Help an Aussie plan 9-10 days in Italy please.

[Flatandhappy]

DH, DD(22) and I are heading to Europe next month, our usual trips involve a triangle of England, Ireland and France to see family so I have no issue planning there. I have been to Italy once years ago (weekend in Rome). Very long backstory which I shall skip but I promised DD a trip to Italy, probably following a few nights in Paris. I was hoping to train it but the trains seem to take ages and it looks like we will have only 9-10 days before we have to fly back London before our flight home to Sydney so we don’t want overnight train journeys. I have had a few people recommend Florence as being not quite as crazy busy as Rome or Venice (other other thoughts) and geographically it seems to make sense. DD would love to see Cinque Terre and I think a day trip would be possible. I was thinking of a few days in Lucca which I believe is a buzzy university town. Our focus is really just on enjoying being in Italy, chilling, eating and drinking and being surrounded by old buildings rather than a lot of sightseeing and we hate queues so we would probably just choose one “must see”. I keep telling DD she needs to pack for budget airlines rather than our 46kg Qantas international luggage allowance in and out of London but don’t have much hope. Any suggestions for an itinerary, places to stay, tips for getting around would be highly appreciated. My ongoing cancer medication leaves me really tired and tbh I am really wishing I promised her a week in Bali instead. I’m not sure if an accommodation budget of £100-£125 is realistic. It will be just myself and DD and we are happy to share a bed. Thanks.

Obviously that budget was per night!

So if your daughter wants to see Cinque Terre, I’d suggest flying into Genoa. You can catch an airport shuttle + train to the Cinque Terre. There are 5 towns, the middle 3 are smallest and the one closest to Genoa is the biggest. Give yourself one full day for her to walk the Cinque Terre.

From there I would catch the train onto to Rome. Rome is honestly worth seeing, give yourself 3 full days and expect to be tired. The hotels around the train station aren’t super expensive.

I would sandwich your days in Rome with Bologna. It is less frantic than Florence and it’s a proper foodie destination, also a beautiful university city. Day trips to Modena (balsamic vinegar) and Parma (ham!) are great. Rooms definitely doable < £125. Plenty of flights back to London from Bologna.

Trains are generally quite good in Italy so I’d suggest getting around that way once you’ve flown in. They’re comfortable and not especially expensive.

Cinque Terre will be busy even late September. Paths get closed at short notice and are rugged so good footwear is essential and for some you need to buy a pass. You get influx of cruise ship excursions during the day so best stay overnight to enjoy quieter evenings and sunset. Recommend the hop on hop off ferry between the towns(except Corniglia). Bologna is worth a visit, Lucca is nice but not much there beyond a day. If you can get there Volterra it is stunning and quieter than many other hill towns in Tuscany. You can get a direct train from CT to Milan and thereon to Venice etc. Italian trains are good and some very fast but you need to book seats on intercities and remember to validate tickets before boarding buses and trains. Police patrol the Genoa airport shuttle and fine on the spot for any irregularities! If you have time suggest staying in Rome, Florence, Lucca, CT, Milan(stay at one of the lakes), Venice and anywhere in between!

And sorry but think you will need to increase your budget, Italy is no longer cheap to stay.

I think your original plan is good, September is still quite busy in terms of tourist season. Your budget might be a bit tight and anything you find is likely to be quite basic. I prefer to squish all 4 of us in the same room, and that usually costs more like £300/ night on recent trips but obviously we need a much bigger room. Florence is mostly famous for the Duomo and the art galleries, but has loads of lovely churches and squares you could wander past from the outside. The cinque terra towns are quite hilly and the beaches are pebbly bar the odd patch of sand. We had a lovely stay, spent our 3 days there based in Monterosso and did a lot of walking between towns, you can train between the towns instead of walking, but none of them are exactly flat when you arrive. We arrived in Monterosso by train from Pisa.

Thanks for the tips. I am now second guessing myself and like the idea of Bologna. I don’t think Cinque Terre will work - I thought we could do a day trip which is not my usual thing but I am having to get used to accommodating the reality of my low energy levels. Just looked at the price of accommodation in Paris as the plan was to spend a few days there before flying to Italy and I can’t believe how much more expensive things are then when we last went. I think I need to double my accommodation budget all round which is ok although not ideal.

Florence, Verona, Padova (Giotto!), Venice.

Or start off in Rome and miss one or 2 of the above, i.e. Rome, Florence, Venice.

My 19DD Aussie just got home from 6 weeks in Europe including 12 days in Italy, Cinque Terre was her favourite spot in Italy, she stayed in La Spezia for 2 nights and would have loved longer. There’s a bus that travels around all the little towns that she said was excellent. Florence was her next favourite place but she also loved Lake Garda and Palma

Florence is wonderful! Depends how long you are going for but I would go to Florence first, then do a day trip to Siena or Lucca, before moving in to cinque terra for a couple of/few nights.

Another vote for Verona. I went a few years ago in Feb half term. There were tourists but it wasn't overwhelming and we did a day trip to Venice.

Thanks, think we are back to the Florence option as more flights than Bologna.. Has anyone flown Vueling to get around? I am spoilt with full service airlines - I don’t care about no food or having to pay to choose seats and for checked bags but I’m still traumatised from my 1990s experiences with Ryanair where it was a stampede to board. From what I have heard BA just isn’t worth it any more, don’t know about Air France which seems to be the other option.

Sorry can't answer those questions, but have you considered a week in Sorrento? You could book a hotel with a pool and do day trips to Pompeii or Positano for a bit of culture/aesthetic for DD. PP's suggestions are good but sound hectic and if you're not well it sounds like you could use a bit of R&R.

We flew vueling from Florence to London City, it was fine. Pisa is the typical hub to that area from UK and easy to reach from Florence by train and also to CT.

@owlexpress so tempting but I don’t think DD would be happy. She was supposed to be doing this trip with her boyfriend (and I was supposed to just be travelling with DH) but it went tits up so this holiday is the biggest compromise of all time.

@LIZS great to know thanks as that is one of our options and London City would be very convenient.

I think you could fly into Florence and use it as a base too. Spend say 5 days in Florence but also do day trip to Siena or into the tuscan hill towns. Then go by train to La Spezia (with maybe a mid journey stop for a few hours in Lucca or Pisa?), and do a couple of days in the cinque terre villages?

I love the italian lakes and Rome, but I wouldn't try to do too much in one trip. So either see Tuscany, or do lakes, or do Rome and surrounds, or Amalfi coast and pompei.

As your daughter is keen on cinque terre, then tusacny seems the best fit. Cinque terre is stunning, quaint, but teeming with tourists. I'm glad I went, but the crowds and overt toursim did spoil it a little, for me anyway. Florence will still be very busy, but Siena is less frantic.

However, I think your energy levels may appreciate the lakes more. You can chose one town to base yourself in and then do day trips by bus/train/boats to other towns. If feeling wiped out, you can just potter in your base town. Milan or Verona would be the best airports. Pick one lake and get to know it. I recently stayed in Stresa on Lake Maggiore and loved it, great little town, lovely islands to visit, other towns to visit across the lake with castles and funicular railway. Could add a day in Milan but one or two days would be plenty.

Also, Vueling is budget but fine.

@turtletum thank you.