First time to Italy first week of November for one week starting in Rome

Lisa, you have 9 days on the ground for touring Italy. If you depart out of another city, such as Milan, Venice or Florence, then you won't have to backtrack to Rome. Take care of your flights first, then come back and we can help you figure out your itinerary.

"Would it make more sense to go to another part of Italy at this time of year." Some travelers posting here have had bad weather in Cinque Terre in November. To have realistic expectations about the typical weather in November at CT, go to this site http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp input the dates you'll be there and as your location input La Spezia (as close as you can get weather data for), and the site will neatly summarize the last 15 years of weather for those dates. Cinque Terre is an outdoor activity place--not much to do if you don't have good enough weather to enjoy being outdoors most of the day. Other locations, such as Venice, offer indoor options if the November weather is not what you hoped for.

Lisa, You can easily spend a week in Rome. Since you have 9 full days on the ground you can see two or three great Italian locations without too much rushing. The CT is not a good choice in Nov for the reasons Kent mentioned. Rome for 10/28-10/31 (4 nights), then Florence or some Tuscan town for 11/1-3 (3 nights) and Venice for 11/4 & 5 (2nights) or some such combo. Maybe just Rome and Venice. Depends on what you want to see. As mentioned above if you get your flights set, the helpline can help you finalize your itinerary.

Thank you all for your reply. I looked up the historical weather data using the link provided for Cinque Terre and it does look quite good. However, if this isn't logistically sound, we can do that on another visit. I can fly out of Florence or Venice Sunday the 6th. Is Venice a worthwhile venture? I know it would make the trifecta to do the three cities, but have gotten mixed reviews on Venice. Seems like there is plenty to see and do in Tuscan region if we don't do Venice.

Flights leaving Venice depart REALLY early. The time you would need to arrive at the airport public transportation may not be operating. This means you may need to hire private transportation. You would be better to arrive in Venice or Florence and the fly home from Roma. The flight times from Roma are more friendly in terms of times. This type of itinerary is called multi-city or open jaws. This strategy eliminates time consuming backtracking and maximizes your travel time. Buon viaggio,

Hi Lisa, I traveled to Cinque Terre in October 2010 with my children (11, 6), mother and aunt. Although we flew into Rome, we took the train to Perugia and then to Riomaggiore which was our base for visiting Cinque Terre. We spent our last night in Pisa and flew out of Pisa to Minnesota. The Pisa airport is great...small and convenient to the Leaning Tower. I have also stayed in and highly recommend La Bougainville in Monterosso which is a B&B with 3 double rooms right on the ocean. Check to make sure the sights you want to see in Cinque Terre are open in November because the owner of La Bougainville leaves for Barcelona from late November-March. We have also stayed in Stresa for the night before leaving from Milan's Malpensa airport and really enjoyed this beautiful stop.
Melissa

I would do Rome and even though you didn't mention it, I'd also do Paris.