Doing too much? 16-night itinerary for first timers to Italy

I think your overall plan is good. However, I would actually do your itinerary in reverse-Rome can still be quite warm at the beginning of October. I'm not sure of your specific interests (if you prefer cities or small towns, interested in art history, etc), but here are my comments: Yes, one night in the Cinque Terre is too little time, I would stay at two nights to make it worth it. If you're not big into Renaissance art, then I would take that day from Florence. Right now you're itinerary is heavily centered on Tuscany, which is fine if that is what you want. 3 nights in Lake Como will be perfect, but I would suggest adding an extra night to Venice (a city like no other) and Rome (a city with a lot to see).

Hi Allyson. I would definitely stay more than one night in the Cinque Terre. I personally think that I would take a day away from Lake Como and add it to the Cinque Terre; we stayed 2 nights in Lake Como before we flew home and felt that we saw everything we wanted to in the mid-lake section (Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio, etc.). As for an agriturismo in Siena, I can suggest a great one! Agriturismo Marciano is fantastic (see the reviews on Trip Advisor). It's 10 minutes from the walled city of Siena but it feels very remote like you're out in the country. It's a working farm (they make their own wine & olive oil). I can't say enough great things about the experience & I highly suggest it.

Thank everyone for the input. Is 3 days in/around Siena enough time to do some winetasting and exploring of other small hill towns like San Gimignano or Volterra? RE: entire trip - Is there a reason to start north and work south to Rome or does it matter? We are traveling from the West Coast and not sure how jet-lag will play into our plans. Start the trip with a slower pace in Lake Como or jump right into Rome? Thanks for the help.

Our rule is no fewer than 2 nights in one place. We've done that several times and really enjoyed our stays. I agree that one night in the CT is not enough, but 2 in October would probably be perfect. I would shift one night away from Siena.

Allyson, check the flight times from LA, but a general rule of thumb is that many flights leave Venice VERY early in the morning, so some people generally like to fly into Venice and out of Rome. An additional bonus to that plan is that Venice is a very nice city in which to adjust to jetlag. There are no vehicles, so (if you get away from the crowds) it is very easy to get around and wander aimlessly in the fresh air to get over the jetlag and get used to "Italian time." I would also cut out CT this trip (you will be back) and add the extra night to Venice or Rome.

I am inclined to agree with ekc and narrow down the number of places you stay. Every time you change location you lose half a day. We did a 20 night trip last October with a similar route and felt like we moved a little too often. Pick either the CT or Lake Como, and do an itinerary something like this: Fly into Milan or Rome then fast train to Venice. You'll be there by mid-afternoon. To minimize jet lag, take a shower, unpack, go for a walk, have dinner, stay awake until 9:00 or 10:00. You'll be local by morning. Venice 3 nights minimum. See Rick Steves plan for touring Venice, in his book and on the web. Train to Siena and/or Florence, 6 nights. Use Siena as a base for Tuscany, or stay in Florence if Renaissance Art is important to you above all else, otherwise make it a day trip from Siena. Consider a tour with Roberto, www.toursbyroberto.com, to see a bit of Chianti Region and get a unique perspective on history and culture. Rent a car for a couple of days if you want to take some scenic drives to hilltowns. (Pienza is marvelous, as is the drive from there to Montalcino.) Train to Lake Como OR the CT, 3 nights. I have only been to the CT, and it is pretty and laid back. So is Lake Como, from what I understand, so both may be too much of the same. If you go to the CT, you will want to see all five little towns, hike at least part of the trail, and just sit and stare at the sea. Train to Rome, 4 nights. Rome is amazing and fascinating. Good flights out if you can manage to do so. If by chance you have to fly out of Milan, steal a night from Tuscany, take an early train from Rome, spending the night prior to your flight in Milan. You can be in Milan for a half day, see the Duomo, maybe the Last Supper.

Lisa, The tour is by the My Tour company. It was a foggy ride thru chianti (in December) and a rainy afternoon in San Gim, but our politically incorrect bus driver was a hoot. I think his name was Alejandro, the Chilian French Canadian Tuscan. The winery he brought us to was very nice, with a tour and a tasting at the end. Edit: http://www.mytours.it/index.php?sectionid=1043&language=en

I stayed in Siena for 2 nights, saw what I needed to see, and took a 2p-7p small bus tour of the Chianti region and San Gim. Did not feel rushed.

Kelly, Do you recall the name of the tour company out of Siena?
Thanks.

I think Laurel's plan looks great!

