Help! I'm overwhelmed planning....

Don't feel overwhelmed planning is half the fun! Here are the minimum number of nights nights I would suggest for each place: Rome - 4, Florence - 2, Siena - 1, CT - 2, Venice - 2.

I do have a question for you, what do you mean Florence through Pisa? Pisa is way out of the way in terms of routs from Siena to Florence. To get to Florence from Siena you will take a bus direct form Siena to Florence. If you want to see Pisa stop there on your way to CT from Florence.

For 12 days 5 places is perfect. It give you enough time to spend the minimum in each place plus an extra day to add some where. I would use the train to get around with the exception of Rome to Siena and Siena to Florence.

Thanks! I realized was out of the way after I looked at the map again. Will adjust and go to Pisa on the way from Florence to CT.

For the routes that you don't recommend train travel, do you recommend renting a car?

Devinn:
I would say one night in any town is insufficient. You arrive and check-in at 4:00pm, then have to be out of your room by 11:00am the next day. Too much time spent in transit and changing locations for dinner and breakfast! One night is like a business trip. I think your Rome and Venice time is OK, although with jet lag you might appreciate a 4th night in Rome. Drop either Siena or CT. You can daytrip to Siena from Florence, or vice versa. Here's my suggestion (dates refer to the nights spent sleeping in that location):
Sept 11-12-13-14 Rome (3 FULL days for Rome)
Sept 15-16 Cinque Terre (one full day in the CT)
Sept 17-18-19 Florence (17th in Pisa on the way to Florence, 18th Florence, 19th day trip to Siena or a tour with Roberto)
Sept 20-21-22 Venice (two FULL days in Venezia)

Go to Pisa, if you must, on the way from the CT to Florence. Definitely trains. None of these are places you can park easily or will want/need a car.

As to tours, check out Tours by Roberto http://www.toursbyroberto.com/ in Tuscany. And do pre-book the Vatican. Consider Ron in Rome, recommended by many on this site, for help in Roma. He'll help you make the most of your time, from what I hear (no personal experience). Ron can help you decide how best to experience the Vatican.

Don't drop CT!

Devinn,

It looks like you have at the most 2 1/2 days to spend in Rome. I think that's way too short. Florence is a must see on a first trip to Italy, but I don't think it deserves more time than Rome.

My suggestion is to cut a day from Florence or drop CT and save it for another trip when you have more time to relax there. Don't drop time from Venice, because by the end of the trip you will be tired and although you'll do a lot of walking in Venice, it's at your own pace and will seem relaxing because of the lack of cars, vespas and traffic light. Venice always seems relaxing to us whether at the end of a trip or the beginning.
About the Vatican, if you don't do anything else, book a Scavi tour through their office, it was one of the highlights for us.

Have a great time.
Mimi

Have a great time.

Does Siena deserve a full night or should we just day trip it from Florence? If we cut the night in Siena then we can spend another night in either Rome or CT.

We are a couple in our early 30's and have been doing lots of European "city" trips in the last few years so we wanted to see and experience Rome but not spend too much time there. We also want to make sure that we see things that are off the beat & path and I think that might be seeing more outside of Rome.

Thoughts?

First of all...relax. Your trip is not going to be THE PERFECT TRIP and always assume that you will return. The Italians have an expression, "Il dolce far' niente," which means the sweetness of doing nothing. I would want my vacation to be a vacation and not a marathon at a dead run. Trying to cram too many activities is a common misconception when planning for this type of experience.

When we arrive on the first day we go straight to the hotel and sleep for a few hours. Neither one of us can sleep well on an airplane and then you have to consider jetlag. Some people can begin touring immediately, but we do not.

If you haven't purchased your airplane tickets yet, consider flying open jaws. This means flying into Venice and home from Roma. This is a more efficient use of your time because you eliminate time consuming backtracking. Also, leaving from Roma is preferred by many because the return flights from Venice are extremely early in the morning.

Another strategy to consider is to stay at some place and do day trips to avoid constant packing and unpacking. For example, you could do Siena as a day trip and stay in Florence. Or, stay in Siena a few nights and do Florence as a day trip. When you travel independently you must hump your own luggage and it becomes a burden after awhile. We try to travel smarter not harder.

Italy is...well...Italy. It will engage you, irritate you, anger you, and all the while seduce you into returning.

Buon viaggio,

RB

There are some folks who like to drive/ride by site and say, "I saw that but don't want to waste time going inside." Others would prefer spending half a day inside. And others would find an afternoon in a sidewalk cafe a highlight of the trip. So you need to tell us what kind of traveler are you?

What do you mean by ????? ----- "sure we get the most out of this trip."

Thank you! We are the type of travelers who like to immerse ourselves in the culture. I like to have at least 3 nights in major places because I think it takes that long to get the feel for where you are and what you ultimately want to do and see. We do like to see the sights but if they are tourist traps and overly expensive, we will tend to see it, but not actually venture inside (i.e. Westminster Abbey, we felt it was totally overpriced for what you would see. Instead we dropped by, took a picture and then went to one of the oldest pubs in London for a traditional lunch.)

I know that we'll probably go back to Italy, but it probably won't be for some time as this is our last "big trip" before kids. Which is why I'm kind of feeling we have to "make the most of it".

I think we have a pretty solid itinerary already. I just want to make sure that we're staying in the right places for the overnights and figuring out the best way to get in between the stops.

Does anyone have a recommendation for full day cooking classes? That might be a good way to spend a day???

Thanks!

Just as a small note- there's a Best of Tuscany tour that leaves Florence and spends 12 hours out and about, hitting Siena for a whole morning, and making a stop in Pisa as well. Might be a better option to see those areas in a tour than to try to make full on stops (but I really don't know that for sure, since I am leaving for my first trip to Italy on Wednesday!)

"We want to make sure we get the most out of this trip." As a somewhat reformed perfectionist I see this is a bit of a red flag; "most" means there is no other possible set of choices that could be better. You'll drive yourself crazy if you won't settle for less than perfect :-) Instead how about a fun and rewarding trip?

As for your itinerary, I would not suggest spending 1 nite anywhere. For example even if you catch a 9am train from Florence you're looking at about 3 hours to get there, plus finding your hotel, etc. It's going to be early afternoon before you get started, not enough time to hike the trails and visit the towns.

Lastly, have you looked at the RS tours? If you want "most" then it may be the way to go. Their efficiency because the buses go when they want, they arrange museum visits for the group so there's little waiting, hotel rooms are ready when you show up, guides show you around so you don't get lost, and the benefits of having guided tours of both sites and cites mean you can't duplicate it on your own in the same time. Having gone on a RS tour, I'd estimate it would take the person on their own 3 days to do what RS does in 2. So while the prices might seem steep at first, consider that it would take you around 18 days to do what they will do in 12.