Just so we are on the same page, I would classify myself as a “spoilt but cost conscious traveller in her twenties”. I just came back from my trip to Italy (with a brief stop in Paris for obvious reasons), and I am now totally head over heels in love with Italy. The scenery is ridiculously gorgeous and the food is affordable and absolutely delicious.

Since I spent months and months planning the trip (yes, I am a obssessive planner), I thought I would share my work here (with the benefit of hindsight) so that some likeminded souls can put it to good use. My boyfriend assures me that it is worth $$ to some busy bodies out there. It will also let me live through the process all over again and mentally extend the trip 🙂

The idea started forming about a year ago, when my friend A and I realized that there will be a long holiday in Hong Kong for Easter 2015 where we can take 3 days off and get 10 consecutive days off work (a huge consideration for us working gals!). So we started brainstorming long trip ideas from South Africa to Spain. We eventually decided on Italy because we wanted to go to Cinque Terre and Florence AND we love pizza and pasta.

We were originally only going to Milan, Cinque Terre and Florence, but we ended up visiting 9 different cities/towns in 11 days instead. It was most definitely ambitious and admittedly tiring, but it was also exhilarating and bundles of fun! Here is a summary of our itinerary:

Day	Location	Accomodations	Activity
Redeye flight from Hong Kong to Milan
1	Milan	Bulgari Milano	Duomo, The Last Supper
Morning train from Milan Centrale to Torino Portoa Nuova
2	Turin	NH Torino Piazza Carlina	Juventus game, Gianduiotti etc.
Morning train from Torino Portoa Nuova to La Spezia
3 4	Cinque Terre	NH La Spezia	The five fishing villages
Morning drive from La Spezia to Parma to Modena
5	Parma + Modena	Best Western Premier Milano Palace Hotel	Parma ham, balsamic vinegar, Osteria Francescana
Morning train from Modena to Bologna Centrale
6	Bologna	UNA Bologna	Tuscan cooking class, tagliatelle bolognese
Morning train from Bologna Centrale to Firenze Santa Maria Novella
7 8 9.0	Florence + Tuscany	Ponte Vecchio Suites	Uffizi Museum, David, Siena, San Gimignana, Shopping
Afternoon flight from Florence to Paris
9.5 10 11	Paris	Chess Hotel	LVMH Foundation, Musee Rodin, Les Invalides, Pont Des Art, Bresse Chicken, Shopping
Evening flight from Paris to Hong Kong

Instead of putting everything down in exhaustive detail all at once, I will be writing separate posts in the coming days and weeks to make it more reader friendly and organized. Links will be added to this table (Yes, I just learnt how to make tables via HTML!) as I go along, so keep checking back!