This trip was planned originally for June 2020 so I've had a lot of time to tweak the itinerary. Now that I'm getting close to finalizing it, I'd appreciate feedback on this plan.
It will be me and my husband, early 40s, light-ish packers, fully vaxxed, departing in late September 2021. It will be my third time in Italy and my husband's first. We're relaxed travelers who enjoy a mix of art, history, architecture, food, and scenic views, and we like to balance sightseeing with gelato breaks, aperitivo hour, and people-watching.
Fly in - Burbank to Rome overnight
Rome, 5 nights
Train to Venice, 4 nights
Train to Florence, 4 nights
Train to Santa Margherita Ligure, 4 nights
Train to Milan, 1 night
Fly out - Milan to Burbank
18 nights total. Venice is at the top of my husband's list, so we opted for 4 nights to give us enough time to explore and relax, take a canal tour, visit churches and museums, and get lost and wander.
Florence will be busy, fitting in the Uffizi and the Accademia, the Duomo and surrounding area, and a day trip to Siena.
My husband wants to see Cinque Terre, so I chose Santa Margherita as our base. I stopped there on a cruise in 2019 and loved the town. It's lovely and relaxed, has a (small) beach, and is relatively flat compared to the CT towns. CT is about an hour's train ride away, which could get annoying, but it's a good compromise because there are other things I want to do in the SML area.
You might ask why don't we fly into Venice and depart from Rome - basically it's an issue with our 2020 hotel vouchers. The Rome one needs to be used up earlier than the others, and I'm trying to play it safe by pushing this trip to the latest dates possible.
Does anyone recommend stopping in Lucca on the way between Florence and SML? To me it seems very doable. We plan to travel light with one large rolling duffel each to make stashing our bags at a train station baggage check as easy as possible.
Let me add that while my husband has never been to Italy, we've been taking virtual tours throughout the pandemic, so it technically won't be the first time he's seen these cities. This has been a huge help for planning and feeling like we won't have to see absolutely everything while we're there.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions and advice!