3 Week Italy Itinerary question for advice

I would keep the Cinque Terre. It's very different than the major cities in your itinerary and I think you will enjoy seeing the area. I loved it. We only had 2 nights there, so 1.5 days, but It was enough for us. I am glad I kept it in our plans. You have 1.5 days for Florence. I would skip Verona and add that day to Florence,

Welcome!

I agree with Joyce

We liked Verona and spent 3 nights there but you are short changing Florence
A 2 night stay is only 1.5 days

Otherwise -nice plan!

Make sure you read up on driving in Italy
All drivers must have an IDP

The only interest you have indicated is food (Bologna), so it’s hard to assess your time distribution. That being said, I’m seeing just one full day for Florence, while you are allotting three full days to the CT. What do you intend to do there? Yes, they are pretty, but Italy is loaded with pretty villages.
There is very little of interest. Except for Monterosso, there are only tiny, rocky beaches. The villages tend to be overrun with tourists, many of them cruise passengers.

My suggestion is to skip the CT altogether. Add those days to Florence. (Lots of good side trips if you get tired of art.). Also, visit Verona as a day trip from Venice. You’ll save the time involved in changing hotels.

April 28 – instead of picking up a car at Rome’s (Roma) Termini station take a direct train from Roma Termini to the Chiusi-Chianciano Terme station and pick up a car there. You don't want to drive in Rome. Be sure you read up on ZTL zone laws and I believe you need an international driver's license too.

I'm impressed that you've chosen to do so much of your trip by train. It makes sense because you are visiting so many major cities.

We've been to Italy 4 times and still haven't made it south of Rome or to the Cinque Terre. On the other hand, we've been to Venice four times and were discussing whether we should dip down from the Dolomites to visit it again this spring. It looks like you gave Venice (get to Burano while you are there) the right amount of time. We stopped in Bologna on our first trip--and think your Balsamic tour is genius. Will just encourage you to get to San Gimignano while you are driving through Tuscany.

Whether you are spending enough time in Florence depends on how much you want to see the great art. We only went to one museum, the Bargello and never even looked for Michelangelo's David because the only piece of art I really wanted to see was Donatello's David. Instead, we climbed the Duomo and went to the church were Dante is buried and the just wandered through the city trying to take in all that there is to absorb. There is so much to see in Florence if you understand its art and history; a friend we were with who only pays attention to US history didn't want to do more than drive through when we went there with him. Your plans suggest you've done a good job assessing what will give you the best trip. Have a great trip and share your thoughts after you return. We may be in Italy again next spring.

Joyce - Thank you. My gut tells me to keep CT in the schedule. I do want to see the area and do a sunset cruise and walk the higher trail from Manarola. It is a change of scenery and by this point we would have seen a lot of churches and art and may need something different to do for a change. I'm thinking about removing 1 night from CT and adding it to Florence... so 2 nights in CT and then 3 nights in Florence.

Christine - Yes got the IDP and have read up. thanks!

Rosalyn - For CT, I plan on doing a sunset cruise and walk the higher trail from Manarola. I'm not interested in beaches but rather seeing a unique and quirky area. We have a studio apartment in Manarola with a breath taking view from the balcony. We will enjoy the early morning and evenings without tourists and then walk the high trails to avoid them as well. I'm now looking at only doing CT for 2 nights and adding one night to Florence. I'll think about adding the night in Verona to Venice. Thank you!

MaryPat - Thank you. I just looked up the Chiusi-Chianciano Terme station, but it is too far into Tuscany. My husband and I love to drive whenever possible overseas to enjoy the land and have the freedom of stopping when something catches our eye. We are especially looking forward to Tuscany for this!

Lindann - I have a feeling we are going to love Italy and see us doing 4 trips as well! Nice! Seems like you liked Venice. I think I will too but I know people who weren't impressed. I am thinking about adding the night in Verona to Venice so instead of 3 nights it would be 4. Do you think I need a 4th night there or is 3 good?

San Gimignano - Definitely stopping there! we will be staying close by in Vernazza.

For Florence, I'm not looking at focusing on more art and churches.... There is only so much time I can spend in museums - thanks to ADD! My main purpose in Florence is to enjoy the shopping, experience the local neighborhoods and apertivo hour, walk to Piazzale Michelangelo for the sunset and I'm also interested in the Secret Passages Tour at the Pallazo Vecchio.... of course I will also see the Duomo (not interested in climbing it). After writing all that out, I realize that I do need to take away one night in CT and add on to Florence!

