First I want to say thanks to everyone that help put my vacation together. This forum is incredible & made a trip of a lifetime perfect. Let me tell you how perfect it was from start to finish.
My husband flew into Pisa from JFK & because of this forum we didn't stay long. It truly was a one trick pony as some one here told me. The airport has a place you can store your luggage for a few hours which was perfect for us. We took the city bus to the Leaning Tour of Pisa. Wandered around for a couple of hours & took the city bus back to the airport & picked up our rental car. We had a Garmin GPS that took us straight to San Gimignano where we stayed in an amazing B&B (Le Undici Lune) for two nights. We loved San G. & wished we had stayed another night. Make sure you have some gelato from the little place in plaza. It was voted the best in the world. From there we were able to drive to Colle Di Val D-Elsa, Monteriggtoni & Siena. We then stayed 3 nights at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club Resort in the Terricciola area. That property is very nice but it's in the middle of nowhere. From there we drove to Cortona, Volterra, Pecciloi, Arezzo & Lucca.
Every single town was fun to visit , but I have to say that after seeing all those towns in 5 days, they all started blurring together. Most of the towns in Tuscany make you park outside of the towns so keep track of where you park your car....we lost track of ours a couple of times. :) Also make sure you have change to pay for some of the parking meters. Driving in Tuscany was a true adventure. The Italian drivers are very bold to put it nicely.....they zip in & out of traffic & after 5 days of driving I was more than happy to turn in the car.
We then drove back to the Pisa Airport to return the car & took the train to Vernazza in the Cinque Terre Region. The train system was so much easier than we thought. So don't worry about getting around if you're a first timer like we were. We changed trains in La Spezia in order to get to Vernazza. This is also a place we wished we had stayed an extra night. We stayed at Elisabetta Rooms for two nights. There were about 140 steps up to our room but so worth it with the view we had off of our deck. We took the boat to Monterossa...what a beautiful little town. Cinque Terre is an incredible place to see. We were also able to see Corneglia & would have liked to see more but it rained one of the days & there was a train strike...which happens most Sundays as we were told. Plus, the boats weren't running & the trail was closed.
After our stay in Vernazza we took the train to Civitivecchia where we boarded a cruise ship for 10 days around the Greek Isles. Which was so incredible~! If you find yourself in Naples or Sorrento make sure you take the Hydrofoil to Capri. That was one of our favorite stops. Take the Funicular up to the top & wander around that cute town then take the city bus over the Anacapri & get on the single chairlift to the very top. You won't believe the view. That was one of the best days of our trip. After the cruise we stayed 3 nights in Rome at Navona Gallery & Garden Suites which was in a perfect part of town & one of the best B&B we've stayed in...It was close to everything...including the Pantheon. Once you get your bearings of the town you'll be able to walk everywhere. We signed up with an 8 hour tour with Walks of Italy. If you need to see Rome in a day this is the tour. We started at the Colosseum then onto the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, city highlights. the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Vatican museums & it ends at St Peter's Basilica. They gave us a 45 minute lunch on our own. The next day we signed up for Eating Italy. Great tour that started in Trastevere & had 9 stops in different fun cafes. What a fun day... the next day we got on a hop on hop off bus. Make sure you get on the red one.
Thanks everyone & good luck & have fun on your adventure of Italy~!