Hi there. I'll be travelling to Italy for the first time in April, and I'm hoping for some help/input on my itinerary. I have the front and back ends booked, it's the middle that is tricky! For some context, it will be three women, ages 27-33, and while all of us have traveled frequently (and lived abroad), it will be all of our first trips to this area. We arrive in Venice early afternoon on April 16th and need to be in Barcelona by April 29th (we have a family wedding). The current loose itinerary:
4/16 - Venice
4/17 - Venice
4/18 - Venice
4/19 - Take the late afternoon train to Florence
4/20 - Florence
4/21 - Florence
4/22 - Rent a car in Florence, drive through Chianti, Montepulciano. Pienze to Siena; stay the night in Siena
4/23 - Spend the morning in Siena, drive to Pisa and Lucca, stay the night in Pisa
4/24 - Leave really early and either drive to La Spezia or drop the rental car in Pisa and take the train to Cinque Terra, spend the day hiking Cinque Terra
Here's where it gets tricky. I would prefer to then fly from Pisa to Madrid, spend a few days in Madrid before arriving in Barcelona on the 29th. One of the travelers in my group, really wants to see Aix en Provence, Arles and Avignon in France before heading down to Barcelona. So far the only option I've seen is to take the train to Genoa and then to Marseille and rent a car there. Any other suggestions, or does that leg seem too difficult? I realize we're trying to see a lot in a short time. However, this will not be our last trip, so I'm trying to find a balance of seeing as many of the sights as we can (to helpfully return another trip to the favorites and spend more time), while not spending a huge percentage of the trip in transit.
Any suggestions or guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!