There will be time to fill you in on our past adventures but right now, while the sounds, smells, and experiences are still fresh, I’ll share with you our latest trip to Northern Italy.
This was a bucket list trip for the husband and I and the first time first time the kids have been out of the country ever so it was kind of a big deal. We started our planning by listing out all the different places and things we wanted to see/do while in Italy realizing that it may be our only shot for a while. The list ended up being longer than 2 weeks would allow so it was prioritization time.
We’re they type of travelers that prefer to really soak in the culture and the place and spend a few days in each location vs. location hopping. On a 2 week itinerary it is possible to hit all the big cities but that’s not our speed. So, we focused on one area and made a commitment to come back on a different trip to cover the other areas.
The itinerary we landed on covered most of Northern Italy and allowed us at least 2, if not 3 days in each location. In the end it still ended up being a tad rushed – I would have loved at least one more day in Cinque Terre and one more in Val Gardena but we still had a blast (and I’m not sure my unlimited PTO policy would stretch that far).
Here’s the overview (each day will link up to a more detailed plan for they day).
| Day 1 | Arrive into Milan and drive to Rio Maggiore (using Daytrip.com to get us to Rio) | Cinque Terre |
| Day 2 | Hike up and over to Manarola, Kayak in Riomaggiore | Cinque Terre |
| Day 3 | Hike from Rio Maggiore to Monterosso al Mare | Cinque Terre |
| Day 4 | Train to Venice and check out Venice | Venice |
| Day 5 | Doges Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica | Venice |
| Day 6 | Burano, Water Taxis, and Walking around Venice | Venice |
| Day 7 | Pick up rental car and drive, then hike Sass Da Ciampac | Val Gardener |
| Day 8 | Mtn Bike the Sellaronda | Val Gardener |
| Day 9 | Hike Sassoloungo (but with the lift up) | Val Gardener |
| Day 10 | Reposition to Cortina and Anello Cinque Torri (7mi loop) hike | Cortina |
| Day 11 | Tre Cime de lavarado loop and lago di braies | Cortina |
| Day 12 | Lake Sorapis hike (technical route, 217 is not, just look it up) | Cortina |
| Day 13 | Tofana Mountain (via cable cars) | Cortina |
| Day 14 | Reposition back to Milan and swimming:) | Milan |
| Day 15 | Fly Home | Home:) |
It was a packed schedule with a lot of logistics – planes, trains, boats, and cars – to get us to the various places. Our longest travel days (not counting the flight days) ended up being Rio > Venice and then Cortina back to Milan. Both days ended up being about 8 hours of travel between buses, trains, and cars. We averaged 20k steps across the week with our biggest day being nearly 30k.
We stayed in Air BnB’s for the most part – having an apartment like situation is preferable to us and the cost was similar (if not less). Being able to cook for ourselves and have access to a larger area to decompress in was essential.
But for our first big international trip with the kids it went pretty smoothly. A lot has to do with your mind set going in – expect the unexpected and be ready to roll with the punches. Thankfully we had very few but there were a bunch of problem solving moments.
Here’s a quick few things that were essential:
1. Build in buffers on travel days. You never know what’s going to happen and it’s better to have more time to fill than less. We’d build in buffer but have a few things in the back pocket to keep folks entertained.
2. Don’t pack your trip – give yourself time to enjoy the areas that you’re in. City hopping it pretty easy in Europe but you really don’t get time to take it in and enjoy the scenery if you’re bouncing from place to place.
3. Be okay with going slow – we live in a rat race here in the US. Use this opportunity to slow it down and live more like the locals do.
4. Be flexible and don’t panic. Typically things will work out and the locals are often more than willing to give advice (even if they can’t actually tell you due to a language barrier….the Italian lady tryin to tell us how to use the gas pump from her balcony was comical)
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