Itinerary advice for a first-timer...

I think it is too busy but I have stopped making that argument with first time travelers. Our first trip was like that so I think everyone needs a drive by trip once so they can appreciate the value of going slow the next time. You might consider dropping the car at Termini in Rome. Save the trip coming back into Rome from the airport. Make sure each of your hotels has parking or can recommend a parking facility. Ask if the hotel is inside a TLZ zone - and if it is - make sure the car is reported to the police. Otherwise you get a very popular Italian souvenir in the mail about a year later.

Thank you, Frank, for the good advice on the car. Based on your experience, what would you drop?

I would shift one night away from Siena and to Assisi. I hate spending only one night in a place, and Assisi is beautiful. Here are some photos from our trip there in May 2008. Happy travels.

I agree with staying extra time in one of the other locations. Plus, I found Siena very difficult to negotiate with a car and I drive everywhere. I would just take a bus from where you are staying for a day trip to Siena. I don't mind moving if I am going someplace completely different, but I think you should mapquest where you want to go in the Tuscany area and see if you can't find a central location and just do day trips to a few from one hotel.

To save one hotel change and 1 day of driving (and parking), I would see Pisa and Lucca as a day trip via train from Florence. Then on 4/30 pick up your car and start your driving portion. I would also take 1 night from Siena and add it to Assisi.

I would limit it to Florence, Rome and one other area. I would plan 4 or 5 nights in Rome.

Mark, I'd structure the trip a bit differently, mainly to minimize the number of location changes. I assume you're departing from home on 4/25? My preference would be along these lines: > 4/25 - Depart U.S. > 4/26 - Arrive Rome / FCO; Leonardo Express to Termini and then ES/AV to Florence (are you planning to buy your rail ticket online, or when you arrive?) > 4/27 - Florence > 4/28 - Florence > 4/29 - Florence; day trip to either Lucca or Pisa (pick one) > 4/30 - Bus to Siena; check-in to Hotel and then pick-up rental car (might be best to do that on Apr. 30 rather than the Labour Day holiday on May 1?) > 5/1 - Siena; day trip to San Gimignano > 5/2 - Siena; day trip to Montepulciano or Cortona > 5/3 - Siena; day trip to Assisi > 5/4 - Drive to Orvieto and turn-in rental car; train to Roma Termini (about one hour) > 5/5 - Rome > 5/6 - Rome > 5/7 - Rome > 5/8 - Rome > 5/9 - Leonardo Express to FCO; Flight home Note that each driver must have the compulsory International Driver's Permit for driving in Italy. Failure to produce an IDP if requested can result in fines on the spot. The IDP must be used in conjunction with your home D.L. Also, be sure to research the subject of Zona Traffico Limitato areas. These are especially prevalent in Florence (but exist in other places as well), and each pass through one of the automated Cameras will result in an expensive fine! You'll probably find it helpful to pack along a copy of the Italy Guidebook, as there's LOTS of information there on sightseeing, Hotels, transportation, restaurants, etc. Have you chosen accommodations yet? Good luck with your planning!

Thank you all for the responses. I have considered each carefully. I post a reply in two parts: @Michael – Thanks for sharing the pics. Assisi looks beautiful, and I'm trying to figure out how to spend more time there and what to sacrifice to do so. @Terry – I appreciate the suggestion. My resistance comes from a lot of postings that says Siena is too nice to do as a day trip. My intention was to park the car for a day or two and use Siena's public transportation. That inefficiency has bothered me, though, and I am wondering if a compromise is in order. @ekc – Excellent suggestions. In fact, based on an excellent thread started by Randy on people's most and least favorite places, Lucca consistently rates a "meh" and Pisa gets described as a "one-trick pony". I may drop them altogether in favor of more time in Assisi or Rome.

