Hello! My daughter (25 years old) and I will be traveling to Italy for approximately 10 days (toward the end of October, flying out of SLC, UT) to visit my son at the mid-point of his semester abroad. He will be staying in Montepulciano during that time, so we will need to plan for visit him there for about 2-3 days. Other than that particular detail, I'm completely at a loss for where to go and what to do.
This won't be my first visit-- just over a decade ago I spent a couple of weeks in Italy (flew into Milan, spent most of my time in the Tuscan countryside, then flew out of Rome). That's when I fell in love with Tuscany (as I'm sure most of us do!), and would be content spending our entire time there.
But, I also wonder if we shouldn't make the most of our visit and try to see something different (like Venice or even Rome)-- especially since this will be my daughter's first trip abroad and I would love to give her as broad of an experience as possible. That said, I also know it's easy to make the mistake of trying to see too much and being rushed/stressed out.
I've also researched whether to take trains or rent a car-- and I suppose that decision will hinge on whether we stay in the Tuscan countryside (probably rent a car) vs. visiting bigger cities (probably just stick to trains/busses).
Any advice or itinerary ideas would be greatly appreciated. We can be somewhat flexible on trip length (e.g.-- if two more days would make the difference between the dream itinerary and just an okay trip) as well as where we fly in/out of (and where we stay, obviously).
Thank you!