Where in Italy for 5 days without children?

[Fargoer]

We are planning a trip to Italy at the end of the summer. We won't have children with us. We have been to Tuscany and Umbria many times, with and without children. We have also been to Cinque Terre, Rome, Verona, Piemonte, Naples and Bergamo. Our favourite, other than Tuscany, was Bergamo.

Before children, we loved to walk for hours, eat beautiful food and explore towns on foot. DH eats everything, I am veggie (Tuscany is good for food for both of us). We would rather be outside than in museums.

We only have a few days. Where would you go? I thought of going somewhere new and visiting Eastern Sicily or possibly Puglia; DH wanted to go back to Siena/Lucca/Montepulciano but is happy with anything. We can hire a car but ideally I don't want to travel more than 1 hour to anywhere from where we base ourselves.

It's been so long since we travelled without children, I am a bit overwhelmed with the decision!

Thanks in advance.

The Italian lakes? Absolutely stunning!

I would love love love to go to Lake Garda sans children, there is just so much to see and do.

We went last summer but the children meant we couldn't do as much exploring as we wanted and it was too hot for them really, they just wanted to be in the pool.

You can easily do Lake Maggiore in 5 days.

Island of Sardinia? Could be combined with a day trip to Corsica

We went to Lake Lovere last summer and it was lovely. Less busy than Garda and very few Brits. DD is veggie and found lots to eat and while we did take The Teens it would be a great couples holiday as well

If you like walking, Venice is for you! Because that’s the only way to get about except for the water us down the main canal. Once you are off the main routes there are hundreds of tiny passages/ pedestrian roads , palaces, churches….you can wear out a pair of shoes before you have done half.

And there is nothing more romantic than Venice after dinner when the crowds have gone.

Water bus!

Taormina is fab but longish transfer. I always recommend Hotel La Palma in Stresa, Lake Maggiore, because it's fabulous. Regular transfers from Milan Malpensa. Lovely food, lovely scenery. Sky Bar to die for. https://www.hlapalma.it/en/sky-bar/ Lake Front pool should also be open in September.

My favourite place is Parma but not enough for five days. I also really like Bologna (especially good for food) and Florence was a really enjoyable city. Lake Garda is lovely and if you want to you can easily go for a day tip to Verona or Venice.

Continuing on the lake theme, Lake Como is great. Como town has a funicular with a couple of nice restaurants at the top and great views. At the other end, the road through Menaggio and Dongo has some wonderful lakefront properties (and history: Mussolini was captured by partisans in Dongo). And you can nip over through Grandola to Porlezza, then take the boat on Lake Lugano that dips in and out of Italian-speaking Switzerland, which is much less boring than German-speaking Switzerland.

Ahh I would fly to

Naples - 2 nights in positano

Ferry from naples molo to procida

2 nights

Then day in herculaneum

Heaven!!!!

Bologna is really nice, relatively relaxed and great food. Sicily is absolutely bloody amazing though, possibly the most beautiful place I've ever been. It beats most other Italian cities by a country mile (imo). I'd head to the area around Ragusa and Noto. Hire a car and go into the nature reserve if you're outdoorsy, wander around Ragusa during the day, and don't miss Noto in the evening when it's all lit up. It's bliss.

@Fargoer Bologna is a great choice. The best thing is the rail connections - not really! However after exploring Bologna you can get to Ferrara, Ravenna, Modena, Parma and the Ferrari and Lamborghini museums. The food is beautiful and Ravenna in particular is a stunning world heritage site. Bologna is just made for wandering around under the arcades. The uni is the oldest in Europe and it’s not really overun with tourists.

Venice. I went for first time last year and it is beautiful. Like you I had been to Umbria and Tuscany before.

Florence is lovely. Great veggie options, very compact and walkable city. So much to see and do. Glorious.

Yes to Lake Como. My tips are to get to Como as early as possible to ride the funicular before the queues build up, & to do the same with the tourist boats - or just ride on the ferries.

Speaking from experience after I queued for ages for a boat only to watch a bunch on a group tour all get ushered on ahead, because the tour organiser was in front of me in the queue & bought 20 tickets .

Then again, watching how packed it was as it sailed off, I probably had the last laugh.

We summer in Puglia (have house as DH from there). Not suitable at all for any sort of walking holiday in summer! Last year it was 40 degrees. After 7am it's far too hot to walk much.

What about the Dolomiti? Basically you want to be as far north as possible.

Arrgh....stop recommending Bologna mumsnet! Too many tourists nowadays and I blame you lot! 😆 Much too hot for summer walking too. I agree with the Dolomites being a better bet.

Thank you everyone, lots of lovely ideas… if only you could all agree though!

will it be too hot for southern Italy/Sicily in September also?

Palermo/Cefalu and then Stromboli
or Catania, Siracusa and Taormina (Etna)

it will be hot in September (30ish) but hopefully not as crazy as August

Sicily is amazing, we go every year - so much to see and discover

@Instantcustard Bologna ok in September! Late summer usually means Sept. I would not choose anywhere in Italy in summer at all. Others don’t mind. It would not be hotter than Sicily or southern Italy. Or Tuscany.

Venice! Lots of walking and mooching, plus options to hop over to islands like Murano to see the glass making, Burano for the colourful buildings and lace, Lido for the beach. Perfect.

@TizerorFizz For me it's still too hot in September! At least for a walking holiday.

Montalbano country, SE Sicily - Syracuse, Ortigia, Noto, Modica.