Itinerary for Italy - Recommendations

Days 3-7 Florence can be used to do day trips to practically all of Tuscany. Research possible Tuscan destinations below: www.borghiditoscana.net Days 9-10. It makes no sense to go from Florence to CT and then return to Siena then Rome. Your direction of travel should be: TUSCANY (Florence/Siena are both in Tuscany) > CINQUE TERRE > ROME (via train along the coast). In other words you should visit Florence and Siena first (one after the other, the order doesn't matter), then take a train to the CT, then from there go to Rome. Days 16-24: Nine days in Rome would be too long a time for me (3 or 4 days is all I could take of Rome), but that is my traveling style. You could actually split your nine days and have time to visit the Naples area (Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, the islands such as Capri,Ischia,Procida). That is of course your call. If you decide to shorten your Rome stay and visit also the Gulf of Naples, go to Naples first, then return to Rome. Leave Rome for last since you fly back from Rome.

For Florence, Hotel Maxim is around the corner from the Duomo and meets your criteria with very helpful staff.

Thank you for responding. I wasn't sure if I should go to Siena or CT first but it seemed to me that CT is north of Florence and Siena South, so I should go to CT first and then head south to Siena and on to Rome. Am I just not looking at the map correctly? Re the train versus the bus, I would prefer to take the train down the coast, but it seemed that the bus was going to be easier, but that was also out of CT and not Siena. I will look into the Hotel Maxim - thanks Sharon

Roberto's itinerary is not due to north vs south, but to train and bus connections. And he's right - since you're not driving, doing it his way will make it flow better. Use the bus between Siena and Florence; it's not only faster, but the bus goes near the center while the train doesn't. You will also use buses to see many Tuscany towns from Florence (bus or train both work well for Lucca). Then, when you're done with Tuscany, train from Florence to the CT, then train from the CT to Rome.

Thank you both - I am appreciative that I didn't have to learn that on my own. I think I have the bones for the trip. Now starts the fun part! Sharon

If you are doing a day trip to Lucca you could easily include Pisa in that trip.

If you are doing a day trip to Lucca you could easily include Pisa in that trip.

What a wonderful trip! You are taking your time and will truly ahve time to savor each location. 9 days is NOT too much time in Rome. You can day trip to various locales if you can tear yourself away from Roma, but there's enough here to keep you busy. Just walking around aimlessly works too! Tours By Roberto does various tours out of Siena. You might check on some options thru him.

As usual, Roberto is correct! Florence is a wonderful place to base your Tuscan portion because there are excellent transportation connections from there. IMHO Siena is a day-trip place. Florence needs several days just to itself. There are many wine tours also offered departing from Florence that you may enjoy if you are a lover of wine (like me).

Thank you Donna. Are you recommending that I do stay in Siena, but only in Florence and then do all of my day trips from Florence? At this point, I arrive at 2:00pm in Florence, so will have that evening and 4 full days in Florence with one day side trip to Lucca, Pisa?) I am taking the bus to Siena, will have the rest of the day/evening there and all the next day there plus two days of day trips and the evenings in Siena. I remember being in Ollantaytambo, Peru for 5 days - one of which I went to Machu Picchu. I all over this little town and the countryside around it, attended a day long dance festival, went to local markets, plus spent a day at the ruin that brought the bus loads of tourists from Cusco (I also spent a week in Cusco later in the trip). Those people on those tour busses missed so much. But on the other hand, as I like to go deeper in fewer places, maybe I should stay in Florence for 9 days with 3 to 4 days devoted to day trips. I am somewhat hamstrung with the timetable as I do not want to travel the week before Easter and I need to be back in San Diego to travel to Spokane, WN on May 20 for my 50th class reunion from College. I don't think I want to go in March or June because of the weather. With that said, does it continue to be as busy the week after Easter as the week before? I have a pretty flexible schedule and could go in Sept/Oct. Thanks much, Sharon

Sharon, I stayed with my family in Rome at the Hotel Sant Anna. It's located about 2 blocks from the Vatican on Borgo Pio. I cannot say enough good things about the hotel. The staff was wonderful, very helpful and friendly. The location was terrific. Within walking distance to the Vatican, Castel Sant Angelo, and many other places. There are plenty of restaurants on the street, and a bakery, a market, and some little stores.
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I agree with one of the posters above that 9 days in Rome is long. Normally Rome is very crowded Easter week. This year the following week will also be very crowded because of the sainthood of Pope John Paul II. I was planning on being in Rome the week after Easter until in the last week the prices for hotel rooms in Rome have jumped for that week. I will go a week later. So, the advice is to be sure to schedule your time in Rome away from those two weeks.

Thanks Bob. I plan to arrive in Rome on May 6 which is 9 days after the canonization ceremony. At this point, I plan to be in Florence on the April 27. Do you think Florence will experience overcrowding or will it primarily be Rome? You mention you are going to Rome a week later - are you leaving from Pennsylvania or will you be already be in Italy? I am wondering if I should go somewhere else in April and postpone my trip to September/October or the next spring (Easter is April 5 in 2015) I want my experience to be as "crowd free" as possible and can be flexible in my travel plans to make that happen.

I do not expect Florence to be more crowded than usual because of something happening in Rome. But then I have been wrong before. Just ask my wife. We are planning leaving PA for Rome about 29 April. The exact day will depend on which day we can get the best airfare. This will be the start of a +/- 24 day trip. Everything will never be perfect. I too wish Easter was earlier this year but at 70+ years old I do not postpone much.

Thank you Bob. I agree with the being 70+ not wanting to postpone much - and there still so many places I want to visit - revisit? I changed my departure date from the 16th to the 22nd due to Easter and then when I read the canonizations would take place on the 27th I began to question if it would be better to switch this trip with the London/Cornwall/Scotland adventure which was also in the running for next Spring. I have spent considerable time in the UK and London but haven't been to Cornwall or Scotland, but opted for the Italian trip so I could brush up on my Italian. I spent 3 weeks in Turkey this Spring and learned enough Turkish to minimally get by - it added SO MUCH to the trip. Have you and your wife put together a general itinerary at this point? Will you rent a car? Thanks again, Sharon

We have an itinerary which is fairly firm but the number of nights in a couple of stops is still in question (may add more, never delete). We are starting in Rome, going south as far as Paestum, working our way north to Venice, and then to Lake Como to Milan and back to PA. The trip will be about 2/3 by train/bus and the other third by car (mostly in Tuscany). I have previously driven in Europe but this will be my first time in Italy. Actually all our previous trips in Europe have been by car and this will be the first time we have used trains.

We just spent 7 days in Florence. We stayed at Hotel Europa(room #47) had a small balcony with Duomo view and extremely quiet. It's across the street from Medeci Palace and a short walk to the Duomo, Basilica,train station,shopping,and local markets. Entry from street is automatic sliding glass door,you use a key to get the Small elevator to main hotel door, both which locked at night. Lovely stay, staff speak English very well, nice breakfast. We took train to Pisa in the morning,then the local bus(right across the street) to Leaning Tower,Baptistry and museum complex. We planned to stop in Lucca on the way home but spent too much time at the tower, museum & Basilica! Defiantly worth the trip.
Hope that helps.