A month in Italy

Having a month to enjoy those regions of Italy sounds wonderfully unrushed. I would probably include the Dolomites vs. Switzerland or Austria, just to give you a feel for all the variety within the borders of Italy.

As far as an itinerary goes, you could consider a week in each area you've listed. One idea would be to start in the north and work your way south. Fly into Milan and begin with the Lakes region, continue with the Dolomites, then Tuscany and Umbria, and finish at the Amalfi coast, for example.

Information on each of those areas would be on our website, at http://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy and details on sights, accommodations, transportation, etc. in our Italy guidebook.

Lombardy Lakes, Dolomites, Tuscany, Umbria, Campania (gulf of Naples/Amalfi Coast) are a good plan. About 4 to 6 nights in each of the above regions would be perfect.
Flying to Milan and returning from Naples is an option but NAP has limited flights with traditional airlines (it's largely a low cost European airline destination) therefore you might want to come back up to Rome for you last few nights of your stay and fly back home from Rome. While in Rome, if you have been there already, you can make a couple of day trips outside the city (Orvieto, Albani hills, Tivoli).

One of the coolest parts of our 17 day trip last month was, after spending 4 days in Paris, taking the train to Lucerne, Switzerland for 2 days, then through the Alps to Milan and finally, Florence and then Salerno. Over the course of three days I was speaking fractured French, listening to German, then speaking a little Italian. In Europe you can do this, and I loved it.

I would definitely do 'open jaw', flying into one place, out of another. I would fly into Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels or Zurich, and knock around northern Europe for a week or so. The trains are efficient, not too expensive, and very comfortable even in 2nd class. Switzerland is a dream, albeit an expensive one. Unmatched scenery, very polite and 'can-do' residents.

Then 3 weeks in Italy. Heck, you can't go wrong. Any more than 5 nights in one place, consider an apartment, like we did in Florence. B&B's are great too, as we experienced in Salerno. Due diligence is necessary in vetting these places out, of course. North to south are like two different countries--personally, I am partial to the south: anywhere south of Naples into Sicily, I'm good with that.

Enjoy your planning!

Thanks to you all for the thoughtful replies. We have decided to go in the fall 2016 beginning with a week in Varenna, 2 weeks in Tuscany/Umbria and finish with a week somewhere on the Amalfi coastline. I was wondering if considering weather would it be better to start our trip the last week of September or the first week in October. I would like to take the train for a day possibly to St. Moritz or somewhere in Switzerland, train to Milan one day and exploring the different towns on the lake. Should we consider staying in Switzerland a night or two? Looking at apartments for our stay in Varenna. I like some cool weather and swimming is not something we would be interested in. Thoughts?
We have stayed in Sorrento a couple of nights on Tauck tour 7 years ago but wondered if another location along the coast may be better. We loved it there but maybe a different experience. Is a week too long on the Amalfi coastline? We have been to Pompeii, Rome, etc.

Many thanks - this is helpful!
Susan

If you want to take a day trip to Switzerland, you can take the train from Varenna to Tirano a little after 8 am. Connect to the Bernina Express train to St Moritz, getting there about 12:30 pm. To mix it it up a bit for the return, take the post bus over the Maloja pass to Chiavenna, Italy where you connect to a train to Colico which connects to a train to Varenna. Leave St Moritz at 3 pm or 5 pm (last bus back), getting back to Varenna at 6:30 or 8:30 pm.

Thanks for the tips on a day trip to St. Moritz. Is that long enough to take a look-see? I am guessing the train ride and scenery will be a wonderful part of it. Do you think weather makes much of a difference if we are there last week of September versus first week of October?

We traveled to Italy for a month in 2012. We were a group of 4 couples, so 8 total travelers. We spent a week in three separate villas during our stay (we used vrbo.com and villeinItalia.com). Our first villa, Villa Maggiore was located in La Spezia and provided us with **** comfort and a great location near the Mediterranean to travel to the Cinque Terre, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, and other small villages. Great host and reasonable price. Our second villa, was Villa Antica Torre, located in a small village just below Cortona in the heart of Tuscany. From here we made daytrips to many hilltop villages and other towns (Volterra, Siena, Multipulciano, San Gimignano, Pienza, Assisi). Finally, we spent our last weeklong stay in Massa Lubrense, near Sorrento and visited all of the Amalfi Coast towns as well as historical sites inland (Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Pompeii, Paestum, Capri). We spent the last four days in Rome in a 4 bedroom apt. a mile from the Vatican. Our timing for this trip was the last 10 days of September and 20 days in October. We were in shorts the whole time!