Hi all,
I am in the beginning stages of planning for a trip next year. My older son will be graduating high school and we want to take him and his younger brother (who will be 16) to Italy. We have not traveled to Europe since they were born, so really looking forward to it. We will be travelling early June. Not sure of the length yet, but figure around two weeks, possibly a few more days if we can swing it.
The plan is to go to Rome, Florence, Venice, Tuscany, and Cinque Terre. My first question is whether we should go south to north or north to south. My initial thought was to start in Rome and end in Venice, - one because I just love Venice so much, it is a great place to end, and two because I figure the earlier we are in Rome the cooler the weather will be. But Rome can be quite intense, and since the first day you arrive is so disorienting (especially because i can't sleep on planes), I think it might be overwhelming. And Venice is so easy to stroll around without being too vigorous. So maybe it would be easier to save Rome for the end of the trip. Just wondering what everyone else thinks about this.
My second question has to do with how to organize the middle of the trip. In Rick Steve's book, his sample itinerary shows going from Venice to Cinque Terre. But I notice in looking at the train schedules, that a lot of the fastest trains go through Florence, instead of a more northern route through Milan. So I am thinking perhaps, go to Florence first and stay there, then travel to Cinque Terre, then go from there to visit the various towns in Tuscany. I plan to rent a car so we can drive around through Tuscany. But I am unsure where we should make a base to stay, if for example, we have three nights and two full days there. Also, not sure where it would be a logical place to pick up a car. Pisa perhaps? Or maybe La Spezia? Are there any issues in Italy with picking up one place and dropping off another? It would make sense to drop off the car in Florence to continuing to Rome (or Venice if we go the other way). Any feedback/suggestions are appreciated.