Our ITALIAN Itineraries
Our itineraries exploring Italy and the Mediterranean
* Follow us daily on our Trip through Italy and the Greek Islands ‘23 *
The above LINK is a complete day-by-day experience of our last trip to Italy / Cruise. The remainder of the post is being written to possibly provide some ideas as to where you would like to go in Italy / Mediterranean on your adventure. Take in all that we have experienced, and then PLAN YOUR OWN FABULOUS TRIP! If you have any questions, please go to the contact page and send us a message on our email. We will get right back to you.
We have been blessed to have taken 3 earlier trips to Italy over the past 12 years. We have explored the interior of Italy, primarily Tuscany, in addition to the key cities of Venice, Florence and Rome. We have always planned a cruise to either the eastern portion of the Mediterranean or the western. We try to see new ports and always plan to return to our favorites. Below is a brief outline of our itineraries and the future one in May 2023.
Our initial adventure in 2011
Our first trip took us to Italy and the ports of the Mediterranean Sea starting in Barcelona. In Barcelona, we spent three days roaming the streets—yes, shopping and visiting La Sagrada Familia,
the Gaudi Cathedral, and taking a scenic walk along Las Ramblas—a true adventure in people watching, stopping to have a cup of coffee and a pastry and just having the opportunity to take a breath and take it all in.
After the 3 days in Barcelona, we jumped on a cruise ship, the Celebrity Solstice, and toured the Mediterranean, stopping at Cannes, France, Florence via Livorno, Italy, and Rome as we took a quick trip from the port outside Rome to St Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the ruins of the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, and quickly back to the port. We were able to take all this in because of 2 great tour guides who had it all organized. Then on to Naples and the ruins of Pompeii, again organized and efficient. We headed around the ‘Italian boot’ into the Adriatic Sea to Kotor, Montenegro, Venice for 2 days, and to Dubrovnik, Croatia. We ended up back in Barcelona. Before flying home we flew to Paris and spent 3 days. A truly great first trip.
The experience ignited a passion for Italy and our growing love of traveling in this portion of the world.
Another adventure in 2015.
We flew into Venice in mid-May, staying at a Hilton outside of town for three days. WOW were we hooked on Venice after those 3 days!
What a great city for sheer unique joy and adventure. Walking and boating in the canals, shopping and stopping for a drink and pastry. Oh, the memories.
A rental car was the next adventure but it gave us freedom. We drove to our Hilton Grand Vacation condo in Terricciola,
and used this as our home for 3 days going one day to Lucca for an Italian cooking class. What a treat!
Next we traveled to a BnB, Francis’ Lodge outside Siena, and then through Tuscany to Monticchiello and Francesco’s Casa di Adelina. From here we explored the surrounding cities and loved them all, especially Pienza. As the result of a recommendation, we then spent two days in Assisi at Hotel Ideale, and on to Rome before heading to the port of Civitavecchia.
Since we like to combine cruises with land travel, we boarded the Celebrity Reflection and we were off on another Mediterranean adventure. This time we tasted the Greek Islands – Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes – and land ports of Messina, Sicily, Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey and Athens.
These cities brought us to the ruins of the Acropolis and the stadium in Ephesus where the apostle Paul taught the local people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and more opportunities to get lost in these amazing ancient cities.
What do we do in-between trips? We plan and save money! We are not blessed with a huge bankroll so we, like most of you, save to enjoy more traveling.
Now it is 2019 and we once again fly to Rome
We arrive in Rome and rent a car and we are off to Tuscany, Monticchiello and Francesco’s Casa di Adelina again, and then to Assisi again. It is in late May, but this trip has added pleasure by the arrival of our dear friends, our pastor and his wife who met us in Rome. What a great trip–3 days in Rome, and then once again to Civitacecchia to jump on the Celebrity Edge for a 10 day cruise of western Mediterranean, stopping first at Naples where we explored the Amalfi Coast, a stops at Mallorca, Barcelona, Monaco, Portofino,
La Spezia and Cinque Terre, which we explored by boat stopping at one of the cities. Then back to Rome. Are we ready to fly home? NO! We rent a car and we are off to our Condo in Terricciola, Italy just south of Pisa. From here we use 3 days exploring Tuscany, Florence, Siena, Pienza and Peccioli. We can’t forget the lure of Venice, so we jump in the car and spend three fabulous days in Venice before catching our flight home.
May of 2023. (See full Itinerary above)
HAVE A GREAT TIME ON YOUR ITALIAN VACATION!!
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