It’s been long since I’ve written a long itinerary and I guess I should start especially since we have gone on so many road trips in Europe. One of our best and latest ones was a Northern Italy road trip. We started out in Groningen that’s in the north of the Netherlands and drive down through Germany and Switzerland till we reached Italy where our real holiday began.
We covered a lot of small and big cities along the way and also hit countries like Monaco, San Marino, Lichtenstein and the Vatican. It was a nice long three weeks on the road but we saw a lot, did a lot and rested a lot. I bet that sounds awesome right.
In this post, I’m going to go through my process of planning and processing of our itinerary. How we finalized on the spots which can be rather hard. I’ll also talk about the challenges we faced along the way and the precautions we took to be safe. Hopefully this will help you prepare for your own Northern Italy road trip.
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Table of Contents
How To Pick Where To Go
If you are planning a northern Italy road trip, it is important to plan your route first. Pick the places that you want to visit. It can be hard to do this but let’s look at all the main cities in the north that could be of interest to you.
While these are the main cities there are many other attractions in the region that will also grab your attention if you are in the area. Let’s take a look at the ones that I looked at when planning our route:
- Cinque Terre
- Lake Como
- Lake Garda
- The Tuscan countryside
- The Dolomoites
- Raverna
So how do you go about choosing which one of these options works for you? The best way to eliminate the ones that don’t is to consider the season that you are visiting in. For example, we visited in end April and early May. That’s the season when there often is a lot of rain in the Dolomites. That is the reason we skipped the mountain range and also eliminated the idea of heading to Lake Como and Lake Garda.
We knew that we wanted to include Monaco in our trip so Turin made a logical stop. Note that we headed from north to west to south and then east before heading to the north again.
If it is too cold then you can eliminate the beaches. Stay closer to the cities. If it is warm then the coast is great and so is the Tuscan countryside. You probably see where I’m going with this. Once you’ve eliminated the parts that don’t work for you, you have fewer options on the table and it is far easier to choose.
I’ve also written a couple of posts that should help you weigh the pros and cons of visiting each city. I’ll just drop links to them so you can use them as a guide.
- Is Florence worth visiting?
- Is Venice worth visiting?
- Florence vs Venice: Which should you pick?
- Should you add Monaco to your itinerary?
Pick A Port Of Entry
You should figure out where you are going to start your northern Italy road trip from. Since we were driving in, it was rather easy. But if I was flying in, I would pick Florence. Why? Well there are a number of reasons why Florence is your best bet.
First off its got a big airport which is not as big as Rome but is fairly well connected. So getting in and out is much easier. You could make this your entry point or exit point in your trip. Or both for that matter.
Secondly, Florence has pretty strict zones when it comes to driving so this city is better experienced without a car. If you enter through Florence, you can spend a couple of days in the city car free and then pick up your rental. This means that you could get an accommodation in the center, eliminate parking costs and be a bit more budget friendly. That is something important to consider because Florence is and expensive city and while there are plenty of free things to do in the city, the costs do tend to add up.
Other large airports that you could use include Milan, Verona, Venice and Turin. It is also important to note that a round trip may make sense but sometimes it could be easier just to drive from one start point to the next and plan around that.
Our 3 Week Northern Italy Itinerary
I’m going to go through a couple of different itineraries that could work and would help you with planning your trip but before we get into that, I wanted to jot down the itinerary we planned and talk about what happened when we executed it.
Please note that the starting and ending point for this itinerary was Groningen which is in the north of the Netherlands. We also started the trip on a Friday since that’s a half day in school and drove as far as we could that day so we could reach Italy faster.
Day 1: Left midday from Groningen and made an overnight stop at Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany. This was as far as we were comfortable driving given that we were tired and had a long day. It did put us close to the border of Switzerland which meant that we had cheaper accommodation for the night.
Day 2: Drove through Switzerland towards Turin. Made a stop at Lucerne where we spent the day.
Day 2-4: Turin
Day 5: Day trip to Monaco and crossed back to Italy where we spent the night along the coast.
Day 6: Pisa and then onwards to the Tuscan hills which formed our base for 3 days.
Day 7-8: Day trips to Florence
Day 9-11: Rome and the Vatican
Day 12: San Marino and drove to Raverna
Day 13-15: Raverna
Day 16: Day trip to Bologna and a pasta making course before driving to the outskirts of Venice.
Day 17: Day trip to Venice
Day 18: Chilling, roaming and shopping because we didn’t want to go to Venice again.
Day 19: Lichtenstein and onwards back to Germany with a night stop at Lindau.
