By now you may have read or at least have seen my posts from Italy this summer. I love going into detail with writing about myself experience in each place, I know that you may not have the time or interest to read each post in depth, so I a, writing this post which sums up everything I did and can work as a itinerary for anyone hoping to spend some time in Italy and see the places I did. I am going to start by showing you my original itinerary and thought process for planning this trip. Then I will talk about each place and my thoughts from visiting before showing you the ideal itinerary I would suggest for anyone visiting these places. Feel free to skip to the parts that will help you the most in planning your own trip! My suggested itinerary is all the way at the end.
My Itinerary
Day 1: Travel to Venice
- Explore Venice
- Catch a Vivaldi Concert
- Cicchetti for Dinner
Day 2: Full Day in Venice
- Piazza San Marco (Rick Steves Audio Guide)
- Basilica di San Marco (Rick Steves Audio Guide)
- St. Mark’s Campanilie
- Gondola Ride
- Libreria Acqua Alta
Day 3: Travel from Venice to Milan
- Take the Train in the Morning to Milan
- Spend the Afternoon Exploring Milan
- Visit the Duomo
- Galleria Victorio Emanuele II
- Sforzesco Castle
Day 4: Day Trip to Lake Como and Lake Lugano
Day 5: Travel to Cinque Terre
- Take the Train to Vernazza
- Pesto Cooking Class for Lunch
- Explore Vernazza and Castle in the Afternoon
- In the Evening Visit Monterosso
Day 6: Full Day in Cinque Terre
- Take the train to Riomaggiore
- Hike to Manarola and Corniglia and explore the towns
- Spend the afternoon on the beach
- In the evening take the terry from Monterosso to Riomaggiore to see all the villages by water
Day 7: Travel to Rome with Stop in Pisa
- Take the train to Pisa
- Spend a couple hours exploring Pisa
- Go up the Leaning Tower of Pisa
- Check out the Cathedral
- Take the train to Rome
- Spend the evening exploring Rome
Day 8: Full Day in Rome
- In the morning visit the Colosseum (Rick Steves Audio Guide)
- In the afternoon visit the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
- Visit Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps
- In the evening walk over to Piazza Navona for dinner
Day 9: Rome and Vatican City
- Mass at the St. Peter’s Basilica
- Explore the Basilica (Rick Steves Audio Guide)
- Go through the Holy Doors
- Visit Villa Borghese and the Borghese Gallery
Day 10: Rome and Vatican City
- In the morning visit the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
- In the afternoon visit the Trastevere neighborhood (Rick Steves Audio Guide)
Day 11: Travel Home
Planning
Now I would say there are two types of travelers: those that like to do tours where they don’t have to think about anything and go along for the ride and those that get high off the planning and want everything to be as they want it. I am the latter. Planning is apart of the whole experience. It is what gets me hyped up for my trips. I am also a control freak, so as an adult I think I would get frustrated on a tour, at least a tour to a place I could easily plan everything myself. So that is what I did for Italy. Yes, it was stressful at times trying to get accommodations and train figured out, but I loved the freedom of being able to go anywhere my heart desired. I am going to explain how this planning process worked: how I chose my destinations, my accommodations, and transportation.
Choosing My Destinations
My working draft for my itinerary was much longer than the one I just showed. I started with 2 weeks of travel and multiple more stops that had to come off this itinerary to be added to another for a future trip.
I knew I wanted to go to Venice. It has been on my bucket list forever so it was a nonnegotiable. I actually had this fear that I wouldn’t see it before it sinks. When I found my place on the farm in Emilia-Romagna, it became a great starting point for my trip since it was only about 2 hours away by train. I gave Venice two days because I felt that was the right amount of time to see what I wanted to in Venice. In my experience one full day it about what you need to explore and see the tops sights of a small city. I figured I would then have time the day I arrived to enjoy it and take in the ambiance of the city.
My next stop was Milan and Lake Como. This stop took some adjusting because I originally planned three nights in Milan. I wanted to stop in Verona on my way to Milan and then have one full day in Milan and then another full day to see Lake Como. I ended up cutting out Verona to shorten the trip and once I talked to a friend about how long I needed in Milan.
