Itinerary advice - 21 days

Shane, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see someone come up with an itinerary as excellent as this. Way too often we get people trying to cram 12 cities into 10 days, and with no consideration to where these places are. You've done an outstanding job. The only thing that jumps out at me is the Bellagio to Venice day, stopping at Verona. I know that Bellagio is not as accessible by public transit as is Varenna. What have you found about those travel times? You could always save Verona as a daytrip out of Venice, since it's only an hour away. But congratulations again on what may be the perfect itinerary. When are you planning on going?

Michael, thanks for the compliments. I know how it feels like to want to squeeze in as much as possible. Was actually contemplating on fitting in Sorrento/Almafi/Capri into my schedule. Thought long and hard about it and decided to save it for a 2nd trip - most likely to cover Southern Italy. My intention is to fit in the other Northern cities (at least North of Rome) into my schedule and Verona is one of them (was considering Ravenna & Bologna as well). I don't like the thought of backtracking and doing a daytrip to Verona from Venice will feel like I'm doing exactly that since I will leave for Venice from Milan. Furthermore, I think I should give Venice at least 2 solid days considering that this is my first trip to Italy. I did look at the ferry schedules for Bellagio to Varenna & Como and then train schedules from Varenna/Como to Milan. Timing might be be a bit tight and the way the current schedule stands, I'll most likely get into Verona around 2pm. Maybe 2 hours or so in Verona and I can get into Venice at about 6pm. My trip will start in mid-September.

Good call. Venice is worth at least two solid days. It's one of the most amazing places on the planet. Do watch out for the 10 to 4 time slot when the cruise ships and daytrippers flood Piazza San Marco and the Rialto. Also, you might want to add one night to Assisi so you can have one full day and evening there. It's really beautiful. Check out these pictures from our last visit: http://tinyurl.com/AssisiPicHighlights You can click on the "Show Info" option in the upper right for a little text about each. Also, consider Ostia Antica as an alternative from Rome instead of Naples/Pompeii. Much easier to do and far fewere tourists. And about the same size.

Will probably drop the daytrip to Naples/Pompeii. Not too sure about staying an extra night in Assisi though. Am in favor of leaving more days for Rome as I keep reading comments that the city requires a lot of days to cover. I'll most likely depart Siena early to get to Assisi by mid noon. That way I will still have an evening, night and following morning to appreciate Assisi. Btw, nice photos.. noticed you did Bologna as well.. worth a side trip from Florence??