Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Rome?, Venice and Verona

I would suggest you fly into Rome, as it's a city that's not to be missed. It's worthy of days 1-4.
Take a fast day to Florence, another important city and for days 5 and 6. Florence is also the hub of tourism for all of Tuscany, with buses and trains operating out of there.
Take a bus trip down to Siena for a day trip, and back to Florence for the night.
Then take a fast train to Venice to complete the rest of your trip.
I'd hate for you to be so close and miss out on the most important cities in the area. You're going to have a great time.

Hi Hilary.
If your flights are set (Milan) and Tuscany is your main interest, drop Rome and leave your guilt behind. You will be back! You cannot do it all in a few days so do what you can well and breathe.

• Give yourself another night in the CT. It's your outdoorsy recover-from-jetlag location. Take advantage of it! 3 nights.
• Go to Siena OR Florence for 4 nights. Daytrip from one to the other by bus. If the spirit moves you and the weather cooperates, rent a car for a day to take a drive through Tuscany. Lots of art and history, cafes, wine, and both are lovely Tuscan cities. You cannot go wrong!

Hilary,

That's far too much moving around (IMO) and you're going to spend a lot of your very short trip seeing Italy through a train window. I'd suggest reducing your number of stops to allow a bit more time in each place.

For the short time you'll be in Siena, you could rent a car for one day but keep in mind there are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of. You'll need to obtain an International Driver's Permit and will have to be vigilant to avoid Zona Traffico Limitato (restricted traffic) areas which exist in many towns (ie: expensive fines).

If you haven't yet booked accommodations in the Cinque Terre, it would be a good idea to get that done soon. Have you decided which of the five towns you want to stay in? I agree with Laurel that one additional day in the C.T. would be a good idea, as it's a great place to recover from jet lag.

Happy travels!

Hi all,

Thank you so much for taking time to reply! Ken, I haven't made reservations, yet; after reading through RS' book, I was thinking either Vernazza or Manarola - do you have a recommendation?

Hilary

In Vernazza, try:

http://www.elisabettacarro.it/

IMHO, you have 10 pounds of sugar in a 5 pound bag- consider cutting down all the 1 nighters!

Great! Thank you, Bob! I will check out this place.

Hilary,

Each of us here has preferences for our favourite Cinque Terre town. My preference is Monterosso, which is the largest of the five. Not only does it have the most hotels, restaurants and other tourist facilities, but it also has the best beaches of the five towns. Monterosso has two different parts, an "old town" and a "new town", and I've found that the slightly larger size tends to absorb large numbers of travellers better, so it doesn't feel as crowded (although it can be quite crowded mid-day when the cruise ship groups descend on town like a cloud of locusts). The evenings are quite vibrant, with lots of activity in the restaurants and everyone having a great time. The two highest rated hotels there are Hotel Villa Steno and Hotel Pasquale (they're usually booked solid). Another hotel with fantastic views (right at the end of the old town, somewhat high end) is Hotel Porta Roca. You can have a look at THIS LIST for other choices (I assume it's reasonably current).

Each of the five towns has their own "character" so they all have something to offer, although Corniglia is the least preferred by many because of it's location (on top of a rock bluff) and small size (limited accommodations and other facilities). Manarola would be a good choice, and I'm sure the others can provide tips on accommodations. One place that's popular in Manarola (albeit a bit pricey) is La Torretta.

Buon Viaggio!

Too much moving around. You should try to stay in the same hotel at least 2 nights. Changing hotels, with the packing, unpacking, checking in and out, is a time waster. Also are your flights already set? It doesn't appear so, therefore you should look for an open jaw arriving in Rome (if Rome is in your itinerary) and flying out from Venice or Verona. If Rome is dropped, then you could fly to either Florence or Pisa in Tuscany and fly out of Venice or Verona.
Florence, Verona, Pisa and Venice have no (or very few) direct non stop flights to North America, but they are well connected to other EU hubs. You could do:
1. Rome arrive (hotel in Rome)
2. Rome all day (hotel in Rome)
3. Train to Cinque Terre - 4hr trip (hotel in CT)
4. Cinque Terre all day (hotel in CT)
5. Train from CT to Florence - 3 hr trip (hotel in Florence)
6. Day trip from Florence to Siena- 1 hr each way (same hotel in Florence)
7. Florence all day (same hotel in Florence)
8. Train from Florence to Venice- 2 hr trip-maybe afternoon boat trip to Murano and Burano (hotel in Venice)
9. Venice all day (or also PM trip to Murano/Burano if not gone previous day)
10. Venice all day (or also day trip to Padua)
11. Early Train from Venice to Verona - 1hr trip - visit Verona - Opera at the Arena in the night. (hotel must be in Verona, the Opera ends at 1 am)
12. Verona all day or day trip to Lake Garda (same hotel in Verona).
13. Fly out of Verona (VRN) via FRA or MUC (Lufthansa) or via CDG (AirFrance) or via FCO (Alitalia)
If flying out of VRN is not feasible then fly out of Venice VCE or Milan MXP. However in both cases you might need to go to those cities on day 12 (the afternoon of the day after the Opera) to spend the night closer to the airport. Flights back to North America depart in the morning and Verona is far from either VCE or MXP to make it to the airport on time for an early flight.

Ken, thank you so much! I will read up on monterosso.

Roberto, thank you so much for the detailed itinerary, my plane tickets have already been purchased (in and out of Milan), I will look into the lake you mentioned outside of Verona, that sounds lovely. I will definitely take your advice of staying in places for more time.