I will post a Trip Report when I return. Thank you!

I think 4 nights in Venice will be great. So much of the joy of Venice is wandering the back pathways, away from the mob. It takes time to do that, because you naturally do want to see the top sights (that align with your personal interests) as well. If all you see is the path from the train station to the Rialto Bridge to San Marco, you are very likely not to enjoy Venice much.

Lovely itinerary. Of course, you will get as many opinions here as there are forum members!

I would keep the 3 nights in Manarola, but drop Bologna this trip and possibly drop Verona and add those nights to Florence and Venice. Bologna deserves more dedicated time-we loved it. If you really want to see Verona, do it as a day trip from Venice, but honestly, I think you will find that the only time you want away from the main island will be taken up with Burano, Torcello, etc.

I’m currently planning yet another trip to Italy in conjunction with some time in France and darn, it’s so hard to choose where to go. I really want to fit Trieste in, but I long for more time in Venice and on and on. You have a good mix and I compliment you on being able to keep it to so few places,
Buon viaggio!

What a wonderful itinerary! I agree with others, drop Bologna and add to Florence. And I'm assuming you will drive around Tuscany with your days in Montepulciano. Consider Cortona - we stayed there for three months. Loved this town (Under the Tuscan Sun!). We have done a wine tour and food experience TWICE at the Verazzano Winery - just a fantastic experience! https://verrazzano.com/prenotazioni-visite-guidate/booking_2/?lang=en-gb
And an absolute YES to Cinque Terre - I would never miss that!

many moons ago, my wife and I took our honeymoon, did two weeks, which went:
Rome - 2 nights
Florence - 3 nights
CT - 2 nights
Milan - 2 nights
Venice - 3 nights
Rome - 2 nights and depart.

We did this all by train, being younger, and more sight focused.

It started, in planning, as a Rome-Florence-Venice trip. Then, my good friend from business school was in Milan (where he's from), and we hadn't seen him in two years, so we had to add Milan. Then, reading in the Rick book, found out about 5Terra, and had to see that.

What happened: Rome part 1: Amazing.
Florence: Great, but another day would have been good.
CT: out of the way, really touristed, wonderful, beautiful.
Milan: We loved it, but we hit it on our second trip as well, and, lacking the friend there, a great place to be, but lower priority than the big three.
Venice: We were exhausted, we didn't know that much, so we didn't really see anything, and we got lost in the boring places.
Rome 2: Still amazing, but ready to come home.

Our second trip to Italy, which I'm about to do the write up of at long last went:
Venice - 3 nights
Rolling Day Trip through Padua on way to:
Turin - 2 nights where we got a car on our way out to:
Alba - 5 nights at an agriturismo, and toured the best wine country in Italy (Le Langhe of Piemonte), before:
Cogne - 2 nights, with a trip up Monte Bianco ahead of turning in the car in:
Milan - where we spent the day ahead of flying home via Dublin.

What I've learned in these is that it is better to take more time where people aren't as likely to go, more time with the things you love, and to balance the fast and slow.

From my first trip, I would cut Milan and 5T, reverse it to start in Venice and close in Rome, and give more time to Rome and Florence, with some time out in the countryside of Florence. For the second trip, I would add a night in Padua, and add a night in Cogne, or Milan.

There are a million ways to cut the pizza (well, maybe nine, but some of these are pure chaos), or to carve the maiale, and with Italy, there is no wrong place to go. If I had three weeks, my currently knowledge, and your plans, it might look more like this:

Fly to Venice, spend 3-4 nights. Train to Padua, then to Bologna for 2-3 nights, with at least one market tour/cooking course, and maybe a tour out along the Via Piacenza for the good stuff from the countryside), from Bologna to Florence, for 3-4 nights, get the car, head out to Volterra for 2-3 nights, down to Montepulciano for a couple nights, drive to Orvieto, turn in the car, and hop the train to Rome for the remainder.

If you've already booked the flights, ignore that, but I'd still cut 5Terre for more Florence, and allot the time a bit looser. Rick's itinerary moves VERY fast, imho. And Italy is a slower lover, needing time to appreciate it. But, no trip to Italy is a bad trip, imho.