9.5 days in Northern Italy

Cynthia: Congrats on being able to fly into one city and out of another. That is a time saver! You can "see" all those places, but you won't experience them as well as if you slow down a bit. Assuming you land in Milan early in the day, get a train immediately to Venice. You will be there in a few hours. That's Day One: arrive in Italy and take a train to Venice. That evening you can take a walk, have dinner and get a good nights sleep so you are on Italian time then next day. Venice is worth at least 2 full days, so three nights total. I have not been to Florence in years, but I'd think 2 or 3 nights there, and as much time as you can give to Rome 3 days/nights is barely enough to see the highlights. IMHO, Milan is not worth your time on a short trip. Use Milan as a gateway to your trip as there are excellent train connections from Milano Centrale. You could visit the Cinque Terre instead of Florence, but it would take a lot of extra travel time both on the way in and on the way out to Rome. Florence IS in Tuscany, and you can easily take a short trip to Siena, for example, while you are in Florence. Or maybe skip Florence and go to Siena, then daytrip to a hill town or two, for a more Tuscan country experience. It depends on what you want to do: art and museums are the big scene in Florence. The CT is about natural beauty and people. Train is the way to go! Saves time and money, and you'll enjoy a lot of great scenery.

6 destinations and changes of location, in 9 full days on the ground, is pushing the limits of what's feasible, let alone enjoyable. Especially when you say you also want to have some days or partial days where you can people watch. Sometimes less is more. You asked: can you do the train: Yes, you can take the train to all those destinations except the hilltowns of Tuscany. The travel time between destinations will eat up more time than you might think. That is time when you're just looking at the inside of train stations or trains. This website gives you train travel times: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en Remember those times are only station to station times, you have to allow for time to check out of your hotel, get to the train station, buy tickets, wait for the train--on both sides.

So if you were going to pick one, would it be Venice or Cinque Terre?

Thanks so much Laurel and Kent. We are going British air, and our flight will get into Milan at 6:50. I am thinking that we will just have dinner and go to bed, attempting to get on Italian time. I had planned on going to see the Last Supper. Do you think I would be better off just going to Venice first thing in the morning? If I am taking the train everywhere, is there a way I can see the hill towns of tuscany, perhaps by a small tour bus if that exists? When we where in Great Britain, we took a tour of the Cotswolds via a tour bus we discovered from Rick Steves. It was a wonderful experience. I would love it if we could have a similar experience. I am thinking that the "less is more" attitude is a great one, I just need help deciding what to cut out of the trip. Thanks,
Cynthia

I would pick Venice over the CT any day. The CT are pretty, but Venice is jaw-dropping. FWIW, they'll both be crowded with other tourists in September. In Venice you'll be able to avoid the hordes by seeing sights other than St. Mark's and the Rialto between 10 and 4. In the CT, the tourists are unavoidable during that time.

Cynthia, We did a very similar trip to what you are suggesting 18 months ago. We flew into Milan and immediately trained to Lake Como for the night. But we arrive in the morning not in the evening. We left Varenna the next morning by train for Milan. We had early reservations for the Last Supper. Then cab to the train station and left for Venice. Arrived Venice early afternoon and spent two nights. Train to Florence. Spent 3 nights. Took a day trip to CT, which was a mistake. Not because CT wasn't beautiful, but it is tough to get there and back in the same day and see anything. If I had to do it again, I would skip and take a day trip to Siena instead. Train to Rome for three nights. It was busy. It was eventful, but we would not change a thing. This however doesn't met your coastline criteria. Our trip was as busy as I would ever do one. We are planning to go back in May and do the same itinerary, in 13 days instead of 9 :) Mike

Since you only have 9.5 days, I would say spend that time in either Venice, Florence, and Rome or Milan, Venice, and the CT. (I've never been to the CT so I can't comment on that.)

Cynthia, I would suggest the following: Arrive Milan, check into hotel, have dinner, sleep. Next morning see the Last Supper (make earliest reservation available before you leave on your trip), then take morning train to Venice. 2 nights Venice, then early train to Florence 3 nights Florence, with 1 day for a Tuscany bus tour
Remaining 3 (?) nights in Rome.

