Itinerary check?

I think it might be nice to break up the trip from Florence to Manarola with a one-night stay in Lucca. It's small, so totally manageable for a night--you can bike around the walls.
Could you tell us more about why you want to go all that way to Bussana Vecchia? Maybe someone could suggest something that would fit better in your time frame.

Wow, so fast! Thank you! I was looking at Lucca, seems much more appealing than Pisa and there are still some good places available close to the centre. Thanks for the advice.
I guess we started second guessing our longer stay in the Cinque Terre after researching more about Liguria and what it has to offer. I came across Bussana Vecchia and it just looks amazing and interesting, we are a bit on the hippie artist spectrum 😂 My kid is an artist and is kind of obsessed with going there, especially since we found a really neat airbnb there that suits us to a T. If it turns out to be too much of a hassle for what it’s worth we’ll forget about it. I’m also really interested in seeing Cervo as an alternative.

Gotcha! Sometimes places like that just catch your fancy and sometimes it is totally worth going for it.
Three nights in Manarola would be sufficient for all but the most avid hiker.
A Sunday car return can be difficult indeed--good luck!

I would suggest Lucca in between Florence and Manarola, good train connections to both. We went to Cinque Terre in 2014 and found it very touristy then, enjoyed Lucca much more. But the Cinque Terre is good to experience at least once. Also consider a stop in Verona or Padua between Milan and Venice. After being in Rome and Florence and heading to Venice and Naples, you may want some smaller cities/towns that still have lots of historical spots and interesting places with slightly less crowds. We stayed in Verona for 5 nights in February and really enjoyed it. Also consider skipping Milan, unless there's really things you must see and do, it's another big city, the smaller towns are special in Italy. Just my opinion. Also the trains in Italy can run a few minutes late, so don't cut connections too closely, but overall better than they were in the past. Also watch for strikes. We spent a few hours in Milan, the subway was closed on a Friday, no indication on the official app until we actually arrived at 10 am, so research few options just in case. The taxi line was about 150 people and traffic was gridlocked. We missed our Last Supper timed ticket, oh well, next time. We found a lovely lunch and walked to the Duomo instead. Have a great trip.

Hmmm… now you’ve got me wondering about moving up Milan and going to Verona…..
I have definitely heard and headed the advice of expecting delays and strikes (Shopera?)
That experience sounds awful and those last supper tickets are not easy to get. We missed out on the regular tickets and have decided to forgo the 150€ tours for a 15 minute look! Milan does have some incredible galleries though. It was a maybe for us and it will break up the journey from the Ligurian coast.
When we go to the south after a couple of nights in Naples we are planning on spending a 4-5 nights exploring Puglia. We will leave Naples May 15 and back to Rome on the 21st. Originally we were going to spend 3 nights in Matera but now considering Matera as a day or one night and just touring little towns of Puglia for that week. I have the night of the 20th booked in Bari near the station so we can head back to Rome the following morning.

Wow! Bussana Vecchia is a long ways from the other areas you’re looking at. Although, I want to go there now!

This sounds like so much fun for the two of you yet it seems you’re bouncing around a bit. It might work easier if you could go to Venice after Florence, then back to Manarola, Milan, etc. Why Milan? Could those 2 nights be better used for Venice or added on elsewhere?

3 nights in Manarola will be plenty. I do agree that a night or even 2 in Lucca is good. After Milan, then headed south to Naples……..?

It’s so hard to rein ourselves in on a first trip to Europe, especially Italy, and a month seems a long time, but it isn’t. If you are only staying in major places for 3-4 nights, some less, I wonder how much you will actually remember. I recommend you map this out on your calendar if you haven’t done so already and see how much time will be spent traveling that might be spent enjoying a city/town. I think most of us on the forum either create a flow chart, a travel calendar or something that we can see the amount of time we will spend getting to accommodations, checking in and out, getting to transportation, how long we’ll be on the transport, etc. and how long we actually will be in one place.
One night might realistically be an afternoon and evening. Two nights-add one full day to the afternoon/evening. Try not to shortchange yourselves by trying to fit too much into this first trip. You want to enjoy and remember the places.

I clearly don’t know what I’m doing. We are 4 nights in Florence and 4 nights in manarola and I was hoping that the manarola time would be relaxing, we’re just planning on hiking a bit, eating a lot, lazing around. My kid is planning to go to art university and is obsessed with the renaissance so a lot of the reason for hitting the major cities is to look at art. We have a direct train booked from Naples to Venice and after that the last week we want to have a car and explore Puglia. We’ll have lots of time to explore little towns and beaches, no? I’m going to scrap the Bussana idea. I see why people pay so much to book tours now, planning is a lot of work and also a bit stressful.

Also, I think we are looking at the travel time as Yay! A train ride! Time for catching up on some schoolwork, too

I am confused. You are going from Rome, to Florence, to Manarola, to Milan and Venice, then back down to Naples and Puglia? You are wasting a lot of time traveling. I suggest you look at a map and plan your route a little more efficiently. Fly into either north or south Italy, visits your choices there, then fly out of the opposite, after seeing your choices in that region.

Milan: Try to see “The Last Supper”! We booked tickets way ahead for two different trips, one of our top travel highlights!!. There were city tours that included a visit there too. We stayed across the street at Antica Locanda Leonardo, nice hotel.
Liguria:
We have gone to Santa Margherita twice. Camogli is nearby and also charming.
Re: Puglia vs Matera.
Stay in Puglia! We loved it there and based in Polignano a Mare on the Adriatic Sea for ten days and explored this region. Did a day trip to Matera.

Thank Suki! I appreciate your positivity! I appreciate the Puglia tip, we are so looking forward to that week! I think we will do Puglia as a day trip and I’m going to check into your town suggestion.

Charlotte, I’m sorry but do you think I haven’t looked at a map?! We got direct flights from Canada for a great deal, in and out of Rome, so either way we would be doubling back a bit.. We have a fast train from Venice to Naples, and 5:27 minutes really doesn’t seem like a big deal to us. We rather love trains and I guess after travelling so much in western Canada and the US, we are used to longer travelling days. We spent some time pouring over our itinerary again this morning and I actually think that we’ll enjoy our travel days. It’s the journey, is it not? We are energetic, curious, fully adhd adventurous types, travelling with backpacks. I bet you we meet friends on the train and laugh about any misadventures that arrise (we KNOW they will!)

Gayle you are right-it IS about the journey and you have a great attitude.

If there is any way you could add two extra nights to Venice, your son would find himself in Renaissance heaven for the second time on the trip! Actually, lots of Byzantine too, but I found Venice to be more art inspiring than I did Florence.

You will love your trip!! Buon viaggio.

Since you will have a car in Puglia, you might want to add the town of Grottaglie to your itinerary. It’s a town devoted to ceramics. There is a small museum. The shop fronts are decorated with works by the owners. Other places in town showcase local talent. The shopkeepers welcome browsers, and we experienced no pressure to buy (though I did succumb to one lovely piece).