities in Italy. I also love Sorrento to use as a home base for a few days to do Capri, Positano, and the rest of the Amalfi coast. I do agree with the others, Venice is cool for a few hours then it's grossly overrated.
We are going to Dubrovnik this summer so I can't advise on that yet. From Venice, it may be easier to do Vienna or Croatia as opposed to heading to Florence.

I think Positano is one of the coolest place las I've ever been. I'd highly advise you go there.

 

[ChiefDunn]

After research and input from others, im thinking about spending the four extra days in Florence. For those that have stayed there, and recommendations on a hotel B&B?

 

[seminole4life1]

Florence is one of the best cities in Italy. I also love Sorrento to use as a home base for a few days to do Capri, Positano, and the rest of the Amalfi coast. I do agree with the others, Venice is cool for a few hours then it's grossly overrated.
We are going to Dubrovnik this summer so I can't advise on that yet. From Venice, it may be easier to do Vienna or Croatia as opposed to heading to Florence.

I think Positano is one of the coolest place las I've ever been. I'd highly advise you go there.

Love the Amalfi coast. Stayed in Ravello and Capri for a wedding- probably my 2nd favorite trip ever behind South Africa.

 

[ReliableOstrich]

After research and input from others, im thinking about spending the four extra days in Florence. For those that have stayed there, and recommendations on a hotel B&B?

I stayed at a hostel near the Duomo - if that's you guys' style...

 

[Gonolz]

I have a house in Tuscany, but if you are thinking of going there, don't bother. There's really nothing available.

 

[LesClaypool]

After research and input from others, im thinking about spending the four extra days in Florence. For those that have stayed there, and recommendations on a hotel B&B?

Good decision. Now the next decision is where to take your side trips from Florence b/c as awesome as Florence is, there's also not 4 days worth of stuff to do there either...but you can hit Siena, Pisa, and Bologna, among others, in little time.

And I also stayed near the Duomo. Florence is a pretty small, very walkable city. If you can stay anywhere remotely close to the Duomo, then you're very centrally located. That's my $.02

 

[ChiefDunn]

Good decision. Now the next decision is where to take your side trips from Florence b/c as awesome as Florence is, there's also not 4 days worth of stuff to do there either...but you can hit Siena, Pisa, and Bologna, among others, in little time.

And I also stayed near the Duomo. Florence is a pretty small, very walkable city. If you can stay anywhere remotely close to the Duomo, then you're very centrally located. That's my $.02

Awesome. Thank you. To your point, I was thinking Florence because it seems to be best located to take day trips to a lot of other places, and it’s only a 3.5 hour train ride from Venice.

 

[hatsbo]

After research and input from others, im thinking about spending the four extra days in Florence. For those that have stayed there, and recommendations on a hotel B&B?

Good choice on Florence. We stayed in the walled city of Lucca, which was our base of operations between Florence and Cinque Terre. We bounced between both, driving through the back roads of the countryside. Got lost and ended up in Montecuccoli, a small village where an elderly Italian couple took us into their small house, fed us and got us back on the right track, knowing little to no English. Good times!

 

[funksouljon]

After research and input from others, im thinking about spending the four extra days in Florence. For those that have stayed there, and recommendations on a hotel B&B?

Here is my shortened list, I haven't been back in 25ish years, but my list for would be
Duomo (climb to the top as well)
Piazzale Michelangelo (for dawn or dusk view of the city) (also have a gelato festival during April here).
The Battistero dates back to the 5th century. Little expensive, but the age makes it worth it
Bobolli Gardens
Santa Croce
Ponte vecchio
San Marco
Uffizi Gallery
Accademia Gallery (but you don't like art or just statues etc?)
General walking tour of the city, so many cool locations just around the corner


Trying to keep list short, I think you COULD spend 4 days there, but it holds a special place for me. We didn't BnB so I can't give .02 on that.

 

[funksouljon]

And one more add, depending on when you are there, they have an annual Iris garden, only open from April 25 for a month.
https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ideas/iris-garden-in-florence/

I am not a "flower person" but I do appreciate the beauty. I missed it when there, but would definitely go for an hour or so and eat gelato while strolling.

 

[ChiefDunn]

And one more add, depending on when you are there, they have an annual Iris garden, only open from April 25 for a month.
https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ideas/iris-garden-in-florence/

I am not a "flower person" but I do appreciate the beauty. I missed it when there, but would definitely go for an hour or so and eat gelato while strolling.

We’ll miss it. April 8-17th are our dates. Thanks tho!

 

[FSUFrank]

Agree 100% on Amalfi Coast

 

[F4Gary]

4 days? You should be able to get to New Zealand and back and still get in 48 hrs on the island.
Or...you could go to Wales.