As above, I need to plan a trip to Italy for me and Mrs-g. August bank holiday weekend, will be taking the Thursday + Friday off work so can leave Wednesday night, and will want to come back on Sunday so we have Monday with the kids before going back to work Tuesday.

It is a surprise, and I absolutely have to fly in and out of London City. I think Florence is where we would like to go, however the cost of flights is prohibitive, and there are flights available to Milan for a fraction of the cost. With that in mind my plan is to fly to Milan weds eve and stay there overnight, then during the day on Thursday having looked around a bit travel to Florence by train, stay there until either Saturday or Sunday, then travel by train back to Milan and fly home, possibly staying in Bologna on the Saturday night.

Is this too much to try and squeeze in? We are not likely to want to spend hours trawling round museums and galleries, we are much more inclined to just wander round, take in the architecture, people watch etc.

Any tips on where to eat/stay/visit also gladly welcomed.

Thanks

You absolutely *have* to fly?
Why not all on trains?

http://www.seat61.com

I’m biased – I love traveling by train.

Got my first long train journey coming up next week. Going Norfolk to Athens. 😀

Will take the Eurostar to Paris, then the overnighter to Milan, followed by another morning train to Ancona. Then, onto a ferry to Greece. Going to be fab! (Especially as 1st class on the train was only 50EUR extra)

edit – Might well be possible for you to get to Paris by Wednesday night and then get a sleeper to Milan, same as me. Wake up in Milan and not need extra for a hotel room…

Rachel

Avoid Florence in August, if my experience of the place is anything to go by. Millions of people, far too many to make it enjoyable. Sienna was much nicer!

Hi,

We live quite near City Airport, we should be able to see our house as we take off if the weather is good, we have been meaning to get a flight out of there since we moved in, and crucially it is on the way home from work, so it gives the biggest “Surprise” moment when we jump off the DLR 2 stops early to head off rather than going home.

However, for another time trains would definitely work, and that website looks like a great resource. Added to favourites.

Norfolk to Athens

That is some journey! That’ll be awesome! Can I come?

Avoid Florence in August, if my experience of the place is anything to go by. Millions of people, far too many to make it enjoyable.

Not my experience in August 2016 – went to Florence 21st – 24th August and whilst it was busy it wasn’t crazy busy and certainly didn’t ruin the experience of the city.

Florence is an amazing city – we loved it.

We flew into Rome, got the train to Florence, stayed there for 3 nights then got the train to Venice and stayed for a further 2 nights then flew out of Venice. We also did a ‘day’ trip to Pisa when we were staying in Florence – which to be honest was a real let down – nothing there apart from the tower 😕

Just been to Venice – stayed 4 nights in Mestre on the mainland, much cheaper than a hotel in the old town but only 15mins away by local bus. 4 nights is more than enough for Venice so we took a day trip out by train to Verona and then on to Lake Garda (Desenzano del Garda).

Flew with EasyJet from Manchester

Also had a week in Sorrento in 2014, did Pompeii & Vesuvius, Herculaneum, Capri & Rome day trips. Capri is overrated imo. Rome needs another visit, the two hours or so that we were there only gave time to see The Forum & Colosseum and St Peter’s Basilica

Learn how to use the Trenitalia (Italian trains) website. Seat61 explains a lot, but the Italians are introducing 250mph high speed trains which can open up a lot more of the country.
And I’d skip Milan. Sieanna is well worth a visit if in the North. Rome/Naples can be an excellent 2 centre holiday with them being around 1hr apart on high speed trains and 2 on normal speed but a much more relaxed journey with better views (the inter city trains follow the coast). I did train home from Sicily a couple of years ago, the rhaetian railway made it worth while.

Can you get to Verona from London City? If so, look at that, it’s a stunning city, lovely romantic places to stroll, good restaurants, awesome place. You can also get out to the lakes in an hour if you want some outdoor time.

we spent a day in Florence on a short trip with the kids at Easter last year, fabulous city. would def go back for longer – sunset from the viewpoint over the city is great – you will not be alone though!!

With trenitalia, if you want the fast trains you need to book in advance. we winged it and ended up on slow trains everywhere. wasn’t terrible but was hard work keeping two young kids entertained whilst we waited at stations.

have fun. bloody love Italy.

+1 Verona and +1 trains.

We did Bologna, Verona, Sirmione, Verona, Bologna.

Although the stations can appear intimidating and the ‘take a ticket and get in line’ system was baffling, the automatic machines are a piece of cake, although be aware that the higher speed trains do appear to fill up, but we were on the cheap so were only using the ‘middle speed’ trains. Ours pulled over to let a Freccerossa high speed past, it was like a bullet 8)

Loved Verona, Bologna also great although we seemed to miss out on all the good eating, think because our Italian is crap and the nice places looked a bit daunting (small, no obvious menus, lots of locals, i.e. the perfect territory to make an arse out of yourself with your 10 words of tourist Italian 😀 )

edit: for any Italy and/or Italian Train enthusiasts, there’s a great wee book by Tim Parks called ‘Italian Ways’ documenting his exeperiences commuting on the Verona-Milan line. Interesting short read.

i go to Milan regularly – it has 3 airports, only one of them is in Milan! the logistics of just staying the night and catching the train to florence wont be that simple… actually i think London city fly into Linate which is the closest to the city anyway!

didnt rate Florence myself, nothing there that isnt in the guide books! not like Rome, Rome has all the guide book shiz but behind that is a really cool and vibrant city. florence has nothing going on and neither does Milan actually unless you like shopping!

if it was me id fly into Milan, rent a car and have tour round the lakes, Varese, Como, Lugano… Bergamo is nice too.