Florence and around in 7 days

If you fly back home out of Rome, then it is best if you start in Florence first, then spend in Rome the last couple of nights before the flight. Just go to Florence upon landing if you fly into Rome.

A car is not needed (actually it's a hassle to have) in both Florence and Rome. From Florence as a base you can visit many towns on day trips using trains and buses, including Siena and Cinque Terre.
The Cinque Terre require train changes (in La Spezia and possibly Pisa) so the trip takes about 2.5 hours each way. The fastest option would led be the 7:38am FrecciaBianca train from Firenze Campo di Marte station (one change in La Spezia). All others are from Firenze Santa Maria Novella station.

Does the 7 days include Rome and Florence AND the day trips? And arrival and departure days??

Thanks, Roberto for such quick response :-)
As great as Rome is - we'd like to spend the little time we have in Florence and around - many people advice against trying to cover too much in one trip. So, following your advice my 1st approximation would be:
1. Arrive in Rome (early afternoon)
2. Take a train to Florence (2hrs). arriving later afternoon-early evening.
3. Stay in Florence - 2 days
4. Visit C-T on day trips- 2 days.
5. Visit Siena on day trip - 1 day.
6. Other????\
7. Train back to Rome
8. Fly back to Toronto from Rome.
Do you think it's reasonable?

Thanks,
Gene

Answering Kim: the 7 days is net of arrival-departure:
Arrive June 17 in Rome 1:25pm, then train to Florence 3pm, arrive to Florence at 5pm.
June 18-24 is the "quality time".
June 25 must be in Rome at noon for flight home at 3:15pm.

Best,
Gene

Instead of two daytrips to Cinque Terre, why not just spend one night there?

Daytrips to Siena, Lucca, Arezzo are very easy from Firenze.

Gene,

Personally, I'm not a fan of hitting a new city for only one or two nights. In your case, I would pick Florence as a base and explore the city and the surrounding area leaving the Cinque Terra for another trip.

If you haven't purchased plane tickets yet, you might want to look into and out of Florence, Pisa or Bologna. It probably won't be a direct flight from the USA but it will save time on the ground and may actually be cheaper. I've flown into Bologna and shuttled to Florence (Bologna airport to Florence S.M.N) for about €20.

In Florence you have more than enough to keep you occupied for a week. I personally don't recommend hitting the Accademia and the Uffizi in the same day because the are so stimulating but I do recommend taking escorted tours if you are not REALLY knowledgeable about renaissance art (I am not).

I wonderful self-guided day trip I can is to Pisa (as early as possible) and Lucca (remainder of the day. While it seems a shame to go to Tuscany and NOT see the leaning tower, it wasn't most satisfying experience I had in Italy. I would take an early train and try to beat the worst of the coach tour crowds, see the Duomo and Tower and then head to Lucca (train or bus). Lucca is wonderful and shouldn't be missed.

Probably the highlight of our week in Florence was an escorted tour of vineyards in Chianti. Great wine, food and scenery and someone else had to abstain from the wine and do the driving.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Thanks, Zoe and Work2Travel
Very helpful and a lot of useful info. Flying to Rome is our only sensible option as we're flying from Toronto to Tel-Aviv and from there to Rome and back to Toronto. No other city has the same convenience of flights as Rome for such 3 -leg trip.
We're also considering this:
1) Arrive to Rome
2) rent a car
3) drive via several "hill towns" () stopping here and there:
4) Orvieto – Bagnoregio – Montepulciano – Montalcino – Cortona – Siena – S.Gimignano – Volterra – Firenze – Lucca – La Spezia (Cinque Terre) not all of them of course
5) Back to Rome by train.

Again, thanks for all the tips.
Gene

If you go with your first plan of attack, consider Fiesole as a base for Florence and the surrounding area. No car advised. A day trip to CT is too far for my liking but Siena, Lucca and Pisa (never been to the latter) are all doable in reasonable time. Some of the Chianti wine villages can be reached, I believe, with public transport, or there is the option of wine tours from Florence. Florence requires a few days on it's own.
If you decide on renting a car in Rome, I would ditch the Florence option and stick to the southern part of Tuscany, using Montepulciano as a base if you like a small town, Cetona if you prefer more of a village feel. From either, there is plenty to see in southern Tuscany or in Umbria close by, including Orvieto and Bagnoregio on your list. Nice driving, the scenery is gorgeous off the main drags. I would save CT, Volterra and San Gimignano for another time but that is up to you (though you appear to be hooked on visiting CT).
I love Rome. Again, save for another trip.

Thanks, All for your valuable responses. Been busy for a few days, now back to planning.
Excluded C-T and not feasible and Pisa as less interesting.
Here's my plan now:
-7 days (June 17 - 25). Traveling - 2 people (mature couple).
1) Arriving to Rome June 17, then direct train to Florence. Arrive to Florence June 17 6pm.
2) Stay in Florence for 4 days (17-21), going for 1 day to Lucca by bus or local train.
3) June 21 - rent a car in Florence, drive to Siena.
4) June 22 - Stay in Siena (2 days 21-22) or near (agroturismo?)
5) June 23 - Drive to Orvieto, via Montepluciano, Assisi (?)
6) June 24 - Stay in Orvieto (2 days 23-24) or near (agroturismo?), visit Civita, more (?)
7) June 25 - drive to Rome, return the car, fly back to Toronto

Questions:
1) Is this too tight or OK?
2) Any advice on car rental websites/companies there?
3) Any other advice?
4) Any specific advice on Florence (accommodation, getting around)?

Thanks
Gene

June
17. Arrive Rome. Train to Florence (6N)
18. Florence
19. Day to Siena
20. Day to Pisa & Lucca
21. Florence
22. Day to Cinque Terre
23. Day to Chianti Hills
24. Train to Rome (1N)
25. Depart Rome