help with itinerary please

My first thought is... why go back to Paris if you've already been so many times? You wont regret spending that extra time in Italy, believe me.
Second... WHAT, no Venice?

The Amalfi coast is indeed wonderful. I haven't been there in July, though. I've heard the crowds are pretty bad during the summer months. Sorrento makes a great home base for day trips, but for atmosphere you might also decide to stay in Positano, Ravello, or the town of Amalfi.

For great food, its hard to go wrong with Tuscany. Either stay in an Agritourismo in the countryside and rent a car to day trip to towns and wineries, or stay in Florence and use the trains and buses to get around.

I have not been to Sardinia, so I cant help you with that.

Hi Angela,
Thank you for your reply. I was relying on Paris to be the fallback in case I planned Italy poorly and could end the trip on a high note since it feels like home to me and I know it very well. But I'm opening to skipping it all together.

I haven't considered Venice yet, but I'm seeing many posts on here about it and I'm rethinking flying into venice and starting there. Is is worth going to? Is it super touristy?

I'm thinking of skipping the Amalfi Coast all together now and saving it for a southern italy/sicily trip.

So you would recommend driving from Florence to Tuscany rather than train? I'm into driving more than taking the train but wasn't sure about parking. I also don't know if it's a bigger hassle than taking a train.

Thanks again!

If you are planning to return to Italy, I would say skip the Amalfi Coast and Puglia this time (knife through my own heart).

There are dozens of beautiful places to visit. If you fly into Venice, start there (be sure to see Burano and Torcello), then go to the Dolomites and/or Lake Garda. The time to spend in Bologna is up to you, I usually stay based on the number of meals I want to eat there without rolling myself out of town; it's also a good base for daytrips to Parma, Modena, Ravenna. Excellent transportation hub.

Florence is also a good place to stay for several nights, there are nice places nearby for daytrips (Assisi, Montalcino, Arezzo, Volterra, San Gimignano, dozens of others are possible) by train; if you rent a car, find a place outside the city to stay so you don't get into ZTL trouble.

At that point you would be well-situated to get to Sardegna.

Check Rome2Rio.com for comparisons of modes of transportation, and the time it takes to get from one place to another.

I would put your concern about making "bad choices" out of mind. Italy is wonderful and there's always different places you could have visited, but relax and enjoy the places you visit.

No one is really going to be able to tell you how much time to spend in a place, because no one has exactly your interests and preferences. For example, I've spent several weeks in Assisi over the course of a number of trips – up to a week at a time. And I still want to return. Others find a half-day to be plenty of time. And summed across trips, I've probably spent about a month each in Rome, Florence, and Venice, but there are still things I haven't done in and around each city.

I find that the only way I can figure it out how much time to spend in a new place is to get a guidebook, decide what I absolutely want to do, estimate time required, and throw in a little extra time. Then add one-half day to a full day for transit time to my next destination.

For a July visit, I would guess you'll accomplish less than you would at a less crowded and cooler time of year. But I don't speak from experience – I avoid summer travel to hot places.

While its true that Venice can be quite a bit touristy, there is very good reason for it to be due it its uniqueness. And it doesn't have to be touristy. Just walk a few "streets" away from the crowds and it can be absolutely magical, particularly in the early mornings and evenings when the day-trippers are gone. Stay at least 3 nights, there is PLENTY to do and see (and eat)! Stay even longer if you'd like to day trip to places such as Padua or Verona. Also, be sure to set up to do a cicchetti bar tour with Alessandro (details in RS Italy guide book), it was the highlight of my trip last November.

You dont have to have a car for Tuscany if you stay in Florence (in fact, better not to have one). But if you stay in the countryside a car would be very useful. Just dont drive it into the historical city centers or you could receive very large fines that you might not know about until several months later.

The only way to plan Italy poorly is to plan too much too fast. It doesn't sound like you are one of those people who will be seeing Italy thru the windows of a train, so you should be fine.

I have not been to Sardinia, but I think that if you go to the effort to fly there, you probably do want to spend a week, rent a car, and be able to "poke around" in a leisurely manner. When I spent a couple of days on Corsica, I only saw the small tip of the island, called Cap Corse, where roads are slow and winding.

Zoe-
I know I know this is the hardest decision I’ve had to make (today :)). I’m not completely taking Amalfi and Puglia off the list yet. I just don’t know which places to cut out to make room for them. I keep being told Venice, Tuscany, Florence…So I’m not sure what to do or where to start or go or even end. If I end up in Venice, how many days would you suggest staying if I were to go to Burano, Torcello, Dolomites, Lake Garda? I was thinking of Venice —>Lake Como as an option but your suggestions sound even better. I was hoping to hit up Bologna either from Venice or Florence. But if i wanted to hit up Parma, Modena, and Ravenna, would I need to stay a couple nights in Bologna to accomplish this? As for Florence, again, not really sure how long to stay here either. I want to see Assisi, San Gimignano and possibly Puglia. I have no desire to drive unless we go to Tuscany. Is this something you’ve done? I think we will reach Sardinia via Rome since I do get sea sick and flying would be best for me. Thank you for the Rome2Rio suggestion!!!!!

