best itinerary 11 nights como, florence, tuscany area

I would recommend 3 nights Como, 3 nights cinque terra, 2 nights Siena and 3 nights Florence. Flight in Milan and out Florence unless it is much cheaper out of Rome, you could then do Florence first and siena last and train down to Rome and leave from there.

What are your dates ? What is your budget for hotels per night and how do you want to set up the rooms ? With 2 and 3 per room ?

Thanks for the post. Accommodations will be 2 and 3. Budget? Not the Ritz but not bare bones either. We are going in April. My daughter will be studying in Florence where she must be during the week, complicating things a bit.

Hi Michelle. I would fly into Florence & out of Milan if possible. I assume you'll be starting your trip in Florence since your daughter will be there for a week. I think David's recommendations are good in terms of how many nights to spend in each place.

I would start in Florence, then head to the CT & then finish the trip in Lake Como. Lake Como is only 90 minutes away from Milan's Malpensa airport.

I can suggest a great hotel in Varenna (Lake Como). It's called Albergo Milano (www.varenna.net). We stayed in a room with a spectacular view of the lake. It could not have been more breathtaking. The hotel was very comfortable & clean & the rate included a nice breakfast every morning. The owners are very helpful & friendly. The cost was approx 150 euros/night (in Sept) & the views alone were worth every euro!

For the Cinque Terre, I can suggest a hotel in Monterosso called Albergo Margherita (http://www.hotelmonterosso.it/english/index.htm). The rooms are very modern & spotlessly clean & the breakfast buffet was wonderful. The buffet was very large & included a large variety of items. We departed at 5 am in the morning and the hotel even packed us a bag breakfast & delivered it to our room the night before. We were pleasantly surprised to say the least. I think the cost was around 150-200 euros/night. Check out the reviews on Trip Advisor.

If you are open to renting a car, you could stay 5 nights in one place in Tuscany instead of splitting up Florence & Siena. You could stay near Siena for example and then take day trips to various places in Tuscany. My husband found the driving to be very easy (with the help of a GPS) & we really enjoyed driving around & visiting various towns that aren't accessible by train. I would not drive to Florence however but it would be an easy trip via train.

Have a wonderful vacation!

Sheron, Thanks for the great recommendations. Did you have any trouble with the car rental (I have heard stories of added fees, claims of damage, etc.) Can you manage if you do not speak Italian?