TEN DAYS IN ITALY ITINERARY: HOW TO (ALMOST) SEE IT ALL
Last summer, Payton and I traveled through Italy over the course of ten days. We had a fabulous time and felt we really scratched the surface by seeing many highlights. I’ll share our itinerary, top things to see and do in each city and tips for getting around.
HOW TO DECIDE WHERE TO START
Figuring out where to start our trip came down to flight availability. I had hoped to start in Rome, but we couldn’t find any affordable award flights into Rome, so we ended up flying into Milan (on Emirates business class for just $100 - you can read about how we booked it here) and out of Venice. My biggest tip is to search and book flights the minute you decide to visit Italy.
Once we had our starting and end point, I began to plan the route we would take from city to city and how long we needed in each place. I’ll share what we would do differently in my conclusion.
DAY ONE: MILAN
We planned to spend just one night in Milan to get over the jet lag before continuing on. I think it was a perfect decision. Getting into Milan from the airport was super easy. We purchased a one way train ticket at the train station just outside of baggage claim at the airport.
Our hotel was near the Duomo so no rental car was needed and we were able to walk everywhere. I try not to book too much on day one. This gives us time to just relax and maybe get a quick cat nap in.
What to see and do in Milan in one day:
The Last Supper - tickets go on sale 30 days in advance and sell out quick
Duomo and Duomo rooftop climb - book the lift access ticket but know you have to walk 6-7 stories down a narrow stairway
Window shopping at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele
Sunset in front of the Piazza del Duomo with gelato or aperitivo
DAY TWO AND THREE - CINQUE TERRE
Manarola in Cinque Terre
On Day Two, we took the train to Cinque Terre where we spent the next two nights. Cinque Terre lies between Genoa and Pisa along the Italian Riviera and each village is dotted with colorful houses clinging to the mountainside above blue crisp waters. It’s what you picture when you think of the Italian coast. Choosing which of the five villages we would stay in was one of the hardest decisions I had to make. We ended up booking the sweetest little room in Manarola.
Booking your train ticket to Cinque Terre can be confusing. There are two larger cities that bookend the five villages on each side. If you are arriving from the west or the north, you’ll search for trains into Levanto. If you're arriving from the east or Florence, you’ll search for trains to La Spezia. Once you arrive in Levanto or La Spezia, you’ll get off and board the Cinque Terre Express trains which stop at each city. We pre-booked all of our train tickets which meant no standing in long kiosk lines.
What to see and do in Cinque Terre:
Hiking from village to village is very popular. Purchase hiking permit online
If you don’t want to hike, you can village hop by train
Spend a day swimming Monterosso - our absolute fave day of the trip
Take a pesto making class in Manarola at Nessun Dorma
Watch a sunset from Manarola or Riomaggiore (or both)
Take the ferry between towns for views (cheaper than private boat tour)
DAY FOUR, FIVE AND SIX - PISA AND FLORENCE
On day four, we took the early train to La Spezia where we connected and boarded the regional train to Florence. During my initial planning stages, I had considered doing one night in Pisa. But as I was searching trains from Cinque Terre to Florence, almost all of them stopped over in Pisa. So we hatched a plan to get off in Pisa, see the Leaning Tower and then continue on to Florence. This stopover took us about 2-3 hours total and was totally worth seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
When we arrived in Pisa, we stored our bags at the luggage storage facility right inside the train station. You can walk to the Tower or Uber. It was a thirty minute walk and a beautiful day so we decided to walk. We spent about 30-45 minutes exploring and taking photos, had a quick bite to eat, then walked back to the train station and continued on to Florence.
We spent three nights in Florence which was perfect. If you’d like to do a Tuscany/wine day trip you may want to add an additional day here.
What to see and do in Florence:
Statue of David at the l’Academia Gallery- book early morning tickets for lowest crowds
The Duomo - I would skip going inside. Lines are extremely long
Art lovers must visit the Uffizi Museum
For fantastic view of the Duomo, climb Giotto’s Campanile
Book a pizza or pasta making class - we had so much fun!
Watch the sunset from Piazza Michelangelo
DAY SEVEN, EIGHT AND NINE - ROME
The next three nights were spent in Rome. We booked a room close to the Trevi Fountain and pretty much were within walking distance of everything (except maybe the Vatican).
I think one could spend weeks in Rome and probably not see it all, this is what made our highlight list.
Things to see and do in Rome:
Trevi Fountain - 0600 for lowest crowds
Colosseum and Roman Forum - highly recommend taking a guided tour
Spanish Steps
Vatican, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica - we took an early morning breakfast tour that we really enjoyed. Our tour guide was an art history major and we really learned a lot. The Vatican was mostly empty for our early tour, but the Sistine Chapel was packed. Maybe it always is?
Golf cart sunset tour to see everything lit up
DAY NINE AND TEN- VENICE
We took an early morning train to Venice and arrived early in the afternoon. We spent two nights and had a good full day and half in Venice which was probably enough. Our favorite thing to do was just to start walking and getting lost down the narrow and winding walkways along the canals.
Reminder: Starting in April 2024, Venice will be charging all day trippers $5 to enter the city. Click here for more details.
Things to see and do in Venice:
St. Mark’s Square and St.Mark’s Basilica
Rialto Bridge
Doge’s Palace
Ride a gondola
Bridge of Sighs
Half-day trip to Murano
RECAP
Day 1 - Milan
Day 2-3 - Cinque Terre
Day 4- 6: Florence
Day 7-9: Rome
Day 9-10: Venice
FINAL THOUGHTS
If we had more time: Add 1-2 days to visit the Amalfi Coast and Sicily. This is high on our list, but just thought it would be too fast and furious to add it to this trip.
What we would do differently: Next time we would stay in Monterosso instead of Manarola in Cinque Terre. It was bigger and had more options for dining and shops, plus it had the beach and we could have spent more time swimming which was my teen’s favorite thing to do.
Flights: To avoid backtracking, I highly recommend flying into one city and out of another. This saved us a lot of time.
Don’t overbook: We chose one thing in each city that we really wanted to see and didn’t pack in every day with tours and museums. Just strolling around and enjoying la dolce vita is the name of the game here.
Happy Travels!
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