2 weeks in Italy (from Paris) in July

I will be in Paris with my husband and 14-year-old daughter in beginning of July. My dream is to visit Italy... I was thinking: Rome (3 days?), Tuscany/Naples/Pompei (3 days?), Florence+ Pisa(2 days?), Cinque Terre (2 days?), Milano (2 days?), Maybe 1 day trip in Verona or Bologna...
I am looking for any suggestions... Is that a realistic plan considering the eventual traveling time?
What would be the best itinerary, knowing that my starting and ending point is Paris?
What kind of transportation would be better (car, train, flight, mix)? I am hoping to minimize the expenses... Is EURAIL interesting in this case and how to use it?
What are the must see or do in Italy? Any tips would help.
Thanks in advance for any help and answer!

Do you mean July 2018, or in two weeks time?

July 2017 if it is not too crazy... I have to go to Paris, and I wanted to make the best of the flight tickets from Ottawa to Europe. If it is not realistic, I will try to get more organized to fulfill my dream for 2018. I would still love suggestions even if it is for next year.
I have looked into more possibilities for the moment, and it seems unrealistic to include Naples and Pompei maybe.
I looked into train itineraries and I had this idea... Does it make sense if I try the following:

1) Paris to Rome: stay 3 days- 3 nights in Rome

2) Rome to Florence (1 day/2 nights) + 1-day trip to Pisa,

3) Florence to La Specia- Cinque Terre: 2 - days

4) La Specia to Milan: 2 days in Milan

5 ) Milan to Venice: 2 days in Venice

6) Venice to Paris via night train.

Is that a good itinerary? Are there better itineraries? should I consider more time because of the traveling?

Thanks again for your reply.

Setting aside your accommodation issues for next month, I have the following comments:

• I would almost certainly fly from Paris to Rome, and from Venice back to Paris ... I can't see fares being significantly more than train travel
• I would visit Pisa on my way Florence to La Spezia - it doesn't warrant a full day-trip or an overnight
• I would not include Milan, and add those two saved nights to (a) Rome and (b) La Spezia CT
• two nights in Florence is one too few, in my view
• end with at least two, but better three, nights in Venice

Something like that.

Trains are excellent, and while there will be fewer big discounts available now for July travel, certainly look around on both www.bahn.de and www.trenitalia.com - prices vary over any day as well.

Unless you have a railpass,I would also fly to and from Paris..its a lot faster and also cheaper by budget airline.

The days in each place will depend on you and your interests.If you have around 11 nights as above,I'd stick with the Big 3...Rome,Florence and Venice.If you can take more time then you can add some more destinations....

That is easily done by public transport..train.

It will be hot and fairly crowded in the most popular parts of those cities.

Then...there is no 'best itinerary'..that depends on you.

Why did you choose Italy? What kind of things attract you?

If you are into (say) mountains,or beaches,or the countryside..then your itinerary would be completely different to that above.

I think that once you take a look at the Trenitalia website, you'll decide that the travel times (and costs) required to get to and from some of these destinations aren't worth the limited time you'll spend in them.

I'd focus on quality of time over quantity of destinations.

As for Cinque Terre in July, here are some tips (and warnings) from the website of fellow North American Rick Steves:
http://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2016/05/crowd-beating-tips-for-the-cinque-terre/

Personally, in July I'd avoid it like the plague.

I don't think the Cinque Terre ticket has actually appeared yet,but it is supposed to happen this summer (in theory).

If it does appear,tourist numbers will be limited to some extent,on a day by day basis (ie there will be a fixed limit for the walking trails etc.)The idea is to reduce the total number of tourists or better,to move as many away from high to low season as possible

If it does appear,tourist numbers will be limited to some extent,on a day by day basis (ie there will be a fixed limit for the walking trails etc.)

How will they do that ... seems impossible to limit the numbers who catch the HOHO train - and that is where the crush is, rather than out on the trails. We walked from Vernazza to Monterosso and had it almost to ourselves (in April).

As far as I know,it will be an electronic ticket that you will need to access the walking trails.When the daily limit has been reached,the trail will be closed.

Monterosso to Vernazza had 4000 people a day on the trail around Easter,for example.They want to limit that to 1500 a day.....http://genova.repubblica.it/cronaca/2017/05/04/news/cinque_terre_i_sentieri_diventano_a_numero_chiuso-164550472/

OP is attempting too much IMHO. It can be done, but it isn't recommended. Countless threads available on this kind of question.

