10-12 day trip in June 2010

I would do 3 nights in Nice. I did not stay in Cinque terra rather staying in Santa Margurita and one day walking to portofino and the other hiking the CT. Either way I would do 3 nights there. Just do the day in Pisa and head out to florence and stay 3-4 nights. Where are you flying home from what city?

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll be flying from Florence back to Leeds as my dorm contract ends on June 18. After that, I'll head down to London, then back to Chicago.

Actually, RyanAir says that the Pisa/Florence airport is coded PSA. How far/near is this to Florence? Should I visit Florence first and then Pisa?

I think it would be easier to leave CT early, go to Pisa for the day, leave Pisa around 6pm for the 1 hr 12 min ride to Florence. Stay. And only worry about going t=back to Pisa for the flight home on the last day

If you are looking for a non-touristy place to visit, consider a day or two or three in Bologna. It is very accessible from Florence by train (a short hour/90 minute trip), and is a great city to wander around in with portico covered walks, colorful food markets, good shopping, and maybe the best food in Italy (and some fun cooking classes, too). For an Italian city it is pretty un-touristy, but does have some wonderful churches and museums as well. And since it is a university town, it has good nightlife and feels "younger" than many other places in Italy.

Sherry - the airport in Florence is FLR. Ryanair flies into the Pisa Airport (PSA). Pisa is about an hour train ride to/from Florence.

I'm not sure why you think early June isn't "the ideal time to travel." I think June and September are the best times to visit Italy. Also, in June, you'll have the benefit of extra long hours of sunlight to wander around.

I'm not as huge a fan of the CT as a lot of RS followers, and I think Pisa is overrated as a destination (do it as a day trip from Florence, if you have to see it). I bet you would love Siena, since you're apparently a university student.

Maybe consider Bologna, if you want some truly amazing food. (It's also been a university town since 1088.)

I like the looks of your trip.

Here's how I would tweak it --

2 days Nice -- long enough for my tastes.

3 days Cinque Terre -- plenty of time, and if you go TO the Cinque Terre, stay IN the Cinque Terre -- an earlier poster recommended staying in St. Margherita. If that is what they did, they haven't truly seen the CT -- sunrise, and after dark, the CT has the greatest charm. Within the CT everyone has their favorite village -- I like Vernazza, but my parents liked Manarola (birthplace of pesto, yum!), and our friend's teen daughter liked Monterosso best. You'll have time to taste them all in 3 days.

1/2 day Pisa -- Ditto earlier poster. Train out of CT to Pisa, lunch there, afternoon at tower, make SURE to go into the Baptistry!! A much better site than the tower, accoustics are amazing. Evening train to Florence.

3 days Florence -- Nice amount of time. You can get a good mix musuems / wandering / markets / sitting in 3 days.

For other possibles... Parma after Nice before the CT -- the food is beyond description -- birthplace of Parmesian cheese (duh), but is also creditted as having the premiere prosciutto, and is a place you can get Tuscan, Roman and northern Italian cuisines all in one restaurant.

Ditto earlier recommendations for Siena and Bologna as other possible "non sight seeing" destinations.

We stayed in Monterosso for 3 nights in July 2007 and it was a holiday from our holiday. The first day we just hung out at the beach, the second day we hiked the trail through all five villages, stopping for a swim at each town to cool off, and took the train back, and the third day we each did whatever we wanted. We stayed at Manuel's (recommended by RS) with a stellar view over the roof tops out to the beach and beyond. With access to his kitchen, we were able to make simple but delicious meals with local ingredients.