On a quick visit you can hop on the local bus in Sorrento that takes you through Positano and Amalfi to Salerno. The big 3 in Italy are Rome, Florence, and Venice, and if you have time for only 3 cities those are the obvious ones to choose. On our last day in Annecy, we took a bus/train combo back to Paris that left Annecy around mid afternoon. And it's that way in every direction. Many do advise against driving a car right after a long flight. I have done it plenty of times for both personal and business trips. I find that I If you love the idea of vineyard views on end and wine tasting with your partner, it must be added to your romantic itinerary. Id say 2 or 3 nights would be enough, but if you get out in the morning and then again in the evening, Venice is much nicer and its stunning. Its almost impossible to get a bad meal in the city and most of the food is reasonably priced considering the quality. While youll easily be able to get from city to city and even towns using regional trains, going through the mountains will mean there are less stops and train options, or there may just be no option at all. Your insight is so much appreciated! As you can see, the drive from Puglia to Sicily is a long one. These two countries contain several of what I consider to be the best cities in Europe to visit for anyone, so its just a matter of narrowing down where to go and how much time to spend in each place. There are also bus tours from Florence that take you all the way there, but those come with the slowness of large-group travel. The cheaper hotels in Nice are near the train station anyway, so thats something to consider if you want to visit all 3 places in one short trip. Something like this might be better for a second or third trip to France unless youve got weeks to spend here. In Paris, however, youd probably only consider doing this for breakfast, and even then it might not be ideal. We enjoy walking, dining, exploring, and just being at places that takes you away from it all. I wouldn't tell you not to do it but you need to be careful. I think the general plan would be to fly into Paris and spend 4 or 5 days there, perhaps allowing time for a day trip or two to the Loire Valley or some wine regions. Itinerary for Italy and Southern France - Italy Forum The entire area is made up of the Western Alps. First, it is close to Switzerland near the Lake Maggiore. Required fields are marked *. This is what we ended up doing in terms of itinerary and a few highlights of things we did: Day of arrival- 10 am arrival in Paris (from Ottawa), 2 pm TGV to Avignon, picked up rental car and drove straight to Rognonas. As for Capri, I havent been there yet myself, but I do know its quite small and since its not far from Positano, its going to be pretty similar. However, there is a lot more to unpack when deciding which Italian region to visit. ta.queueForLoad : function(f, g){document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', f);})(function(){ta.trackEventOnPage('postLinkInline', 'impression', 'postLinks-112570994', '');}, 'log_autolink_impression');Avignon from 13.00 onwards. Day 1: Milan Day 2: Lake Como Day 3: Verona Day 4: Lake Garda Days 5 & We are at a loss as to where to start as there are so many places that can help you or customize a trip for you. Bergamo 2 Nights. That could be another option. Its much appreciated!! Paris is always great, but for Lake Como it really depends on the time of year. We are trying to plan a trip for 6 to Paris 4-5 days, then Lake Como for 2/3 days, then Amalfi Coast Bus can also be a flexible and inexpensive option for airport transfer. Since its a fairly large city and a major transit hub, Nice is still active while nearby towns like Cannes and Antibes are partly shut down. That might be a bit hurried for 12 days. This is our second trip. But the true draw is the landscape. But they are small villages and I think 2 nights might be enough there. Train to Florence 2 nights The sights in Paris are almost all worthwhile, but dont think you have to spend an entire day in the Louvre in order to enjoy it. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. If youre working with a 10 day northern Italy trip, you can make it simple by spending two days in each place, or do as Im suggesting using Milan and Venice as your home bases to explore more with day trips. possible route via Orange and Sault (Lavender fields); or just France Start as far west as possible in Courmayeur to visit Mont Blanc and the Val Ferret. Best for: history, sightseeing, nature, small towns, food & wine. The stops on this north Italy itinerary include: Youll probably start this itinerary in Milano, given that the most major airports are located just outside the city. There aremany reasons why fast travel might be your best option, but only up to a point. I was wondering if you had any travel agent or agency recommendations that could best assist with booking the itinerary you laid out for France and Italy? Youll find both French and Italian are spoken here because of how close the two countries are. Id fly into Paris and spend 3 or 4 night there and then take a train down to Nice for 2 nights there. