Italy Oct 2018- Which is best guide? and help with planning

The Cinque Terre area is over 3 hours from Bologna, one way. I wouldn't do it, but if I absolutely had to, I think I'd choose the train, because there would be no parking concerns.

I must say that your time allocations look odd to me. Only one day for Venice, including travel time? And the same for Florence? I've wanted to go to Turin for some time, and I've read nothing but good things about it, but in this case I'd drop it to allow a bit more time for Venice and Florence. Rome needs more time as well.

WAY too much unpacking/packing and checking in/checking out. On top of that, you're going to go past Turin traveling between Paris and Venice, and Bologna is more or less halfway between Venice and Florance with hourly rail service between the two (Florence and Venice). If you can only see yourself spening one day in each of Florence and Venice, you could add those nights to Bologna and day drip to each from there.

Wow! This is a little late to be asking these questions. My first impression was that there was too little time in each place until I got to Perugia.

It's too late to get any of the Rick Steve's Italy guidebooks in hardcopy, but you might look for electronic versions on Amazon.

In the meantime, you could use some of the resources here for your cities of interest in Italy and for Paris.

Your itinerary remains confusing. It would help us help you if you write it with the nights in each location. And state what day you arrive in Paris and what day you fly home from Rome, if those are your arrival and departure locations.

As to the car rental, and assuming you are from the US or Canada, you will need an International Driving Permit. Click here for how to get that. Also it would help you to download and read this free guide to renting a car and driving in Europe.

Since you are leaving in less than a week - apparently -- gotta ask.... are the hotels and days in each place now set in stone?

Do you mean a living guide in each place, or do you mean a guidebook?

Welcome to the Forums by the way.

I must say that your time allocations look odd to me. Only one day for
Venice, including travel time? And the same for Florence? I've want to
go to Turin for some time, and I've read nothing but good things about
it, but in this case I'd drop it to allow a bit more time for Venice
and Florence. Rome needs more time as well.

Another welcome to the forums, Ms Girlandabear -
I will agree: by the time you get to Venice and Florence you barely have time to get settled before having to pack up and leave again. Neither of them make sense for just part of a day, IMHO. 2.5 days is not enough to even start to scratch the surface of Rome: I'd scrap Pompeii and save it for a trip when you can cover Naples and points further south.

Paris> Venice>Turin> Florence>Bologna route is confusing too. Turin, as mentioned earlier, is closer to Paris than Venice, and Bologna is north of Florence. To avoid backtracking it would have made sense to do that one BEFORE Florence if heading south to Perugia and Assisi. But any advice we might give you regarding rerouting/re-allottment of time is probably for naught at this point as I've a feeling you may already have bought tickets and made reservations for your accommodations/car?

The CT is too far to day-trip from Bologna by either train or highway. The only city on your list that it's reasonably done from is Florence and it's even a bit of a stretch from that one.

"Best" guide - assuming you mean a book - is up to personal preference. Being you're on the RS website, the consensus here will roundly be for his Italy book. Other folks like Eyewitness (I do) or even Lonely Planet, depending on age/interests. Best thing to do is to make tracks (!!!) to a bookshop and look them all over before making a choice.

Your schedule for most of us, makes little sense but since it is so close to departure, I assume all you really want is to say, "Go for it." And specifically --- No, there is not a reasonable way to do a side trip to CT.

Guidebook? Run to a Barnes and Noble and buy one.
Or to hire a tour guide? At this late date, have your hotels’ front desks arrange this for you.

Thanks everyone for weighing in.

My route is very strange. I had planned Paris, Venice and Florence for 3 days. Then I needed to visit a friend in Turin Oct 1 to 2 and had another event to attend Oct 4 to 7 (after flights were booked).

I touchdown Thu Sep 27 in Paris at 8 AM (3 nights). Sun Sep 30 I fly to Venice at 9 AM. I stay in Venice that night and will go to meet my friend in Turin Mon Oct 1 (2 nights). I then go to Florence for 1 day and need to be in Bologna Oct 4 to 7. I could perhaps do Oct 3 to 7 in Bologna with a daytrip to Florence instead- is that what makes the most sense?

Next I go from Bologna to Perugia (and this part is planned by my friends and is set).

Last part is Oct 19 to 21 in Rome. I can cancel the side trip to Pompeii.

Any must do/ see/ feel/ taste items (or things to avoid?)

I likely will return to Europe again Fall 2019.

Thanks everyone! So appreciate you all.

OK, Anna, you can consider some of this a "scouting trip" for fall 2019 and make notes on what you want to see in Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome next time. I have a "things to see" list that keeps getting longer even after multiple trips to each of these places.
(Mosaics in Ravenna finally got checked off after a day trip from Bologna last year -- was on my mental list since Art History in college.)

My route is very strange.

LOL, Ms Bear! We're with ya there but you've patiently explained why that is so yep, call it a toe in the water for 2019, eh? Good idea to skip Pompeii this time: I think you'll be mighty tuckered by the time you hit Rome. Maybe save Florence for next time too?

As far as must-do's, those are entirely personal decisions: use your guidebook(s) for inspiration. One caution, though? Waltzing casually into some of the biggie attractions isn't going to happen: a few of them require advance tickets/reservations or tourist passes to avoid kicking heels in REALLY long ticket lines. Rome: Colosseum, Vatican Museums and Galleria Borghese (advance reservations are mandatory for that last one). Florence: Uffizi, the dome of the Duomo and sometimes the Accademia, if you decide to keep that city in your plan. Even if you do, with as little time as you'll have I'd skip the Uffizi and dome and stick to a nice walkabout - good guidebooks usually include some self-guided rambles - with a poke of the head into a church here and there and/or less-mobbed but very good museums (San Marco; Bargello).