I was working on a response (checking train times) and ekc beat me to it. My suggestion is similar with one optional change, see below. If your plane arrives in Milan at 6:50 PM you will not want to transfer into the city center and catch a train to somewhere else. Stay that night in Milan and book the Last Supper for the next morning.
Then, I suggest you choose EITHER Venice or Cinque Terre. WE have been to both and in my opinion you can't go wrong with either. However, while Venice is our favorite city in the world, I couldn't bear to go for a short time (a night or 2) and I also would not care to deal with the crowds, which will still be there in September thanks to the cruise business. Cinque Terre makes a nice stop as it is your one "non-city" stop, where you have a chance to slow down and soak in the scenery instead of art. Walk and enjoy the vineyards, ocean vies, and the people instead of traffic and museum crowds. From Milan it is just 2 hours 35 minutes to Venice and just over 3 hours to Cinque Terre. If you take the IC 665 that departs at 12:05 (leaving you time in the morning to see the Last Supper), you travel with no train changes to Monterosso al Mare, arring at 3:02 (15:02). Change there to a regional train for the village of your choice-a 5 or 10 minute ride. From either Venice or Cinque Terre you would proceed to Florence and then to Rome. Trip would then be 1 night Milan, 2 in CT, 3 in Florence (or 2 if you choose to stay in a smaller Tuscan town on your way to Rome) and 3 nights in Rome. This itinerary path makes good use of your time, with no train journey over 3 hours, and no back-tracking.

cynthia, The Itinerary suggested by Lola looks great, and about the same as I was going to suggest. If you decide to reduce your time in Florence, you could spend one night in Siena, as it's a "Tuscan Hill town" and it's on the way to Rome. I'd suggest travel by Bus from Florence to Siena ("Corse Rapide"). The travel time is about the same as by train, and the Bus drops passengers in the main part of town rather than the bottom of the hill where the rail station is located. Travel to Rome by train (ask your Hotel to pre-arrange a Taxi for the trip to the station). Be sure to allow for travel times between locations, including time to pack up and move Hotels, waiting for trains, etc. Happy travels!

Good news! We have been able to change our flights so that we now will have 11.5 days. I know that's not a lot, but perhaps it will allow us to enjoy a little more. I would still love anyones suggestions for itineraries, now that we have the 2 extra days. Thanks
C

2 days make all the difference. If you can get tickets to the Last Supper, and if it is REALLY important to you, do that your first morning (I am assuming you still arrive at 1850). The earliest you can get into the Last Supper and this assumes you can get tickets for that time is 0930. You should still be able to make the 1135 or 1305 (time will depend on exact schedule when you are traveling) to Venice from Milano Centrale. We were quite amazed by "Cenacolo" as the Italians call it. But it is very much dependent on the ticket availability. Stay flexible, but I would not spend a whole day waiting around to see it. You will return! So your itinerary might look like this: Night 1 - Milan; next AM the Last Supper if you can get 0930 tickets. Nights 2, 3, 4 - Venice (2 full days in the city, plus an afternoon evenign when you arrive) Transfer to Florence Nights 5, 6, 7 - Florence (2 full days in the city plus an afternoon and evening when you arrive) Transfer to Rome Nights 8, 9, 10, 11 - Rome Rome is really worth that many days. Really! You can day trip to Siena from Florence, or stay in Siena and daytrip to Florence, but give Venice (my favorite city!!) a couple of days at least. And give Rome (my second favorite!) at least 3. You will soak up so much culture. Take time to sit, sip, relax, watch people in all the places. You can't be moving every two nights and do that. The memorable times will be the simple things that happen on your way to the big sites. If you want to do the CT, skip Florence/Tuscany this time. You'll be so rushed to do both. It really does take a lot of travel time to get there and then go to Rome.
PM me if you want more details.

If you love classic sculpture, and Renaissance painting and architecture, 2 days in Florence is just scratching the suface. If you don't, then 2 days in Florence is a lot. The CT is very picturesque. You can take a morning train from Florence, stay overnight, and train to Rome late afternoon the next day - enough time to hike and enjoy the scenery. I would skip Milan completely, go right to Venice, or spend a night in Verona first. There are many sights, but it is a small town with lots of atmosphere. You are also more likely to be able to watch the locals, while in the other places, you'll mostly be watching other tourists.