8 Days in Italy: 3 or 4 cities? We leave in 2 wks!

I think your itinerary looks fine. If architecture is something you enjoy then you probably want 4 days in Rome. Hopefully you arrive in Rome in the morning so you can treat your arrival day as a full day. If not and you arrive in the evening of the 13th, I would consider cutting out one place and using at least one of those two days for Rome.

You can do all 4; provided you don't mind racing through them, missing a lot and not taking time for the wine, and food. Remember you'll easily lose half a day going between cities and finding your hotel. I'd drop at least one. Maybe 2. I've been to Rome, Florence and Venice. Haven't been to CT yet. Though the museums and churches were interesting. The best part of each of them is kicking back and leisurely enjoying the scenery, the architecture, the food and the wine. And most importantly the people. Have fun. Bring back great memories.

We just did those same four areas in 9 days, and were pretty rushed, and I was intensive in planning and getting the best possible rail schedules. Rome is certain as is Venice. Florence would be easiest to add, because the trains are easy in and out, but as you've said, the CT is beautiful. It's just more time-consuming getting into and out of. But since scenery is your thing, you could do Rome in 3, CT in 3, and Venice in 2. In order to not waste an entire day on trains, you'll need to depart the CT before 8am to get to Venice. PM me if you want specifics on this.

My 2 cents: The CT will not be at their best in late October. I would drop them in favor of Siena, especially given your interests. Of the four things you list, the CT really have only scenery.

I suggest dropping the CT. Even in the summer there's the chance it would rain the one usable day you have there, and the odds go up in late Oct. 4 places is too much, IMHO. It takes about 1/2 day to go between places when you count the time of packing, go to train station, riding the train, then finding the hotel at the new city. And given your ages I don't think you're going to be in bed by 10pm each nite, so add in how its going to feel to get up at 7am so you have time to eat breakfast and catch an 8:30am or 9am train.

The advice from your replies and on other posts have been very helpful - thanks! I found a day trip (long, but manageable) out of Florence to the Cinque Terre. That gives us the option to go without us changing hotels/cities. Any experience or advice on this kind of trip? The one I found is offered by Viator.

I would drop everything in between and make the most out of being in Rome and Venice. I first went to Italy on a school-sponsored spring break trip in high school (just a week!) and we went to Verona, Venice, Padua, Pistoia, Florence, and Rome. At the time I didn't realize how crazy it was but now I would never travel like that if I had only a week. Stick to Rome and Venice and return to Italy to see the other places on your list. Trip-planning is half the fun!

I'd go with Roma, Firenze, Venezia only for 8 days. I agree that CT is not that good in Oct.

I would trim back to 3 bases for your interests of historic sights, scenery, architecture food & wine. Rome, Florence & Venice. You may have some rain in Oct. so Museums are a gd place to be on those days. Buon Viaggio. Just assume you will go back for CT Tuscany & Amalfi coast

I would do as you say in Rome, counting the day you fly in, 3 nights in Florence, so you can see Florence and also day trip to Pisa, Assisi, Cortona, or Lucca ( I really enjoyed this city)., and 2 nights in Venice. I would skip the CT, unless you really want to see it. When I was in Italy last year, I stayed in Arezzo, because it is a charming town, and did day trips out of there, to Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Assisi and Cortona, even went to Rome. But whatever you decide, enjoy your trip, and always remember you will be back. There isn't a way to see everything, and each year, of the last 6 years I always look forward to seeing something different, and even when I go back to the same places, I always see something I haven't seen before or see something different of the same place I have been many times. Enjoy the food, the people, the get-away and love every minute of it. Take care.

Jennifer, as the duration of your trip is 10-days, I'm assuming you've allowed for the travel days to and from Europe? With such a short trip, minimizing travel times between cities will be important. For that reason, limiting your trip to Rome, Florence and Venice would be a good idea, as your two rail trips will be about 2-hours (if using the EuroStar Italia / Alta Velocita). ¶ You could (for example) spend 3-days in Rome, 3-days in Florence and 2-days in Venice. The Cinque Terre will probably be somewhat "quiet" at this time of year, but since that seems to be important to you, a day trip from Florence is certainly possible (but it will be a LONG day). I don't have any experience with Viator, so can't offer any comments on that. You could easily travel to the C.T. on your own, rather than with a tour. If you departed Florence at 06:37, you'd arrive at La Spezia at 09:19 (you didn't say which of the villages you want to visit, but you'll have to pass through La Spezia - use the local train from there to the villages). On the return, you could depart La Spezia at 20:06, arriving back in Florence at 22:33. The trip each way is about 2H:15M, sometimes a change in Pisa (depending on which train you choose). Happy travels!

As Ken mentioned above, you could do the day trip to CT from Florence on your own without the tour group. Early start and late return by train, with those hours he gave. You could wait until you are in Florence to decide, something you couldn't do with an organized tour since you need to reserve ahead of time. I am not sure October is the best time to see CT in all its glory. Aside from the cliffs and colored houses, the main colors come from the vineyards which are already changing colors in southern Tuscany now so I am not sure if in Liguria they've already changed. In any case, decide last minute depending on the weather whether to make the trip or not on the following day. If not, you have great alternatives for day trips from Florence - to Siena, San Gimignano or Pisa and Lucca or a day wine tasting in Chianti. Siena is pretty different from Florence, love the differences and relative calm of a town such as Siena compared to the traffic in Florence.

All great advice! Our thought is to do the Rome-Florence-Venice route to reduce travel times by taking the high-speed trains. As much as this isn't "through the back door", it is our first visit and we're limited on time. We then have to option of day trips either on our own or joining a group if it is possible last minute. We'd like to wait til we're there to decide. Great point about the changing fall colors in Chianti. CT could be saved for a spring or summer trip. Even though I haven't been yet, I alrady know I'll return. Thanks for the help.

Jennifer, I love the CT, but I wouldn't wish a one day from Florence tour on my worst enemy. Stay in Florence that day and see some more fantastic architecture.