In January 2009 my husband and I are planning to go to Italy for 3-4 weeks. I'm a little nervous about spending so much money on a vacation, especially one in the winter - but I'm sure that with some planning we can make sure to go to places that will work out well in the winter. I'm hoping to find some advice here!

When I was in high school I visited Italy, France and England in 3 weeks with some classmates - it was fun, but I don't want another whirlwind tour like that - this time I really want to have the opportunity to take things in (while keeping in mind that we may not make it back for many more years). I had planned to go back for study abroad in college, but decided against it. Our trip will be a celebration of my husband's graduation from chiropractic school and our first real vacation together (other than to see family or work-related travel).

I can't wait to learn more about other people's experiences with winter travel in Italy!

Welcome to Slowtrav, NLarimer!
You've come to the right place for help and ideas about travel to Italy...there are scads of experienced Italy-travellers here on Slowtalk, so ask any questions you have and I promise you'll get great answers and information galore! There are also many members of Slowtrav who live in Italy as well, so lots of expertise for you right here.

How cool that you are going to take your time this trip, rather than the whirlwind trip you had previously. It's the perfect way to experience a place and learn about the food, the people and the history.

Both of my trips to Italy were in Spring or fall, so I have no winter travel experience to share with you...you can read my trip report by clicking on my link below. To read a huge number of great trip reports, take a look here...that will take you a good while, so enjoy!

"Traveling is the ruin of all happiness! There's no looking at a building after seeing Italy.” ~ Fanny Burney
Brenda

Welcome to Slow Travel, NLarimer!

We all experience some trepidation, maybe even a bit of anxiety before a trip, any trip, not just the first one, the first vacation together, all full of symbols, of course.

The main thing is to concentrate in what you would like to do.

Winter extends over a long 3-4 months, with a miriad of variations from region to region, and even within the same region there are wide fluctuations due to the fact that they all have their own micro-climates.

You could centre your trip on the South of Italy, inherently warmer.

I would suggest first that you arm yourself with a few Italy travel guides (for this initial purpose any of them would do), and maybe do some reading of a long gone author, H.V. Morton, specifically his "A Traveller in Italy" and "A Teaveller in Southern Italy". They will be a wonderful introduction and almost surely help you to narrow down your itinerary.

Our web site www.slowtrav.com has a wealth of planning resources and you could start from the Italy section by clicking here. Ask questions; we will always be happy to attempt to answer.