Agonizing over the itinerary

Thanks for the advise. We do plan on making daytrips while in Florence....Sienna, San Gimigniano, a day of biking in Tuscany (if there is such a thing).
In Sorrento we will do the same...Capri, Positano, Amalfi, Pompei. We are sharing a beautiful villa in Sorrento with another couple and needed to rent it for the week. No hardship though as it is absolutely gorgeous with an outstanding view(I found it on the VRBO site). We can handle it for a week!!
Holly

Flying into Pisa would be the easiest way to the CT. It is a small airport and the train station is right in the airport terminal. Take a train to LaSpezia and switch there for the local trains to the CT-it is a short ride to the first CT town. If Sorrento is your last stop, fly out of Naples. There is an airport bus which leaves from the center of town (coach type bus-luggage goes under the bus).

I think it's a good itinerary! Two full days is more than enough for the CT. If the weather is bad, you can still see the villages just maybe not hike. I like that you are not rushing around and are staying in places for longer periods. Not sure 4 nights is nearly enough in Rome, but a whole week in Florence is awesome so I couldn't in good conscience tell you to take time away from there (I personally much preferred Florence to Rome and I don't even like art).

You might want to reconsider the timing of the CT. Rather than hit it straight off, why not cushion it in as a nice little break in the middle of your itinerary?

I'm going to offer an opposing opinion on the CT. I honestly do not feel that 2 days is enough there. But, this comes with the caveat that I love the CT. We were there mid-September '09 for 2.5 days & unfortunately it rained for 1.5 days. We had wanted to hike between some of the towns and were not able to because of the rain. Based on the time of year that you will be there, rain is a possibility. Even if it had not rained, I would have wanted to spend another day there. I would add another day to the CT and if after the first 2 days you have seen everything you want on the CT then on the third day you could daytrip to Portovenere, Portofino or Camogli. These are lovely places. Also, keep in mind that since the CT is your first stop, you may be a bit jet-lagged and you may want to take it easier the first day. Have a wonderful trip.

Florence for 7 nights might be a bit long, you might want to stay in CT for 3 nights rather than 2. Spending time in one location for a week however, does allow you to get to know the place a lot better, stretch out and enjoy it at your own pace. There's a company offering bike tours in Tuscany - Tuscany Bike Tours - which has received very good reviews on Tripadvisor. You could also consider a walking tour of the countryside, I did a great walk with Walk About Tuscany, also highly rated on Tripadvisor.

Thank you all for your responses and advice. Sheron, I liked your idea of adding another day onto CT with the option of taking a day trip to Portofino etc.
That would shorten our stay in Rome to 2 full days.
I really like the smaller cities, but I've heard that Rome is "a must see." Flying in to Pisa is a good suggestion as long as we can get a good connection from Milan....and flying out of Naples sounds good also.
Italian friends of ours suggested going to CT first in the hopes of getting better weather for hiking/beach.

I think your plan to spend a week in Florence is great! The more I travel the more I move to a "base city" mode where I stay in one location to explore and do day trips. The time and hassle spent in packing up, moving the stuff and unpacking, is all time you can instead spend sightseeing or relaxing. And with a week in town you can find a favorite coffee shop, a favorite place to have a glass of wine in the evening, and they will greet you enthusiastically after 2 or 3 days. We were on the Adriatic side last fall and got some good tips on places to go from the owner of a small bar we visited every nite.

One caution in Florence is to be aware of the dreaded traffic limited zones if you have a rental car so you don't pick up some expensive tickets; search for ZTL on this site or the web for more info.

I feel the same way you do, Mike. I like to have a base, feel settled and get to know the area for several days. We do not plan on renting a vehicle, so parking won't be an issue. Will take trains or buses to the locations we want to visit. Thanks for your input.

We flew into Pisa from Paris-it was O'Hare-Paris- Pisa.
I did not mean to fly to Pisa from Milan. You can fly into Pisa from Many European cities.

Good to know. Thanks Linda.

Delta even used to have a non-stop to Pisa from JFK. I assume they still do....

You mentioned Biking in Tuscany in your second post: In 2008, we did a great bike tour outside of Florence. They picked us up in Florence (not far from the Ponte Vecchio), and drove us out into the Tuscan countryside. We started out day with a tour of a castle that makes wine and olive oil (with tasting of both) The castle was beautiful. Then we got our bikes and rode around the countryside. The price included a wonderful lunch as well. It cost 60 euros a person. We really enjoyed it (even though I normally do not like to ride in groups) I have recommended it to others and got good feedback from them as well. Here is their web site (although it is being updated..hopefully back up soon. Type in Tuscany Bike Tours on Trip Advisor and you can read some other reviews.

http://www.tuscany-biketours.com/

Here is another company that offers similar trips:

http://www.ibiketuscany.com/

No first hand knowledge of that one, although someone posted a positive report on them back in 2008 (on the graffiti wall) We "tossed a coin" and went with the other company. However, this company's prices have really gone up. Hopefully the other company is still reasonable!!

So glad to get that info, Connie. I will definitely check it out. What a perfect way to spend a day in Tuscany!!

I checked out the ibiketuscany site and the day trips look fantastic. The 5 nt. trips would be a blast but they were extremely expensive!!

Look into the Tuscany Bike Trips. On trip advisor, people have posted from late last year and said they were still charging 60 euros a person. I thought the I bike Tuscany company has gone up too high. (When I looked in 2008, they had day trips for 60 euros, now they are over 100 euros. That is pretty expensive) The one we did with Tuscany Bike tours was worth 60 euros and we had a blast. It is too bad their web site is down...hope that doesn't mean they are raising prices :(