I got a really annoying uti and after admitting I need help dragged myself to a pharmacy to ask what to do. The pharmacist called a lady that was just leaving back. I understood that she's a doctor and would give me a prescription there and then. She took a photo of my id, she wrote something on a blank piece of paper, and I got an antibiotic for a few Euro.

Is this normal procedure for annoying tourists? I guess I won't get a surprise invoice as my address is not on the front of my ID. I mean, I have an EHIC and travel insurance anyway and would have dragged myself to a gp or whatever I needed, but I'm not complaining.

Hi everyone! My partner and I are planning our first trip to Italy for September 2027, and I’ve been working on a rough itinerary. I’d love to get some feedback from people who have already travelled these areas, especially about whether the pacing is realistic and if there are any places you would skip, add, or rearrange.

Our current plan is:

September 2–4: Milan

September 4–7: Lecco — with a day trip to Varenna

September 7–9: Bologna

September 9–12: Florence

September 12–13: Perugia

September 13–16: Rome

We’re interested in nature and hiking, which is why I wanted to include the Lake Como area, but if possible, avoiding crowds would be ideal for the most part. We also really enjoy history, architecture, food, and wandering around cities and smaller towns.

Since this will be our first time in Italy, my main goal is to experience a fairly diverse selection of the country. I thought this north-to-central-Italy route makes sense geographically and would give us a good mix of landscapes, cities, history, and culture.

Some specific questions I have...

Does this itinerary seem realistic for roughly two weeks, or are we trying to fit in too much?

Are there any stops you would recommend skipping or shortening?

Are there any places you think we should add that would make sense along this route?

Is spending 3 nights in Lecco worthwhile for someone who is particularly interested in hiking/nature, with Varenna as a day trip?

Is Perugia worth keeping as an overnight stop, or would that time be better spent somewhere else?

Are there any less-touristy towns, hikes, or experiences along this general route that you would highly recommend?

We’re planning to travel by train/public transportation, so we’re interested in suggestions that work well without a car.

We’re still very early in the planning process, so we’re completely open to changing the itinerary!

Thanks everyone!

I will be in Italy for a wedding towards the end of September. On the 28th, I am trying to figure out the best way to get from a hotel in Cinque Terra to the wedding venue in Tuscany for a group of people. Getting a driver is insanely expensive for some reason compared to other parts of our trip, so I am left trying to decide what is the best option. Anyone have any recommendations?

Hello, we are going to Sorrento for 5 nights end of October. We are looking at staying at an airbnb walking distance to the train station. Any recommends of places to stay in the area? we are two couples. we plan or doing a day tour of Amalfi coast. IS Sorrento the best place to stay?

looking for advice. We first had planed in staying in Positano but seems like thats not the best option for the time of year. plus we are travelling to Verona after Sorrento

Have just spent a week on the beautiful Lake Como, however the worst part of the trip was visiting Bellagio!

I am really struggling to understand why it is the most recommended place to visit on the Lake. It is completely overrun with the tourists to the point that you’re elbow to elbow at some of the narrower points in the town. Secondly the shops are either a handful of designer boutiques or tourist tat (and I mean pure crap!). The food options are severely limited it’s either pizza,pasta or a panini and it was average at best.

You also have to queue for everything! I imagined Bellagio to be a chic lakeside town where you could have a relaxing drink and wander overlooking the lake but it felt like a Disney land complete with oblivious and often unhinged tourists and their screaming children. There was nowhere that was relaxing and the energy was chaotic with no charm whatsoever!

Now don’t get me wrong the view is spectacular but that can be said for anywhere in the lake, so if you’re thinking of visiting please avoid! One of the worst places I have visited in Europe!

Hey,

we're a group of 4 planning to travel to Italy early october. originally we wanted to go to capri, sorrento & amalfi coast but we got told that it will be rainy and cold and not worth going.

what do you guys think?

I have a large group going and would like to reserve some nice dinners in advance. We have about 10 people. 8 adults and 2 children (toddlers).

Any recommendations for restaurants which are easy to book in advance for family groups?

