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!

Verona is beautiful and you get Roma ruins, medieval, renaissance and later all in one package. Florence is just insanely full of tourists - unpleasantly so

Huge Roman amphitheatre right in middle, used for concert and opera

Florence is the obvious "bridging stop" on your way from Venice to Rome I'd say. Assuming you will ditch Verona which is a nice spot, but Florence is on most people's "must see" list.

I have to say I found Florence a bit meh TBH. OK the Duomo and the bridge and the museums and the galleries, and the vibe were great, but it was super crowded and that was in February, not during half term either! I felt I was being airlifted through the narrow streets there were so many people in tour groups, and wandering, and so on. But then again so was I ha ha! Great to see, but be prepared for massive crowds which I found much more offputting than the Venice gangs. 😊But that's just my opinion.

I liked Siena, which is South of Florence though. And much preferred Lucca to Florence, charming town/city but it is out of your way for getting to Roma from Venice.

If you like your food, then I cannot recommend Bologna enough. It is a kind of mad place, very lively vibe to it, loads of restaurants, and it just is well, a bit different I found.

Funnily enough I haven't made it to Rome yet, much to my amazement. But I want a whole week there and to go to Ostia Antica aswell. I wanted to get my other bucket list Italian places ticked off first and leave Rome till last. I echo the Lakes especially Garda, if that is what would interest you, but I get the feeling that you want to see the cities first.

https://www.agriturismosanmattia.it/

We stayed at this amazing agriturismo in the hills above Verona. Very reasonable price, they had their own vineyard. Wonderful food. Easy bus ride into historic city from outside the gate. Parking but we travelled by bus/ train. Highly recommend

It's true that it seems to be more difficult to avoid the crowds in Florence than in Venice or Rome (I've lived in all 3 places). I think that it's because Rome is much bigger, and because the whole of Venice is unique and stunning- you can have a beautiful time wandering the back streets and completely avoiding the touristy central areas.

I used to work in Rome from time to time - it’s glorious. I’d definitely stay 3 nights there. Venice as pp have said is wonderful outside the rammed bits - we went in October and it was fab. I expect April as long as it’s not Easter would be similar. I’d stay 2-3 nights. Verona we did a day trip from Garda - it was OK. If it were me, I’d just go to Rome and Venice. Either stay longer eg Rome 4 nights and Venice 3 nights or stay a bit less time and stay somewhere gorgeous. Although my favourite in cities these days are apartments.

If I were you, I’d do Lake Garda/ Verona / Venice - all in the Veneto region. Very easy travel and cheap place to fly into/ travel from airport. Short distances keep time and cost down. You can really relax and enjoy your company while treating yourself. Rome and Florence are amazing but very tiring and I didn’t have a lot of fun in these places although it was worth doing.

Whereas in the Veneto region you’re in an area with fantastic variety in wine - from Valipolicella to Prosecco. You have easy access to amazing scenery, spas (Sirmione), architecture and history, art.

Another one voting for Padua - beautiful old university city with easy train links to Bologna, Venice, Verona, (and more) - I’d be tempted to forget Rome and do a week in Padua so you’re not day tripping every day and have some built in time to relax. I’d also plug Bologna - another great university city and absolutely amazing food (and another city surrounded by options to visit for the day). Staying in one region will give you much more time to appreciate it and actually have a bit of a break without constantly packing and unpacking bags (and with money/time saved travelling you could look at a spa, vineyard tour, cookery class etc to treat your mum to).

If Rome is a must (and it is incredible) then I’d do 5 days in Padua (or similar) then a long weekend in Rome rather than trying to squeeze in three different overnight destinations. Alternatively you could spend the whole week in Rome and go at a more leisurely pace.

Just keep an eye on the train prices, we might have been unlucky with our choice of route/days but we noticed that trains were more expensive when we were in Italy earlier this year compared with previous years - Bologna to Florence was over 100 euros (even looking online). Make sure if you’re using the trains to validate your ticket too before you get on otherwise you risk a fine.

Agree with this. Rome is too far away and needs a week for itself. Trains link the 3 and you have option to fly into Milan also which normally has the cheapest flights.