My next stop was Cinque Terre which also was a nonnegotiable. This was somewhere I knew I really wanted to go. I have always been in awe of the Italian Riviera. I originally only planned one night here thinking that one day would be enough to experience it because that is what I have heard of most tours doing. From here I would go to Florence and spend a couple nights there, but as a controversial decision I decided to scratch Florence and spend another night in Cinque Terre and Rome. There are a couple reasons for this. One I thought I could possibly do a day trip here during my time at the farm if it worked out. Two I felt more strongly about making sure I got everything I wanted to get out of Cinque Terre and Rome. Three, I heard that Florence is miserable in the summertime with the heat and tourists, so I wasn’t sure how enjoyable it would be. Four, I scratched a few other places, so I knew I would be back and could visit Florence then.
That brings my to my next portion that I completely scratched. Before going to Rome, where I would fly out I wanted to spend a couple nights in Naples and the Amalfi. The first to go was the Amalfi Coast because it was really hard to get around by public transportation and there weren’t a lot of options for the kind of accommodation I was looking at. Naples was one I held onto for awhile but eventually gave up on when I scratched Florence. I wanted to spend a day seeing Naples and a day in Pompeii, but again I knew I would be back. So in the end I ended up with four nights in Rome with a stop in Pisa on the way there, because I really wanted to see the leaning tower of Pisa.
This is how I settled on my itinerary. I based it off the weather because Italy gets hot in the summer so being on the coasts and close to water would help. I also prioritized the things I really wanted to see and do now and those that could be done another time. I also based it off what made the most sense geographically. All these destinations were no more that 3 hours away by train other that Rome, but only because we took the cheaper slow train. In the end I feel like I made the right decision with my choices. They are all very touristy places, but I felt ok with that given that I was going to spend a month in the countryside getting to know the other side of Italy.
Accommodations
I am a 23 year old substitute teacher that lives at home with my parents. Money is always a factor when traveling and where you choose to stay can really break the bank. I don’t book hotels for my trips ever. I use Airbnb or hostels. For this trip I did a mix. At each destination I looked at what was cheaper and went with that. I also had a friend going with my that could split the cost of a Airbnb which is nice. Otherwise as a solo traveler a hostel is usually the way to go. For the most part I found really nice and affordable accommodation is each place.
Another factor for booking accommodation was the distance from the train station and to the city center. For me, who was lugging a suitcase around Europe, I would prefer to be located close to the train station so I wouldn’t have to go far with my suitcase than to stay close to the city center. The only place where I messed up and didn’t book it close to the train station was in Milan, but we were able to take the metro to the hostel.
In Venice we stayed at the student accommodation at the University, Joivy Campus San Giobbe. I found it on Airbnb and it was really nice because it felt like staying in a hotel but for the price of a hostel. It ended up being about $120 per person for two nights. I was really happy with this because it was a 10 minute walk to and from the train station. It was about a 30 minute walk to Piazza San Marco, but part of being in Venice is walking around the streets and seeing the beautiful canals, so it was no bother.
In Milan I was a bit upset that I misread the hostel website and it was right next to a metro stop, not the train station. It was about over 30 minutes to walk to the train station and I was trying to avoid taking the public transportation around the cities to save money, but in the end it just made more sense to take the metro and have more time to see the city. We stayed at Ostello Bello Milan which is one of the nicest hostels I have stayed at. It had lots of great amenities from a free drink and coffee to a stocked kitchen and a bathroom right in the room. It was also very close to the Duomo and Galleria which was perfect because our Milan day didn’t go quite to plan. It ended up costing about $127 per person for two nights which was not bad at all for what we got out of it
In Cinque Terre there obviously aren’t a lot of hostels. It is more similar to the countryside than a city. I found an Airbnb which can be a bit controversial because they are taking over homes from the locals in certain parts of Europe, but this airbnb was not a full home, rather it was a room with a bathroom which would be a similar set up to a hotel. There are so many places to grab food in Vernazza, the town we were staying in, so I didn’t need a kitchen. It worked out really well because the town is so small that it was a 3 minute walk anywhere from the room. Many people don’t actually stay in the villages in Cinque Terre, but I am really happy I made the decision to because in the early mornings and evenings it is so peaceful. I adored it! We stayed at Rossoblu Apartment and after splitting it between the two of us it cost $122 per person for the two nights.
