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Explore itineraries grouped by geographic area
A first trip to Italy usually means Rome, Florence and Venice: one week is the realistic minimum for those three cities, while 10-14 days let you add the Tuscan hill towns, the Cinque Terre or Naples and the Amalfi Coast. High-speed trains link the main cities in 1 to 4 hours; the countryside, Puglia, Sicily and the Dolomites are much easier with a car.
One week is the minimum for Rome, Florence and Venice: 3 days in Rome, 2 in Florence, 2 in Venice. With 10-12 days you can add Siena and San Gimignano, Pisa and the Cinque Terre; with two weeks you can also head south to Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. Sicily and Puglia each deserve 7-10 days on their own, because internal distances are long and you'll need a car. Each change of city costs about half a day (checkout, station, check-in), so fewer bases with more nights each work better than a new hotel every night.
Day one among the Chianti Classico villages (Greve, Radda, Gaiole, Castellina), day two in the Val d'Orcia between Montepulciano, Pienza, San Quirico and Bagno Vignoni, day three in Montalcino, at Sant'Antimo Abbey and the free hot springs of Bagni San Filippo. The route runs north to south with no backtracking; you need a car.
Three nights in Rome (Colosseum and Forum, the Vatican, the historic centre), two in Florence (Duomo, Uffizi, Accademia, Oltrarno) and two in Venice (St Mark's, Rialto, a morning on Murano or Burano). All by train: about 1h30 between Rome and Florence, about 2 hours between Florence and Venice. Book an open-jaw flight, into Rome and out of Venice (or the reverse), to avoid backtracking.
Two days in Naples (historic centre, Archaeological Museum, Sansevero Chapel), then the ruins of Pompeii on the way to Sorrento, which works as a base for a boat trip to Capri, Positano, Amalfi and Ravello. The trip ends with Vesuvius and Herculaneum before heading back to Naples. Staying in Sorrento means no daily hotel changes and no driving on the narrow Amalfi coast road.
Three days in Rome, three in Florence with a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano, the Leaning Tower of Pisa on the way to the Cinque Terre (two nights in Monterosso, the trail to Vernazza, Manarola and Riomaggiore), then three days in Venice with Murano and Burano, flying home from Milan or Venice. All by train, from south to north.
Ancient Rome (Colosseum, Forum, Pantheon), the Vatican and a historic centre best explored on foot. Plan at least 3 full days; one more day adds Ostia Antica or Tivoli (Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa). Rome is also the most convenient arrival point for long-haul flights.
Florence for the Renaissance (2-3 days), then Siena, San Gimignano, Chianti and the Val d'Orcia for hill towns, wine and landscapes. The city works on foot and by train; the countryside needs a car. Pisa and Lucca are easy day trips from Florence by regional train.
Venice, with St Mark's, Rialto and the lagoon islands (Murano, Burano), deserves 2-3 days; sleep in the historic centre to see it in the evening and early morning, when day-trippers have gone. Verona and Padua are easy train stops on the line towards Milan.
Naples for its historic centre and food, Pompeii and Herculaneum for archaeology, Capri and the Amalfi Coast (Positano, Amalfi, Ravello) for the sea. Allow 6-8 days. On the coast, use buses and seasonal ferries rather than a car: the road is narrow, parking is scarce and alternate-plate driving restrictions apply on some peak dates.
Palermo, Monreale and Cefalù in the west; Etna, Taormina, Syracuse and the Baroque towns of Noto and Ragusa in the east; the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento in the south. Allow 7-10 days and rent a car; fly into Palermo or Catania. Spring and autumn are best for sightseeing, and the swimming season runs from May to October.
Bari and Polignano, the trulli of Alberobello and the Itria Valley, Ostuni, Baroque Lecce and the Salento coast down to Otranto and Gallipoli, with a detour to the Sassi of Matera in Basilicata. Allow 7-9 days with a car. Bari is about 4 hours by train from Rome, or fly into Bari or Brindisi.
Lake Como (Varenna is about an hour from Milan by train) and Lake Garda for 2-3 days; the Dolomites (Val Gardena, Alta Badia, Cortina) for hiking and mountain views, with at least 4-5 days and ideally a car. Summer lifts generally run from June to September; outside that window many high trails are harder to reach.
Between the main cities, high-speed trains (Trenitalia's Frecciarossa and Italo) are the easiest option: they run centre to centre and you never need to park. Typical times on the fastest trains: Rome-Florence about 1h25-1h35, Florence-Venice about 2 hours, Rome-Naples from just under an hour to 1h15, Milan-Venice about 2h15, Milan-Rome about 3 hours, Rome-Bari about 4 hours. High-speed fares are cheaper when booked early; regional trains have fixed fares, and paper regional tickets must be validated in the station machines before boarding (digital ones activate automatically at your train's departure time). A car is needed for rural Tuscany, Puglia, Sicily and the Dolomites: pick it up on the edge of town and never drive into the camera-enforced ZTL zones of historic centres. On the Amalfi Coast use buses and ferries; for Sicily and Sardinia a domestic flight saves a lot of time.