I loved Verona . And if you are staying on Lake Garda, better to stay Desanzano or Peschiera where there's a railway station. We've visited Venice, Verona, Milan and Bologna from a base on the south of LG. Not the same as staying somewhere overnight though, I think we missed out on that .

Venice absolutely - April will also be perfect. I really enjoyed Rome with my mum but she is heavily into churches so if that isn’t a feature then perhaps not so much of a pull factor. Florence is great food but the architecture is quite underwhelming after Venice. I think I would do Venice and then maybe quick stop in Florence for the galleries but then a wine tour in Tuscany? That way you get a bit of city and then some country fun?

My major tip however is BOOK RESTAURANTS ahead of time. Do your research (Conde Nast is a great list for each city - find their favourite Osterias) and book in all your evening meals. Otherwise you’ll end up in tourist trap restaurants and have a shit time wondering why people rave about Italian food.

https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-italy.htm

As a curve ball Bologna is a great foodie city, compact with colonnades and medieval towers.

I think you need more than one holiday OP! I would save Florence for a separate trip to take in other Tuscan cities/towns/sites.

I haven't visited Padua - but a base close to Venice / Verona for maybe 4 days and then train down to Rome for a couple of days sounds a good idea .

And although I said we visited Milan from LG, this was more of a for info as to how easy it is to travel by rail in Italy , I wouldn't actually recommend it.

Thanks all for the suggestions! Giving me a lot to think about!

What's great present for your mum! I'd be tempted to fly into Verona, spend the day there and then go to Vicenza. It's a stunning little town, very overlooked by standard tourists but full of beautiful architecture and a square like a miniature st marks. Great hotels. From there it's 15 mins by excellent train to Padua and less than an hour to Venice. If you use Vicenza as a base initially it has terrific train links to Rome etc as well, so you can swoop down there quickly. My son in law works in Vicenza and commutes to Rome a couple of days a week and my daughter works in Venice and commutes daily so it's really do-able! Then go down to Rome and fly back from there. Rome deserves more than a day or two. Look at discoveringRome (Agnes Crawford) on Instagram for some great ideas of out of the way tours!

@cunningartificer thanks for the tips!

I took my dd 14 on a tour of Italy in April this year. We flew into Venice and stayed 2 nights, took the train to Florence and stayed 2 nights there, train to Rome ( just stayed one night - I intend to head back to Rome another time as it's bigger and needs more time). From there we took the train to Naples lunched there, took the circumvesuvia ( a bit like a tube train) via pompeii for the afternoon and on to Sorrento for the last two nights. We flew out of Naples to head home.
It was such a lovely trip. Quite full on though. I had been to some of the locations before so I knew where I was going. I loved Venice and I love Florence.
Maybe Venice / Florence / Lakes? Hope you have a great time.

Verona is lovely, and only needs a day.

Amalfi coast! Can go to Amalfi, Sorrento, take a boat to Positano or Capri. Stunning.

I would maybe just do a two centre or two destination holiday or choose one area to stay in and sightsee from there. The trains in Italy are relatively cheap and reliable.

From Sorrento you could say do Amalfi, Vesuvius, Capri, Pompeii etc. From Florence as a base you could easily do Florence, Sienna, Pisa, San G (can’t remember the spelling). Or you could say fly to Milan and visit Verona and Lake Como or Lake Garda etc. Lots of possibilities the South will usually be warmer and better weather although one April in Rome we had fairly hot sun, rain, hail etc etc.

I'm following this with interest! DC2 recently moved to Rome for a year and I visited for the first time. Loved it!! Managed to pack a lot into 2 days - St Peter's Square, the Spanish Steps, the Colosseum, Lake Trevi (omg, amazing!!, the Forum, various ruins, including the place where the cat sanctuary is (86 cats apparently!) Plus shopping and eating...

I think I'd do a two-centre stay - Rome and maybe Lake Garda/Lake Como/Sorrento. I definitely plan to go back and travel more when I have a base there.

Your mum will love it. My kids took me to Valencia in the summer for a big birthday and it was wonderful!

Following with interest too. I'm planning a holiday for next Easter and trying to decide where in Italy to go.