Rome is where it got a bit trickier to find good cheap accommodation. This is the one place I felt like I could have done better. Good hostels in Rome can be really expensive nearing close to $100 a night and I was planning to be there four nights. We stayed at Legend RG which was only 13 minutes from Roma Termini which was great considering how big Rome is, so I liked the location. The rooms could have been better though. It was definitely your more traditional hostel feel and I didn’t appreciate that people didn’t close the door to the building and hostel, but I felt safe in my room with the girls I was staying with. For four nights it cost $233 per person which in all honesty wasn’t bad. It wasn’t the nicest hostel but it was worth the price and functioned as a place to sleep, which was all I needed because I was out and about so much.
In the end after adding insurance I spent a total of $615 on accommodations for 10 nights which is really not bad for a summer trip in Italy.
Transportation
Many people rent cars when going to Italy, but I wouldn’t recommend it for nearly everywhere in Europe because its not only different and more stressful than driving at home in the US, but completely unnecessary. There are so many great public transportation options in Europe from buses to trains. The only time you may need a car is to go to the countryside where there may not be great bus or train stops, but you can always find a way without a car (I highly recommend reading about my Airbnb experience to the Irish countryside and you’ll see). I was going to do Italy solely by train because all the places I wanted to go were very accessible by train.
I took the Frecciarossa, one of the nice trains, from Bologna Centrale to Venezia Santa Lucia with a connection in Venezia Mestre for about 31 euros. Then we went from Venice Santa Lucia to Milano Centrale with a connection in Verona Porta Nuova on the regional train for about 22 euros. From there we went from Milano Centrale to Vernazza with a stop in Levanto for 19 euros on the nice Intercity and regional train. This was our Cinque Terre stop. I would highly recommend looking into a pass for Cinque Terre because to take the train between each village it cost 8 euros where as our Cinque Terre Card plus day pass for hiking that included taking unlimited trips on the train costed us 37 euros each which was completely worth it. Then we took the train from Vernazza to Pisa Centrale with a stop in La Spezia for 19 euros using the regional train and Intercity train. Pisa Centrale to Roma Termini was a tough one because the nicer trains that would be quicker and more comfortable were quite expensive being around 30 euros more than taking the slower regional train, so we ended up taking the regional train but we didn’t have to change trains at all which was nice.
Within the cities we didn’t use too much public transportation I wasn’t planning on using it at all in Venice or Milan, but then we had the mishap with the hostel in Milan, so the metro was needed to get to and from the train station. Cinque Terre had its own regional train that runs through the towns that we used to get between them, but also there is a great ferry service to see the village by water. Rome was one of the only places I knew I would want to take the metro because the Vatican was nearly an hour walk from where we were staying so I got a day pass for 7 euros that I used on those days, but for the most part I tried to walk to my destinations. I did get a bit exhausted on the last day though and used it to get to and from Trastevere as well.
In the end I spent around $220 on getting around including trains between cities, transportation within the cities, and getting to the airport when leaving.
How It Went
Venice
Our first day in Venice was very relaxed. I got there midday and checked into the Airbnb at the student accommodation. It was a 10 minute walk from Venezia Santa Lucia and even though I was arriving a couple hours early, they had the room ready, so I was able to drop off my stuff before exploring and grabbing some lunch. My friend arrived from the airport. Flying into Venice is super doable and not that much more expensive than flying into some of the bigger airports and cities in Italy. From there she took the ferry boat to the stop closest to our accommodation. In the evening for our Vivaldi concert we went to the music conservatory because it was a free concert versus the professional ones that are about 30 or 40 euros for a ticket. After the concert we went to get dinner. I wanted to try cicchetti because that is the big food suggestion for Venice. Its similar to tapas and comes with drinks. I struggled to find a good place that was open and not super busy. I ended up at Cantina do Spade, but the cicchetti was more like fried appetizers than bruschetta, which was a bit disappointing, so in the end dinner was from one if the small quick pasta places. I would recommend looking into places for cicchetti ahead of time so you know you end up at a good place.
