My fiancé and I are trying to plan our honeymoon in Italy this September. We are quite the experienced European travelers (she studied abroad in Europe, I travel to Europe approximately once a month for business). With multiple visits to Barcelona, Madrid, London, Paris, Prague, and Germany between us, along with her one week stint in Rome and Florence, we have a pretty good grasp of what to expect as far as time allotment in each city, jet lag recovery, etc. However, we are struggling to put the locations we've chosen for a 12 day Italian trip in the most efficient order with regard to travel time between locations, cost, and most appropriate means of travel (regional airlines, car, or train). In prior trips to Europe, we've had success in such items as recovering from jet lag on a long train ride the first day (i.e. flying in and out of Barcelona, traveling and sleeping on a train from Barcelona to Madrid the first morning), renting cars (driving throughout southern Germany and into Prague, but parking at the airport on the edge of the city to avoid traffic), and flying low cost, one-way flights.
Any help in suggesting a proper order for these locations, as well as the best means of travel, will be greatly appreciated. We are booking our trip using frequent flyer miles and have been looking at flying into Rome or Venice. However, there are a lot more flight options on the airlines I frequently travel by flying into Milan and I am beginning to wonder if our trip should originate from there, which would afford an opportunity to view the "Last Supper". A quick glance at a map seems to indicate this may work if the trip is conducted in a circle beginning or ending in either Florence or Cinque Terre with Rome as the "turn around" point in the middle of the trip.
Our Desired Allotment in Each Location:
Rome - 3 days,
Florence and Tuscany - 4 days,
Venice - 2 days,
Cinque Terre - 2-3 days