After three years of trying to convince me, Jay finally got me to agree to go to Italy! For some reason, it was never high on my bucket list of places, but his tales of pizza and gelato eventually won me over. He travels there at least once a year for work, so we’re heading out a few days before his next trade show to visit a few cities on our own. This 6 day Italy itinerary shows where we’ll stay and what we’re planning to do.   

Now that we’re back, you can check out my full review of our trip!

Day 1

• Drive to Newark and park at Newark Airport Long Term Parking 
• Fly Tap Portugal from Newark to Lisbon to Venice overnight. Land early the next morning in Italy!
• Free hotel shuttle from the airport to our hotel in Venice to drop off bags before setting out to explore the city.
• Explore Venice! 
  • Piazza San Marco
  • Saint Mark’s Basilica
  • Rialto Bridge
  • Bridge of Sighs
• Stay: Lagare Hotel Venezia (Sofitel collection)
   

Day 2

• Take a train from Venice to Florence
• Hopefully find our AirBnB and host without the use of technology and check in
• Spend the afternoon and evening walking through the city
• Stay: AirBnB in center city Florence
  • Without many options to use our hotel awards points, we’re taking a chance on our first international AirBnB stay.

Day 3

• Explore Florence!
  • Florence Cathedral (with the famous dome)
  • Uffizi Gallery
  • Galleria dell’Accademai (home to the David statue!!)
  • Palazzo Vecchio (13th century palace)

Day 4

• Take a train from Florence to Verona
• Drop off luggage at the hotel where Jay will stay for the trade show
• Walk through Verona and hopefully enjoy a relaxing evening 
• Stay: Hotel Giberti Verona

 

Day 5

• Explore Verona!
  • Arena di Veroni (Roman ampitheater)
  • Uffizi Gallery
  • Galleria dell’Accademai (home to the David statue!!)
  • Palazzo Vecchio (13th century palace)
• Jay’s coworkers will arrive by afternoon/evening so we’re hoping to meet them for dinner

Day 6

• Jay gets to sleep in while I wake up ridiculously early for the flight home
• Fly United from Verona to Munich to Newark
• Land by early afternoon and drive home
• Attempt to adjust from Italy time to East coast time and dread the next two days at work!

 

Estimated Trip Costs 

Lagare Hotel Vicenzia (one night)                          $230
Airbnb in Florence (two nights)                             $280
Hotel Giberti Verona (one night)                           $130
Flight to Venice (Tap Portugal)                              $497 (Paid for with 33,153 Chase Reward Points)
Flight to Newark (United)                                       30,000 miles + $56
Newark parking (6 days)                                        $72 (used Ebates to receive $7 cash back)
Total                                                                      $768

Do you have any recommendations for places to eat or things to see to add to our Italy itinerary?