top that

Hmmmm. If she's really stuck on Tuscany it may not matter HOW many destinations we throw at the wall; you may have to resign yourself to a Tuscan adventure! Happy wife; happy life, as they say? :O)

You do not have to make it the SAME trip, however. Skip Florence - although it pains me greatly to suggest that - and Rome and explore other cities/towns in the Tuscan region. You don't say if you left Firenze last time other than to visit some wineries but gosh, there's Siena, Lucca, Cortona, Pienza, Montepulciano, Arrezzo... You get the idea. She gets Tuscany; you get a 'new' trip.

You could also explore further North: fly into Venice and work your way west: Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Lake Garda, Brescia, Bergamo, Lake Como, fly out of Milan. That's just a sample of potential destinations; pick and choose.

I'm sure some of the gang who've explored even further north than that would have some terrific sample itineraries too if interested?

Maybe compromise and head towards the Dolomites? Try one different city and then go to the mountains and maybe a lake or two for beautiful scenery and a slight change of pace for cuisine as it tends toward the Austrian style. The Dolomites are wonderful and from what I read on here, you can’t miss with any of the lakes-Maggiore, Iseo, Garda or Como.

I don’t blame her for wanting to return to some of the same. It is difficult to break away from the memories of a wonderful trip to try exploring another place for fear it won’t live up to the original. I LOVE Italy, but we just spent a fabulous 6 weeks in France. Did I like it as much? Not quite, but I now want to return to Paris, which honestly I wasn’t prepared to like at all!

Look forward to seeing what is decided.

More Italy next year -- Venice is a good idea -- then Paris in 2025 after the Olympics. If you both decide you love the travel itself, not just this year's destination, then you'll be on the right track for future years.

Hard decision, but I default to your wife’s choice. Compromise with her - italy 2024 then someplace new for 2025.
I suffer from, we were just visiting …….. and it is my new favorite city or country. It happened when we visited Poland, then Spain, then Paris, then London. Next up is Norway in May then Portugal in September. Don’t know about Norway, but I’m predicting Portugal will win out.
Europe is a big place with so many possibilities for travel, you really can’t go wrong.

Perhaps do some research on Umbria. Somewhat similar to Tuscany, but also different in many ways. Lots of towns to chose from to get a feel for the "real Italy".

Make a deal with her to go to Spain, Portugal or anywhere but Italy and you choose for 2024. Let her choose for 2025. That is what hubby and I have done.

Lovely, scenic trains run between Munich and Verona and beyond. So, either, start in Florence and travel north or start in Munich and go south. Stop in the Tirol and Dolomites along the way or Verona, Padua, too. Innsbruck and Bolzano are directly on that train line with many other interesting places not too far afield. You can be in the mountains. Lots of options to explore.

PS - In September, you can research cow parades.

Kathy, for your Go North itinerary, is that by car or train? I assume that a car is a liability in Venice, Verona and Milan (Lake Como too?). I am trying to decide on a destination for 2024. Portugal is possibly on the plate. I visited Rome and Florence in 2022.

Trying to repeat a past excellent vacation is liable to set you up for disappointment. And a second trip to emulate the first may taint both trips.
It was your first trip to Europe. All was shiny and new. You should branch out. That new and shiny Europe will be found in other areas. Otherwise you will have made two trips same place and, well, missed out on a possible new and as great experience as you had before.
That is what travel is about.

I've had great luck repeating past good travel experiences. All of my repeat trips have been better than the first even.

It's the third one that the shine starts to come off, for me anyway.

I'm going to say that if she liked Florence, and you want to go somewhere else, do a trip to Vienna and Salzburg. That combination will have elements in the same categories as the things that you like so much about Florence and surroundings.

I like Debbie's idea above. I'm little obsessed with the rail corridor she describes. So much varied and great stuff between Venice and Munich, such a fast, direct train route. You can plan a fantastic vacation doing two to three hour chunks of train at a time and only spending maybe seven or eight hours total on the train.

Treemoss2 hit the nail on the head. Despite having a couple of favorite cities that I have visited multiple times--Budapest 6 and London 5--I never lose sight of the fact that there are so many other cities I want/need to visit and try to do a combination of old favorite with other new cities to keep things fresh. I travel solo so have only myself to please, otherwise I like the idea of trading off choices with your wife.

Trying to repeat a past excellent vacation is liable to set you up for disappointment. And a second trip to emulate the first may taint both trips.
It was your first trip to Europe. All was shiny and new. You should branch out. That new and shiny Europe will be found in other areas. Otherwise you will have made two trips same place and, well, missed out on a possible new and as great experience as you had before.
That is what travel is about.

