50th Birthday trip: Where in Italy?
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Anonymous
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Who is travelling? Two moms, 14 year old and 9 year old. My kids are picky eaters but love pasta and bread, so I figure Italy will work.
When? Just one week at spring break in April. This is a trip where i want reasonably price luxury, good food and wine, ocean views. It's more about me this time. Usually I build trips around my kids' preferences. I don't want to rent a car, so I'd like to go somewhere where I can walk to restaurants and get bus trips / take trains to other places. We like public transportation. We don't speak Italian (obviously, or we would have been there already!) I've never been to Italy though I've travelled widely in general, so I'm not afraid of a little adventure. I was thinking of Naples or somewhere near there. Like Capri or Sorrento maybe? I also though about Milan / Lake Como / quick trip over the Alps mostly for the views from the train. Any thoughts or insights are appreciated. |
Anonymous
| you could easily spend a whole week in Rome, great that time of year, not many tourists and not hot. rick steves can advise on first time travel to italy better than anyone and has the best guide books on it. you could watch some of his episodes for inspiration. if you really want to be on the water, cinque terre has 5 towns all a tiny train ride apart and you can go to florence/lucca/pisa (for the kids seeing the leaning tower) quickly from there.. |
Anonymous
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Lake Como in April will have colder nights and
mornings and less reliable weather. So I guess it depends on how much you envision yourself sipping Aperol Spritzes in the sunshine. The Alps train rides would be snow covered and stunning though. Villas would be great and fewer crowds, except maybe Easter week. But then you’ll get crowds most places. Varenna is well situated for train from Milan. I didn’t care for Bellagio. Menaggio is nice and has mini golf (not sure if seasonal) for the kids. I don’t think most people would recommend staying in Naples itself. But I think you’re heading in right direction if you want sunnier weather. Also Sicily. |
Anonymous
| I’ve heard to avoid Italy in 2025 due to a Church anniversary pilgrimage year. |
Anonymous
I am not the poster advising everyone to avoid Rome for all of 2025 but suggesting there won’t be many tourists in Rome in the weeks leading up to Easter during the jubilee seems a little off? I think Capri is great for a couple days— have not been there in April but it should be opening up then—question is what to add to it (someplace on the Amalfi Coast, Ischia, visit to Pompeii/Herculaneum?). I know lots of people think Venice is overcrowded but I think April is a great time to visit to avoid crowds— and it’s definitely the kind of place where just having a nice meal on the water is part of the attraction. Can pair it with lots of cities or the Dolomites. (Someone the other day had a thread on a northern Italian itinerary with some good suggestions.) |
Anonymous
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Naples is not very nice and it’s a pain to get there and travel from there. Sorrento is a bit nicer but would get old after a couple days and also is not easy to rely on public transportation. We hired a driver when we were there but did take the local train once and it was not a pleasant experience.
I love Rome. There is so much to see and do there and it’s easy to get around. Another option is Florence with day trips to Siena, Lucca, Bologna and/or Tuscan wineries. Note- the Florence airport is awful and routinely has flight cancellations. I will never fly in/out of Florence and my Italian friends say the same thing. |
Anonymous
I wonder if that's mostly Rome, though? |
Anonymous
| Thanks all. I'm thinking Venice is a good choice. With a quick train trip over the Alps from Milan either before or after. |
Anonymous
Will that be like everyone avoiding Paris during the Olympics leading to a huge drop in total tourists? |
Anonymous
I think Rome will probably be busy around specific big events. I doubt the rest of Italy will be especially more crowded than already is (a lot in the popular tourist spots). |
Anonymous
| Capri? |
Anonymous
This sounds nice… https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187783-d593238-Reviews-Luxury_Villa_Excelsior_Parco-Capri_Island_of_Capri_Province_of_Naples_Campania.html |
Anonymous
If you want to see the Alps by train you could fly into Zurich, maybe spend a couple days in Lucerne, and then take the train from there to Venice (you can go via Milan which is scenic but does take you through tunnels or if you want you could do the extra-scenic route which includes Chur-Tirano (“bernina express” route) but might require a bus to connect to Brescia and would take much longer, 12+ hrs vs 6+ hrs) |
Anonymous
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I'd split the week between Rome and Venice.
For my 50th this year, I did Rome=>Naples=>Positano/Capri but only because I'd been to Venice recently. It's a gorgeous city! |
Anonymous
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I did Rome for this and a week was great. We weee there the week before Easter and you definitely needed reservations in advance for popular sites like the colllpseum and Vatican but it didn’t really start feeling crowded until afternoon of Holy Thursday.
If it were me, I’d do Sicily. |