Only have 7 days to travel and no idea where to start? I give you my top 5 tips for creating a perfect itinerary when you are short on time in my Take 5 Live Video.

7-Day Itinerary Ideas

I have created a few sample itineraries using either one location as a home base or flying open jaws and staying in two areas. The sample trips below are by no means exhaustive but meant to inspire. Hopefully this can help you get the wheels turning.

Rome

Home Base with day trip options south to Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento or north to Florence, Orvieto, Ostia Antica or with the outskirts to Tivoli for Hadrian’s Villa and Villa d’Este.

Rome and a plus one.
Rome and Florence, Rome and Sorrento

Florence

Home Base with day trip options to Siena, Pisa, Cortona, Bologna, Tuscany.

Florence’s plus one.
Florence and Venice, Florence and Tuscany, Florence and Bologna.

Venice

Home Base with day trip options to Florence, Verona, Bologna, Padua, Vicenza, Trieste, Ravenna, time on all the outer islands.

Venice and a second locale.
Venice and the Dolomites, Venice and Milan, Venice and Lake Garda.

Who we are:

Once in a Lifetime Travel is a passionately run company focused on mindful and fearless travel through authentic experiences and connections. We feature small, fully

guided group tours to Italy for women

. Our

Italian travel consultant

services feature focused itinerary reviews and detailed

Italy travel planning.

Go Travel, and Travel Fearless.

Andi Brown, Once in a Lifetime Travel

©copyright 2019

The post Travel Tips for a 7-day Italy Itinerary appeared first on Italy Travel Planner | Consultant | Once In a Lifetime Travel.

When I travel, I tend to go for over a long period of time, spending little time in my room as I explore and meet new contacts.

On such a research trip during my early years in the business, I found an absolute steal of a room in Venice.

The room was described as a small single bed only, but boasted a window overlooking the Grand Canal for little more than the local hostels charge. What incredible luck.

I snatched that room up faster than you could say Holy Cannoli.

Arriving at the hotel, I could not have been more pleased. This was an old and tired building but right on the water with just enough quirk to be quaint.

Opening the door to my room, I found myself in a space so narrow I could barely get past the bed to the anticipated window.

Chin up, I said to myself. You’ve still got that view. What did you expect for that price? Attitude adequately adjusted, I set off about town not returning until later that evening.

Now that the shock of the tight quarters had passed, I opened the door to my room the second time.

A wall of suffocating heat hit me squarely in the face.

Momentarily I panicked, thinking the room might be on fire. The smell told me otherwise. I stepped towards the window and, hanging my head outside, discovered a pizzeria directly below the hotel with the wood burning oven precisely under my room.

That is when I took my experience to heart.

I realized that a ridiculously good deal probably is just ridiculous.

Since that day I’ve protected each and every client from those types of ‘good deals.’

Now that’s more like it.

The post Sometimes a good deal just isn’t appeared first on Italy Travel Planner | Consultant | Once In a Lifetime Travel.

The woman had been staring at me for what seemed like forever. She had even tried to get me to order something else.

I was starting to get paranoid, worried I had done something wrong. This was my first trip to Venice and I had found a quaint trattoria tucked away from the crowds.

I self consciously kept eating my risotto. I was savoring the dish. Never in my life had I tasted anything like it. Without knowing exactly what I was doing, I had pointed off the handwritten daily menu. Risi e Bisi. I had no idea fresh pea risotto would taste so dreamy.

She finally approached me and ask, doubtful, whether I liked it.

I loved it.

Shock melted into adoration and in the next moments I was getting extra wine, a special side and loving pats across my shoulder. She brought her sisters out of the kitchen to show me off which was followed by a round of kisses on the top of my head.

All because I ordered her risotto on a whim.

I loved it and she loved me for it.

A return visit with my tour group. Not my best photo.

Who we are:

Once in a Lifetime Travel is a passionately run company focused on mindful and fearless travel through authentic experiences and connections. We feature small, fully

guided group tours to Italy for women

. Our

Italian travel consultant

services feature focused itinerary reviews and detailed

Italy travel planning.

Go Travel, and Travel Fearless.

Andi Brown, Once in a Lifetime Travel ©copyright 2018

The post The Power of Love in a Bowl of Risotto appeared first on Italy Travel Planner | Consultant | Once In a Lifetime Travel.