Laurel: Thanks for the input. Is it possible to make day trips into Florence from the Siena area using our rental car? From the posts here - it seems driving in/out/parking in Florence is very challenging. Any advice is appreciated.

Re your last question: This is really 2 questions: it is possible, and, even if possible, is it a good idea? Of course it's possible to drive your rental car from Siena to Florence for a day trip. Is it a good idea? This is more of a judgment call, that in the end, you'll have to make. What you've probably read here is that the Florence historic center is blanketed by what's called "ZTL's", zones of limited traffic. And unfortunately Florence is maybe the worst place in Europe for sending out ZTL fines even to N. American tourists. Over the last few years we've had a hundred people post here that, usually many months after they returned home, they received one or more ZTL violation fines from Florence, these are about $150 each. Our current record holder here, unfortunately, received about $1,500 of these fines, about 10 in one day. Most people that know in advance about the Florence ZTL's adopt one of 3 strategies for avoiding ZTL hassles and fines: 1) they take the bus from Siena to Florence (easy and convenient, except on Sunday); 2) or, they take the train from Siena to Florence (the Siena train station is on the flat land that's some distance from the Siena historic hilly area, which is why many feel that the bus is faster); 3) or, they do drive their rental car to Florence but they make sure they know, in advance, how to find the day parking lots in Florence that are outside the ZTL areas (some people not familiar with driving in Italian cities have found that this is harder than it might seem). I hope this helps.

Kent: Thank you for the very thorough response re: driving vs. public transportation into Florence. From your experience - would you recommend splitting time between Florence and Siena area vs. basing in Siena and day-tripping into Florence? We are interested in exploring the hill towns via car and staying in the country but also don't want to miss an opportunity by not staying in Florence overnight. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Allyson: Park the car for one day and daytrip to Florence. If the train appeals, the station is only a 15 minute walk downhill from Centro. We even walked back up the hill instead of waiting for a bus once we found out it wasn't that bad. Justified our gelato, pastries and wine! That is easy to say, of course, Some might encourage you to drive the Chianti Road. We did not do it, but if you can figure out where to park in Florence, and that appeals to you. it is an option. Just watch out as kent advised for ZTLs. (They were not hard to avoid in Siena.)
Laurel

This may be a little too busy for just 16 days. Visiting 5 areas in the 16 days may be better. You have to take into consideration how long it takes you to get from one place to another. And you are going to need 'down time' to just kick back and do much of nothing. 3 nights is Rome is never enough, but on your 1st trip it's enough. Siena is a must, and centrally located to see some great sites in Tuscany. Florence too. The Cinque Terre is for relaxing. It is laid back and a nice place to take a break from the 'sites'.
If I had a recommendation, it would to choose either the lakes or Venice. To do both in just 16 days would be too much.

I just recently did a 16 night first time trip to Italy. This is what I did. -Flew into Milan for Last Supper and Duomo, stayed 1 night -Florence 3 nights -Siena 2 nights, with day trip to Chianti/San Gimignano -Assisi 2 nights with side trip to Orvieto (some may have said that was foolish because it was 2-3 hours away and we only stayed 2 hours, however it was raining so hard in Assisi, we would have been stuck in our tiny hotel room, looking out at a rainy view of Umbrian countryside). -Rome 4 nights
-Venice 3 nights, flying out of Venice. In my opinion, I felt the amount of time I spent in each place was appropriate, non-rushed, and the days were not jam packed with sites to see/things to do. And I felt like I got a good grasp of the city, getting to know the cities instead of just seeing the sites. My trip was done all by train & bus, as I chickened out at the last minute renting a car to get me from Siena to Assisi. So I guess what I am saying is that perhaps Rome and Venice need an extra day added to them, so you can grasp the city's soul instead of marching as fast as you can to the sites, ending up just being plain exhausted. I did not do any lake or ocean towns as it was end of Nov/beginning of Dec. I was happy to end with Venice and was very happy that I did not end it with Rome. I was not a Rome fan (hey, it happens sometimes) and would have been upset ending my trip note with Rome misery. I was happy to fly into Milan, because I did not have a jammed itinerary for that short portion of the trip either, so jet lag was not an issue. So if I had to do your trip, what I would do is take a day away from CT and it to Rome. I would take 1 day away from Siena and add it to Venice. I think you would be glad if you did.

EDIT: I totally zoned out & saw I had already posted earlier. There was another post that complained that people do not read the posts before they post. I am guilty of that crime.