We travel in November. Thanks

I'm staying in Vernazza for a few days, leaving Vernazza on Monday morning(checkout is before 10AM) and need to be in Florence in the evening(like after 5:30) but was planning on trying to go to the Nessum Dorna pesto class in Manarola in the afternoon, maybe walking the Via Del Amore before or after that too. But question is, where do I put my bags? Doesn't look like I can rely on the one place in Manarola that has some bag storage sometimes. I could go to RioMaggiore on the train and drop bags there but it looks like its a 5+ minute walk with the bags away from the train station so it would take me 20 extra minutes of walking to store bags there. So should I just take a longer train ride to La Spezia instead and store my bags at the train station there as I'll have to take a train to Florence back out of there? Do I just rent a place in Manarola so that I can stash my bags there during the day? I'm fine paying $100 or so for the convenience/security of doing that vs having to spend an hour of a short day trekking my bags around.

hi there! I'm travelling to Italy in a month and planning a few trains across the country to see the sights. I had my eye on this Rome to Pisa train (FR8616, Oct 9, 11:57AM) that theoretically takes less than 3 hours but the departure time and duration appears differently on every app:

trenitalia: shows as 11:12

trainline: appears as 11:12 in the list and then changes to 11:57 when i press "view stops"

google maps: shows as 11:57

which is correct? should I just trust the trenitalia times? did there used to be a faster train that no longer exists and 3h30 is the minimum time it takes? thank you for your help!! :)

I am flying into Rome on 9/10. My intention is to take a train to Trieste when I arrive. One option is to go in the afternoon, get into Trieste late. The next day I intend to rent a car and visit Lake Bled and Croatia.

Alternatively, I could take the night train, get into Trieste in the morning and do the same thing. However, I'd have to kill 12 hours before the night train leaves

This may be a flip of the coin, but if anyone has suggestions, I am open to them.

Hi, i will be in milan at technically 12pm-1pm saturday & then going at sunday 6am so i wanna know what are the suggested places that i can visit & spend the day, also ive never been to italy before.

​

I’ve booked a Bread and Breakfast near Ortisei for 3 nights. The hotel emailed me saying that payment is due upon departure.

Is this common in the Dolomites/Italy? I’m coming all the way from Canada, so I’m a little nervous about relying only on an email reservation and don’t want to arrive and find out there’s a problem.

Is this normal, and should I be concerned? Thanks

Hi, I read online that there will be a train/maritime strike from 9pm 25/9 until 9pm 26/9.

During this time I will be staying in Sorrento and plan to visit Naples/Pompeii on 26/9. I was not able to find any information indicating the Circumvesuviana will be impacted (please correct me if I am wrong on this) to travel between Sorrento and Naples/Pompeii.

I have already booked my Pompeii tour tickets though.

How should I go about travel on this day as I think the Circumvesuviana train line will not be operational?

At the worst should I email the Pompeii office to change my ticket date and explore Sorrento locally that day to avoid the transport dilemma?

In 2027 (from January to December) I would like to visit Italy to see the Palios

We are planning out the last part of our trip and can't decide where to go after a few days in Sorrento.

The plan was to take a train from Sorrento to Naples on September 29th, rent a car and drive to Santa Maria di Castellabate where we'd have 2 full days (Sep 30 - Oct 1). On October 2nd we'd wake up, drive back to Naples and catch a flight out. Sounds like a like of driving.

Procida is the other option. We won't be visiting Capri and we are looking for somewhere a bit sleepier to relax in after 3 weeks in Italy. Ideally somewhere that's not as slammed as the Amalfi coast (I've been before, beautiful but hectic). Is Procida quite peaceful or can we expect a lot of tourists?

Hi, I am still waiting for my card and sadly it won't arrive in time for my trip to Milan (September 2026 - January 2027). Is there any of the banks at MXP Airport that support "tapping" your virutal card to withdraw money? Or do I have to exchange currency before?

Thanks!

Hi, we are going to Milan 24-30 Sept, we want to find some places that we can dress up for. We really like Gloria and La Volta but they only work until 9-10PM which is unusual for me. For bars i cannot find anything that we like, we also want to be dressed appropriately to the place, for example in heels. Please let me know !

Hello everyone 😊

My husband and I are in Verona for 2 days from 11.09. Does anyone have a good restaurant recommendation there? On the net, many restaurants are always rated "solala", so I wanted to ask if someone can recommend something from a personal point of view.

Thank you in advance 😊

I have 3 nights that I'll be spending in Northern Italy, and my only requirement is that it is within a 1-1.5 hour drive to Milan airport (MXP). I was considering either an Agriturismo near Bergamo, or stay near the lakes. Any strong opinions on one vs the other, or any other options I should look into? Also not interested in staying in Milan since I've been several times and want to go somewhere new that is a little more low-key and in nature. This will be in the first week of October and I will have a car.

