An extra night in Tuscany or Rome?

Eleanor, I do not think you can go wrong with either choice but Rome is so
vast and has so much to offer. With only 3 days in Rome I would choose Rome for the extra night.

I tend to agree with the previous comment: Rome is so vast and has so many beautiful and interesting things to see and do, 3 days is very little. And would it be 3 full days, or are you counting the day of arrival in Rome as day 1? If so, you really only have 2 days and that's not even enough to scratch the surface.

Eleanor, I'm reading your question as 5 nights in Tuscany or 4 nights in Rome. If that's what you meant, then I'd definitely add the extra night to Rome. Personally, I consider 4 nights/3.5 days as the minimum for scratching the surface of that one.

Are you flying home from Rome?

Yes- 5 nights in Tuscany (3 nights in Rome) or 4 nights in Tuscany and 4 in Rome. And we are flying home from Rome.

Eleanor,

Do keep in mind that 4 nights only gives you 3 full days for exploring.
I will have to agree with the others and suggest adding the extra night to Rome.

You’ll never see everything there is to see, so you’ll just have to plan to return!

Have a wonderful trip!

Another vote to add extra time in Rome. As another contributor mentioned, Rome is a vast area and it merits more time to enjoy this amazing city & other destinations!

Where will you stay in Tuscany? How will you get around? Where do arrive from? Have you been to Italy before? Is Florence or Siena one of your day trips? Are you factoring in travel from Tuscany to Rome?

Nope, first time to Italy. We'll be coming from Cinque Terre to Florence, and will likely stay overnight there, and then to a rental. Haven't set it yet- Cortona seems likely, or maybe somewhere in Perugia. Siena will be a day trip. We'll have a rental car for that leg of the trip (but won't have it in Florence or Rome)

Rome, Rome, Rome

Nope, first time to Italy. We'll be coming from Cinque Terre to Florence, and will likely stay overnight there, and then to a rental. Haven't set it yet- Cortona seems likely, or maybe somewhere in Perugia. Siena will be a day trip. We'll have a rental car for that leg of the trip (but won't have it in Florence or Rome)

First of all, Cortona and Perugia are not in Tuscany. They are wonderful, but I suggest with your limited time you stay nearer Siena. From Perugia to Siena is a good 2 hour drive to Siena. That would be 4 hours out of your day just getting there. Since you want to see Siena and you only have 3 days, you actually only have 2 days to explore small towns.

What "little towns" do you want to see? I suggest you spend one day exploring San Gimignano and Volterra. Spend another day driving the famed SR222, the Chiantigiana road. You'll get to explore small towns like Castillina , Greve, Radda, etc. An alternative to the San Gimignano/Volterra route would be to go south from Siena, catching Montalcino, Chiusi, Montepulciano, etc.

When is your trip? Depending on the time of year you may want to rethink CT. Off season the weather can be bad (all trails have been closed recently) and in season when the cruise ships are in the area, the crowds are insufferably large.

When in Rome and Florence, I highly recommend Walks of Italy tours. We took two in Florence and one in Rome. I want to go back and take the evening VIP tour of the Coliseum.

Rome.

We took our first trip to Italy 5 yrs ago and vacillated between 4 or 5 nights in Rome (after Venice, Florence, Tuscany, etc). So glad we did the 5 nights.
With 4.5 days we were able to accomplish so much- saw all the big sights- which are all very time consuming (Vatican, Colosseum each take at minimum a half day).
We are going back in May 2019 and will do another 3 days in Rome.

I suggest plotting out all the things you want to see and do in Rome, be sure you allow enough time for each. And allow enough wandering around time. 4 nights is really just 3.5 days.
I'd also recommend Walks of Italy tours. We did 3 and they were all fantastic, worth every penny.

Correction for Doug: Cortona IS in Tuscany (Province of Arezzo).

Four nights are not enough for Florence AND Tuscany, if you plan to split your stay at two locations (for example 2 in Florence and the rest somewhere else in Tuscany)

Assuming you spend only two nights in Florence (which is not even enough) you would have only two nights (one day) for the other location (Cortona or Siena or Montepulciano or wherever). With one day what can you do? Visit one village, maybe two (Cortona alone will take most of a day).

If your plan is to stay in Florence and another Tuscan town, then you should add the extra night to the “other” Tuscan town.

If you plan to add it to Rome, then you should spend your 4 Tuscan nights in one location only (either Florence or somewhere else near) and take day trips from that only location.

Correction for Doug: Cortona IS in Tuscany (Province of Arezzo).

My bad. I thought is was in Umbria. It looks like I just missed the placement! I guess it's like thinking Columbus GA is in Alabama which is just across the river.

Are you allowing time to see things in Florence? I see you have day trips, but be sure you allow a day for Florence if you don't have it.

Here’s one way to decide. If you think you will return to Italy and will fly into or out of Rome, then you can give Rome some more days then. That’s kind if what we do with both Milan and Rome.

Trip is in June. We do have an extra day in Florence (and may stay the night there? Vs going on to our other Tuscany hub...so technically, there are already 5 nights in Tuscany. I think we probably will add on in Rome...if it turns out we need more time in Tuscany, we could potentially hit one of our southernmost sites on the way to Rome, rather than heading there bright and early....

Another vote for Rome. We spent 8 nights there and did not run out of things to do. It was wonderful.

Not saying it would not be nice to have more nights in Tuscany ; it would and you could easily occupy the time seeing something new with one more day BUT you actually do need 4 nights in Rome. 3 makes it way too hectic unless you have been before or other circumstance like not planning on going to the Vatican, etc...
4 nights is what you need just to see the highlights of Rome. Any less becomes a foot race.