The next day didn’t go quite to plan because I found out you had to purchase your tickets to go inside of the basilica ahead of time, even though when I looked online it said you could get them on the spot. Sadly they were sold out for the day so that altered plans. We ended up buying them for the morning the next day and taking a later train to Milan. This means we had more time n Venice which was nice, but it definitely cut our time in Milan short, so I would recommend purchasing basilica tickets as soon as possible.
As for the rest of the day we got to see all the stuff I wanted to in and around Piazza San Marco. We also wanted to do a Gondola ride which you don’t need to purchase ahead of time. Instead you can approach one of the many gondoliers around the city by the canals. They each have different routes though. We wanted the Grand Canal so we found a gondolier there by Piazza San Marco. They offer different lengths and prices of rides. We did the bigges and most expensive option that was a little over 200 euros. It seems like a lot, but you split the price so it was about 100 euros each and it is worth the price because it is about 50 minutes long and we got to see the Grand Canal and some of the smaller canals. Come to Venice with some idea of how much you want to spend and what you want to see on your gondola ride and shop around.
In the end I felt like I got to see all that I wanted to in Venice. Two days seemed to be enough time to enjoy and sightsee. I wish I had planned for another day in Venice though to explore the other islands like Burano and Murano, but I will just have to come back someday to do that.
Milan
Milan was a bit of a mess. In the end we only had about 5 hours to sightsee Milan. In a way I think it was enough because we got to see the Duomo and the Galleria as well as walk over to the castle, but I would have liked to go in the castle. I also wanted to see the painting of the Last Supper, but that was closed on Mondays so it wouldn’t have worked out anyway. The thing I wish I had more time to do in Milan was experience the nightlife. I wasn’t planning to do much of it in Italy because we were on a tight schedule and I had no room to be tired. I had the feeling in Milan that it is not really a sightseeing place. It is a place your experience. I wish I could have walked around more exploring the different neighborhoods and checking out the restaurants and bars. If I had planned this trip differently, I would have allowed more time for that.
Even though the hostel situation was a bit stressful I think it worked out well. It was tough because we needed to go to the train station for our tour the next day, so I didn’t like the back and forth with the metro. If we had as much time as I had originally planned before changing things to see the basilica in Venice, I would have preferred to be near the train station for our day trip and leaving the day after. That way with the day I had in Milan we could have walked to the center and had seen more of the city.
Lake Como
Lake Como was one of the places I really wanted to go, but in the end I don’t know if it lived up the hype. I am glad I did it because I actually really like Lake Lugano in Switzerland. I think if you had to take one day out of this itinerary to spend more time in Milan or do another day trip, it would be this. I don’t think a day in enough time to really experience Lake Como. It is the kind of place you have to spend time exploring the different towns and estates to really appreciate and see all its beauty. It is still doable as a day trip if you want to see a lot of different places, but if you want to get to know each place and spend time there then I would either choose between spending two days in just Milan or just Lake Como. You could even do another day in Venice and explore the other islands.
Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre was my favorite stop and I would recommend having this on your Italy itinerary no matter what. We arrived about an hour before our cooking class. We had no issues with the train so the morning went really well. We were a bit early for check in for our Airbnb, but the cleaning lady was really nice and let us drop our stuff off so we could walk around the town a bit before going to our cooking class. I loved the cooking class. We were at Cinque Sensi right next to the train station. It was a lot of Americans, so it was a bit touristy, but it was a lot of fun, we got good wine, and had a great lunch of pesto and gnocchi for only 65 euros. I wouldn’t change anything about this. The afternoon was spent in Vernazza and climbing thw tower and then we went to Monterosso for a couple hours. There are two parts to Monterosso. There is the beachy resort part you see when you first get off the train. This is a great place for those looking to have a more laidback vacation in Cinque Terre. When you walk further to the south down the road you will arrive at the older part of the town. There is a beach here as well and this is where the port for the ferry is to get around to the other villages. I liked this part of Monterosso the best. You can explore the town which is so cute with all its colorful roads and boutiques. I loved the church and the lemonade places in the middle of the town. If you had to choose one or two of the village to visit in Cinque Terre then Vernazza and Monterosso are definitely the right choices.
