Please talk to me about a vacation to Italy

[KarenB]

DH and I, both in our mid 60s, are thinking about our next major vacation for 2026. We have explored a lot of the US, and still have a few places we would like to see. However, we have been thinking about the idea of visiting Italy. We are flexible for our dates, looking at 10 days to two weeks, have never traveled to another country besides Canada.I listed a few things we want, and don’t want, if anyone has any input!

Wants:
Of course fresh, local food
A local coffee experience and how to enjoy it the way Italians do during the trip
Some physical activity/ hikes/ etc
A few tourist “must see” places
Safety
VRBO or Air B&B over hotels for a few days at a time before moving on
Public transportation
Smaller towns over major cities

Avoid:
Lots of crowds
Part of a Group tour the entire time
More pasta than beef or red meat
A different place to stay every night
Renting a car if possible

Thanks for any ideas. We have no idea where to begin, however we do know we can’t to it all. I’ll admit, we are very naive to the European travel. Oh and for a budget…. No idea but would want to have everything for $10,000 or less?

Karen

 

[Moliphino]

My sister and I did 15 nights in Italy last fall for $8300 total, so it's totally doable.

We flew in and out of Milan, just because it was easiest for us flight-wise (could fly from Hartford instead of Boston). There's not a ton to see in Milan, but the Duomo is 100% worth seeing. Aside from that it's mostly just a big city.

From there, we took the train to Padua for three nights. Did a day trip to Verona and a day trip to Venice from there by train. Venice is amazing, just very crowded. Verona would've been lovely, but we had a horrendously rainy day. In Padua we did the Basilica of Saint Anthony and toured the old town on the day we arrived.

Then we did 4 nights in Bologna. Amazing food. We did a day trip to Modena when we ran out of sights to see in the city.

Then we did 4 nights in Florence. More great food (a Chianina steak is a must!) and so much to see, especially if you like art.

Then back to Milan for 2 nights, we did a day trip out to Varenna on Lake Como. Cute little town, though we didn't have great luck with the weather that day.


All trains, no car. We found the trains in Italy to be super easy and inexpensive. We stayed in hotels in the cities everywhere.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

The first thing I would say is avoid May to September. Thats peak tourist season all over Europe not just Italy. Everywhere will be crowded with not just American tourists but European tourists from both cruise ships and land touring. The weather in Europe in those months get hot hot hot, especially in Italy. From an American perspective, there is no air conditioning, and you will walk a lot on uneven surfaces, and up and down hills.

Fresh local food is the norm in Europe, not just Italy. Food which is specialty or high end or "organic" or "wholefood" or "farmers market food" in America is just normal every day in Europe. This is due to mainly the higher standard EU FDA regulations compared to America. Even fast food like McDonalds and Burger King in Europe have far less chemicals and are better quality food than their counterparts in America.

Local coffee is everywhere in Europe. European / Italian coffee culture is mainly people dont have coffee to go or walk around drinking coffee. Its a social experience. Also you will pay more to sit outside at the tables, than at the standing tables inside.

We walk a lot more in day to day life in Europe, so anywhere you go you will be a lot more active. Think how much walking you do in a Disney Park. Its just what you do in a Disney Park, well thats the same in Europe.

Every county in Europe has tourist must see places. Every city in Italy is like a living museum, a modern vibrant city where you are literally walking the same streets as people from 1000 years ago.

Safety is relative. Some Americans have safety issues going to Disneyland California and dont feel safe walking from an offsite hotel to the parks due to the homeless and pan handlers. It will be a culture shock as many Americans describe Italy as dangerous and dirty. This is where you will need to manage expectations and research about pick pockets and local crime.

Please use hotels instead of AirBnB. Many European cities are having issues with over tourism and many of the issues are directly caused by the rise in AirBnB. When you travel internationally, you need to be aware of how your presence impacts the local economy.

If you want to use public transport and dont want big cities, then you will struggle. You either do big cities and use the amazing local public transport OR you hire a car and stay out of big cities.

Having gone through your list, its way too generic. What you are describing could be Dublin Ireland, Edinburgh Scotland, Paris France, Lisbon Portugal, Munich Germany, Barcelona Spain, Rome Italy, Milan Italy, Florence Italy, Athens Greece.

North Italy is very different to South Italy.

With such a generic broad view, the best place to start would be the basic, the flights. What airport in Italy can you realistically fly to from your home area.

 

[KarenB]

The first thing I would say is avoid May to September. Thats peak tourist season all over Europe not just Italy. Everywhere will be crowded with not just American tourists but European tourists from both cruise ships and land touring. The weather in Europe in those months get hot hot hot, especially in Italy. From an American perspective, there is no air conditioning, and you will walk a lot on uneven surfaces, and up and down hills.

