I am arriving in Rome and was planning a trip north. Using the RS Italy book I made a very rough itinerary. I need some help refining it.
W- arrive FCO / drive to Orvieto
T- Civita
F- Montepulciano
S-
Su-
M- Sienna
T-
W- Volterra / San Gimignano
T-Cinque Terra
F-
Am I trying to squeeze too much in? I already cut out Assisi.
Please clarify what you have presented--are those the places you will stay and do day trips from?
Do you plan to keep the car the entire time?
Do you fly out of Rome?
What month?
Cinque Terre can be a difficult place to park.
I am interpreting it as below:
W arrive FCO, drive to Orvieto, stay Orvieto
T day trip to Civita, stay Orvieto?
Th drive to Montelpulciano, stay 3 days, drive to Siena, stay 2 days--do I have it up to that point? I think all of that sounds fine, but I don't have enough info for the rest.
Where are you departing from?
Assuming you are arriving after overnight flight?
Driving while jet lagged not usually a good idea
Need more details
You have nine days and have 6 places you want to visit. Let's assume you are arriving and departing from Rome (do you depart on Friday or Saturday?). If it was me I would use my jet-lag day to take the train thru Florence to the Cinque Terre. Then reverse your itinerary....
I personally like Levanto as a base - you haven't mentioned a preference.
Wednesday - arrive Rome, train Rome to Cinque Terre, two nights in CT
Thursday - Cinque Terre
Friday - train to Florence, rent car, go on to Sienna, three nights in Sienna (parking will be an issue).
Saturday - Volterra/San Gimignano
Sunday - Sienna
Monday - Drive to Montepulciano, two nights in Montepulciano
Tuesday - Montepulciano
Wednesday - Drive to Ovieto, two nights in Ovieto
Thursday - tour Civita
Friday - Drive back to Rome
Saturday - depart Rome
Only you can say if this is enough time in each place for you, but I prefer three night stays to enjoy where I am.
What time of year? Most of what you've listed could be seen using an agriturismo near Siena as a home base. We prefer not moving from one place to another, especially on relatively short stays.
CT is very dependent on the time of year. You also need to spend at least two nights there. The best time to see the CT region is before the cruise ship passengers (avg. 100,000 a month in season) arrive and after they leave.
I am traveling in October. Alone.
I will have a car that I am picking up in Rome. And haven’t decided where I’m dropping it off. My daughter is studying abroad in Florence and I am meeting her on my 9th day. We are then traveling (somewhere we haven’t decided on for her 1 week break) then I am continuing onto France for 10 days. I think, no plans yet. I have a return flight home from Paris a month from my arrival date.
I don’t really get jet lagged. So that’s not a big concern.
I’ve been to Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples and Milan before. So I’m just trying to visit new places.
