Hi all, thanks so much for your helpful responses to my earlier post. I wish we had endless time but as we have only 21 days I've cobbled the following together (in short - husband, 8 month baby and i, enjoy food, hikes, walking around towns, prefer less touristy spots (like everyone i suppose..._)
SICILY - 7 days - we fly into Catania (unfortunately) so given the short time I'm thinking that we base ourselves there and spend most of our time on the east coast. Husband would like to visit Palermo so given its a 2h train ride, this may be doable. We'd love any recommendations to make the most of 7 days , whether it be staying on one coast or splitting the time some other way.
Day 1: Catania
Day 2: Day Trip to Taormina (stay in Catania)
Day 3: Day Trip to Mount Etna (stay in Catania)
Day 4: Siracusa & Ortigia
Day 5: Siracusa & Ortigia
Day 6: The Val di Noto OR Palermo
Day 7: The Val di Noto OR Palermo
TUSCANY - 9 days, OR a bit of time in both Puglia and then Tuscany (we have been to Rome and Florence a few times and would skip those). While I am mostly accepting of the fact that we should spend the limited 9 days in Tuscany, I would love for someone to tell me that it isn't crazy to fly into Bari and spend a few days in Puglia before driving up to Tuscany. For now, I am leaning towards flying from Catania to Florence, renting a car and basing ourselves in 2 locations in Tuscany - i.e. Montepulciano for 4 nights (day trips to pienza, bagnovignoni, montalcino, cortona), and somewhere in northern Tuscany for 4 nights to visit Volterra, San gimignano, Siena, Monteriggioni and Lucca. Any recommendations on agriturismos/local accom to stay in? The smaller and more local the better.
DOLOMITES - 5 days
We'd then make our way to the dolomites (I understand you can drive from Venice or Verona, so probably stop in venice to stay a night and get a campervan from near there to drive up to the dolomites. I'm yet to research the itinerary here but thinking perhaps 2 nights in Cortina d’Ampezzo and 2 nights in Val Gardena as a base for some good hikes. Any recs on good hikes/locations to camp would be great. Also, any stops on the way from Lucca to the Dolomites? We'd return the camper at the end of the stay and fly out of Venice.
Thanks so much, you guys have been so helpful!