Northern Italy Itinerary

Wow, Kim! You’ve selected such picturesque spots! I’m NOT a photographer and I have several hundred photos of my stays in Venice. Just from my iPhone. You may want to add at least a day there, esp if you want to take the boat (water bus) out to Burano (colorful houses) or Murano, or even the San Michele cemetery (island). I’m not sure what you like to photograph, but for me, each turn presented a new glimmer of sunlight in the canal, or the view from particular terraces, or the elderly man making his way down a thin alleyway with determination.

Check the timing for when the lights come on in San Marco Basilica if you plan to go inside. The mosaics truly sparkle in the light. (Last visit for me, it was 11am).

PS - hopefully you won’t have the car in Venice, Cinque Terre or Lake Como. Seems it may just be a burden and or costly to just leave it parked.

Venice does look short at 3 nights if it's your arrival point in Europe, meaning that you might not really be fully functional for much of your time there.

I agree that the car will not be of much, if any, use in the Cinque Terre area or around Lake Como, except that it might open up some less expensive lodging options above the lake--but at some point you'll have to get down to the lake and get on ferries for the best views and to move easily around the mid-lake area. I'd think the car would be best used just for rural Tuscany, but I say that as someone who has visited Cinque Terre (back before it was a zoo) and Lake Como (earlier this year) solely by public transportation.

@Shawn
Thanks Shawn, sounds to me like you have a photographer's eye for sure. I'm going to work on rearranging my schedule to add another day to Venice. It sounds magical, but then again...most of of Italy does! I am obsessed with watching YouTube videos about each and every town! The red poppies in Tuscany in May has always been a dream to photograph.
Thanks again.
Kim

@acraven
Thanks so much for all of your information. We do plan on staying outside of the main areas such as Levanto or LaSpezia and taking the train to Cinque Terre. In Lake Como we plan on taking the ferry from town to town as I can only imagine the views from the water are amazing!

Thank you again.
Kim

I'm not a photographer but in the Levanto area I thought that Porto Venere and Santa Margherita Ligure were scenic. Lerici a bit south has an impressive castle on the water and pretty harbor, especially when viewed from a bit up in the hills.