Fine Tuning a trip to Tuscany and Cinque

I would recommend cutting the Cinque Terre stay to three nights and add a night in Milan to do a walking tour that includes seeing The Last Supper. We found three nights to be a good amount of time to stay in Cinque Terre and would have been hard pressed to fill another day. Just a suggestion....

When do you plan to take this trip?

We can travel either in May, June, or Sept. your suggestions are welcome about that as well.

Hello, All.

Perhaps I should start with first things first. My original email may have been too detailed. How does my itinerary look as far as the number of days goes for a trip in May?

Rome - 3 nights
Orvieto (including Civita) -2 nights
Assisi agriturismo - 3
Pienza agriturismo - 4
Siena agriturismo - 3

Question - Is that too much time in Umbria and Tuscany considering the experiences should be similar?

Lucca - 2 nights with side trip to Pisa
Question - Is this a good time to drop off the rental car and take the train to Cinque?

Cinque - 3 or 4 nights?
Question - Does anyone have a lodging recommendation that's 'up high' and has a terrace with town or sea view?

Fly home from Milan.

Another option I am considering is doing the trip above in reverse with a slight twist. My husband and I could fly from the states to Madrid (air miles) to see Toledo, the Feria de Patios in Cordoba, and maybe the Feria de Caballos de Jerez. We would then fly Ryan Air from Seville to Pisa, do our trip in reverse, and fly out of Rome. The festivals in southern Spain look great and it would be easy to do. Anyone done something similar?

Thanks for your input!

If your priority is avoiding oppressive heat, May or September would be better than June. If you want to reduce your exposure to rain, you might not want to start the trip at the beginning of May; Florence gets rain on 8.4 days in May, on average; both June and September tend to be a bit drier.

You won't need a car in Lucca or for the trip to Pisa (it's just about half an hour by frequent train). You can take the train to the Cinque Terre fairly easily. You'll need to transfer twice, but that's far better than paying to park a car while you're staying in a car-less village.

I haven't attended the Spanish events you're contemplating but I absolutely loved Toledo this summer.

Thanks, acraven. That's helpful.

Assisi agriturismo - 3
Pienza agriturismo - 4
Siena agriturismo - 3

In my opinion need to lose at least 1 of these or change at least Siena to staying within the city walls.
Otherwise there is not much point of moving, from Pienza, Siena is an hour's drive so staying in the countryside of both towns less than 1 hour away doesn't make much sense to me.

If you have not been to this region before, the towns/cities are small so doesn't feel like a big city when staying within the walls and adds so much charm, history and convenience. The farms are very secluded, the landscape surrounding is beautiful of course but often the views from towns is excellent as well since the towns are up high looking out on the farms/countryside. One farm stay would be nice and a good change of pace but 3 seems like overkill, quite boring and you would miss out on the opportunity to really see and explore any of these 3 cool towns/cities late at night, early morning. By staying at an agristurismo you become a day tripper to the nearby towns.

Have a great recommendation in Manarola of a super dreamy place but is very pricey, not sure of your budget. I didn't want to spend so much but found everywhere else in Manarola or Vernazza the 2 towns I like most was a compromise except for this place.

Thanks, mreynolds. I had wondered if 3 agriturismos might be overkill. It sounds so good to have dinner on property at night with people from all over the world. And the properties are beautiful! Sill, I questioned whether the agriturismos would be a nice change of pace from Rome or too quiet after awhile. I've also questioned whether to keep Umbria on the list for this trip or wait until another. My husband thinks Lake Como might be a nicer way to spend our time. Can you get hill town burn out? By the way, do you have a recommendation for Siena if we skip the agriturismo? Also, I would love to hear your recommendation for Cinque Terre. I haven't been overly impressed with my options so far.

Thanks for your help!

To your last question, no, I cannot get "hill town burnout".

I have been to lots of places in Italy and I still have a hard time narrowing down a list.

One or two nights in Orvieto sounds great; very near Civita is the town of Todi, very beautiful. You can park in a public lot and walk (uphill) or take a shuttle bus from the parking lot to the main piazza.