Day 20: Drive back home begins with a pit stop at Rothenburg ob der tauber
Day 21: Groningen
As you can see we packed in a lot into our 2 weeks in Northern Italy road trip. It may look hectic but we had plenty of time to rest and enjoy the countryside. In fact, we had originally planned on adding Cinque Terre to the itinerary too but we found that we were too tired. That’s why we spontaneously decided to remove it when we headed down south from Monaco.
2 Week Northern Italy Road Trip Itinerary – Starting from Florence
I decided to draw up a couple of other northern Italy road trip itineraries from different start zones so you can see some alternatives. This 2 week northern Italy road trip starts off at Florence and ends in Milan.
Day 1-4: Start off in Florence with day trips to the Tuscan countryside and to Pisa.
Day 5-6: Bologna to enjoy the food scene and the city
Day 7-8: Venice
Day 9-11: Verona. Day trip to Lake Garda.
Day 12-14: Milan. Milan has a big enough airport that you can fly out off.
Note that you can reverse this itinerary so that you start your northern Italy road trip from Milan and exit out of Florence. You can also rearrange the itinerary a bit to swap some of the bigger cities for something smaller.
Another great itinerary would include swapping one of the main cities with sometimes at Lake Como or Lake Garda. This itinerary covers most of the main cities in the north of the country and it provides a diverse experience because each city is particularly unique.
1 Week Northern Italy Road Trip
For the purpose of convenience, I’m going to talk about the road trip starting off in Florence again. The itinerary is customizable of course.
Day 1-3: Florence with day trips to Pisa and the Tuscan countryside
Day 4-5: Venice with a stop at Bologna if you have time.
Day 6-7: Milan where you can use the airport to leave.
That’s just one itinerary though. You could also swap Venice with Lake Como.
An alternative 1 week northern Italy road trip from Florence that covers the west coast is :
Day 1- 2: Florence
Day 3: Visit Pisa and then head to Cinque Terre
Day 4: Cinque Terre
Day 5: Day trip to Monaco and head to Turin.
Day 6-7: Turin
All these itineraries work both ways. It all depends on which airport you choose.
Prep For Your Northern Italy Road Trip
Preparation for your Northern Italy road trip is key. Aside from figuring out your route there are a number of things that you should keep ready.
Visas: Check and see what you need for an Italian visa. This may not be applicable for everyone but it is important for those who need one. Make sure that you apply well in advance and that your passport is valid.
Book Your Accommodation: Book your accommodation well in advance so that you get the best deals. The later you wait, the more likely you are to be stuck with mediocre and expensive accommodation.
Book Your Car In Advance: Book your rental in advance. Note that longer durations of bookings tend to get cheaper. Also try to avoid booking the dates that you are in the bigger cities because you won’t be using the car during those days.
Book The Main Attractions: In the bigger cities like Florence and Venice, the crowds are insane so book the main attractions in advance or you won’t be able to enter.
Pack For The Weather: It is important to understand that the weather changes depending on the season. Being prepared will make the difference between enjoying your trip or being weighed down by the weather. Here are some guides that will help.
Tours That You Can Add On
Depending on what you want to do, adding in tours can make your northern Italy road trip a little easier. This is especially the case if you are staying in Florence for long and don’t have a car. It then makes sense to take a tour to see attractions that are close by.
Tours From Florence
- Half day tour to Pisa
- Cinque Terre & Pisa Day Trip
- Chianti Wineries Tour with Wine Tasting
- San Gimignano and Siena day trip
Tours From Venice
- Take a boat to Murano, Torcello & Burano Islands
- A day trip to the Dolomites
- Verona, Sirmione & Lake Garda with Boat Cruise
- Prosecco Hills Wineries Tour with Tastings and Lunch
Tours From Milan
- Como Private Boat, Bellagio and Lugano Day Trip
- Bernina Train Guided Tour to St. Moritz
- Cinque Terre Full-Day Guided Trip With Cruise
These were the main cities that I’ve dropped suggestions about. There are obviously more places and tours to consider but that is something that you will have to customize for yourself.
As you can see, there are lots of places that you can visit in a northern Italy road trip. I’ve covered the most popular cities and tourist sites. There are however loads of smaller villages, cities, attractions and more than you can explore.
Customizing your northern Italy road trip itinerary to reflect what you enjoy is something that is personal. It also depends on your budget and the time that you have in the country. If you have any difficulties you can always drop me a comment below and I’ll help as soon as I can.
In the meanwhile, have fun planning and traveling!
Other Posts That You May Enjoy
- Is Rome worth visiting?
- 2 days In Rome: A Customizable Itinerary
- Rome or Florence?
- Rome or Venice?
- What to wear in Rome in May?
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