We have 14 days in Italy late June. Arrive on a Sunday and leave on a Sunday. Second trip for both of us. Our focus is on wine (we own a vineyard). We are staying at Cretaoile the second week. Our plan is to be busy traveling the first week, and take it slower the second week in Tuscany. Are we absolutley crazy with the following itinerary? The items marked with a star are absolute musts for us and are prearranged or purchased. We recognize that we have two days that will be spent mostly on trains, and are now questioning the Cinque Terre portion of the trip.
Sunday: Arrive Rome 9 am. Train to Cinque Terre, arrive CT late afternoon (3 hrs on train after traveling from US!)
Monday: Hike CT
Tuesday: Train to Venice, arrive 2 pm Venice (6 hours on train)
Wednesday: Venice
Thursday: Murano in am. Travel to Verona. Opera in Verona at 9 pm *
Friday: Amarone Wine Tasting*
Saturday: Pick up car and drive to Tuscany. Arrive Cretaoile in afternoon*
Sunday-Friday: Relax and drink wine in Tuscany. Montepulicano and Montalcino tastings arranged* (Maybe side trip to Assisi)
Saturday: Drive to Orvieto, drop rental car. Explore Orvieto. Train to Rome. Arrive Rome 4 pm. One quick evening stroll in Rome. (We have both been before)]
Sunday: Fly back to US
I know the first week seems to be a lot of travel time and not much time relaxing and exploring. So...my biggest question is if the CT is really worth it? Could those first two days be spent in a better way before heading to Venice? Does anyone see any major problems that I haven't thought of in the months of planning? We have reservations everywhere, but can cancel if needed. Except for Cretaoile which is a MUST! Been waiting for that for years!
Thanks!