Question about our itinerary: Rome, Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Florence AND Venice?

I would skip Cinque Terre before leaving out Venice. And Florence is absolutely worth more than one day's time as it's a very important city in world history. Don't miss either and see'em right--allotting a little more time to both.

It will actually look something more like this:
Day 1: Arrive Rome at ??Time
Day 2: Rome
Day 3: Rome
Day 4: travel day Rome to Cinque Terre

Day 5: Cinque Terre

Day 6: Travel day Cinque Terre to Tuscany (sienna?)
Day 7: Tuscany
Day 8: Travel Day Sienna? to Florence-sleeping in Sienna? will this be a day trip?
Day 9: Travel Day Sienna to Venice
Day 10: Venice
Day 11: Rome (for return flight home the next morning)
Traveling to Rome the same day as your flight? The night before??

Your travel days involve making sure your out of your lodging by check out time, packing and making sure your at your at the train station with time to find your platform and hopefully everyone is fed or with food for the train for the kids (I know how they get!).

We did the same trip last year without Venice. We went Florence 3 night, Cinque Terre 2 night (1 full day to see the 5 villages) and Rome 4 nights. All by train.

Sorry, but I think your trip is a bit rushed, even allowing for a quick pace. If you were to scrap CT, this would help. Florence needs more than 1 day and Venice merits 3 days, as things will be busy and there will be queues. I suggest that you plan out how long you want in each place and also factor in travel time between the destinations.

Do you already have your plane tickets, or would it be possible to do an open-jaw trip and fly home from Venice? You could move to a hotel near the airport the night before your departure to simplify getting to the airport if you have a morning flight.

I understand the dilemma about CInque Terre; I've been conflicted about whether or not to include it in my itinerary this year, both due to crowds and to the distance from the other places I'm going. I wonder if Lake Como or the Dolomites (visited between Florence and Venice) or a beach in southern Tuscany would provide what you're looking with less travel time...

Thanks, everyone, for responding. I guess my big question is, is Venice worth it? I've watched two Rick Steves videos and it doesn't call to me as strongly as areas such as Tuscany and Cinque Terre. Hmmmm...big decisions I have to make!

And yes, our tickets are booked, not changeable. We land in Rome at 11:20 a.m. on Day 1, and we fly out at 9:30 a.m. on Day 12. I didn't list Day 12 because it's a pure travel day.

Here's my alternative schedule if we leave out Venice and shuffle around our time in Cinque Terre and Tuscany.

Day 1: Rome - arrive 11:20 am. check in, sightsee from about 1:30 until bedtime
Day 2: Rome
Day 3: Rome
Day 4: Pickup in Rome by our full day tour guide, travel with him to Tuscany, see Lucca and Pisa and pick town to spend night
Day 5: Tuscany, lodging TBD
Day 6: Tuscany, lodging TBD
Day 7: Travel to Florence, sightsee in Florence
Day 8: Florence
Day 9: Leave Florence, head to Cinque Terre or another beach area
Day 10: Stay overnight in chosen beach area from Day 9
Day 11: Travel back to Rome
Day 12: Fly home out of Rome at 9:30 a.m.

There's never enough time to see everything. So, since you're already booked to fly out of Rome, and since Venice doesn't call to you now, drop it. Will you miss it? Yes, in the sense that you won't see it on this trip. My personal travel motto is, "I will see what I see and I will miss everything else, and that's OK because it's all good."

On my first trip to Italy, I deliberately didn't go to Rome, as it didn't interest me then. People were scandalized - "how can you go to Italy and not see Rome?" But on that trip, I got the yearning to see Rome; on my second Italy trip, I went there and loved it. Who knows how I'd have felt if I went there merely out of obligation?

So, don't worry about "missing" Venice; focus on what you will see instead of what you won't.

Your revised plan is much better.

I agree with Harold.

If you drop Cinque Terre and add a day to Roma, you could daytrip to Ostia Antica and then Ostia Lido for some beach time.

I am a little concerned that on your guided tour day, you don't have a destination for that night. Of course, you can book something on the fly, but is your driver going to sccompany you on the search for a room? Or will you choose between the towns you visit that day?