The next day went slightly different to plan. We actually took the train to Riomaggiore, but I wish we went earlier. We started hiking from there around 9, but I would recommend starting even earlier because the summer gets really hot during the day. We ended up hiking all the way back to Vernazza from there which was about a total of 8 miles. It was about 3 pm when we got back to Vernazza and I wanted to go to the beach and also do the ferry, so I planned to do the last ferry from Monterosso at 5:25pm and spent a little bit of time at the beach in Vernazza, but it is definitely not as nice as the beach in Monterosso because it was rocky while Monterosso is a sandy beach. The ferry took not even an hour to get to Riomaggiore at the other end of the five villages. I then took the train back to Vernazza where we ate dinner outside at a restaurant in the square. Cinque Terre is a great place to enjoy some seafood and cantucci!
Pisa
This is probably the one stop that I think I could have done without. I don’t know if I regret it because I really did want to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but I did not like Pisa. I wish I had used the day to visit somewhere new. I probably could have had another day in Rome or I wish I had chosen a different town in Tuscany to visit on the way, like Lucca. or Siena. We had about 5 hours in Pisa which was more than enough time to see the tower. It is about a 30 minute walk from the train station and then I had to buy a ticket for a time slot to go inside the tower with was going to be 2 hours later. Both the tower and the cathedral right next door were nice, but that’s all there was to Pisa. I enjoyed getting of the beaten path and walking around a bit though because the piazza with the tower is really overcrowded with tourists. I think to get a more authentic Italian experience, it would be better to visit a different town.
Rome
I spent four days in Rome so I am going to try to summarize it without making it too long. When we arrived in Rome around 8pm and it was about a 20 minute walk from where we arrived in this huge train station to our hostel. After checking in we headed to Pastascuitta near the Trevi Fountain. We took our food to go and ate right there in front of the fountain. I would highly recommend visiting the fountain at night like this because it is a lot less busy and you can get much closer to the fountain.
My first day I did all of the old Roman Empire visits. I got tickets the day before for the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Tickets were 18 euros for 75 minutes in the Colosseum and then a visit within 24 hours to the Roman Forum. I used Rick Steves audio guide for both to save money. If I had done things differently I would have paid a bit more to visit the Colosseum floor and have an expert guide. I spent about an hour in the Roman Forum and then got lunch there at the cafe before heading to Palatine Hill right next door. We spent about 3 hours here but that is because we are history people and we took a lot of breaks. It could be done faster, but there is definitely more to Palatine Hill then you would expect. Afterwards we walked to Piazza Navona where we ate at Tre Scalini. On the way there we were able to see the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II and the outside of the Pantheon. At Piazza Navona there are a lot of great artists selling their work so it is a great place to get a souvenir.
The next day I ended up at the Borghese Gallery in the afternoon. I wanted to go to Sunday mass in the morning at the Vatican with the pope but he was out of town so I had a lot more options of times I could go to mass so I decided to do the Borghese Gallery and Gardens in the morning and then go to the Vatican in the afternoon when I could have more time to explore the basilica. I booked what I thought was a tour at 9 am at the gallery, but it turned out a misheard it and only bought the ticket. I would highly recommend a tour because there is so much to the gallery. There are a few options for this on Viator, just make sure you are purchasing the tour and not just the ticket. I spent a couple hours here before walking around the gardens for a bit. There is a lot to the park so you could spend awhile strolling but I only spent about an hour here before getting ready to go to the Vatican. I had to change into a modest outfit that covered my knees and shoulders because the Vatican has a strict dress code. Online it says you should arrive about 2-3 hours before mass to get through security, but I found that it only took 15 minutes to get through security, so I ended up spending that time before mass touring the basilica using Rick Steves guide. After mass I went to the gift shop (which I wouldn’t recommend because it gets really crowded and overwhelming), walked through the Holy Door for the Jubilee, and walked through the crypt. I probably spent 4 hours here including mass. It was about 6pm when I left to go back to the hostel and have dinner. It was a chill evening where I could enjoy a big long dinner and do some souvenir shopping.
