6 days in Italy

That's a lot for six days so good luck cramming in all those places. Have you looked through any travel guides or watched any travel videos? What appeals to you? Italy is more than museums and churches. But those are pretty cool.

We cannot plan it for you. With six days your options are very limited. Rome and Florence is about it. Go to your public library and check out the travel guides and travel DVDs. Read, read, read until you have idea of what you want to see. I would spend 3 days in Rome, 2 in Florence and 1 in Milan. Save the other areas when you have more time.

6 days is way too short... but if that's all I had to work with it would be Rome, Venice, and Milan. To really "experience" Tuscany, you need time. Which you don't have.

If you must see Tuscany, your time would be well spent in Siena or Assisi (which is actually in Umbria).

Get a guide book and read about what each city or area has to offer. This is the only way you can determine what is a "must see" for you. No one can make that decision for you.

With only 6 days you should choose no more than two cities to visit. Even that isn't enough time but if it's all you have then you have to work with it. Just be sure to be in Milan the night before your flight. You don't want to take the chance of missing your flight due to transportation issues.

donna

I agree with the others that you probably have too much planned. I'd either choose Cinque Terre or Tuscany, both of which are amazing. In Rome highlights would include the Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain. Also there the Spanish Steps, Trajan's Column and the Vatican. If you could include one church, why not St. Peter's Basilica (why not the hugest)? A tour with a hop on, hop off bus will give you a nice overview and then you can choose what you want to see more closely.
If you choose Tuscany, I'd take a train to a town close to the town of your choosing (check out guide books for quaint towns) and then drive to see as many small towns as you can fit in. A full day trip to Florence is fascinating (but don't drive into Florence...either take a train or park outside the city) with the great museums of the Uffizi and the Accademia Galllery.
If you choose Cinque Terre, you should slow down and smell the salt air. Have a glass of vino and watch the waves of the incredibly blue Ligurian Sea. The five towns are connected by trails, trains, and boats. Have a wonderful time!!! It would be difficult not to.

Thank you all for the ideas. I realize I was trying to fit in way too much in the short time I have there. I will keep it to Rome and either Tuscany or Cinque Terre. I have spent hours reading through Rick Steve's travel guides, paperback and online, as ell as many other resources and was getting overwhelmed with "so much to see and so little time". I wrote on this site after spending the evening investigating and feeling like I was getting no where.

It's always good to leave something for your next trip whether that's in one year or 10.

When are you going? The Cinque Terre can be less than good if it's the wrong time of year.

Rick's introductory pages for each city usually suggest what you can see with 1 or 2 days in that city. Do you have 6 nights? I love Venice even more than Florence, but you can really only pick one overnight destination between your start and end cities.

Fly into Rome at ?? time and stay 3 nights (2 full days of sightseeing)

Early train 1.5 hours to Florence, stay 2 nights (2 days in Florence or use 1 for side trip to Siena by bus)

Train 2 hours to Milan and stay 1 night (most of 1 day for sightseeing)

With a trip of this length I'd spend 3 nights in Rome (because 1st Day you'll be jet-lagged) and 2 in Florence.
Florence is the transportation hub for Tuscany, and it IS in Tuscany. You can enjoy some of the sites in Florence.
You can take the train to Milan, and in My Opinion, just spend the night before you leave near the airport, since
there's not a lot to see in Milan.

Rome has LOTS to see, and I've spent weeks there and not done it all. IMO highlights are: St. Peters Basillica,
Collisseum, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona. That will keep you busy. Don't waste your time looking for the Spanish
Steps! They're the Raquel Welch of Rome: The "camera" loves them, but up close and personal, they're just stairs!
I actually walked by them them several times before I even realized what they were! LOL! (And I spent hours
searching for this site!) No offense intended towards Raquel (lol)

In both Rome and Florence, please, just enjoy being there! Don't rush from site to site, with a list with little boxes
to check off -- saw this, check, saw that, check, etc.! Sit in a piazza, drinking a little wine, eating a pizza, stop for
a gelato! In Florence get a good Florentine Bisteca! (Steak, best in the world). Wander the piazzas of Florence at night,
especially Piazza dela Signoria -- they have sweet musicians who sing opera or play guitar, and the fountains are lit!
Take the bus up to Piazza Michelangelo and see the sunset, with a view of all of Florence!

If you decide you must go to Cinque Terre, then eliminate Florence/Tuscany altogether. Not enough time.

My first trip, I scheduled a new destination every two days and spent most of my precious vacation time looking out of a window
on a bus or a train and not much time in the location just "enjoying." Better leave something for next time! 7 nights on the ground is just enough for two cities.

Have a GREAT trip!