Harold, thanks. I'm kinda the same way. We will love what we do see and not know what we missed, instead thoroughly enjoying what we do experience. i scandalized some friends on my one day in Rome last year because I skipped the Vatican in lieu of touring Ancient Rome. It made me happiest and I am not religious so the Vatican wasn't a huge draw. Now that we are going back, we will go to the Vatican and see the Sistine chapel, etc. it all worked out.

I looked at other Italian beaches to see if they might do the trick. Viareggio looks nice. Perhaps we will make that our Tuscany home for a couple of nights. My teenaged daughter really wants a beach day.

I haven't booked anything yet other than Rome. That's why I'm asking questions and reading guide books. Once I decide the itinerary I can reserve rooms. I won't book on the fly once I'm there. Thanks!

If you depart from Rome you should leave it for last. I think you have been to Rome before so we will give it only 2 nights.
This is something you could do:
Fly to FCO
Take train to Venice upon landing (4 hours. You can sleep on the train)
Venice: 3 nights
Train to Florence.
Florence: 4 nights , visit Tuscany from Florence.
Cinque Terre: 2 nights
Train to Rome
Rome: 2 nights
Fly home
Adjust as needed

The only thing about your revised schedule I'd question is the private guide to Lucca and Pisa. Both are very easy and fast to reach by train. Do them as a day trip from Florence. If you want a guide either place, hire one, but paying for private transport from Rome to Lucca is probably not worth the time or money.

Jen, you're right. I was wondering about that myself. We used this guy before and he's a lovely person and we enjoyed him so much. But I'm not convinced we really "need" him on this trip. At least not to drive us from Rome up to Pisa and Lucca. Perhaps we will have him meet us up there - he lives closer to Pisa anyway - and take us around to a few towns where parking and driving is a pain.

I'm still tinkering with my schedule. I so enjoy this part of it, but it gets stressful because I'm afraid of missing something. I have to say, my youngest is only 9 and he will give us all a hard time if we do too many museums in Florence. Love him to pieces, but geez...he's afraid he might learn something. I love the idea of a kid-friendly pizza-making or pasta-making class in Florence. Not sure how much time we really have to stay there. I have a friend who recently moved to Bologna. Is that worth a visit, a stop for a meal along the way, if we keep Venice on the schedule? (See? I haven't ruled out Venice yet. I'm so unsure. I need to watch more travel clips and read my guidebooks all the way through.)

I love the idea of Venice first, but my Rome hotel is booked. I did an Expedia package and I chose our first three nights hotel as part of the package and basically got them half price or less. So that part is set. Perhaps we won't do another night in Rome on Day 11, instead just stay close enough to Rome where we can take the train to the airport that morning. I'll check schedules, etc.

Thought you guys might be curious what I've decided on for our itinerary. I spoke to a few more friends including one who lives in Bologna to come up with my plan. They convinced me to add Venice back in.

Please let me know if something sounds crazy stupid. We will alternate intense sightseeing in the cities with relaxing days in low-key areas. Hence going to CT right after Rome instead of staying in Florence next.

Day 1: Rome - arrive at hotel by 1 pm
Day 2: Rome - all day
Day 3: Rome - all day
Day 4: Cinque Terre - arrive in Cinque Terre by 3 pm
Day 5: Cinque Terre - all day
Day 6: Florence - (stop at Pisa and Lucca on the way to Florence) arrive at airbnb by 3 pm
Day 7: Florence - all day
Day 8: Florence - (daytrip down to Tuscany towns)
Day 9: Venice - (possibly stop in Bologna) arrive at hotel by 2 pm
Day 10: Venice - all day
Day 11: Rome - arrive by noon
Day 12: Fly home

We will spend three nights in Rome, then rent a car (after much debate car versus train the car saves us a few hours and allows us to see a bit more) and drive to cinque terre for two nights. We found a lovely hotel in CT with its own small parking lot, where we will ditch the car for two days. Then we will drive to Florence, stopping in Pisa and Lucca along the way. (We have seen those before but the kids haven't. Quick-ish stops.)

