Itinerary help for Tuscany- Florence - please!

Rather than starting from scratch, the first thing you should do is pick up a copy of the RS Florence/Tuscany book. It's loaded with exactly this kind of information, and it's constantly vetted and fine-tuned. It will be the smartest money you spend on your vacation. Happy travels.

It really depends on what you're interested in doing. If you enjoy Renaissance art and architecture, then give yourselves more time in Florence. For your week in Provence, I assume you're at a villa in the countryside, and that's why you're wondering about overkill re small towns. Yes, I think that's a legitimate question to ask yourselves. In addition to the small-town thing (though of course, they're each a bit different), in those rural locations, you'll have more driving time than you would by staying in a city. You might even consider, of your 8 nights in Florence and the rural areas of Tuscany, spending 4 nights in Florence and 4 nights in Venice. Which of course is not rural or Tuscan at all. But if you're then spending a week at a villa in Provence, it may be a great combination!

where is "Tuscany" do you plan to stay There is a lot to see and experience in Florence
how you split your days is really dependent on your interests

I'm definitely going to buy the RS book but I can't order it now due to our remote living location at the moment & I don't want to wait too long since it seems everything books up quite quickly! Will be picking up a copy in a couple months tho when we're back in the states. I found a couple agriturismos in San Gimignano and Montepulciano - that's a whole separate quagmire as to which area is better! We're going to be renting a nice apartment in Aix for a week... thinking of flying from Florence to Marseille then driving to Aix and exploring for a week. Venice sounds great but not sure how long it would take to get there from Florence..? too many locations and not enough vacation time..I guess I am wondering if Florence is as wonderful as Paris and worth a 5 night trip (we stayed in Paris 6 nights and it wasn't enough!)

btw think Venice is not a good option since we're flying to Marseille, don't want to spend too much on flying/training everywhere..

We spent a week in Florence a couple of years ago, our third visit. Not a minute's boredom. We enjoyed seeing the wonders all over again that we had seen before, plus a great deal that we had missed. I'd do it again without hesitation. If you like art, architecture, and ambience, you can hardly find a better place to stay.

Sharon, I realize that you are remote. Do you get mail? Amazon delivers 'most anywhere, and they have all the RS books.... I think you are getting good info... but I'm not sure about Aix, for the reasons given in other contemporaneous threads.