The Ultimate 15 Day Italy Vacation

Planning a 2 week Italy vacation can be overwhelming. Here is a guide to help save you time!

Free 15 Day Itinerary at the bottom of this post!

Here was our 15 Day route in Italy:

• Day 1: Travel Day
• Day 2-3: Genoa
• Day 4: Portofino, Rapallo
• Day 5-8: Cinque Terre
• Day 9-11: Pisa, Florence
• Day 12-14: Rome
• Day 15: Travel Home

Tips Before Visiting Italy

I would suggest doing some research/reading before your Italy vacation.

Here are some of my tips/suggestions:

• When to Travel: Heavy tourist season starts in May. We enjoyed traveling in April when tourism was just starting to pick up. You will also notice prices for travel/lodging start to increase around April/May.
• Learn Italian: Learn how to speak some common phrases in Italian. If you try to speak some Italian, it is always more well received and locals/shop owners tend to be more helpful. I really love watching the ItalianPod101 videos.
• Restrooms: Public restrooms are hard to find, so never pass up the opportunity! Carry some euros (and toilet paper) with you as most public restrooms will cost money. Worst case, find a coffee shop and buy some coffee so you can use their restroom. DO NOT use a restroom in any establishment unless you have purchased something from them (you will get yelled at).
• Trains: Be sure to validate your ticket if it does not have date and time on the ticket. If your ticket has a date, time, carriage number, and seat number then no need to validate. Validating puts a time stamp on your ticket and you have roughly an hour to use. Most Italians don’t validate until they see the train pulling in, that way they can get use for a later train in case the one they want is delayed/cancelled. Validation machines are usually located on the train platforms, or just before reaching the platforms. To avoid long lines day of travel, buy train ticket day before if possible.
• Outlets: Everywhere we stayed used a 3 prong outlet. An outlet converter is not the same as a voltage converter (don’t need voltage converter for phone charger, but do for hair dryers/straighteners/bigger items).

Below are some other useful resources!

• Dining: The Dos & Don’t of Eating in Italy
• Train Travel: Traveling Italy by Train & also How to Survive Train Travel in Italy
• General Tips: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Day 2-3: Genoa

• How to Spend 2 Days in Genoa, Italy

Day 4: Portofino

See the following posts regarding a ferry/boat ride to Portofino (from Genoa or Rapallo):

• How to Spend 2 Days in Genoa, Italy
• How to Spend 24 Hours in Rapallo, Italy

Day 4: Rapallo

• How to Spend 24 Hours in Rapallo, Italy

Day 5-8: Cinque Terre

• How to Spend 3 Days in Cinque Terre, Italy

Day 9: Pisa

• We just stopped in Pisa on our way from Cinque Terre to Florence to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And we grabbed some pizza while we were here!

Day 9-11: Florence

• How to Spend 3 Days in Florence, Italy

Day 12-14: Rome

• How to Spend 3 Days in Rome, Italy

Free 15 Day Itinerary:

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