Italy in Sept/Oct - need tips on itinerary

Do you mean you can't change your Rome lodging (booking) without a fee?

I personally try to avoid itineraries where my time in one city is split - seems like the last night in Rome is just a wasted night. I'd prefer to have all of my days in Rome at the end.

If I were doing to do it, I'd fly into Rome, take the train directly to Florence, then Cinque Terre, then back to Siena, then back to Rome. Getting from Rome to Florence by train is easy and fairly quick (there are even a few direct trains from Fiumicino Aeroporto to Florence but most require a change in Rome); Fiumicino to Siena is a bit more complicated, so I probably wouldn't do that on a first day.

If you are committed to those first few days in Rome? Then I probably wouldn't change the order. Three days in Siena (lovely town) makes sense if you plan to use it for day trips in the Tuscan countryside. Most people recommend renting a car for that, but personally I've never done it. (Explored the Tuscan countryside, I mean.)

Doing a day stop in both Pisa and Lucca (by train?) between Florence and the CT is probably too long of a day for me. I'd pick one or the other - or spend a night on the way in one of those towns (day trip to the other for a few hours) and take a night from somewhere else (not Rome). You can get away with two nights in the CT, except that if you get bad weather one day, then you have fewer hiking options perhaps. I spent three nights in the CT my first time there (from Florence) and hiked the first two days. The third day I took it easy and just poked around the towns, which are fun. I kind of needed a slow day by that point in my itinerary to catch my breath, I guess, but otherwise I could have eliminated the third night.

That's correct - we could change our flight for a fee but we got such a good deal on our tickets it's hard to lose part of that good deal.

We already booked our lodging for the first few nights in Rome - it's possible we can change this so thank you for your suggestions I'll look into that.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Thinking about this some more...I think it might make sense to go to Florence first, then maybe rent the car there, explore Tuscany (Siena as a base? Could be, I'm not sure.), then drive up to Pisa and Lucca and return the car either in Pisa or at La Spezia, then take the train to your desired Cinque Terre town.

I've driven elsewhere in Europe but never in Italy. What I hear is that tourists in rental cars should steer clear of city centers e.g. Florence to avoid big fines for driving in the residents-only zones. If I were doing the one-way rental as I suggest, the first thing I would be to research which towns have those zones so I know to avoid them. Let those who have driven in this part of Italy chime in to guide you here.

You can easily visit Pisa and Lucca in one day by train or bus. You could also visit hill towns in Tuscany by train or bus, or book a day tour to see a few of them.

Easy to take the train from Florence, stop in Pisa, bus or train to Lucca, then bus or train up to the Cinque Terre, all in a day? Possible, sure. Easy, no.

I think it's a nice schedule. When we get somewhere after a long trip, I want to just be "there", not travel more. We did that recently on a vacation and I didn't like it. Also, when we were in Italy, I so wish we had taken the train back to Rome the last night. I think you'll find you will enjoy being there "just one more night" before you head home.

Agreed, Lulu. First trip in 2010, flew Chicago to Rome Fiumicino, then immediately (after a 2 hr wait) flew 90 minutes to Catania in Sicily. By the time we got to Taormina we were zombies.

Recent trips we've arrived in Paris at noon, stayed 4 nights. And then this last February we arrived in Rome early Sunday afternoon and stayed just about a week. That was heaven. Just the thought that we didn't have to go anywhere else ratcheted down the stress level a lot.

Thanks for all the advice!

The more we think about it we may skip Siena and the hill towns and add in Venice. Any thoughts on this?

We also think we will bump Cirque Terre to 2 nights.

I don't think that improves the trip. Venice is on the other side of Italy so a long trip both ways. Going into Venice and home from Rome would have been a good plan earlier. Stick to your original plan but go directly to Florence upon arrival as suggested earlier. And I would rely on public transit for your plans. A car for your schedule would not you anything except a lot of frustration to trying to find somewhere to park it.

Ok - thanks!

I just have to remind myself I'll go back! Just wish I had another week or two.

Would it make more sense to stay in Florence instead of Siena and do day trips to the surrounding towns?

So our alternative plan is this:
Sept 24th - land in Rome travel to Florence
25th - Florence
26th - Florence
27th - Florence
28th - Florence
29th - Travel to Pisa and/or Lucca and stay at CT
30th - CT
1st - CT
2nd - Rome
3rd - Rome
4th - Rome
5th - Rome
6th - Rome
7th - AM flight

Do you think we should add back in one of the hill towns or stay in Florence and use as the landing station and take day trips from there on buses?

I would not suggest trying to visit Pisa and Lucca on the way to Cinque Terre, but it's easy as a day trip from Firenze.

Enjoy your trip!

So our alternative plan is this:
Sept 24th - land in Rome travel to Florence
25th - Florence
26th - Florence
27th - Florence (day trip to Siena)
28th - Florence
29th - Lucca
30th - Lucca (day trip to Pisa)
1st - CT
2nd - CT
3rd - Rome
4th - Rome
5th - Rome
6th - Rome
7th - AM flight

^^^This would be a more enjoyable trip. You'll cut down on the amount of time seeing the country via train, while maximizing your enjoyment of that area.

Miranda

Your "alternative" is much better than your original. I like the tweaks zcorsair added, although is does leave one the hard choice of taking a day from Florence and adding it to Rome at the end. Having done 2 visits to Rome, 5 nights is not 'too much'.

You can enjoy the trip in either version. Just research what each city ( Rome/Florence) has that interests you most, and allocate the days to suit your needs.