You could also consider going to Italy via Switzerland, which you can do entirely without reservations.
Reservations to Paris and then to Italy are quite expensive and only have limited availability.
I haven’t been in Italy since autumn but in beginning of January travelled a bit through Romania and well… it is not really crowded at the moment. In the hostel where I stayed 2 nights and the occupancy was around 1/3… Suppose in Italy it is looking similar, probably a bit better. Socializing is possible but more difficult and much less “choice” than usual.
Last year in May in Rome & Catania the hostels where I stayed were almost empty, while the ones in Palermo and La Spezia were fully booked…
Big advantage is that in the main sights there are (almost) no queues and you can enjoy them often almost empty (just Uffizi galleries, Vatican museums etc. were really still crowded).
And yeah, about the route I’d also suggest going via Switzerland - will save you a lot of money!
To summarize: I’d definitely recommend to travel now, but don’t expect the super social experience - sometimes it might be hard to find other travelers, mostly should be possible.
Ach jeetje toch-you will face even much more restrictions as lax Holland for now. You MUST have that green pass or will be refused entry everywhere, including all trains and transport. Trains for now in IT only do windowseats and all IC trains and now even many of the more populair Regional trains must be reserved-so the MAX nr of pax is not surpassed.
The cost for going via Munich and using the direct OeBB trains via Tirol to Verona and on is 10 eur/seat with a pass. Even/also payable without the REServation, as surcharge.
@Maxelan
You could catch the ICE Amsterdam - Basel (daily service) and travel then onwards through Switzerland (for example Milan) to avoid the reservation change in Chiasso or Bellinzona to a regional train to Milan ;)
From Milan you have plenty options :)
Verona,Venice,Turin,Genoa,Rome or even a Nighttrain all the way down to Sicily (Syracuse, Palermo)
