1st Trip to Italy

Do you have RS Italy Guide Book yet? If so, good. If not, I would suggest you get it as soon as possible as it has lots of good information you can use in your planning that we have used over the years and will be using again this summer when we return to Italy.

Yes I do and have read the introduction chapters as well as the chapter on Venice.
Thanks.

My first trip to Italy was like this: Milan 1 night, Florence 3, Siena 2 with side trip to chianti country & San gimignano, Assisi 2 nights with side trip to Orvieto, Rome 4, Venice 3 nights. I found the amount in each city was the perfect amount. In your case, I would consider: Venice 3 nights, cinque terre 2, Florence 3, Siena 2, and Rome 4 nights.
Good luck planning and have fun!

Hi Rob. Definitely trains for Venice to Florence, Florence to CT, and CT to Rome. use site trenitalia.com. You can buy Venice to Fl and CT to Rome tix in advance for a discount IF willing to lock in an exact date and time. Or just buy tix the day before or day of when there. Enjoy your trip!

Recommend trains. Parking, if you can find it, is expensive and usually not close to your hotel. Warning: Italy is habit-forming. You will not be able to keep from going back and back and back!
Siena is one of my favorite cities. Enjoy!

I like the trip as you laid it out. We rent cars when we go there because we like the scenery. However, with your trip forget about driving in Venice, Florence and Rome you don't want to. so the places you going it would be hard and expenive. It might be nice to rent a car leaving Venice if that is yoru first trip, use it to get to the Cinque Terre and to get to Florence and use it to drive in the coutry side but than lose it. You can't use it in Florence and you don't want it in Rome

Thanks to all for your suggestions so far, much appreciated!
Keep them coming.... :)

Very doable! But pack light! I've learned my lesson about packing! My best advice is read Ricks advice before you go and stop to just breathe! It can be very overwelming for the first time!

the plan looks pretty good with 3-4 nights in Florence you may only have time for 1 day trip as there is so much to see in Florence itself you can get to Siena by bus from Florence, you could rent a car for a day and drive "chianti road" or you could do a tour and not have to worry about the car, parking, drinking and driving...
the rest is best done by trains

It's good that you are starting in Venice and ending in Rome. Venice is a better place to get over jet lag. I would consider dropping Cinque Terre and spending more time in Rome. As they say: Roma non basta una vita (For Rome, one lifetime is not enough)

If possible, the first part of May will be less crowded and a better deal air fare wise. But if you can't change the time, go for it anyway. The plan looks good to me. Personally I would only do 3 nights in Florence and add an extra night in the Cinque Terre, but that is just me. Trains, Trains, Trains!! Cars are a real hassel. Once again, thats just me. Hope this helps. TC

Quite doable, in fact, I'd say it's a pretty good first trip. The only thing that you're missing, really, is a Tuscan/Umbrian Hill town stay. This is a quintessential part of any trip to Italy, in my opinion. You can do your itinerary by train, with the exception of your day trip to Tuscany. However, many of those towns can be accessed by bus (and a few by train), but a car is really the way to go to see the countryside.
If it was me (and it was, several times...), I would drop 1-2 nights from Florence, then train it to Assisi (my favorite Italian Hilltown) or Orvieto and spend a night at one of those places on your way to Rome. Florence just doesn't do it for me (I can't explain why, but my wife and I just can't get into it), and the Hilltowns are what Italy is all about to me.

Thanks again all..

Rob, my husband and I did nearly the same trip in 2010. The only difference was we spent one less night in Venice and one less night in Florence and instead added 2 nights in Orvieto. The pace was nice and we were still able to see a lot. Buonviaggio!