Sherry-
Thank you for the kind words, especially about relaxing. You’re totally right. May I ask what kind of trip you took and what you were looking to do, especially with all your time in Assisi? I’m trying to get a sense of people’s experiences. I love the heat of the summer! Hopefully I won’t be regretting this :)

Angela-
So with Venice maybe 5 days? I would love to see and eat my way through without gaining 10 pounds :) may I ask where you went in Italy and what you did and enjoyed? Is the countryside of Tuscany a must when visiting Tuscany? I could get a car and drive/explore but not sure where to stay. I definitely don’t want to plan a lot or be on a train the entire time. Ideally I’d like to pick 3 major places or even 2 and just take maybe 3-4 days trips total and end my time on sandy beaches in Sardinia.

Laura-
You’re exactly right. The reason I’m going to Sardinia is because of the time I spent in Corsica last summer. We were there 4 days and I felt like I could spend at least a month there doing nothing. I loved my time there so much and decided to try Sardinia, I hear it’s just as amazing. I would take a boat but i do get very sea sick and being on a hot boat for 4-8 hours almost makes me ill thinking about it.

DO NOT MISS SIENA while you are visiting Florence! It is so relaxed and fun, with amazing buildings, the best gelato we had anywhere, and beautiful lighting at night. Last time we went, we stayed 2 nights there, and had no regrets. (You might want to avoid the Paleo Races!)

This summer, we are taking our adult children, who have never been to Italy. We'll be flying into Venice for a few days, and also visiting Florence before our Greek Island Cruise, then spend time in Rome after. We hope to have time to visit Murano/Burano and Siena with them, but we'll just have to see how we all feel at the time! I'm telling you this, because whatever time you spend in any town in Italy, you will find plenty to do, and have a wonderful time. Italy is such an amazing place, and I can almost guarantee that one visit, no matter how long, will not be your last! This is our third trip in five years to Italy, this time for six weeks -- and each one has gotten longer! It is our dream to take an early spring cruise ship trans-Atlantic, stay for 6-8 months and take another re-positioning cruise to get back to the states when we retire in a few years. Best wishes.

Jan

PS The Early tour of the Vatican is the best, so you can get into the Sistine Chapel before it opens. Don't miss this, one of the world's great art collections. Also, the Borghese Gallery is stunning, so much that we are seeing it twice this summer (Vatican too) as each of our two daughters (with their husbands) is traveling separately -- three weeks each -- and we really want them all to see both of these. You will probably like the National Museum, too!

Okay. Twenty-seven nights:

Venice (Murano-Burano-Torcello in one day): 3 nights

Dolomites or Lake Garda: 2 nights

Bologna: 2 nights with daytrips to Parma, Modena, Ravenna (1/2 day each)

Florence and Tuscany: 4 nights (daytrips from Florence or 2 nights Florence + 2 nights elsewhere in Tuscany)

Amalfi Coast: 3 nights (Sorrento or Praiano, daytrip to Napoli/Pompeii, another to Capri)

Matera: 1 night

Puglia: 3 nights (in Trani or small city near Bari)

Rome: 4 nights (daytrip to Assisi)

Sardegna: 5 nights

The Puglia and Matera portions would be best with a car because train/bus schedules are not as frequently run in southern Italy. You can reach enough hill towns in Tuscany by train or bus.

If this seems too rushed (it does to me if I were looking for relaxation), save Puglia and Matera for another trip and distribute those days, adding Assisi for a night or two.

To do EVERYTHING would look like this...

Fly into Naples Curreri Viaggi bus to Sorrento.

4 N Amalfi Coast as mentioned Sorrento gives you the best transportation options.

Train: Naples-Rome. 1H10m

3 N Rome

Train: Rome-Venice. 3H45m

3 N Venice.

Train: Venice-Peschiera del Garda 2H

3 N Lake Garda.

Train: Peschieria-Florence. 2H27m. (Stop Bologna on the way.)

3 N Florence. or do day trip to Bologna from here (train 35m)

Pick up rental drive to Hill towns. Perfect base. http://collelungo.com/

3 N Hill towns

Assisi 1 1/2 hrs. San Gimignano 38min. Siena 39min. Montalcino 1H20m
Montereggioni 25min. Volterra 1 hour.Greve 40min.

You could also stay here for 6 nights and day trip to Florence 50min.

Drive to Pisa. Drop car. Fly Pisa-Sardinia. 5H28m

This can be done in reverse starting in Venice and flying out of Naples
Fly Naples-Sardinia. 5H 19m

Just some food for thought...have fun

In my 2 trips to Italy I have been to Stresa (on lake Maggiore, beautiful), Verona, Venice 2X, Florence 2X, Siena (definitely worth a visit), Rome 2X, Sorrento (tons of interesting things to do and see), Orvieto, Assisi (probably my favorite of all the places I've been), and Milan. Oh, and a half day trip to Pisa. I've done all this travel by train or bus.

The places that are pending that I intend to see are Ravenna, Volterra, and Cinque Terre. I may revisit a few of the places I've been as well. I've done all this travel with a friend or on my own. In a year or two I plan to take my 2 daughters, before the older one takes off for college. They grow up so fast!

Zoe's plan looks good, but I would advise against any 1 night stays.

I agree with Angela about 1-night stays, but public transportation to/from Matera involves some backtracking to Bari, which takes more time. And it would be a shame to miss the sassi lit up at night, or not to participate in the passeggiata.