My husband and I wish to travel to the North of Italy and need assistance in planning this.?

Question

We would really like to visit Milan,Florence,Lake Como & Santa Margheria, any suggestions on how we can do this simply by staying at one central point and doing day trips by train or bus. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

We will also travel down to Rome for 3 days then onto the south of Italy on a Mini Tour to Naples,Sorrento,Pompoeii and Capri. Hope to hear from someone soon.

Regards

Answer 1

You should go on the discussion boards on frommers.com and fodors.com.  They have great info from other travelers on there.  You can search for a question or post your own.  I have gotten great advice on traveling on both websites.

Answer 2

If you live nearby, or are associated with any military installation, Information tickets and tours,  in a services squadron will give you some very good information.   Good travelling.

Answer 3

Hello,

I've have completed this very trip you mentioned, except I covered both the French and Italian Riviera, with a day trip to the country of Monaco, visting Monte Carlo. What a gorgeous itinerary you have planned!! I have also covered the South of Italy, including Naple, Sorrento, Pompeii, Capri, Poisitano. However, the South was covered on another trip entirely. You may feel that you can't possibly cover all you mentioned without being in a complete rush. I suggest focusing on the North for your first trip and include a post trip to Rome at the end of your trip. Once you have been Italy, you will soon return. It's addicting!! Then you can plan to return to the South on your next trip.

My suggestion, fly into Milan and park it there for 3 nights. Set up day trips to Lake District(Como, Maggiore, Garga, etc).

After 3 nights transfer to Santa Margarita for 2 nights. Transfer there by bus, private driver, or train. Spend 2 - 3 nights. From the city of Santa Margarita you can take a day trip to Portofino. You may even consider taking a trip to visit the Cinque Terre. This is a group of 5 tiny village, and very beautiful. I must worn you that the towns are very hilly and be prepared to walk. After this area, take a train, bus, private transfer to Florence and stay in the city of Florence for 3 -4 nights. Florence is my persaonl favorite. Because you will be in the heart of Tuscany, day trips from Florence, include Sienna, Chianti, Pisa, San Gimignano and all of the Tuscan countryside. You can take great cooking classes, wines tours, etc in this area. After completing, Florence/Tuscany make your way to Rome for a 2- 3 post trip stay. Rome is so large and their is plenty to see, so plan to make this your first stop on a return trip to Italy and you can cover more of Rome.

Please feel free to contact me for any questions. To make this trip free of so many hotel stops, considered staying in Milan and doing day trips to Portofino, the Lake District and Such. Then on to Florence, then Rome. Eliminating a stop in Santa Margarita and just making this a day trip.

Have you considered getting a private driver and guide for your entire stay? I did this for one trip and it was wonderful, because they were our personal drivers making it a very stress free trip.

Answer 4

Please go to Vicenza, there are Americans there who can help you. From Vicenza, also, you can take the train to the spots you asked. Go to Lago Di Garda as well, largest lake in Italy.

Answer 5

when we went, we also wanted a central place to work from for different parts of italy.  we used http://www.villavacations.com for booking our villa.  the people who worked for the company were so helpful and the hosts of our villa were the best!  they have a lot of options for all parts of italy and depending on the time of year, it can be cheaper than a hotel room.  we also found it easier for us to rent a car and drive everywhere.  that way we were not restricted to a schedule for a bus or train and could stop at side places if we wanted.  we rented our car through autoeurope.

Answer 6

Well, I've been to Florence numerous times in the past and I found it fairly easy to get around by their train service, which I found very efficient.  I didn't travel to the same places as you did but if you go to www.trenitalia.it this should give you an idea of train services.  If you go to the page through Yahoo, they translate it for you.  I hope that was helpful and I hope you have a wonderful trip - Italy is beautiful in both the North and South and I'm very jealous of you travelling around there as much as you are!