Near Assisi are the towns of Spello and Trevi; perfect for short stops if you have a car. Trevi is known for its olive oil and olive oil products (I always load up on olive oil soap from the Museum of the Olive).

To accomplish these additional side trips, I might take a night from Cinque Terre and add it to Orvieto. You can hike down to the Etruscan ruins, take the Orvieto Underground tour, lots of things to do in a small place where you can feel at home. I like Hotel Virgilio, on the Piazza del Duomo. It does not have parking, but you can park near the train station and take the funivia to the upper town (Piazza Cahen) and then a minibus (same ticket as the funivia) to Piazza Duomo.

I would stay in Lucca and daytrip to Pisa.

Montalcino is, in my opinion, a smaller version of Montepulciano.

Since you posted on Rick's site, I would suggest that you go to the library and read an older copy of his Italy guide. (Prices and hours change, but not the Tuscan towns. ) Note that he leans the other way from your family (and mine), with TOO MANY changes of hote. I find your schedule spends too much time in Tuscany in the Summer. We stayed in the center of Tuscany and drove to all of the places that interest you, but two a day. I don't like sitting at a table in an Agriturismo when I could be in a museum or walking an historic city street. I would add Spain and reduce Tuscan days. I think fairs in Spain could be hot and crowded and heavily booked. Don't you want to see Madrid, Seville, Barcelona, and Granada? We found the horse-training exhibition (NOT the fair you named) to be inferior to the same breed exhibitions in Vienna. We didn't care for Jerez.

Make sure you read up on car insurance in Italy and ZTLs. Tuscany is very hot and crowded in June, July and August. We're not big swimming pool people, but we loved cooling off before dinner every day.We stayed at a moderately expensive but beautiful little resort in Sinalunga, Locanda dell'Amorosa. But if you want to meet other people, it's not right for you.

My husband and I have recently been to Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Granada, etc. and loved them all. Honestly the return to Spain had everything to do with air miles and seeing some festivals before conveniently heading to Pisa via Ryan Air ($41). I'm glad you mentioned Jerez. I'm ambivalent about that place and the feria. The Patio Festival in Cordoba looks good, however. I do love a good patio with lovely flowers. Thanks for the advice on Tuscany as well.

I think each of the hill towns has it's own charms and uniqueness from what I saw.

I don't want to talk you out of an agristristmo stay merely, I agree would be a nice chance of pace after hectic Rome.
Just thought 3 in a row in areas not far from each didn't make much sense.

Of the 3 hill towns you are looking at, Siena and Assisi are much larger than Pienza. Pienza is very tiny and laid back in town, staying in town would not feel hectic at all. You can walk the town in a few minutes, not joking but it is very beautiful so you would not want to rush through it. I understand the draw of the agristrismo's in the area though and think the Val D' Orcia where Pienza sits is probably the most beautiful countryside in all of Italy.
I woke up very early to be at the Podere Belvedere to watch the sun rise and the layers of fog melt off the valley which was breathtaking. Staying there would have saved me some time in the morning but the drive was not far from town. Another morning I drove out early again to the little Madonna chapel which is in the same area, could not drive directly there but can get to a gate about a 10 minute walk away, also did this to photograph sunrise.

In Manarola we stayed in a upper floor suite called Crème Caramel. If you google Crème Caramel Manarola you will find it and reviews.
2 Different Decks high above with unreal views of the sea from both front and back sides. Quite small but luxurious and every amentity you could want except for an elevator, the walk up though only a couple of flights is a winding staircase.
Deck on the front has a large table for outdoor dining, outdoor sofa, electronic retractable sun shade, etc...
The building is a B&B of sorts, no breakfast so just a B ; their website is
http://www.mareterra.it/creme-caramel.html
Crème Caramel is their best room/apartment.
From what I can tell you can say a little money booking from their website or email but have to pay in cash when you get there or you can book via Airbnb or Homeway for a higher nightly rate but pay by credit card through them.