By Karlie Marrazzo

Success! After several weeks of planning and fine tuning many options, Dave and I have finalized our itinerary for a European visit this summer.

It was always in our plan to spend time in Italy on this trip. We also wanted to visit Malta as we almost went there on our last European trip but couldn’t make it work. Other ideas included Croatia and Greece. We struggled a little bit making a trip that didn’t include several internal flights and odd routes.  After many hours of research and taking dozens of guidebooks out of the library (thanks EPL!), our itinerary looks quite different, and extremely exciting! Here it is:

Arrive in Rome
– Either one night in Rome or go straight to San Marino
– One or two nights in San Marino.
– Overnight ferry from Ancona, Italy to Split, Croatia.
– Two nights in Split.
– Two nights in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
– Three nights in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
– Two nights in Kotor, Montenegro.
– Over night ferry from Bar, Montenegro to Bari, Italy.
– Four nights in Naples.
– Two nights in the Amalfi Coast (Sorrento or Positano) to meet up with Dave’s parents and family friends Pino and Rita.
– Back to Naples for one night so we can fly to… Malta! Four nights.
– Back to Rome for one night, flying home the next morning.

Now that the most challenging aspect of trip planning is out of the way, we get to start the fun stuff! Dave is a master of routes and itineraries, and my specialty is finding great accommodations for us to stay in. I’ve done it so many times by now, and I feel so comfortable planning trips in Europe, that it shouldn’t take long to accomplish. Then we can fill in our calendar with all of the amazing and beautiful things we will see, and all of the relaxing in the Mediterranean sun we will do!