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Northern Italy: The Perfect 2 Week Itinerary

Our Northern Italy Itinerary:

  1. Cinque Terre (2 Days)
  2. Tuscany (4 Days)
  3. Florence (2 Days)
  4. Venice (3 Days)
  5. Verona (2 Days)
  6. Lake Como (1 Day)
northern-italy-itinerary

Want to plan the ultimate Northern Italy wine experience?

My latest trip to Italy was just that! Follow my route for an epic blend of Tuscan wine tasting and sightseeing in all of the best spots in Northern Italy. This post will cover the basics of how I got around, where to go and where to stay.

kelly-lane-kooop-tuscany-wine-tasting

Renting a Car in Italy

The process of renting a car was probably the easiest part of the whole experience, as far as driving in Italy goes. We rented with Budget and picked the car up in the airport terminal without any snags. They do advise that you have a foreign drivers license though, so be sure to get that ahead of time.

We arrived in Milan after a redeye flight and our phones were dead, it was pouring rain and we had a short timeframe to make it to the Cinque Terre before nightfall, and didn’t know how to get there. Cue all the stress at once! So, pro-tip: get the rental GPS. We had some printed maps that weren’t helpful at all and ended up confusing us more than helping.

Driving yourself around Italy is not for the unadventurous but definitely adds a level of freedom that I can’t recommend enough. Since we wanted to go to a lot of places that weren’t easily accessible by train or foot (and hiring a driver isn’t my travel style) the car made sense for us.

seat-italian-car-rental

Our trusty rental for two weeks: a Seat Leon!

Where to Stay in Northern Italy

We booked most of our nights in homes/apartments on Airbnb. The amount of amazing properties in Italy is overwhelming! We narrowed it down by obvious factors like: what houses were close to where we wanted to be, were in our price range, and whoever had a pool. We even ended up finding a Castle just outside of Florence that has been converted into a bed & breakfast and used to be Machiavelli’s hunting lodge! Pretty wild.

Here are a few of the places we ended up staying:

Funky Venezia Artist’s Loft

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/4914143

Downtown Florence Apartment

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6127667

Local Living in a Tuscan Agriturismo

Castello di Bibbione, Tuscany Bed & Breakfast

We splurged on one leg of the trip and booked a suite at Tenuta Le Cave, just outside of Verona, and it was beyond exceptional!

Tenuta Le Cave
Tenuta Le Cave
Tenuta Le Cave
Tenuta Le Cave
Tenuta Le Cave
Tenuta Le Cave
Tenuta Le Cave
Tenuta Le Cave

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