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It's my first trip to Italy in October 2012. I have three weeks. I want to do Rome, Assisi, Siena, Florence, Hill Towns, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Milan, Verona, Vicenza, Padua and Venice. Possibly Naples, Pompeii and Capri. I'm hoping to have just a few home bases and do the rest as side trips. Which cities is it possible to do this for? How much time should I spend in each place? Of the major cities, Florence is the most important to me followed by Rome, then Milan then Venice. Also, even with a full three weeks this seems a bit ambitious. What would be the best things to leave out?

Posted by
10234 posts

IMO you are being too ambitious. Your wish list is similar to the one I had when I began planning my upcoming 3 week trip. I then narrowed it down to -
Rome - 3 nights, Siena - 4 nights (day trips to hilltowns), Florence - 2 nights, Lucca -1 night, Cinque Terre - 3 nights, Lake Como - 3 nights, Venice -2 nights & Verona 2 nights.

Do you want to stay overnight in Pisa or just stop by enroute from CT to Florence? Or,you could do Pisa as a day trip from Florence, and you could do hilltowns from both Florence and Siena. Will you have a car in Tuscany? Verona & Venice are close to each other. I considered using Verona as a base for 4 days or so and going to Venice as a day trip. I decided it would be best to spend a couple of nights there. Venice is definitely more expensive for lodging than Verona is.

Because of the amount of time you have and the logistics, I would drop the Naples, Pompeii & Capri part of your trip.

Posted by
304 posts

I was just planning on stopping in Pisa between Florence and CT. I don't plan on renting a car, but it is a possibility.