Fresh local food is the norm in Europe, not just Italy. Food which is specialty or high end or "organic" or "wholefood" or "farmers market food" in America is just normal every day in Europe. This is due to mainly the higher standard EU FDA regulations compared to America. Even fast food like McDonalds and Burger King in Europe have far less chemicals and are better quality food than their counterparts in America.

Local coffee is everywhere in Europe. European / Italian coffee culture is mainly people dont have coffee to go or walk around drinking coffee. Its a social experience. Also you will pay more to sit outside at the tables, than at the standing tables inside.

We walk a lot more in day to day life in Europe, so anywhere you go you will be a lot more active. Think how much walking you do in a Disney Park. Its just what you do in a Disney Park, well thats the same in Europe.

Every county in Europe has tourist must see places. Every city in Italy is like a living museum, a modern vibrant city where you are literally walking the same streets as people from 1000 years ago.

Safety is relative. Some Americans have safety issues going to Disneyland California and dont feel safe walking from an offsite hotel to the parks due to the homeless and pan handlers. It will be a culture shock as many Americans describe Italy as dangerous and dirty. This is where you will need to manage expectations and research about pick pockets and local crime.

Please use hotels instead of AirBnB. Many European cities are having issues with over tourism and many of the issues are directly caused by the rise in AirBnB. When you travel internationally, you need to be aware of how your presence impacts the local economy.

If you want to use public transport and dont want big cities, then you will struggle. You either do big cities and use the amazing local public transport OR you hire a car and stay out of big cities.

Having gone through your list, its way too generic. What you are describing could be Dublin Ireland, Edinburgh Scotland, Paris France, Lisbon Portugal, Munich Germany, Barcelona Spain, Rome Italy, Milan Italy, Florence Italy, Athens Greece.

North Italy is very different to South Italy.

With such a generic broad view, the best place to start would be the basic, the flights. What airport in Italy can you realistically fly to from your home area.

Wow, thank you for taking the time to write this all out. Great information and what we need to hear.

 

[KarenB]

My sister and I did 15 nights in Italy last fall for $8300 total, so it's totally doable.

We flew in and out of Milan, just because it was easiest for us flight-wise (could fly from Hartford instead of Boston). There's not a ton to see in Milan, but the Duomo is 100% worth seeing. Aside from that it's mostly just a big city.

From there, we took the train to Padua for three nights. Did a day trip to Verona and a day trip to Venice from there by train. Venice is amazing, just very crowded. Verona would've been lovely, but we had a horrendously rainy day. In Padua we did the Basilica of Saint Anthony and toured the old town on the day we arrived.

Then we did 4 nights in Bologna. Amazing food. We did a day trip to Modena when we ran out of sights to see in the city.

Then we did 4 nights in Florence. More great food (a Chianina steak is a must!) and so much to see, especially if you like art.

Then back to Milan for 2 nights, we did a day trip out to Varenna on Lake Como. Cute little town, though we didn't have great luck with the weather that day.


All trains, no car. We found the trains in Italy to be super easy and inexpensive. We stayed in hotels in the cities everywhere.

Thank you for all of this information!

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Wow, thank you for taking the time to write this all out. Great information and what we need to hear.

You are welcome.

I am from Ireland and have been visiting America for over 20 years and going to Disneyland California for over 10 years. I have also traveled extensively in Europe. I lived in Munich, Edinburgh and London and I have been to multiple places in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy , Germany.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Italy is an absolutely beautiful country. As others have said, be mindful of uneven terrain and lack of AC (this is all over Europe, not just Italy). The food is amazing obviously, although it differs depending on where in Italy you are. In the north there’s more cream based sauces, more red sauces in the south.

If you don’t know where to start, a good idea may be to look up different Italy tours on tour websites and find one you like with places you want to visit and try to replicate it on your own (since you say you don’t want to join a tour group).

As someone else said the trains in Italy are a good, cheap, reliable way to travel. Try to familiarize yourself with the system.

Half of the fun of a trip is planning, happy planning and I hope you have a great trip.

 

[CynBeth]

Have you considered a cruise? You don’t have to go on shop group excursions can see cities on your own. We went on a Med one a few years ago and it was amazing. We started in Barcelona and then went to a few cities in France and 3 cities in Italy and ended at Civitavecchia outside of Rome. Afterwards we spent some time in Venice and Rome.

 

[jimmymc]

The big 3 cities to visit in my opinion are Rome, Florence, and Venice. Rome especially will be crowded, but the Colosseum and Vatican are absolutely worth dealing with the masses to see. Venice is crowded in the major tourist areas, but it's easy enough to get away from them and enjoy some local neighborhoods and restaurants. I'd recommend at least 3 days in Rome, 2 in Florence, and 2 in Venice.

