Mum's 50th - Italy ideas needed!

[matleavelove]

It's my mum's 50th in April and my sister and I would like to take her away on a holiday/trip of some kind. She's never been to Italy and would love the idea. We can only go for a maximum of a week but would ideally like to visit a few place places: Venice, Rome, and Verona. We appreciate this is like 2 days in each location but that's ok! We just want a taster of each with good food and wine! I'm not really sure how to go about organising this so any tips would be helpful. I'd looked at interrail passes or flying to one location and then train to the next, flying back from the last, but not sure which order to visit them. Any help gratefully appreciated!

Tbh I'm not sure you get much of a flavour by spending such little time there. If you did then start in Venice and end in Rome or vice versa. Verona and Venice are also within easy reach of lake Garda so you could base yourselves there and move on to Rome. Trenitalia is the train operator website to check timings and prices , not aware of any specific passes but separate fares are probably cheaper than an interrail pass.

Venice - Verona - Rome

Take a water taxi from the airport to Venice - it’s a great experience. Then trains to Verona & Rome, fly back from Rome.

Wow what fantastic daughters you are. Amazing gift. Good luck and enjoy every second.

Viva holidays do some good value tours. We flew into Rome, trained to Florence and then trained to Venice and flew home from there.Two nights in each. We opted for 4 star hotels.
They do quite a few itineraries.
Florence at the end of June, early evening, a rooftop bar, a glass of wine and a bowl of nibbles, with a view of the Duomo, there's nothing like it.

We went by train through Italy getting off for short stops in each location. It was a very relaxing way to travel and I would definitely recommend- it was like having lots of mini city breaks. However, I had already visited Rome and Venice so they weren’t on the list.

Make sure to factor in time to visit the Vatican when you are in Rome.

Italy is very easy to get around by train. I went last year to Venice, Padua, Bologna and Ravenna in 7 days. Saw everything I needed to see as I couldn't expect anything but a whistlestop but it was great!

Anyway, you could base yourself in Padua which is a charming city in its own right, and accommodation is reasonable. It is half an hour from Venice and an hour from Verona. Look for a hotel in Padua that is near the tramline as that takes you right to the door of the train station. There is lots to see in Padua, check it out. I reckon one full day in Venice is sufficient, but if you want to do more, then two tops. It is a heck of an expensive place to visit and it is massively crowded. Avoid Easter hols if you can for obvious reasons! If you stay in Padua, I can guarantee you that the sight of the Grand Canal full of boats and gondolas and magnificent old buildings as you exit the train station is an amazing sight. It really is.

Verona is definitely a one day visit, easy to do from Padua. Lovely spot, but not really that much there apart from Juliet's balcony and the Roman Amphitheatre. OK I know there is more, but those are the highlights.

Then get the train to Roma. Save your days for this fab city and fly home from there.

You are great daughters, and Mum is very lucky to have you, but I'm sure she is a sweetheart too. Enjoy.

Trains in Italy are great and very easy to organise— no need to pay a tour company. You can go first class for not much more than standard and it’s lovely, we were given a choice of an espresso or glass of Prosecco, very civilised.

Second the water taxi suggestion. It’s not cheap but it will be a highlight of your trip.

You can get to Italy and back with an Interrail pass, but I doubt that's your plan given you only have a week! If you're only travelling internally in Italy it would be much cheaper to buy individual train tickets. High speed trains in Italy are great nowadays- it takes about 5 hours to get from Venice to Rome- and pretty reasonably priced. (It's 1-2 hrs from Verona to Venice). A PP recommended taking a water taxi, but to my mind seeing your first sight of Venice from the train is unrivalled (and much cheaper!)
I would choose 2 centres: base yourselves in either Venice or Verona for half the time, with a day trip to the other, and Rome the other half.
With both Rome and Venice, the tourist honeypots in the centre are mega crowded (Piazza S. Marco, Rialto, Lista da Spagna/ Colosseum, Piazza Navona, Vatican museums etc), but they both have lots and lots of beauty in other areas where tourists go less. Pack walking shoes and get researching!

We lived in Italy for six years, so I echo what everyone has said about the trains. We went from Bologna to Rome a few times for £14 return!
Rome is amazing, Verona is lovely but can do in one-two days. Venice I wasn't a huge fan, we went out of season and it was still absolutely rammed so we went home early. Get up early in Venice and wander round before it gets too busy.
Our favorite place by an absolute mile was the lakes. Cheap to fly to either Milan airport for the lakes then you can get down to Verona, across to Venice than train to Rome, but very rushed in a week.

The quickest tip, for those who complain about Venice being too crowded: when you come out of the station, don't follow the signs to San Marco. Instead, cross the big bridge over the Grand Canal in front of you (Ponte dei Scalzi) and follow signs towards the Academia. Bam, you've suddenly lost 90% of the tourist crowds. You can then work your way to S.Marco from the Academia (or not, it's not obligatory to go there!).

There's also the option of buying a day travel card and hopping on and off boats all day, and visiting the outlying islands such as Murano, Burano and Torcello (would particularly recommend the second two). Unfortunately, this is not a bargain! I think ACTV are intent on funding their entire network from daytrippers nowadays- it's over 20 euros!

Oh, and another Venice top tip- gondolas are very pricey, but if you want a taste on the cheap, there are about 7 points where the Grand Canal is crossed by "traghetti"- these are public gondola ferries. It costs 3 Euros to get rowed across (they're marked on Google maps).

@LIZS thank you for this!

@ForbiddenColour thanks for this! A water taxi is a great idea!

@Flibbertygibbetty awww thanks! She deserves some special treatment!

@trulyunruly01 sounds divine!

@lesdeluges lots of great tips there thank you! I've noted them down and will check out somewhere to base us in Padua!

I would stay in Lake Garda (limone or malcesine) and do the tour operator trips tbh. I'm fluent in Italian, used to love there, and also your mums age and I really enjoyed the no faff coach and guide wander around Verona this year - learned loads I wouldn't have known and didn't have to think about transport. I know in my younger days or if I was going somewhere familiar I'd be on buses and trains again but it was so nice to delegate to others.

@crackofdoom thank you for your thoughts!

Surely you have to visit Florence?!

@MadamVastra funny you should say that! I'm picking up on the vibe that most people would sack off Verona for somewhere different. We definitely want to do Venice and Rome. Venice I have done before so would be happy for a 1 day visit. Think that's all my mum would need too. Agree that Rome needs a few days. So potentially have 1-2 other days for a different location. Not sure what is a nice bridging location if anyone has any suggestions?

@OneFrenchEgg
I second Limone. We got engaged there
Also sirmione I loved and is closer to Verona

We flew into Venice for three days and then caught the train to Florence for two days, then trained to Pisa where we stayed on the coast. Loved it all and train travel was so easy and cheap. We flew out of Pisa. There’s not much in Pisa other than the tower.

♥️I bet that was beautiful. We had a honeymoon in malcesine and took the kids to limone. Love Lake Garda.

I loved Verona. Found Florence too Disney Italy and Rome too busy. Each to their own.

Venice I love - every corner is a vista. Also love the lakes especially Garda. Prosecco country.

You could fly to Verona, do Garda and Venice in a week. Trains and buses are amazing. Otherwise Tuscany with Siena, Florence, Pisa ( underwhelming)? Wine tours!

I’d not bother trekking to Rome.

@theresnolimits thanks for your input! I'll look more into the locations and weigh it all up.