11 nights in Italy, need itinerary help fast!

You havent said how many days you have. Be sure you allow travel time because it will take longer than you might expect. You have listed ll nights.

And you have scheduled about 4 days of travel.

From what I read on this webpage, for some reason, travelers have more trouble planning RR travel in Italy than any other country.

My limited experience has taught me that Italian trains are very slow and unreliable in sticking to schedules.
However, your experience could be different.

Read as many comments on this page as you can. You will find hundreds over the past year. Dont rely altogether on responses to your request.

Lucky you! Talk about a pleasant last-minute surprise. You'll need to pin your locations down quickly in order to have enough time to book lodging.

Overall that isn't a bad looking plan, but why 4 nights in Siena?

I would probably change it to 3 nights in Siena (daytrip to Florence) and 3 nights in CT.

Also, as mentioned in another recent post, the distance between CT and Venice is pretty significant, so you will use most of a day getting from one to the other. Siena isn't terribly far from Rome, but I am not sure how long it takes to get from Siena to CT. I would consider your travel days to be pretty much wiped out.

Hi Jill, I would adjust your itinerary to spend one more night in Venice before you return home. There is so much to see there and trying to do it in one full day is tight. You also have to think about how you will get to the airport very early in the morning. One option may need to be staying near the Venice airport your last night.

Great suggestions. So, we may change from 4 nights in Sienna to 3 in Venice. We were using Sienna as our home base for the Tuscan region, Is this a good idea?

I think Siena is a good base. We'll probably even be there at the same time. I'm staying 4 nights, taking day trips to Florence and maybe San Gimignano...depends on the mood

Good itenerary. Here's some websites of places we stayed, all but CT.

Rome: http://www.cross-pollinate.com - look for Apartemento Filiberto. Not sure how many is in your party but great for 2, balcony, 10 minute walk to Coloseum.
Siena: http://www.albergobernini.com/index.html - get there early in the morning and you can pick your room. We chose the one at the very end of the hall, great view of the duomo! Breakfast on the terrace is amazing (if not too cold).
Venice: http://www.hotelriva.it/index.html - man and wife owners, very friendly and accommodating. Anything you need they will help you with. Again, get there early and you get first pick of rooms. We got a corner room and the view was amazing.

Your itinerary looks good but I would reduce number of nights in Siena and add one more night to Venice ... otherwise you are really only talking about 1 full day in Venice and you can easily spend several.

I was in Venice this May and stayed this time at Ca' Centopietre in Dorsoduro (http://www.centopietre.net/). It is a small place, but it was just delightful. It was in a great location just a short walk from the Accademia. I had been to Venice twice before but this was the first time that I stayed in Dorsoduro and it was so much more pleasant than my prior stays and yet extremely convenient.

If traveling by train, plan 3.0-3.5 hours from Rome to Siena, 3.5-4.0 hours from Siena to Cinque Terre and 6.5-7.0 hours from Cinque Terre to Venice. From Rome to Siena, fast train to Florence and bus to Siena takes about the same amount of time as train. If using Trenitalia website to check schedules, be sure to use Roma Termini for Rome and Venezia Santa Lucia for Venice. Also, 3 nights in each destination sounds about right.

I guess you should take what I say with a grain of salt since we have only planned our trip, not actually taken it yet! But, I've heard you need to be careful with a flight too early out of Venice. Water taxi's are the only transportation when it is a real early departure and they are very expensive.

One other thing...I think (if I'm correct?) that it may be a bit shorter of a train ride from Rome to CT than going from CT to Venice. So, you could do Rome to CT then on to Siena and then on Venice. Just an idea?

ASSISI!!!! if you have time, dump rome for a day and go to assisi! it is the best place i have vistited in europe. it is so quiet, and peaceful, and amazingly scenic. its only about 2 hours from rome ( i think there is a train that leaves from rome at 8:30 or something like that) and then you can shoot up to florence and connect to the cinque terra from there via la spezia. i can not stress how amazing assisi is. rome is great but will wear on u (in my opinion, i've been there twice and had the same experience both times). assisi is the most beautiful town i have visited; every street is worth a picture. either way ENJOY YOUR TRIP!!!!

Jill,
Four nights in Siena seems a bit much - we spent one day there and it was enough, although it's really beautiful and a must see place. I would suggest 2 nights in Siena then add a day to both CT & Venice? Just an idea. CT is amazing!

Thank you to all. We are actually staying longer in Siena because we are making it 3 our "home place" to visit some nearby places in the Tuscan region.
We have decided on 3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Siena, 2 nights in Cinque Terre and 3 nights in Vienna. We will let you know how it goes!

Jill, I haven't been to Sienna, but I have been to Cinque Terre and I would without a doubt spend 3 nights there. It is at the top of my list and I have been lucky enough to visit many beautiful places in Europe. Good luck and enjoy your trip. Darleen