italy2018haaksma

We are planning a 2-3 week trip in September. I am looking for a good app or website for planning the trip and getting ideas for the trip. Any suggestions that you have personally used and think is great that you would suggest?

Traveler_Nick

What are you interested in?

What are you looking for help planning?

Travel_Nerd

I do not recall an app specific to planning. I suppose there might be one but am unaware of any. Trip Advisor has an app, but it's generally the same as their website.

Most of us here use good old fashioned research: guidebooks, internet searches, this very website (use destination tab at top), reading trip reports and planning threads in this community, Rome 2 Rio site provides helpful links for transport options (check them for accuracy) and another helpful site for trains and other transport is https://www.seat61.com/index-mobile.htm

Happy planning!

italy2018haaksma

Hi We are at the beginning stages of planning and just thought maybe there was an app that you could put in a few ideas and it would populate some suggestions for itinerary and things to do.

coral22

You might look at some arranged, guided tours JUST for ideas. Tauck tours, Rick Steves, etc.
You can see some popular cities and routes, but in my opinion, go at a slower pace than they do.
Then you can start to get a feeling for what is appealing to you and what you would rather skip. Look at a map, and start plugging in routes to see what is a sensible combination. Italy is big, you won't cover it all.
Will you rent a car for part of it?
Do you want to be on the go? Or relaxing and savoring the moments?
Do you like art, history, beaches, water vistas, city energy, small village experiences, fine dining, wineries, or nightlife? I think a nice combination works, but you will start to get a passion for what your dream is. Enjoy!

lavandula

I sometimes use the app Tripit for storing ideas and components of my itinerary, but you might also look at what ChatGPT could come up with in an itinerary. Caution though because ChatGPT makes up information in some cases. You would have to be scrupulous in cross-checking the ideas. But if you want good accurate information and ideas, nothing has yet replaced the guidebook. Michelin does excellent timeless guidebooks - timeless because they review sights which do not change much over the years, but do not suggest restaurants and hotels - they sell specialist books for that. But all of them (Fodor's, DK, Lonely Planet, etc) have their strong suits. If you can't afford guidebooks check out your local library.

Lavandula

KarenWoo

I use guidebooks to plan all of my trips. Some of my favorites are Lonely Planet, Michelin Green Guide, Fodors, Rick Steves, and Rough Guides. And I also do internet searches, and I love reading travel blogs.

jlm43

I use Google Maps / Street view for most of my initial planning. If you look at the satellite images, you see a difference in old areas and new. My wife and I tend to prefer the older sections of a town. I pick an area to explore, then start looking at what towns would be interesting. After that, I move on to street view. With street view, you can get three things. One, an good idea on what the town is like. Two, once there, you'll be familiar with where you are as you've seen some pictures before. Three, if there's a lot of blue dots, it's for a reason. Click on a few and see what everyone else is looking at. Once I narrow down the towns, I use guide books and Google searches.

The areas I circled in green are the older more traditional parts of town. Riva del Garda on the left and Torbole on the right.

italy2018haaksma

thank you to everyone for your ideas. Yes, I agree I have been trying to find other people travel reports and scouring through blogs and other websites like this for ideas.