Please Help With Itinerary Change

Hi Andrea,

I like option 2 best, but both look ok. We flew into Pisa a couple of years ago - nice small airport but best if you can carry on your luggage. Their luggage claim area is small and disorganized and serves several airlines at once. However, we then took the train directly to CT and it was probably the best place to de-jet lag I have ever been! Arrival day we settled in, swam, explored Vernazza (where we stayed), sipped wine watching the sunset, ate an excellent dinner, and went to sleep with open windows and the sounds of the sea. Day 2 we hiked the entire CT and after so much excercise and fresh air, we were all set for the rest of our vacation. The only change I might make to your itinerary is to somehow add a day to Venice. It is one of our favorite places - so much to see and explore. With an extra day you could get to Murano or explore more of the out of the way places. Have a wonderful trip!

I agree. They both look workable to me.

If it were my trip I'd pick the second trip, too, for many of the same reasons. I have not flown into Pisa, but I do choose a smaller airport for arrival when the option exists.

Thank you Lise. We will carry on our bags, so that is no problem. If we give up Lake Como (which I hate to do) it would give us more time elsewhere. Another thought I had was if we shorten our time in Tuscany by a day or two, we could add that to Verona and go to Lake Garda while we are there. It might compensate for missing out on Lake Como. For us, I think two nights in Venice will be enough.

Edit: Thank you too Jim. Your post wasn't there when I responded!

I just discovered we can't fly into Pisa. We are using FF miles and Pisa is not an option. We can fly into Milan or Florence. Considering that, what would be the best route to take to see the places we would like to go?

Hmmmm....

I'm not familiar with Florence's airport, nor how easy it is to go from airport to rail there... so my post may not be very helpful.

I still like the second trip... and by train Milan is slightly closer the CT than Florence... so I'm inclined to fly into Milan and do your second trip.

I think there's a direct express train connecting Milan to St. Margherita in right at 2 hours several times a day... and that route almost always has decent dining cars (food is a big deciding factor for me...)

The Florence airport is tiny, so if you like a smaller airport, that's a good choice.

I think the #2 option is still workable if you fly into Florence. What I would do is start in Florence and make a clockwise loop. Florence - Siena - Lucca - CT - Venice - Verona. I'm not quite sure about the Lucca-CT order but I think that would be best, so hopefully someone else can confirm that I'm not crazy.

ETA: In response to Jim's comment about the Florence airport, I'll add not only is it tiny but it's right on the edge of town. It's a cheap taxi ride to the main train station in Florence, which is a big central hub for getting to other locations.

Liz, I was actually thinking about the same order you mentioned. What about CT to Venice? How long or hard would that trip be?

I'm revising my recommendation.

Learning something new from Liz -- her suggestion makes the most sense now. I like that "revised second trip", and would keep Lucca before CT.

CT to Venice is 5-6 hours with at least 1 train change, most are 2-3 train changes.

It will burn a chunk of day -- but that can be fun. That route goes through some beautiful countryside.

EDIT: Note that there are 2 main routes for this run... one connects in Milan, the other connects in Florence plus at least one other stop. It's the route through Florence that I think has the better scenery.

Thanks for all your help. I just tried to change my flights and it was not doable. We will just go with our original plans.