Need suggestion of most efficient itinerary for 10 days in Italy for our honeymoon. Flights already booked: Flying into Rome, flying out of Florence. Musts are Tuscany, (where we anticipate spending the most time) and Venice. We would like to find one base place to stay and do day trips to Tuscany locations (Pisa, etc). We Our thought was to rent car when we leave Rome because we want to drive around Tuscany on our own (we know about keeping out the cities with a car) - and we already got our international drivers licenses. I would love anyone to provide thoughts on the following: A suggestion was to drive from Rome to Montecatini, (4 1/2 hours), which would serve as the Tuscan base. -Can you suggest must see Tuscan locations - Pisa, Vinci, Etc? After Tuscany and Cinque Terre, we would then drive from our base of Montecatini to Venice (2 hour drive, where we would spend a day or two? and then drive and drop off the car in Florence. We're not sure if we should just plan the day in Florence at the end of the trip since we are flying out of there or do a day trip while in Montecatini? SUMMARY OF ITINERARY: Arrive in Rome: 4:10PM Monday, 9/23/13 ROME: Spend two full days- Tuesday 9/24, Wednesday 9/25; then Thursday morning, 9/26 leave Rome with rental car and drive to Montecatini MONTECATINI Base/Tuscany locations/Cinque Terre: Thursday 9/26 thru Tuesday morning 10/1; drive to Venice VENICE: Tuesday 10/1 - Thursday 10/3; drive Thursday morning to Florence (2 1/2 hours). FLORENCE: Thursday 10/3 - drop off car. One final overnight and we fly out of airport in Florence at 12:45PM Friday, 10/4.
Does this make sense? Any thoughts, comments and suggestion would be appreciated!! Thank you!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Train from Rome to Orvieto and pick up your rental car there after wandering around that beautiful town. (Photos of our time in Orvieto are here: Orvieto in May 2011 ) From Orvieto north, it's beautiful country to drive in. For "must see" Tuscan locations, I would not include either Pisa or Vinci. The Rick Steves Florence/Tuscany book does an excellent job talking about his favorite hilltowns, giving you the information you need to decide which ones sound most appealing to you. Some of his favorites are Montepulciano, San Gimignano, and Volterra.
Posted by
NYC
922 posts
If you haven't booked your flights yet, and if you don't have a specific reason for how you've laid out the order of destinations, maybe consider this sequence: Fly into Rome Then on to Florence Then on to Montecatini etc.
Then on to Venice and fly home from Venice Or do the sequence in reverse. The way you have it planned you would be doing a lot of backtracking that only wastes time and money.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34328 posts
I can see using the car in rural Tuscany, anywhere else it will be a pain in the neck - tolls dreaded ZTLs very expensive parking stressful driving (trust me)
getting lost Can I agree with the previous who suggest considering getting your car in Orvieto, or in Rome if you watch and understand the Ron in Rome videos and are still comfortable with driving in Rome; and drop your car off in La Spezia.
Posted by
Danvers, MA, USA
2 posts
Hi Lisa! We just returned from our honeymoon in Italy, where we rented a car and spent some of our trip in Tuscany. Our base was in San Gimignano, staying at a B&B just outside the walled city. We loved spending time in this town, which has three parking lots around its perimeter. Definitely recommend it. We visited Pisa and Siena, finding both just OK. We wished we had visited Lucca as a day trip instead, and also wished we had had more time to have seen Cinque Terre (next time!). Have a great honeymoon! - Aaron
Danvers, MA
Posted by
OP
Hackettstown, New Jersey, US
9 posts
Thanks for post Aaron - can you provide additional info for the B&B? Would you recommend it for a week stay? We have not decided on a base for Tuscany, but based on your reply and the others, we have decided not to go to Venice (next time) and spend 4 days in Rome and the remaining time in Tuscany. We want to visit and maybe spend a night or two in Cinque Terre. We will definitely take your advice and visit Lucca. Did you stop in Orvieto? That is where we think we will rent the car.