First Trip to Italy - 9 days

You will definitely want to take one or two of your days for Venice...It is FANTASTIC!!! I am meeting friends in Florence in May and made a point to add on 3 days for Venice.

Teri, that's a great itinerary if you really have say "2 full days in Florence." For example two nights in Florence equals only one full day there. I don't think you're taking travel time between destinations into account. So, I know it's painful to hear, but you really need to drop one of those destinations. Sad, but true. Nine days is a whirlwind trip and even three destinations in nine days is moving at a brisk pace. Four is too much.

And of course, you're not flying home from the CT so you have to take travel time back to Milan? Florence? Rome? into account. With such a short trip, you should fly open jaws.

Um, do you mean May 2009? or May 2010?

Also, I presume that you mean nine days "on the ground in Italy" not including the two (or three)US/Italy/US travel days.

Venice Venice Venice. For me, the most beautiful place in which I have ever been.

Teri,

Your Itinerary looks reasonably well sorted, although I would have allowed more time in Rome at the beginning. As that's your first stop, you'll still be recovering from jet lag and won't be up to touring speed for a day or so. Rome is a very significant city and there's LOTS to see, so more time would definitely be worthwhile.

For a town in Tuscany, you might consider Siena as it's a beautiful city. Keep in mind that Florence is also in Tuscany.

One point that stands out in your proposed Itinerary is that you haven't specified travel times between cities. These definitely have to be allowed for. Could you clarify if you'll have nine full days in Italy or does that include air travel times? Are you flying "open jaw" (inbound Rome, outbound Milan)?

Given the choice of cities, I'd definitely not consider the Amalfi Coast this time. The Cinque Terre is close to your other stops, so travel times will be minimal.

You might consider dropping the two days in Tuscany, and expanding your other stops as well as allowing for travel times so that you have lots of time in each of the places you'll be visiting. Another option would be to add one day in Florence and take a day trip to Siena (use the Bus, as it will drop you right in town rather than at the bottom of the hill where the train station is - the Coach station in Florence is pretty much right next to the Firenze S.M.N. rail station).

Happy travels!

I agree that your itinerary for a first visit to Italy looks good. If you're flying in and out of Rome, then make that your last stop. Go directly to Florence (only 1:45 from Rome by fast train), then Cinque Terre, "Tuscany" and finally Rome. Siena would be a good choice in Tuscany (lots to do and easy day trips, e.g. to San Gimingnano), as would Orvieto (actually in Umbria, but a true hill town conveniently located on the Florence-Rome regional rail line). Transportation connections between these destinations are easy and not overly long.

Try this. Do 4 nights in Rome (see the Vatican, the Forum, stroll the plazas, and see the Villa Borghese gallery). Then take the train to a town called Montecatini Terme in Tuscany (it's an hour west of Florence by train). Spend 3 nights there as a home base. Florence and Siena are easy day trips by train. If you're ambitious you can also see the Cinque Terra in a day trip by train through Viareggio and La Spezia. Last June we took an early train to Monterosso, hiked to Vernazza (you have to be in shape), had lunch, hiked to Riomaggiore, and finally caught a 6:30 train back to Montecatini. Spend the last 3 nights in Venice. No trip to Italy is complete without seeing Venice.

Save the Amalfi Coast and the whole Bay of Naples (Sorrento, Pompeii, Capri, etc) for another trip. By the way the only thing that the Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terra have in common is the sea. They are as different as night and day so it's not like you would do one instead of the other.

As others have said, Siena is a good home base for Tuscany and I would drop a day off of Florence and either add it to CT or Siena. Definitely hit up the hill towns. We rented a car for one day and just drove all around to about 3 hill towns, well worth it.

I was in Venice last year and fell in love with it, BUT unless you are flying open-jaw, into Rome and out of Venice, it is just too far away from all your other destinations. If you can fly open-jaw, then consider it (still a lot of train travel).

With only 9 days, and the first one probably not too effective because of jetlag, I would choose ONLY 3 destinations. You have to allow for travel time, which includes packing, unpacking, checking in/out, getting to/from train stations to hotels.

Even 3 days really isn't a lot of time in Rome or in Florence. Also, while trains are great to get from one major city to another, getting around Tuscany by public transportation is very time-consuming. Were you planning to rent a car - not really recommended, so if you are thinking about it, ask first.

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