Monterosso to Vernazza had 4000 people a day on the trail around Easter,for example.

Golly - we were there on 29 September last year (not in fact April) and it was quite empty (although I concede we headed out about 07:30 am). So clearly spreading out the punters over more months would seem to be desirable.

The days in each place will depend on you and your interests.If you have around 11 nights as above,I'd stick with the Big 3...Rome,Florence and Venice.If you can take more time then you can add some more destinations....

This is a good plan, IMHO. The "Holy Trinity" (Rome, Florence, Venice) is a sensible starting point for first-timers, and I'd personally give the Cinque Terre a wide berth during the summer season. All three deserve more time than you've given them, and you'll want to maximize your sightseeing time/budget versus spend too many chunks on transport, especially if you want to minimize the expenses.

I would almost certainly fly from Paris to Rome, and from Venice back to Paris ... I can't see fares being significantly more than train travel

Agree: keep the amount of luggage down and fly instead of going by rail.

What kind of transportation would be better (car, train, flight, mix)? I am hoping to minimize the expenses... Is EURAIL interesting in this case and how to use it?

Train, definitely. They will get you from from city to city the most efficiently. Passes are almost never a benefit in Italy: point-to-point tickets are the best method. Also, do not use the Eurail website to book them: use Trenitalia (website for national rail) or Italo (private line serving larger Italian cities).Or just purchase them when you get there. If you can commit to a specific date/time, you can often land good advance rates on non-refundable, non-changeable tickets but they're probably gone for the fastest trains next month. You could look, though.

Travel 2nd class: no need for more expensive ticket/carriage tiers.

What are the must see or do in Italy?

Entirely up to you as my must-sees might be your avoid-at-all-costs. Get a guidebook and spend some time with it. Make a list of what you see that interests you. I will note that to avoid wasting time standing in very long (and very hot) queues, buying advance tickets to some of them is a MUST. A few of these are the Vatican Museums and Colosseum in Rome, and the Uffizi and Accademia in Florence. Pre-reservations are required for the excellent Galleria Borghese in Rome but I'm guessing open slots are long gone for next month.

Waiting until the last minute to plan this trip has put you at a disadvantage for everything from snagging those lower-cost train tickets, to landing rooms at better, budget-priced accommodations, to doing prior research about what/how to see the things you want to see so you need to scramble here!

I chose italy because it seems to me like one of best European countries to discover, in terms of food, culture, and it is close to the mediterranean sea. I am into beaches a lot. I just thought that I could try it since I have to be in Paris in July, and I wanted to combine it with something else. But it looks like it is better to wait and organize it better for next July may be. If I can have about 2 weeks (meaning about 15 nights), would you be able to help me with itineraries that could include a mix of those types of sightseeing?
Thanks a lot for the help!

Sure,there are lots of beaches.

The ones that you can get to by public transport will be very crowded though.The smaller,quieter ones you would need to hire a car.

Best areas for beaches are Sardinia, Sicily, Puglia and the south in general.

If I can have about 2 weeks (meaning about 15 nights), would you be able to help me with itineraries that could include a mix of those types of sightseeing?

Shanez, if you decide to move your trip to next year, you have PLENTY of time to spend with some guidebooks...which is exactly what you should do. I am not into the beaches in Italy at all as I can see beaches here in the States but I can't see Roman ruins or Renaissance art in situ so my must-dos are very different. You're also not going to be doing beaches in Rome, Florence, or Milan. They aren't really great in the Cinque Terre, and they're not why you'd go to Pompeii. You may want to choose some different locations entirely if beaches are your focus?

You are right. I know that italy is not a ''beach destination'', but I just wanted to make the best of such a trip. I hear that there some great beaches in the south.

There are plenty of beaches. Most Italians spend the whole summer on one ;-)

Most foreign tourists don't though....partly because the beach is crowded and expensive in summer,partly because many tourists are more interested in the "cultural" aspects of the country.

I hear that there some great beaches in the south.

And I hear there are some great beaches in the states.
Much closer and cheaper.
And besides, your itinerary doesn't include the south.

If a beach, any beach, will do for a day or two, to decompress and process things you can't see closer to home, that's a different story.
But it will still cut into the time to see things you can't see closer to home.
There's a lot of that in Italy.

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.