Planning Italy :)

Cinque Terre. Staying there may be a bit pricey, but Province of La Spezia is close and beautiful. 

Sirmione on Lake Garda. Amazing ancient ruins and walled city on a peninsula that stretches north from the south coast. 

Varena. Tiny village in the Dolomiti. Silent. Beautiful. Great wi-fi in the town pizza place, where everyone has dinner. 

Hi Andres,

With three weeks to look forward to, I would consider a side trip to the Cinque Terre; five little traffic-free towns hugging the Mediterranean. They're a picturesque delight, with pastel colored buildings that seem to lean against one another. They're all connected by train as well as walking trails. There are plenty of beaches, cafes and restaurants. Best of all, it's only 2.5 hours by train from Florence, and it's the perfect little vacation, in the middle of your vacation.

Now, it seems the Cinque Terre has been considering puting some sort of cap on its number of visitors. However, at this point, they're looking to do so on an annual basis.  They may find that this may is impractical once implemented.

Their aim is to lessen the environmental impact to the area. It seems like this regulation is primarily aimed at cruise lines. A constant theme running through articles I've seen is that they are experiencing waves of cruise ships (no pun intended) dropping off huge numbers passengers at one time. Putting an annual cap on the number of travelers will do little to lessen the environmental impact of a cruise liner dropping off 1,200 passengers at once.

Even the local residents remark that it's the day trippers they're targeting.

Currently, you've got nothing to worry about. According to the Cinque Terre's official site, there are no travel restrictions for 2017. In fact, it warns about unverified sources of information that spread the news of the visitors’ limitation. It surely wouldn't surprise me to hear of some unscrupulous scam artist selling "guaranteed entry vouchers" for a place with no entry restrictions.

However, it might be a good idea to periodically keep an eye on the situation. Depending on the behavior of the cruise line industry, this could change. Here is the Cinque Terre's official web site.

The Cinque Terre

From there Pisa is only a short trip away.  It's a perfect day trip because of its architectural treasures.

Hey you can you forget Province of Florence and Venice, these are some of the most admiring places of Italy that cannot be ignored. 

Venice is called the city of lovers. Its beauty allures tourists from across the globe. Its popular islands are the star attractions.

Florence is the city of lily and grabbing the attention of travelers. Piazza San Marco, Santa Croce, Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, Piazzale Michelangelo are some of the places you can explore.

I hope this is helpful :)

Hi Andres,

I agree with Phil, Parma and Modena are worth a visit, as is Bologna - in fact I recommend that you stay in Bologna and travel by train to Florence it's a lot easier and cheaper and you avoid the crazy crowds. The train journey is only 35 minutes and both stations are central. Take a look at www.trenitalia.com. Parma and Modena are also close by and on the rail line. Siena is also a great city and worth a day trip at least.

I have a soft spot for Puglia - it's a simple, agricultural region of Italy with lovely towns like Ostuni and Lecce and some really amazing beaches. You could hire a car and drive there from Rome

After that my favourite place in the whole of Italy is BergamoHave a great trip!