I don't have much experience with smaller towns, but many of them are accessible by bus or train from the major cities. Another location to consider is the Amalfi coast. This area is normally pretty crowded, but it has some of the best natural views and is close to Pompei. And while Florence is a pretty big city, it's all older buildings and is generally walkable. It's a bit of a college town and doesn't feel like a major metropolitan city.

Fresh and good food is easy to find. Just avoid eating in touristy areas. If you stay in Northern Italy, there will be plenty of seafood and steak options, not just pasta and red sauce.

The cities and larger towns will all have public transit. Smaller towns will have a bus or train to get to them, but not many options while in town. You'd have to do more research to find somewhere walkable you'd like to stay, or look at the price of a car service. I would avoid renting a car too.

You're generally much safer in Italy than the US. The only thing to really watch out for is pickpockets. You'll do plenty of walking/physical activity just getting around town. But if you want hikes specifically, look for some smaller towns on the coast.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We just did a cruise in March/April and specific to Italy hit Elba and Portofino in Italy, our previous cruise in 2023 (in the month of July) started in Venice and we went ahead a few days staying in Murano (island right by Venice) and took water transportation to Venice.

When we were in Portofino we did an excursion that went to Santa Margherita and Rapallo and a bit of Portofino. Portofino is very small so you don't need much time to visit there. The other two being on an excursion we did not have a ton of time there but TBH neither were super indistinguishable from each other in the end. All three however were quite beautiful so that's not me saying don't visit.

When we were in Elba we took an excursion to Capoliveri for a brief but lovely walking tour. It was actually the guide's hometown so that added a touch of personalness to it. We also went to Porto Azzurro. In Elba itself we visited several of the beaches just for some views and walked around a bit, shopped a bit.

In Venice back in 2023 it was lovely to be able to walk through all the small alleyways and explore some of those places but we did like staying in Murano which gave a much calmer laid back feel while still getting canal-filled Italian charm. Murano glass museum was informative to go through and I ended up getting a couple of necklaces made of Murano glass. In terms of age IMO Venice and the surrounding islands (Burano is another one we didn't visit but is nearby) the limitation would be getting on and off the boats as we found they did not wait but a few seconds, even with luggage and those needing assistance would likely struggle. There was a tad of confusion in terms of when this line would run (unpublished) at this time in the evening but otherwise it was not too difficult to figure out transportation there, we didn't take a private water taxi other than the one that the hotel ran and just used their public water taxi system.

A couple of our DISer friends just did Rome ahead of their DCL cruises (different ones but similar ports some being the same several weeks apart) and even though I haven't been there (though I'd like to) I'd recommend several days there IF you're really into seeing archeological sites.

A personal observation, in our travels in Europe (a multitude of countries and cities) we've not really found portion sizes to be much different than in the U.S. It doesn't mean that every meal was like that but that to us it wasn't really a culture shock, the shock was actually that the portion size wasn't as minuscule as we've always heard about. In Italy though you may run into service charges applied to your bill for things like the silverware, tablecloth, and the like. I know Venice had it.

Also for VRBO or air bnb we just don't really do those and in some of the cities in Europe they present a real issue in terms of affordability for residents there. We stick to hotels and don't think that just because you're in a hotel you won't be in something quirky or something historic. Our Hyatt hotel in Murano was built within the walls of the old glass factory and you could see in your room by the window the old and new walls (they put a facade spaced in between presumably to protect the old walls). In Ghent, Belgium our room was in the upper floor with slanted ceilings and 4 or 5 dormer windows that opened, our hotel (then under Hyatt now under Hilton) in Kronberg, Germany was a castle (built and occupied by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's eldest child at the end of her life). We're staying in another castle in a few months this time in Scotland. Again on our upcoming trip another hotel in Wales our room is in the old chapel buildings from the 1800s and I could go on and on.

My suggestion about luggage...do only a personal item and carry on..cobblestones in Europe in general are not luggage friendly and you are not going to want to lug around a ton of luggage through hills and steps and inclines. For our cruises we've had to do checked luggage but our other international trips to Europe and Japan have been personal item and carry on. This is especially the case if you are relying on public transit.

 

[DCL58]

If you are going to use the train system to move around, check for possible conductor strikes. My son and his GF were recently stranded all day in the middle of nowhere while trying to take a train to Venice. Impending conductor strike. They are relatively young and were freaking out a bit with their situation and lack of communication.

 

[Moliphino]

A couple of our DISer friends just did Rome ahead of their DCL cruises (different ones but similar ports some being the same several weeks apart) and even though I haven't been there (though I'd like to) I'd recommend several days there IF you're really into seeing archeological sites.

