I’m planning a 17-day trip to Italy with my boyfriend in April, with about 2 days allocated for travel. So far, based on my research, I’m thinking of going to Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Verona, Venice. I’m open to suggestions! We’ll be flying in and out of Rome, and I’d love to hear your recommendations—things to avoid, or any routes that might be better. Thanks in advance!
Not to be too down on your plan, but that sounds like not enough time in each of those places. You’ll hardly arrive before it’s time to leave again. I did a trip to Rome, Florence, Milan, and Turin over the course of ten days, and honestly, it was kind of too much.
That said, for Florence, make sure to book tickets to see the David statue well in advance.
@Hadi
I was thinking the same thing. I got the idea from a friend; we don’t want to feel rushed, so we planned to add more days in each place and take away where we needed it based on advice! What felt like too much during your trip? What would you have done differently?
I went to Greece two years ago, and we spent 3-4 days on each island, and it felt good!
@Hadi
Slower travel makes a big difference! Packing too much in can feel rushed. And yes, booking David tickets early is a must; it’s so worth it!
We flew into Florence, spent two days there, two days in Verona, two days in Cinque Terre, then back to Florence and picked up a car and spent one week in a Tuscany villa to rest. 
I just got back from Spain / Portugal, and our itinerary was as fast as yours. Never again. I didn’t rest.
Cinque Terre isn’t much after the first whole day, but you can certainly laze about on day two. We took the hop-on-hop-off ferry to the different villages. Well worth it.
Book your lodging in Cinque Terre asap. It’s confined geography and limited accommodations. You won’t want to drive a car there, but it’s been done.
There’s a lot to see in Florence and Verona. In Florence, you get David. In Verona, you get Juliet’s balcony if you’re into that. I preferred the art.
I find that travel days between destinations take up a lot of time and energy, plus trains can be delayed. To me, they feel like travel days and not days in a destination. You might be different.
With travel days in mind, your schedule is fine with those destinations.
That said, your trip sounds great!
As other commenters suggested, you could make a stop while traveling between cities, but it will require packing light or leaving bags at the train station.
One thing that helped me plan a trip to Italy was thinking in terms of activities instead of destinations. What are the interesting things to do?
I like to look for a variety of things. Art museums are amazing, but they are only one of many great things to do in Italy. Sites like Viator are a good place to look for activities you might not be thinking of.
We went last year and enjoyed the art, architecture, history, and food, but also:
- a Parmesan tour in Parma
- the Ferrari museum and Lamborghini factory tour
- eating in Bologna
- a truffle hunting trip
- hiking a via ferrata and staying in a rifugio
- visiting smaller towns
- a morning espresso in a local coffee shop.
I haven’t been to Rome ever, but I’ve seen lots of things online about avoiding it next year due to jubilee year or something like that.
Tory said:
I haven’t been to Rome ever, but I’ve seen lots of things online about avoiding it next year due to jubilee year or something like that.
Thank you; I will look into that!
@Ren
Looks like the busiest time will be April 13-20th, and we would be flying in then, so I wonder if it’s better to do Rome on the last leg of our trip instead.
Add more days in Cinque Terre.
Qi said:
Stay away from the big cities and spend more time in the small villages in the Dolomites.
I’ve heard it’s too early in the year for the Dolomites.
It would not be an itinerary for me or my family. I’d stick to two or three cities rather than racing through a half dozen. We spent two weeks in Rome earlier this year and still missed things.
Pace said:
It would not be an itinerary for me or my family. I’d stick to two or three cities rather than racing through a half dozen. We spent two weeks in Rome earlier this year and still missed things.
We are gonna narrow it down to just a few places and spend longer time in each spot!
Rome will be absolute hell next year. I just got home from there 4 weeks ago, and it was packed. Everyone there was saying it’s because of the Jubilee. Hotels will be $$ if you can get one. You’ll need very advanced bought tix for the Vatican, Coliseum, Forum, and train tix.
Good luck!!
@Mackenzie
I’ll definitely reconsider! From your experience, do you think it would be worth it to travel in and out of Rome and not stay there?
Ren said:
@Mackenzie
I’ll definitely reconsider! From your experience, do you think it would be worth it to travel in and out of Rome and not stay there?
Yes, even traveling through will be tricky. I go to Rome every 12-18 months, and I’ve never seen it this bad in November. 
@Mackenzie
That’s really unfortunate. I’ll see if we can find another time of year to fly, but so far this has been the cheapest, which is surprising considering the jubilee.
Ren said:
@Mackenzie
That’s really unfortunate. I’ll see if we can find another time of year to fly, but so far this has been the cheapest, which is surprising considering the jubilee.
Try flying in and out of Milan. Tickets to Malpensa airport are usually reasonable and it’s never been real crowded.
2 days in Verona? You could save time on booking and moving by visiting Verona from Venice.
Did you book the flight already?
Lex said:
2 days in Verona? You could save time on booking and moving by visiting Verona from Venice.
Did you book the flight already?
Not yet, just planning now, and that flight has been the cheapest we’ve seen for the past 6 months. The days spent in each place will be adjusted to add more time; this was just a rough outline we got from a friend, but we knew it wouldn’t be enough time! I like the idea of visiting Verona from Venice.