Austria and Italy - Sep or Oct 2015

Wow ! I'm exhausted just reading your plan . For starters , this is overly optimistic for 21 days - You could spend a week each in Vienna and the major Italian cities and still be only able to scratch the surface , so - Dump Salzburg , Hallstatt , and Turin . It's not that they aren't nice places , but they don't warrant a diversion based on your other choices . Keep in mind that when you change locations , that will eat up a half or even a full day of your time ( Vienna to Venice is a long one ) going by train is your best bet , but by buying tickets at the last minute , you will not be able to purchase highly discounted advance tickets . For the places on the list ( Vienna and the three major Italian cities ) finding accommodation on the fly will be more problematic than you think considering that while in the past the fall was " shoulder season " , these days there are lots of " boomers " with gray ( or no ) hair who now travel at that time of year . Off in the countryside you might be able to pull that off , but in major cities , that is likely to be a big hassle . I would focus on Vienna ,Venice , Florence , and Rome and pre book your hotels and rail tickets . Being bored or disliking any of these locations is a concept that I can't quite understand . - Answers 1) use rail , 2) I would be VERY concerned , 3 ) I am over there during both months , love both ! 4 ) I'll let that go , 5 ) not really applicable based on what I've just written , Enjoy your trip , it sounds great !

Hi Steven (from NY)

We REALLY appreciate your input and are discussing a modification to our plans. Nothing is set yet, but we are considering ditching the Austria portion, keeping the major cities in Italy, and prebooking Hotels and trains.

Brian & Sharon

Sharon , one of the comments you made in your original post caught my eye - that you were interested in art and architecture . The Italian cities ( and Vienna ,as well ) are all vast repositories of both . You could do Vienna , as well , but with a ten hour rail trip from Vienna to Venice , it's not really a bad idea to stick to Venice , Florence and Rome ( a week each still won't be enough , but you will get a really good taste of each ) and it will cut your travel to reasonable proportions . I'm actually pained to tell you to skip Vienna on this trip , but practicality rules ! Vienna is , for me , an incredibly complex and beautiful place , it holds a special place in my heart , but save it for a subsequent trip when you can allow more time for it . Make no mistake , for lovers of fine art and architecture , Italy is where it really begins ,and it is best to really be able to see these three cities without rushing through them . If you do decide to go to Italy , on this trip , post in future on the Italy thread where you will find much good advice to inform your planning , and NEVER forget Vienna , one of the world's great cities .

If you are interested in Art and Food in Italy, I suggest you take a look at a BBC series we recently found on YouTube called "Italy Unpacked". It doesn't exactly cover the major cities you mention but was really enjoyable and informative. If you decide to focus your trip on just Italy it might inspire a side trip or two for you.

To Everyone who has taken the time to reply...

Thank you so much! Your insight and suggestions are wonderful.

As of today, my wife and I are planning to limit our visit to Venice, Florence and Rome. We will book our rooms in advance (probably thru airbnb) and we will book the trains in advance to get the best rates.

We really appreciate your input!

Thanks

Brian and Sharon

ps. We've also learned thru this process that we need to book our flight as soon as the flights are available (about 330 days in advance?). We are finding that there are very few flights available which will allow us to use our frequent flier miles.

Why don't you begin your odyssey by flying into Venice for 2 nights?
Then take the fast train to Florence.

P ickup a rental car in Florence and drive south 1 hr. to San Gimignano area, Stay in an agriturismo.

Day trips can be made to Volterra, Certaldo and Siena by rental car.
Siena to Orvieto is just a 90 minute drive, and it's another popular and lovely hill town with great B&B's.

We turned our rental car in at Hertz Orvieto and took a 70 minute train into Rome Termini.
After you do your tourism thing in Rome, I suggest you take a cheap flight on EasyJet from FCO to Vienna.
Then fly home from Vienna.

I'll leave it to you to ration your days in these great cities. You do have time to squeeze in Vienna to this itinerary. We just returned from there in April--our fourth visit there. We made the Italy part of this trip 2 years ago.

Hi David from Florence AL

Thank you for your suggestion. My wife and i have been talking about adding another stop because we thought 21 days is too much time for venice, florence, and rome.

In your experience, how much time out of your day did the flight from Rome to Vienna take? (not just the flight time, but getting to the airport, going thru customs, etc). Did you lose a morning, or did you lose a whole day for travel?

Thanks

brian