2nd trip to Italy - where to go?

You've expressed the same dilemma I always have -- go back to the place(s) I love, or find new places to love. I like the suggestion to do a bit of each. My first trip to Italy was 6 days in Rome, with a daytrip to Florence. The second trip was 3 days in Rome (some of the same sights, a few new ones), 2 in Orvieto, and 6 in Florence, with a daytrip to Lucca. This time, we are going to Sicily with a few days in Paris, and I am both extremely excited to be going there and slightly heart-broken about being in Italy and not going to Rome, which I adore. In the end, there's no wrong choice, but perhaps pick one of the places you loved and let geography dictate the rest. You could explore northern Italy and include Venice, or stay in Tuscany and include Florence. It also depends on how much time you spent in each city on your previous trip. I found 6 days in Florence a bit excessive, and while I still like the city a lot, I don't have a burning desire to return anytime soon.

We will be doing our third trip back to Italy. Just love the Italian people and country. First trip was about three weeks. Rome, Amalfi coast, CT, back to Rome. Second trip was Rome, Florence, CT, Orvieto, back to Rome. Third trip will be a little different we are coming in from Germany/Austria. We will be staying in Verona for 5 nights, Assisi for 4 nights and then back to wonderful Rome. Will be taking day trips from Verona and Assisi. Italy gets in your blood.

Maybe do a combination of places you've seen & some new places. That's what we're doing for our next trip to Italy in 2012. We are returning to places that we really loved & feel we needed more time in & then adding some new places into the mix. I was going to suggest visiting Lake Como & the Dolomites however in March/April those places might be on the cold side. Have a great trip.

James:
We are in the same situation! Last Oct we traveled to Venice, CT, Tuscany, Orvieto, Rome and Milan over the course of 3 weeks. Italy is in our blood and we figure there are many trips ahead. Hadn't completed the first week of the first trip when my reluctant-traveler husband asked when we were going to come back! As Sheron suggested, we are combining "old" favorites and new locations in Italy when we return in December. Like you, we plan to go slower. Last trip we stayed in 6 locations in 21 nights and while we got a great overview tour and still had time to enjoy the ambiance of each place, I hated the packing/moving/unpacking. So we are slowing it down this time to 4 locations in 23 nights. Returning to Venice (5 nights) and Rome (7), spending 6 nights in Spello as a base for Umbria, and 6 in Sorrento as a base for Napoli/Pompeii/Amalfi Coast. No car this time. (We only had one for 5 nights in Tuscany last trip.) We are going to use only trains and busses. That may be limiting in Umbria, but we want to try it. Also adding in more hiking, weather permitting. That was a a highlight of the last trip. Ciao!

Traveled for two months last year and took only one cab from Montepulciano to montalcino, the rest was on trains and busses. We loved Ravenna, the mosaics are spectacular. We also spent a week in Verona, and loved that too. We did what Rick recommended and spent the last three days in Verenna in the Lake Como area and it was very relaxing. We are also going back again this year and taking our children and grand children when they have their spring breaks so we will be in Florence in an apartment the majority of the time. People ask if we are ever going anywhere but Italy, as we are going back for the third time. And we really can't say. We love Italy (with not an ounce of Italian heritage in our bodies).
We will also be there in Mid March through end of April this year.

I can't say what will work for you, but can tell you what we did. The first time we went was for a month, and we stayed in Milan, Varenna, Venice, CT (Vernazza), Florence, Siena, an agrtiturismo outside Arezzo, Naples, and Rome. For our second trip (3 wks) we stayed in Rome, Assisi, Lucca, Bologna and Venice. We go back for our third time in May (16 days) and are staying in Ostia (1 nt), Rome, Orvieto, Verona and Venice/Lido. Note the repeats of Rome and Venice each time. We enjoyed most of the other cities (some more than others), but didn't feel compelled to go back, probably because we purposefully scheduled our time in each place so that we were able to enjoy it. (We're not the "checklist" kind of travelers.) We think we'll probably always do Rome because we love it so much. We'll see if we want to Venice again on our fourth trip. :-) No matter what you choose, you know you'll have a great time. Good luck!

We are returning to Italy for our second time in March. In March 2009 we spent five days in Siena (day trip to San Gimignano), five in Florence, and seven in Rome. We like to spend enough time to get to know the town and not feel rushed. There are always day trips to do if we get bored, but San G. was pre-planned. This year we will spend five days in Venice, three in Ravenna, three in Sorrento, three in Naples, and five in Rome. Originally had six in Sorrento but decided to be contrarian and spend some time in Naples. We're returning to Rome because we loved it. Don't know if this is any help but check out the various web sites with pictures of Ravenna. It seems to be spectacular. Have fun with your planning and then your trip!