We did a whole week in Rome (plus one day trip to Pompeii) in 2019 and there was plenty to see. Coloseum/Forum/Palatine Hill is a day, Vatican Museum/St. Peter's/Castel Sant Angelo, tons of churches, Pantheon, Trevi fountain, Borghese Gallery, etc., etc.

If you are going to use the train system to move around, check for possible conductor strikes. My son and his GF were recently stranded all day in the middle of nowhere while trying to take a train to Venice. Impending conductor strike. They are relatively young and were freaking out a bit with their situation and lack of communication.

I got stuck in Modena for a few extra hours because of a strike. The employees at the station weren't super helpful, but it was very easy to change my train tickets online. Which I had to do multiple times as they kept getting cancelled. Not sure how much it really mattered, as everyone just shoved onto the train when it came, anyway.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

If you are going to use the train system to move around, check for possible conductor strikes. My son and his GF were recently stranded all day in the middle of nowhere while trying to take a train to Venice. Impending conductor strike. They are relatively young and were freaking out a bit with their situation and lack of communication.

About 20 people missed our Venice embarkation in 2023 due to Milan airport strikes so it can impact more than rails. France, for example, has had multiple airport strikes impacting travel last week. Unfortunately strikes are very commonplace in Europe, actual strikes or the threat of them whereas in the U.S. it isn't allowable to do that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We did a whole week in Rome (plus one day trip to Pompeii) in 2019 and there was plenty to see. Coloseum/Forum/Palatine Hill is a day, Vatican Museum/St. Peter's/Castel Sant Angelo, tons of churches, Pantheon, Trevi fountain, Borghese Gallery, etc., etc.

You could do a whole long time there absolutely but Rome isn't all of Italy so that's why I said spend at least several days if you're into the sites because otherwise I think a person could do a day and get a decent amount seen if Rome in on one's list (you'd be getting a few highlights not in depth). Although I have to put that our personal travel style is to bounce around a decent amount because we like to see a lot in our trips (though Europe has yielded many a castles and churches we've seen with quite a bit more in September we'll see).

 

[KrzyAsian]

Don't have much to add that the others haven't commented on, but I came to say that if you are a member, Costco Travel made our 2024 Summer trip to Rome very affordable. Dare I say even, cheap? Their packages include airport transfers to the hotels (which can be quite a drive from the airport) and pretty luxurious accommodations.

Some of the more popular tourist activities required TIMED entry tickets. Be wary and careful when it comes to those.

Highly recommend visiting Italy at some point! Hope you enjoy your trip when you do.

 

[Skippy918]

I loved Italy. We went with friends who had been there before so it made it much more fun and easier to plan. Our trip was in 2006. We visited Sorrento, Florence, Venice, Ravenna, Pordenone (our friend had a relative there), Orvieto, and Rome. Ravenna was a stop on our drive from Florence to Venice. I loved Sorrento. You can smell the lemons. Pompeii and Herculaneum were really amazing sites to visit. We visited a lot of museums and churches. So much history. Amazing food and gelato. Have a great time!

 

[KarenB]

Thank you for all the comments! This is such great information and it is giving me some ideas on how to get started.

Karen

 

[Magical2017]

You will avoid large crowds by traveling off season or traveling to less popular destinations. We enjoy the Rick Steves guidebooks for basic information but do not necessarily follow the itineraries he suggests. Its difficult to go wrong, no matter where in Italy you choose to visit.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We went in October a number of years ago in an effort to have lower crowds.

My tips are involving the popular museums/sites. Make sure you book your reservations well in advance and tailor your schedule around days open. We were on a tour, which made it really hard to know when we'd be where and for how long. We waited in the standby line at the Uffizi for a while but gave up. We were also in Florence on a Tuesday, which meant the Bargello Museum was closed = me not getting to see Donatello's bronze David. While in Rome/Vatican City, our tour covered access for the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel. So, we walked right in at our reserved time but there were literally scores of people huddled up for blocks hoping to make it in. So, definitely plan out your itinerary (vs winging it) if these kinds of places are on your must do list.

 

[goofyernmost]

I admire your stamina if you can do all that stuff. Especially that sleeping in a different place every night. when I was 67 I went on a month long trip that culminated with a 10 day TransAtlantic Cruise back to Fort Lauderdale. I understand the desire to visit the area. Our trip included days in Paris, Venice and Rome. However, we rented apartments, (AirB&B), in Paris and Rome. There are a lot of places and things to see in Italy and found that having a base location in those cities gave us additional time to see things. Especially in Rome. There is a lot of different places and they are not bunched together so moving to a new location daily will take up a lot of your day that could be used to see the famous places in Rome or the surrounding day trip places like Pompeii.

Of course the choice is yours, just don't underestimate the amount of movement, walking and luggage handling that is required with a trip like that.