INDICATIVE 2026 ranges per person per day, sharing a double room, flights excluded. Budget: €70-110 (hostel or simple B&B, lunch at a bar or street food, public transport and regional trains, one paid sight). Mid-range: €130-220 (3-star hotel or B&B in the centre, trattoria dinner, high-speed trains booked ahead, 1-2 museums). Comfort: €300 and up (4-5 star hotels, restaurants, private transfers, guided tours). Venice, Capri, the Amalfi Coast and Florence in high season run above these figures; the South and inland areas are often cheaper. On top: the municipal tourist tax (from a few euros up to about €10 per person per night in luxury hotels in the big cities), the restaurant cover charge and entry tickets (the Pantheon, for example, costs €7 since July 2026). Prices vary a lot by season and how early you book, so always check before you go.
Updated: October 2026
Euro (EUR). Cards accepted almost everywhere, ATMs widespread. Keep some cash for small shops.
Italian. English widely spoken in tourist areas, less in small villages.
Not required for EU citizens. Schengen Area: many non-EU nationalities can stay 90 days visa-free (check based on your nationality).
5G in cities, 4G in rural areas (weak signal in some valleys). e-SIM recommended (Holafly, Airalo).
230V, 50Hz — type F/L sockets (Schuko / Italy 10A). Bring a universal adapter.
UTC+1 (winter) / UTC+2 (daylight saving, late March–late October).
💡 Download offline Google Maps before leaving: in some rural and hilly areas the signal is weak.
Yes, if you keep it to three bases. The classic first-timer split is 3 nights in Rome, 2 in Florence and 2 in Venice, all by train; an alternative is Rome plus Naples and the Amalfi Coast. Trying to add Milan, the Cinque Terre and the South in the same week means spending most of your time in transit.
Train for cities, car for the countryside. High-speed trains link Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan, Venice and Naples in 1 to 3 hours, centre to centre, while a car in a city is a liability (traffic, parking, ZTL fines). For Tuscan hill towns, Puglia, Sicily and the Dolomites, rent a car just for those days and return it before the next city.
A ZTL (Zona a Traffico Limitato) is a restricted-traffic zone covering the historic centre of almost every Italian city and many small towns. Cameras at the entry points read your plate, and if the zone is active a fine is issued automatically; with a rental car it reaches you months later, often with an extra admin fee from the rental company. Sat-navs don't avoid them: park outside the centre and, if your hotel is inside a ZTL, ask it to register your plate with the city in advance.
Spring (April-June) and autumn (September-October) offer the best balance of weather and crowds; July and August are hot and the busiest months, especially by the sea. Avoid Easter week and Italian public holidays if you can (25 April, 1 May, 2 June, around 15 August), when domestic travel peaks too. Winter is fine for Rome, Florence and Venice, but many seaside hotels and ferries close or reduce service.
The coperto is a per-person cover charge for bread and table service; it is legal in most of Italy as long as it is clearly shown on the menu (the Lazio region, which includes Rome, bans it by law). A separate service charge (servizio) is sometimes added in tourist areas. Tipping is not expected: rounding up or leaving a few euros in cash for good service is appreciated, but if service is already on the bill there is no need to add more.
Leonardo's Last Supper in Milan and the Borghese Gallery in Rome can only be visited with a reservation and sell out early. For the Vatican Museums, the Colosseum, the Uffizi and the Accademia, timed tickets bought online save long queues, especially from spring to autumn. High-speed train fares and hotels on the Amalfi Coast, in the Cinque Terre and in Venice are also worth booking early.
Venice charged day-trippers an access fee (€5 or €10 depending on how early you paid) on set dates between April and July 2026; overnight guests were exempt, and since 27 July 2026 the fee no longer applies. Any future dates depend on the city council, so check cda.veneziaunica.it before you go. In Rome, since February 2026 non-residents pay €2 to enter the area next to the Trevi Fountain's basin; viewing it from the square is free.
In two weeks: Venice, Florence with a day in Siena, Rome, then Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast, all by train and bus, flying into the north and out of Naples. A third week adds Sicily (short flight from Naples to Palermo or Catania, then a rental car) or Puglia (train or car to Bari and Lecce). Always moving in one direction saves the days you would otherwise lose backtracking.
Sources consulted: trenitalia.com, italotreno.com, cda.veneziaunica.it, cultura.gov.it, italia.it, altroconsumo.it, agi.it, napolike.it, altabadia.org