My husband and I have the same disease! LOL! There are so many places we'd like to visit, but we are not finished with Italy! It keeps drawing us back! We are going for visit #6 in March! We like to go in the low season, and get a school vacation then, but it does limit us in terms of time. Last year we returned to Florence and took a long day tour to Siena, Pisa, and San Gimiangno (all that day tour did was make us want to return to those places!!) We also spend 2 days in Cortona with a daytrip to Orvieto. This time it's back to Rome with a 2 day trip to Assisi and Perugia. James, if you haven't seen Siena, it is definitely worth an overnight, at least. Cortona is wonderful, too. And Orvieto
is amazing--you can get up to the town by funicular and the church has a famous Luca Signorelli mural.

Thank you all for your responses. We seem to be all on one page- back to Italy we go! Our trip last year was 3 years in the making as we saved our pennies. I read SO much and did so much homework because we thought this would be a once in a lifetime trip (haha!). I think I memorized all of the RS Italy guidebooks, podcasts, TV shows.... I was really hoping that all this planning wouldn't ruin our experience - that our expectations would be too high and the actual experience would not live up to them. I needn't have worried! We planned a circular trip:Rome 4 days, Florence 5 days, CT 4 days, Venice 2 days, night train to Naples (never again, the NT!!!), Sorrento/Praiano 4 days and back to Rome 1 day. Along the way and as day trips, we saw Ville D'Este, Siena, Lucca, Murano/Burano, and Ravello. We tried to see most all of RS 3*** sites for each place (as we thought we may not ever come back, or want to). Each day had sights to see and we pulled back when we were feeling tired and dropped some sights. Mostly, we used the train to get around. There were certain places that were on my wish list of places to see (Padua, Ravenna, some Tuscan hill towns, ...) that were dropped so that we wouldn't be spending time packing/unpacking.
We made some marvellous memories (biking the ramparts in Lucca, opera concert in Venice, hiking the CT, me running into traffic in Rome to retrieve a shoe that had fallen off a woman cycling with her child ("Mille Grazie!!) and many more. Thanks again for confirming my feelings - we will blend old and new with more time spent in a more laid-back itinerary. Can't wait! Ciao!!

I totally understand how you can fall in love with Italy and never want to see anywhere else. We went to Italy for our first two trips to Europe, and felt the same as all of you ... why go anywhere else? But the next year we forced ourselves to try something new. We went to France, and had a wonderful time. Then we went to Greece, and that was incredible. And then to Croatia, which was amazing. We never thought we'd enjoy a cruise, but then we took a transatlantic cruise and loved it. I guess what I'm saying is that stepping out of your comfort zone to try something new can be immensely rewarding.

On our second trip to Italy this past October, we toured and drove more in the countryside hitting the wine regions of Chianti and Tuscany. We had a great time exploring more hilltowns. We enjoyed staying at an agriturismo outside of Pienza, listening to a gregorian chant at a monastery, and taking a daytrip into Siena but staying in amongst the Tuscan hills. On our way back into Austria, we stopped in the Dolomites. We enjoyed relaxing and drinking the local wines--brought 10 bottles home in our rollaway bags! Have fun on your trip.

Start at the top: go to the lakes. Lake Como or Lake Maggiore. Then consider a long stay at an agriturismo in Tuscany or Umbria. Use it as your home base to make a lot of day trips to the hill towns. Good luck. Have fun.

It seems like a trip across Northern Italy fits your plans. We loved Verona and Venice is always worth a second look. If you have time you can go North from Verona, turn East through the Dolomites and come out near Venice.

Ever thought about Rome and east and the south? Not overrun with tour groups or other travelers from Anytown, USA. Rome is still my favorite European city (not Paris, London, Amsterdam, etc...)Naples is an experience for its vitality and grittiness, Abruzzo is ruggedly beautiful, and Sicily, especially the western half including Palermo, is a feast for the senses. All these places are full of real Italians.

Explore Sicily... it is a country for it self...

A couple of years ago we added Bologna to our list of favorite cities in Italy. It's less touristy, has many great restaurants, and lots of charm. We're liked it so much, we're going back in May!

Two suggestions-Sicily is fabulous and also I rented a part of a villa in Tuscany in 2004 and spent a week just driving around to hill towns and that was also fabulous-so much wine, so little time!