2 extra days in early November: Genoa? Toirano? Liguria? Lakes? Elsewhere?

Stay in Santa Margherita and hike, bus or ferry to Portofino. Both places are picturesque and exist in a beautiful part of the country. You can reach S.M. By train.

Hello glenno. It seems you are seeking a place on the water.

• Genoa is a big city, but certainly has that seaside location. We have not been there yet, but this article in The Independent may provide inspiration. Thinking of passing through there ourselves an impromptu trip in early November.

• Porto Venere and Portofino will be largely shut down, although people live there you can surely find a place to stay and places to eat. Porto Venere is lovely in the fall on a sunny day and we enjoyed it very much in late October last year. Portofino is very small and to me, not so interesting as Porto Venere, and Portofino is pricey!

• Not familiar with Toirano/Grotto di Toirano

• As to the Cinque Terre, you can hike if the weather is good. We go almost every fall but not quite so late as you, usually late October. There is an incredible network of paths, but there will be few restaurants or lodgings available as Nov 1 seems to be the magic end-of-season date. It might be better to stay in La Spezia, which has a lovely port area, pedestrian area and Naval Museum. If the weather is good you can always hop on a train to the actual 5 villages and check them out even if you do not manage to hike the trails. Rick Steves' guide has nice little self-guided walks for wach village.

• The lakes do shut down as well, as I understand. Have never been to them in the fall.

Thank you both! I really appreciate your taking the time to offer your tips. Very helpful.

FWIW, we would also be fine with inland, waterless spots too (hell, we're used to that here in Pasadena, CA!)... or regions somewhat south... but some of these hilly coast towns look so unusual and gorgeous that I guess we're drawn to them, and the notion of being uncrowded does sound appealing.

I guess it all depends on where the next leg of your trip will be. Or, are you flying home after that? I wouldn't pick a place that requires most of a day just traveling. Just my opinion :)

Thank you all again! Swan, good call -- Santa Margherita looks like a great base from which we can play things by ear based on weather and whim. We'll head to Rome after that, but we plan to make our way slowly and explore anything along the way that piques our interest. Or we may return the car in Milan or Florence and take the train down to Rome. Either way, the journey should be enjoyable.

Any other thoughts are most welcome! I'll report back afterward with how it went, and to share anything that may prove useful to others. Thanks for that article, Laurel. It'd be funny if we unwittingly ran into each other.

I don't think you can go too wrong here with all the great suggestions. But... given the time of year and that you love red wine and hiking...I would head up to the Piedmont area. Beautiful scenery with rolling hills, vineyards and wineries built into the side of castles. Truffles (!!!!) and some of the best wine in the world. This from someone who absolutely adores Santa Maguarita, Porto Fino, and Lake Como, which I think better visited during warmer months.

Rolling hills and castle wineries all good, but really you had me at wine and truffles. Borolo... mmm... aged Borolo.....
Another excellent idea.
It's looking like the most rational plan would just be to move to Italy.
Meanwhile, I changed our return home to be from Milan instead of Rome, so we can explore the north a bit longer.
Thank you again, helpful forum members!

Thank you all again for your input! We had a FANTASTIC trip, and loved spending a few nights in Santa Margherita Ligure, which we wouldn't have done if it weren't for your suggestions. We stayed at the wonderfully grand Grand Hotel Miramare, the only problem with which was that we didn't really want to leave. So we extended our stay by a night. What a beautiful place and delightful staff, in both the hotel and excellent restaurant.

Early November was the perfect time to visit for us. Almost no tourists hogging the streets and cafes, yet just lively enough for everything to be open. We lucked out with sun and mid-high 60s days (folks were still swimming in the ocean), but really, we would've enjoyed it in the rain too. What a lovely place. We could've used a week there, but had already been in Italy 10 days and ran out of time.

We did a half-day trip to Porto Venere, which we absolutely loved. And we did another day trip up to Turin, which we also loved, even though it was a Monday and most of the museums and such were closed. But there's so much to see and do there it didn't matter. And Turin chocolate. Mmmmmm.

We traveled by car, and the drives were beautiful. SML made an excellent base indeed.

Once I've imported my photos I'll write up a little piece about our entire Florence/Tuscany/Ligure/Turin trip, in case it's useful for anyone.

Glenno, I would love to read your report!

Delighted it all worked out! The weather held beautifully into early November, and just the past few days we've had fog up-and-down the peninsula. Looking forward to your trip report!