Last summer, Luis and I spent 11 days in Italy and in that short time, we were able to hit 10 cities, beaches, and little towns. It was the trip of a lifetime and we were able to see everything we wanted to see, do everything we wanted to do, and eat everything (and more) we wanted to eat. We never felt rushed during our trip, although we packed a lot in and I felt like everything went according to plan, so I thought I would share our ultimate Italy itinerary here!
If you would like to read more about our experience in each city, simply click the attached links.
Our 11 day Italy Itinerary:
Milan –> Venice –> Florence –> Siena –> Bologna — > Pisa –> Lucca –> Cinque Terre –> Portofino –> Genoa (2 beaches near there) –> Milan
Day 1: MILAN
Fly into Milan, go to hotel via public transport, see Milan, eat pizza (recommended: PIZ). Overnight: MILAN.
Day 2: VENICE
In the early morning, take the train from MILAN to Venice St. Lucia (we bought tickets ahead of time for this). Leave your suitcases at the train station in Venice. Spend the day exploring Venice and wandering down all of the charming streets. At the end of the day, head back to the train (leave plenty of time to find the train because your GPS will NOT help you! From Venice, take the train directly to Florence (I recommend planning to leave around 6, as you will have been in Venice for an entire day, in the sun. Also, pre-purchase these tickets). Arrive Florence. Head to hotel or Airbnb via public transport. Overnight: Florence.
Day 3: FLORENCE
Walk along the Arno River, cross the Ponte Vecchio, see the Florence Cathedral, visit the Mercato Central, eat Gelato. Overnight: Florence.
Day 4: FLORENCE
This is another full day in Italy, so you can do what you please, but what we did was take an incredible cooking class with Cook, Eat Italian where we learned to make a bunch of lovely dishes and had a great time meeting everyone. When it was finished, we rented a scooter with Alinari Rental and rode up the moutain and took in some amazing views of Florence. Do this if you can! Overnight: Florence.
Rent a car ahead of time to pick-up on the morning of your last day in Florence (we rented it from the airport so Luis went to the airport to get it while I packed up) and then drive straight to Siena for a midievil Tuscan afternoon. We meandered through the streets, visited various plazas, and had a nice afternoon.
Around 5 pm, we drove straight to Bologna (about 2 hours), where we spent the night.
Well, first we had a really yummy dinner, then we had the best gelato of our entire trip. Overnight: Bologna.
In the morning, we had breakfast in Bologna, took a quick stroll around, and then jumped in the car to head out. We first stopped in Pisa (about 2 hours from Bologna) for a quick stop just to snap the touristy photos. We parked outside of the tourist area and then walked in for about 15 minutes, snapped our photos, ate lunch, and then went right to the car and drove to LUCCA (just a 25 minute drive).
Lucca is a city that is considered a National Heritage Site, so no cars can enter (unless you’re a taxi). It’s surround by over 4 km of high wall, but once you find parking outside, it’s a great little city to visit! Overnight: Lucca.
Day 7: CINQUE TERRE (but stay in La Spezia and then take train into Cinque Terre)
After a run, showers, and breakfast in Lucca, we drove from Lucca to our cute Bed and Breakfast in La Spezia (a 1 hour drive), which is just 15 minutes from the train station that takes you into Cinque Terre. Staying in Cinque Terre is unnecessary and probably expensive. We checked into our Bed and Breajfast and then chose one of the cities to visit, since it was getting late. We chose to visit Vernazza, where we had an ice cream and sat by the water as the sun set. Overnight: La Spezia.
Day 8: CINQUE TERRE (visit the other 4 towns)
We visited the towns in the following order: Monterosso al Mare,Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore).
Monterossa al Mare is the furthest, and it’s known for it’s beautiful beaches. It was very hot, so we didn’t spend too long sitting on the beach.
We skipped Vernazza since we had been there the day before.
We took the train from Monterosso to Corniglia (5 minutes). We walked around Corniglia, which is a bit uphill so be prepared to walk.
From Corniglia, we took the train another 5 minutes to Manarola, which was my favorite of the 5 cities. You can take the iconic Cinque Terre photos and go swimming.
We tried to walk from Manarola to Riomaggiore, but we realized ten minutes into the walk that the trail was close. We headed back to the train and then rode to Riomaggiore for a final stroll.
At the end of the long day, we headed back to La Spezia.
Overnight: La Spezia
Day 9: PORTOFINO
After breakfast in La Spezia, we drove to Portofino, which was my favorite spot of the whole trip (driving time. 1 hour, 20 mins). We got lucky and were able to find street parking, so we parked and then spent the day at the beach and in the port. I absolutely loved Portofino, so if you can swing it, go!
When the sun started to set, we headed to Genoa where we stayed for the final days of our trip. (Driving time from Portofino to Genoa was almost 1 hour). Overnight: Genoa
Day 10: GENOA
We drove about an hour to the beach, which was beautiful and HOT. Bring an umbrella.
After a few hours baking on the beach, we headed back to Genoa for fresh pasta with pesto and a good night’s sleep. Overnight: Genoa.
Day 11: GENOA
On our last day, we went for a run and then went to another beach about an hour away. We stayed for a few hours and then drove back to Genoa to explore the actual town of Genoa where we had a cannoli and ice cream and then hit the hay. Overnight: Genoa.
Day 12: Return to Madrid!
We had an absolutely incredible time in Italy and I fell in love with each and every city for it’s own unique characteristics. If you pressed me, I would tell you Portofino was my favorite, but they were all wonderful. I hope you found this guide helpful and if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail!