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Luxury hotels, Michelin dining & things to do along the route: Northern Italy & Southern France 11-day road trip itinerary, From place to place in northern Italy and southern France, 5. You could either go independently on trains, or book a bus trip that covers them both. Sometimes the one-way flights are exactly half the round-trip fare, sometimes a bit more than half, and other times they are double. more, Reply to: Rough Itinerary: Southern France, Northern Italy. A Foodies Northern Italy Itinerary. If youd like to visit some hill towns or Pisa or Siena, you can easily do those as day trips. -Roger, Hi Roger. Here are some foods to try in every region on this itinerary: Starting in Piemonte, the speciality is one of the most expensive and luxurious foods in the world: truffles! For this trip we are interested in exploring mainly small towns, countryside, mountains. Route Napoleon is faster but they are both scenic drives. If you are having trouble narrowing down which places are the top to visit for you or youre starting from scratch seeking inspiration, youll find the perfect northern Italy itinerary for you in this post, along with tips for visiting this part of the country. But I will inform about other options to travel around, too. Before going into details about the places we visited, here is the itinerary of our trip. Check out the map with extra suggestions: I could go on and on about all of the beautiful places to visit in northern Italy, but this post would then be at least 10,000 words. Whether you like hiking in the summer or skiing in the winter, the mountains are paradise. Nights 1,2,3 in Rognonas at Mas Saint Antoine: Here, we visited the town of Rousillon where we walked on the ochre trail, had gelato, wandered and explored the streets, and had delicious pizza at a local place with a patio overlooking nature. I have done it plenty of times for both personal and business trips. The coast is also called Italian Riviera. ta.queueForLoad : function(f, g){document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', f);})(function(){ta.trackEventOnPage('postLinkInline', 'impression', 'postLinks-112575872', '');}, 'log_autolink_impression');Avignon I would directly go there it would be one less lodging change in a short amount of time. One of the most popular seaside towns in the area is Alassio with a 4 km/2.5 mi long stretch of beach. My impression was that it was a pretty busy place with a lot of groups in for wine tastings and such. Discover more specific destinations for loved-up travelers on the map: Italian food is in a league of its own, but youll soon find out when visiting northern Italy that the traditional dishes are not pasta and pizza. As the largest and most central city in Tuscany, Florence is a cultural capital filled with famous museums, cathedrals, and other sights, but its also the ideal jumping off point for day or overnight trips into some of the nearby hill towns. Thank you both for the suggestions, tradeform and Planner. In reality, any daytime visitor who uses the typical precautions will be fine. Of course there are many ways to travel. And long road trips are indeed possible. But Europe and France in particular has such a concentration of t We would really like to visit Bologna and Florence again and have to add Verona for sure due to business (just 1 day business meeting). 7 days in Italy Option 1: the Northern Italy itinerary bucket list destinations First stop: 2 nights in Venice. However, if you have only 7 days in Northern Italy, I would probably only stay 1-2 days. You are spending a relatively large amount of time on the road vs seeing things. It was very pretty and the stores and streets were interesting to walk around. ta.queueForLoad : function(f, g){document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', f);})(function(){ta.trackEventOnPage('postLinkInline', 'impression', 'postLinks-112568990', '');}, 'log_autolink_impression');France and a bit of Northern Italy in August to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Cinque Terre photo byWorld Walk About on Flickr, Your email address will not be published. I can help more with the itinerary if you like. France and Italy make for a perfect first visit to Europe, but there are so many potential places to visit that planning well is extremely important. Starting from Moustiers-Ste-Marie and the Gorge du Verdon for example. Quite the contrary, it makes part of the Italian lake region. Newer travelers always assume that more is better and overly-seasoned travelers always preach that virtually any city anywhere deserves at least a week. -Roger. Part of the reason we chose this area was so it would be do-able to spend a few hours in Eze on the morning of check-out on our way to Italy. It will be cheaper to buy the tickets as you go. I cant begin to thank you enough for your input and detailed info with links. Yet it was such a great experience after so many Switzerland staycations! All of the stops are 2 to 3 hours apart by train. Honestly, if this is your first trip to these countries, youll really get the most bang for your buck by adding extra days in Paris or Florence or both. Before coming to it, there is one more thing to add. 10 Day Northern Italy Itinerary Breakdown. If you wish to see mountains, you could drive your way up to Annecy on the French side of the Alps either by the Route des Grandes Alpes or by the Route Napoleon for example. France is a deceptively large country so travel will eat up some time unless you are flying or taking the bullet trains. ta.queueForLoad : function(f, g){document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', f);})(function(){ta.trackEventOnPage('postLinkInline', 'impression', 'postLinks-112594285', '');}, 'log_autolink_impression');Annecy to Barolo is long, two of viaMichelin's suggested routes are quite scenic. As with most things, the best answer probably lies somewhere in between. We enjoyed the peaceful walk up to the castle with great views of the town, the lake, and mountains. There is an airport in both Venice and Milan so you could start your itinerary in either place. To reachSorrentoyoull take a train to Naples and then change for a one-hour local train (known as the Circumvesuviana) to its final stop.