I think ig would work out well to do the basilica and the Vatican Museums on the same day to avoid so much back and forth but the museums are not open on Sundays and I was set on going to Sunday mass. That is the only reason I split them to different days on my itinerary. The next day I started at the Vatican museums and spent the entire morning there. You could easily spend all day there, because I probably only saw half of the whole museum. I did a tour through the museum that started at 9:30 am and cost 40 euros. Its a bit pricy but I think it is worth it to have someone guiding you through the rooms up until the Sistine Chapel and prepping you for the Chapel. This took about 1 1/2 hours and then I did a Rick Steves audioguide in the Sistine Chapel that was 30 minutes. After the chapel there are more museums you can go through at your own pace. I skimmed through them and still I didn’t leave the museums until 1 pm. In the afternoon I did the rest of my sightseeing by stopping at the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and Pantheon on my way back to the hostel. This was maybe not the most logical way to see things, but it was what I had left to see with just this afternoon and evening left in Rome. I went inside the Pantheon for about 5 euros. You can get tickets online ahead of time but its also super easy to just get them there with just a little wait. I spent about an hour here given the wait and the Rick Steves audio guide I listened to inside. Then I went back to the hostel to change and took the bus to the other side of Rome once again to explore Trastevere. It supposedly has great nightlife but I just did my Rick Steves Audio Tour and explored the streets and churches. Then I went to Janiculum Hill to watch sunset which was just a short walk from Trastevere. It was really nice up there and I would easily recommend it to anyone visiting Rome, since it isn’t on everyone’s must do list for Rome. It was the perfect way to spend the last day in Rome and Italy.
My Recommended Itinerary
Now based ofc my experience here is how I would edit my itinerary for those wanting to visit these places in Italy.
Day 1: Travel to Venice
- Explore Venice
- Catch a orchestral performance of the works of Venetian composor Vivaldi
- Cicchetti for Dinner
Day 2: Full Day in Venice
- Visit Piazza San Marco using Rick Steves Audio Guide
- Check out the Basilica di San Marco with Rick Steves Audio Guide
- Buy a ticket to go up St. Mark’s Campanilie to see Venice from above
- Take a Gondola Ride from Piazza San Marco
- Visit Libreria Acqua Alta
- Do some shopping
Day 3: Travel from Venice to Milan
- Take the Train in the Morning to Milan
- Spend the Afternoon Exploring Milan
- Visit the Duomo
- Galleria Victorio Emanuele II
- Sforzesco Castle
Day 4: Day Trip to Lake Como or Another Day in Milan
or
- Visit Santa Maria delle Grazie to see Leonardo’s Last Supper painting
- Explore the Navigli neighborhood.
- Enjoy some Milan nightlife
Day 5: Travel to Cinque Terre
- Take the Train to Vernazza
- Pesto Cooking Class for Lunch
- Explore Vernazza and Castle in the Afternoon
- In the Evening Visit Monterosso’s old town
Day 6: Full Day in Cinque Terre
- Take the train to Riomaggiore
- Hike to Manarola and Corniglia and explore the towns
- Spend the afternoon on the beach in Monterosso
- In the evening take the ferry from Monterosso to Riomaggiore to see all the villages by water
- Have dinner at an authentic restaurant in Vernazza
Day 7: Travel to Rome with Stop in Lucca
- Take the train to Lucca
- Spend a couple hours exploring Lucca
- Walk the city walls and visit Guinigi Tower
- Enjoy a lunch
- Take the train to Rome
- Spend the evening exploring Rome
Day 8: Full Day in Rome
- In the morning visit the Colosseum (Rick Steves Audio Guide)
- In the afternoon visit the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
- Visit the Pantheon
- In the evening walk over to Piazza Navona for dinner
Day 9: Vatican City
- In the morning visit the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
- In the afternoon head over to St. Peters Basilica
- Attend a mass or use Rick Steves Audio Guide to learn about basilica
Day 10: Rome
- In the morning visit Villa Borghese and tour the Borghese Gallery
- In the afternoon visit the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps
- Head over to Trastevere
- Explore the neighborhood using Rick Steves Audioguide
- Enjoy an authentic dinner
- Visit Janiculum Hill for sunset
Day 11: Travel Home
Obviously I would suggest another day in each places, but I was trying to keep it down to 10 days. Thanks for tagging along on my Italian adventures! I hope I have inspired you to take that trip to Italy!
The Journal of Wanderlust 