Part Two: @Richard – I appreciate the suggestion. It is really hard to resist the temptation to sample as much as possible from such a plethora of places to see and experience. Frank, in an earlier thread, makes an articulate argument for slowing things down by pointing out the time needed to take care of the little things – waiting for transportation, eating, getting lost and unlost, etc. – accumulates to the point where sophisticated and ambitious plans often fall apart. The only defense I can offer is to create a plan where I can adjust accordingly when things go awry. @Ken – Yes, we are departing from the homestead on 4/25, and are waiting to buy the train ticket once we arrive, since one can't be sure that the plane won't arrive late. I already have an IDP from a trip to Spain (although I need to check the expiration date). Thank you for the terrific suggested itinerary. I agree with your idea of dropping Lucca and Pisa. On other threads, people have suggested that Volterra and San Gimignano can both be done in 3-4 hours each. Would you agree? @Zoe – Thanks for the abundant recommendations and suggestions. :) I will check them out.

Mark, keeeping with your original itinerary, you might want to pick one city in Tuscany as a base and one in Unmbria. If you choose Florence, Siena is only an hour away. If you do want to sleep in both cities, I recommend Hotel Minerva in Siena, just outside the main gate and very near to the center of town - you can walk or take a bus. They also have garage parking on premises, free internet, breakfast, and some double rooms have views of the Siena skyline (it's that close). In Umbria, there are dozens of places in Assisi, and there are free parking zones just outside the Rocca Maggiore, the ruins of a fortress at the top of the town - you can walk down the stairs to your hotel, but of course you also have to walk up to your car. Cortona is on the way to Assisi, so you can make a stop there instead of a round-trip daytrip. Some other options for visits: Fiesole is very near Florence and easy to get to by public transportation. Montalcino, famous for its Brunello wine, is a pretty town as well. It's an easy drive to Arezzo from Florence and you will pass some great country scenery. If you press on a little further, you can also see Sansepolcro, along with Arezzo famous for Piero della Francesca's frescoes. Monteriggione is a small walled city quite close to Siena (you can walk the whole town in a little more than an hour). Umbrian hill towns: My favorites are Gubbio and Todi. Spello is only about 7km from Assisi.

Mark, you have received a good bunch of suggestion. I like Ken's plan. The way we handle the unexpected, the accumulations of delay, is to have no plan for every fourth day. We plan on losing at least a half day plus transportation time when changing locations. The other thing is -- when are going to do laundry? If you are truly traveling light you need a couple of days when part is devoted to laundry even if it is a drop off and pick up. We washing in the sink but every five or six days or so we wash everything at a laundry. And sometimes you need a half day just to sleep in. Good sightseeing is hard and exhausting work. IDPs are good for one year. So if it has been more than a year since you were in Spain, you will need a new one.

I agree, Frank. I have received some great suggestions, and I am grateful for the generosity of you and others in sharing your collective knowledge. Based on the suggestions, I am thinking of three nights in Florence, three nights in Siena, two nights in Assisi, and five nights in Rome. On the way from Florence to Siena, we will swing by San Gimignano. If we feel that we have seen the city and time permits, we'll continue to Volterra en route to Siena. If we find that we have seen Siena in a whole day, we'll go to Montepulciano on the national holiday. We'll go to Cortona on the way to Assisi. If the spirit moves us, we'll stop and see Orvieto on the way to Rome. What I like about this plan is that if we decide to drop the car in favor of public transportation, we can still do this with minor adjustments. We can add or drop side trips as we desire (or perhaps as the fatigue catches up to us). We do intend to pack light, and plan to stay in rental apartments with washers in the three-night cities. Now that I think about it, I should check that they are washer/dryer combos. How does all this sound?

Mark, it sounds great. I'm sure you'll have a great time on this trip - and on all future ones. Regarding what's open on 5/1: Churches. And, this could be your sleep-in day since it's nearly halfway through your itinerary.

Hi Mark, Now that I think about it, I should check that they are washer/dryer combos. Electricity is very expensive in Europe, especially Italy, and dryers burn vast quantities of electricity, with the associated carbon footprint. You will probably find that they will have washers but no dryers. Most Italians hang their laundry out on lines where it drys in no time in the hot Italian sun.