A year to travel...thoughts on first leg

It might be helpful if you indicated your total time you plan to spend. Looks like maybe four weeks in Italy and another four in Spain. That leaves about another five weeks. Do you have plans for that?

Sorry if that was unclear. About 4 weeks in Italy, and 3-4 in Spain. Which comes first-- tht's TBD.

After that, we see how we feel. Home for a breather, or we keep heading North. Thanks.

That's a pretty good schedule that reflects the time you have to spend. Cinque Terra and Amalfi Coast might seem similar but if you love scenic coastlines and villages you probably can't get too much of it.

A car might be helpful in Sicily and Amalfi but otherwise stick with trains and busses. Southern Italy should be nice by March.

Keep in mind that you will be limited to 90 days within the Schengen zone before you must leave for 90 days...

Douglas, thanks for the heads up. Wasn't thinking about Schengen.

So if we want to go back after peak season-- say mid Sept--it looks like we'd need to be out of the zone by mid-June. (But we could go to UK during the 90-day waiting period, right?)

A car will be helpful in Tuscany (Florence) & Sicily. I disagree with Douglas about a car for the Amalfi Coast. It's a difficult place to drive. You might split your time between Sorrento and some place south that makes getting to Paestum easier. In fact, going to Paestum would be the only car-rental-worthy trip in that area, so maybe stay in Ravello or Amalfi and rent a car one day for the Paestum trip.

We were in Sicily in late March last year and the weather was miserable. Of course it was a cold spring all over Italy. I'd be inclined to start a few weeks later, maybe after Easter, with your Italy itinerary. Perhaps you can kick off your tour in Spain.

As to the Cinque Terre, it is a great place to "chill." I'd stay at least 3 nights and strongly consider 5. We've spent 11 nights there in three trips and will go back. The seafood is amazing (almost as good as Sicily) and there are endless paths and vistas.

Getting a Schengen visa is not impossible, it's just a process. Look into into it rather than chopping your trip up because of the 90 day restriction.

JoeC,

My first thought is that since you haven't travelled across the pond yet, it would be a good idea to read Europe Through The Back Door before you get too far in your planning. That provides a LOT of good information on "how" to travel in Europe, Itinerary planning, money, etc. Once you've determined where you'll be visiting, use the country or city-specific Guidebooks to plan sightseeing, hotels, transportation, etc.

Regarding the best time of year to travel, I'd suggest the mid May to mid June period that you mentioned. The weather could be chilly and perhaps rainy in March, so waiting until May will give you a chance to (hopefully) have better weather. Also, the Cinque Terre may not be fully "open" in March (usually opens for the season about April 1st).

The basic order of your Itinerary looks good. Using well planned public transit will allow you to get to most of the places on your list, although if you're planning to visit hill towns in Tuscany, a rental car would be a good idea for that portion of the trip. I agree with Laurel that a rental car on the Amalfi Coast may not be the best idea. For driving in Italy, a GPS along with a good Map are often useful travel accessories.

One point to mention is that there are potentially expensive "caveats" with both rail & bus travel in Italy, as well as rental cars. Therefore it would be a good idea to "do your homework" on those.

Regarding the Schengen Visa 90 day limit that was mentioned in earlier replies, it should be relatively easy to plan your trip around that by visiting countries that aren't included in the Schengen zone. For example, you'll be able to stay in the U.K. for up to six months (provided you can afford it - the exchange rate makes it a somewhat expensive place to travel).

Of course as you want to do this "Rick Steves style", you could always add a RS tour into the mix at some point. If you're planning to travel with Cell phones, you'll have to do a bit of research on "roaming", so that you don't come home to HUGE bills. You'll also have to give some thought to languages. Knowing a few of the usual polite words in each language is a good idea.

It's great that you're getting such an early start on your planning, as that will give you time to work out all the fine details.

Happy travels!

Great. I'm sure we can make the 90-day limit work, especially with "UK in Summer" option.

Very much appreciate the advice on languages. It's one of the things I'm really excited about-- along with learning songs (I'm a singer). I speak a little Spanish now, and will also study intensively in Guatemala in January. I've learned to say Thank You in about 25 languages. Hope to add a few other useful phrases-- along with some coloful ones-- in months ahead.

I've seen Rick's Traveling Essentials a couple times-- great info-- and I'm working my way through Back Door now. Italy 2014's on my Kindle, and Spain 2014 comes out today!

Based on what I'm hearing, I'm leaning toward seeing Italy before Spain, starting mid-March. A South to North route won't put us in Cinque Terre till mid-late April. If we can catch a flight from that area, I think it'll set us up well to start in Spain during Easter Week.

Thanks again!

Do be prepared for rain/cold in mid March. We started in Sicily on March 20 one year and had lots of it - interspersed with some gorgeous days.

Think about 5-7 nights based near/in a hilltown in Tuscany for chilling out time. You could find a farmhouse or apartment to rent and day trip to other spots in Tuscany. Two trips ago, we rented a farmhouse outside of Cortona, spent two days locally, and drove to Montepulciano and Sienna. Cortona also had a train station so did two trips to Florence for the day, one to Sightsee, and another for a soccer match.

Sicily needs more than 5 days. It's huge and a lot to see. 7 days should be the absolute minimum.
A car is not advised while visiting cities and bigger towns. Also a car is pretty much useless at the Cinque Terre, where you'll be using the trains only (when you don't hike the trails or enjoy thebeach). You can do without a car at the Amalfi coast as well, since parking is costly and buses and boats work beautifully.
A car is a good idea for visiting the small hill towns and the countryside in Tuscany, Sicily and Andalusia (Spain). I recommend that for the days you intend to rent a car you also find accommodations in countryside or small towns. Driving and parking inside Florence, or Palermo, or Sevilla is a nightmare.