Leaving 3/6/14 and arriving next morning in Rome. Departing 3/21 also from Rome. I've basically imagined two possible routes:
Option 1:
3/7: Catch flight to Venice (would put us in Venice at ~330pm local time)
3/8: Venice
3/9: Early AM train to Riomaggiore (arrive 1230pm); catch local train to Monterosso; spend rest of day there
3/10: Hike from Monterosso to Riomaggiore in AM; train back to Monterosso; pick up luggage and train to Vendazza; spend rest of day there
3/11: AM train to Florence
3/12: Florence
3/13: Florence
3/14: AM train to Siena and spend rest of day there
3/15: Finish up Siena, Rent car (?) and explore "Heart of Tuscany" are that Rick talks about in his book
3/16: Heart of Tuscany; perhaps drive down to Rome
3/17: Drive to Rome (if didn't drive night before); return rental car
3/18: Rome
3/19: Rome
3/20: Rome
3/21: Flight back
Because we'd also love to see the Almalfi/Positano area, I had been trying to incorporate that too but it doesn't seem possible in the time we have to spend. The trek from Siena to Naples and then boat to Sorrento would eat up a lot of travel time. I've read a lot about Italy in March and it seems like Venice/CT could be cold/dreary and even rainy making the CT trail a bust if it is closed. So alternatively....
Option 2:
Cut out Venice/CT, Arrive in Rome, train to Florence --> Siena --> Tuscany -->Naples/Sorrento/Almalfi/Positano--> Rome
This option would make us miss out on Venice which would make us sad...
So...
Option 3:
Arrive in Rome-->train to Naples-->boat to sorrento--->some combination of pompeii/almalfi/positano/capris--> back to Naples--> fly to venice-->train to Florence--> Siena/Tuscany-->Drive to Rome
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!