Hi! Looking for some advice about Salerno and getting around the Amalfi Coast. I’ll be in Salerno from September 4th to September 12th. I originally planned to use it as a base to explore the Amalfi Coast, but I’m travelling with my mum and sister, and my mum has some mobility issues, so we’ll always have to keep that in mind when planning our days.

Do you think Salerno is a good base for us? I’m starting to realise that 8 days in Salerno might have been a bit too long. I’m just trying to figure out how to make the most of it. We’ve been in Zurich and Paris so far, and most of our transportation has been Ubers/taxis and cars. We also made the mistake of bringing very heavy luggage, so we’re really trying to avoid situations where we have to drag our suitcases around or constantly change trains.

We’d ideally like to do day trips to places along the coast. Also, on September 12th we’re flying from Naples Airport to Tirana. We’d really prefer to book a direct car from Salerno to Naples Airport rather than take the train, especially with all our luggage. Is this doable, and does anyone have recommendations for reliable private transfers/car services that we could book in advance?

I originally thought Uber would be the easiest option, but I’m not sure if Uber operates in Salerno. Thanks in advance!

Want some advice regarding the Tesori del Lago di Como pass? is it worth it and better than the other central lake como pass? Includes Trenord + Navigazione Laghi integrated ticket: train to/from Varenna + boat circulation on the relevant central/western Lake Como route. And also from which website to book it from?

Hi all, myself and my partner are planning a trip to Italy next month. He really wants to visit Rome and see the sights, and I wanted to do more of a Southern Italy wine & food trip, so we have decided to combine the two. For the Amalfi leg of the trip we will be staying in Salerno and making trips out. We want to avoid the most touristy places if possible. We probably are not going to hire a car and rely on public transportation. Here's what we have; any feedback on the feasibility and any glaring omissions would be so helpful! Thank you.

11th September: Arrive in Rome

• Evening meal, drinks, explore, settle into accommodation

12th September: Rome all day

• Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel ⟶

• St Peter's Basilica ⟶

• Walk through various tourist sites incl. Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, etc.

13th September (1): Rome and train to Salerno

• Colosseum in the morning ⟶

• High-speed train to Salerno to arrive early evening

14th September: Salerno proper

• Relaxed day, explore Salerno

15th September: Ravello via Amalfi

• Salerno ⟶ Amalfi via ferry, brief (1-2 hours) exploration ⟶

• Coach to Ravello, villas and duomo ⟶

• Coach back to Salerno

16th September: Paestum

• Direct train to/from Salerno

• Visit the archeological site, feasible to see local farms / vineyards?

17th September: Cetara

• Bus to/from Salerno, also could take ferry

18th September: Maiori & Minori

• Maiori via ferry ⟶

• Walk to Minori via Path of Lemons ⟶

• Back to Salerno via ferry

19th September: Naples then home?

• Luggage storage at Napoli Centrale train station / airport

• Chiaia ⟶ Lungomare ⟶ airport and home

Hi All,

We're a group of 4 adults getting off a cruise on October 10 in Genoa (Genova) and needing to get to Riomaggiore. Looking at train options on Trainline I see a couple of examples like the ones below where one train takes 1 hour 31 minutes to while another takes 2 hours 45 minutes, both with only 1 stop. Why such a difference?

Whatever train we take we'd like to follow the beautiful coastline as much as possible and prefer limited (ideally 1 or less) stops so we don't have to move our luggage too much. Anyone with experience on this route have an answer to the above question and general suggestions to follow? Thanks in advance to all who reply.

Grazie e buona giornata.

Steven

OPTION #1 - TOTAL TRAVEL TIME: 1 Hour 31 Minutes, 1 change

RV 2127

- Departs 2:32 pm Genova Piazza Principe

- 7m Travel time

- Arrives 2:39 pm Genova Brignole

- 6m transfer time

RV 3273

- Departs 2:45 pm Genova Brignole

- 1h 18m Travel time

- Arrives 4:03 pm Riomaggiore

OPTION #2 - TOTAL TRAVEL TIME 2h 26min, 1 change

RE 12373

- Departs 12:11 pm Genova Piazza Principe

- 1h 18m Travel time

- Arrives 1:29 pm Sestri Levante

- 15m transfer time

RE 12229

- Departs 1:44 pm Sestri Levante

- 53m Travel time

- Arrives 2:37 pm Riomaggiore