Italy details

With the flooding in Cinque Terre, I had to switch up my itinerary. I was going to go from Milan to Venice to spend 5 days in Rome (with a day trip to Amalfi and Pompeii included), then a day in Florence, then a half day in Pisa followed by a day and a half in Cinque Terre before heading to 2 days in Nice/Monte Carlo.

The new plan had me going from Milan to Venice to Naples (via Rome) for 2 days, including a ride down the Amalfi Coast and a tour of Pompeii and a climb up Mt Vesuvius; then 5 days in Rome; then a day in Florence; then a half day in Pisa and a half day on the train going to Nice, followed by 1 day in Nice/Monte Carlo. Basically, I swapped Cinque Terre for Naples and took one day out of Nice to give to Rome.

Day 47: Venice (Nov 2)

Checked out of the hotel and took a vaporetto to the Santa Lucia train station to start the Grand Canal tour. First we left our luggage with the bell desk, then we went upstream to the nearby new Calatrava Bridge. I used Rick Steves’ audio guide and self-guided cruise info from his book (you pause the audio at each stop). Take the slow #1 boat (not the express #2), you can do the whole trip in 45-60 minutes if you don’t get off at any of the 16 stops. We got off at the following stops:

Day 46: Venice (Nov 1)

We had two days and spent the time leisurely, but you could probably cram this into one. The two main things were to take the Grand Canal Vaporetto tour and to spend time in St Mark’s area (which includes the piazza, the Basilica, and the Doge’s Palace). Make sure you account for opening and closing times for the Basilica and the Palace. We bought a 24-hour vaporetto pass. My original plan: day 1 do the Grand Canal tour and stop at the various points of interest until it gets dark, then on day 2 finish the tour in the morning and do St Mark’s all afternoon and evening.

Milan & Venice (Oct. 31-Nov. 2)

Coming in to Milan, I have an unexpected (and unplanned-for) half day to spend. I arrive from St. Moritz at 12:50pm on day 45 (Oct. 31st), then spend the rest of the day and night in Milan, then take the 8:05am to 10:28am train the next morning into Venice on day 46 (Nov 1). Wonder what Halloween in Milan is like?