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Advice for Planning Itinerary from Rome through Tuscany, Cinque Terre to Milan

Hi Fellow Travelers!

I am looking for advice and suggestions for a trip I am planning traveling solo in late April/May starting in Rome, then through the best highlights of Tuscany/Umbria, then a few days stay in Cinque Terra, then fly out of Milan. I will have three weeks for my travels, and will not be renting a car. I plan to travel by train/bus and stay in hostels or less expensive B&Bs. I'm looking for several best "base" towns in Umbria/Tuscany where I can hopefully take day bus tours from to other surrounding sites and towns. I did this with Rabbies Tours in Scotland and it worked well. I'm wanting to see Sienna, Pisa, Montecantini, Lucca, Purugia, Assisi, Ovietto, maybe San Gimignano, Montepulciano and Montalcino. I have been to Florence, may skip it this trip, but am thinking possibly it could be a base for day trips to Tuscany/Umbria? Any advice for home base towns that have "day bus tours" to surrounding areas? If so, any recommendations for best day tour companies? Best way to get from base town to base town, by train? Bus? Is this itinerary doable? I'm open to other towns as well that should not be missed! Thanks so much for any and all feedback!

Posted by
15268 posts

Since Florence is out of your plans, and you rely on public transportation, you should have your Tuscan base in Siena.
Lucca, Montecatini, and Pisa are too far, so you need a second base in Lucca for maybe 3 nights.
Perugia is the Umbrian regional capital, so it’s the hub for Umbria. From there you can visit Assisi and Gubbio easily.
Orvieto is somewhat on the way to Rome. So I would stop there on the way from Rome to Perugia for a night or two max.
So to recapitulate, this is the sequence:
ROME
ORVIETO
PERUGIA
SIENA
LUCCA
CINQUE TERRE
MILAN
From Perugia to Siena you might have to go around Via Florence, although it would be a quick 90 min drive on the freeway. Check if there is a direct bus. Google AUTOBUS DA PERUGIA A SIENA. Maybe you get lucky.

Posted by
8 posts

Thanks so much for your feedback and suggestions. This is really helpful. I'm starting to consider that maybe I should include Florence as a good possible base for day trips to Umbria/Tuscany towns, which might be a better option. Thanks again.