This is absolutely spot-on. Really, really excellent advice from @treemoss2 above.

Part of the euphoria you experienced was not so much about the specific place, it was the thrill of discovering the wider world. Sure, the specific destination matters. But I've come to understand and appreciate that "there's good stuff and wonderful experiences everywhere."

So sure, you need to negotiate gently with your life & travel partner, so everyone is happy. But repeating the same (or even similar/nearby) places, and trying to replicate a previous experience, may leave you feeling disappointed. And don't make it a competition (next trip needs to be EVEN BETTER than the last one!), which is unrealistic and unsustainable.

Embrace geographical and cultural diversity. Mix it up a bit and savor the differences of each unique place. OK, so you liked Italy, then next try France or Spain or Japan – those will push all your buttons just as well (often more so), but in different ways. Experiencing those differences will only enhance both your future trips and memories of previous ones.

wysouth: what was it that she especially loved about Florence/Tuscany? If she can identfy the specifics it may help in your planning. I fell in love with Florence the first time I visited. Ditto for Venice and Lake Como and Sorrento.

Depending on the length of the trip, maybe meet both of your goals in one trip by starting in Venice, then on to one of the Lakes and then on to Switzerland? If Florence was a highlight, start there and then on to Venice, etc.

I never thought I would fall in love with Italy (don't ask me why 'cause I couldn't tell you) but I did. I can understand her passion but Italy can provide you both with your dream trips.

Until you have seen it all there is no way of knowing what will talk best to you.

We started in Italy about 30 years ago and loved it and kept returning. Then I decided 2/3 of tge trip a sure bet (Italy) and 1/3 something you ally different. Sure that required one flight in Europe but it was worth it. One day we realized we enjoyed the side trip more than Italy and that became the sure bet.

Don't lock yourself in. Explore.

I have visited 81 foreign countries and been back to several places that I visited before.

I love Italy, but treasure other places as well. It is better to not focus on one city or country to the detriment of the rest of the World.

There is much to see in the World and some of the key places not to miss are in my opinion:

Name a country in Europe that is a great visit. You have to name them all. My favorites are Italy, Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Switzerland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Ukraine (not now), and many smaller countries.

Also, South America is great, my favorites are Peru (especially Cusco and Machu Picchu), Argentina and Chile.
Australia and New Zealand are great.

In East Asia, Japan and China are tops, but Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines are great.
In South Asia and the Middle East, India, the UAE, Oman, Egypt (ESPECIALLY EGYPT) and Israel (not now).

North America has much with our many great national parks out west and especially Alaska. Canada has the Canadian Rockies and Montreal and Quebec City.

Wow a lot of great suggestions by all. I like the idea of spitting time maybe with northern Italy (Venice) and then working up into the Dolomites, Austria, Switzerland and Munich or similar areas without spending all of our time on trains. Spain is certainly high on the list as well but as you all know you can't see everything in one trip.

....Trying to repeat a past excellent vacation is liable to set you up for disappointment. And a second trip to emulate the first may taint both trips...... I think it depends a great deal on your travel style and objectives. For us that statement is almost blasphemy. We almost always start in a prior location simply because it is so easy to settle in, find the hotel, (don't need a map), the restaurants. etc. A couple of de-coupling days as we adjust to Europe, the time, the pace. But we have spent nearly a year over the past 50 years or so inEurope. (Not many places are new to us now.) So it is easy for us to do that. We have spent at least a month in Rome over five or six visits. Always find something new to enjoy or explore on return visits.

Nothing wrong with hitting Florence a second, or third, or fourth time. A good plan would be to fly into Rome and home from Paris or Madrid or perhaps Switzerland and that way you adjust in Italy before moving on.

Trying to repeat a past excellent vacation is liable to set you up for
disappointment. And a second trip to emulate the first may taint both
trips.

Nope, not in our book. My first look at Rome was great. The 2nd was better. The third (and longest stay) was best. There is something to be said about having a solid enough handle on a city to be able to dump the luggage and hit the ground running. As well, we were able to skip the biggest tourist magnets/crowds - 'cause we'd done them before - and go for the less-visited treasures. Looking forward to doing much the same with Florence!

Trying to repeat a past excellent vacation is liable to set you up for disappointment. And a second trip to emulate the first may taint both trips.

For us Round 2+ on our trips has even been better. Slower, more detailed, knowing the "lay of land" sure helped. Have your wife give you her # 1 venue and build around it with new areas. Say Florence to Venice, Venice to Milan, Milan to Zurich.

Kathy, for your Go North itinerary, is that by car or train?

Sorry, I missed this question. Train, definitely.