We will spend three nights in Florence, exploring the city the first two days, and, on the third day, heading into Tuscany for a day trip. I haven't yet chosen the towns to visit on that trip.

After Florence, we will drive to Venice, perhaps stopping in Bologna to have coffee or lunch with my lovely friend who moved there in January, then turn in our rental car, and spend two days exploring Venice. Then we will take the high speed train back to Rome (looks like about 3 hours on the train) for a quick overnight before we fly home out of Rome the morning of July 13.

The reason I've planned it this way is because I'm balancing my desire for low-key relaxing time with the kids desire for seeing particular things. If I had my druthers, I'd probably hole up in a Tuscan villa in the middle of nowhere for a week, and maybe add on several days in a sun-drenched rental villa on the Amalfi Coast so that I could explore the villages and buy my own groceries and make delicious dinners to eat on our terrace. But we will go back, and I can do my "nothing yet everything" vacation another time.

I believe you're trying to do too much in such a short time, especially traveling with your kids. I think your time in Rome is fine since you've already been there, but personally I'd drop the tour guide and take the train to Florence. It is a long and time consuming drive from Rome to Lucca or Pisa. I'd consider getting an apartment in Florence for 4-5 nights and taking several day trips by train to, for example, Siena, Lucca and/or Pisa. If you're interested send me a private message and I'll give you the name of the real estate firm we rented an apartment from on our last trip there. Saves money and you can cook family dinners with food you bought that day at the market. Gray Line has a really nice all day bus tour from Florence to Siena and San Gimignano that we enjoyed. Cost about 65 euros per person. Also, it's a long day but if you really want to "see" the CT you can do it by train. In truth, it deserves 2-3 days if you like to hike and see the sights, and probably better left for the next trip. You can also rent a car in Florence and see the Tuscan countryside, then turn it back in when you're done. You don't need a car IN Florence. Venice is worth the time and worth trading the CT to go there. I know you said your flights are already booked, but as others suggested you should try to fly out of Venice or Milan back to the states. Most airlines will charge you a change fee, and maybe traveling with five that is too much, but measure the cost to change the tickets against the expense of traveling back to Rome, additional lodging and food cost and even more important, the loss of valuable sight seeing time where you already are. Good luck.

PS If your kids haven't been before be sure to ask them to tell you what THEY would like to do. Show them movies, books and RS videos on this site are excellent to help them with that. Kids the ages of yours tend to think more about a trip like this than we give them credit for and will give you a lot of feedback if you allow them to do so. It will make it a better trip for all of you.

We're planning a very similar itinerary (as your revised version) with our 15-year-old son, but we're flying into Rome and then out of Venice. I posted our itinerary on this forum, if you'd like to see the feedback we received as well: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/thoughts-on-itinerary-bfc4e505-b88f-432a-9f25-75302655750a

We're planning to stop in Bologna on the way from Florence to Venice to visit the Ferrari and Lamborghini museums. With two boys and a possible stop in Bologna, that may be a fun option for you. It sounds like people really enjoy the Ferrari museum.

Enjoy!

Just to note; it's often recommended to fly into Venice but not out of it as so many flights are so early in the morning. Depending on where one's accommodation is located, it can involve a hefty expense getting to airport. Additionally, it's no fun getting up in the middle to the night make an early departure time. Bleh!

Thanks for all the fantastic input!!!! I really appreciate it.

As for switching to Venice, not possible without incurring a $200 per person change fee. Ugh! As nice as it would be to fly out of Venice, it's not a real option for us. I checked train schedules and we can do a 9 a.m. train out of Venice that arrives in Rome at 12:33 pm. That's not bad at all. So we'll just deal with it at this point, I guess.

I really love the idea of the Ferrari and Lamborghini museums. The kids would totally dig those! (And I probably just totally misspelled Lamborghini.)

I can't wait!

Check out the train vs. car options on www.rome2rio.com The details on the left column will tell you if you're saving any time by car vs. train (many of your locations are faster by train). The advantage of the train is that everyone's relaxed with no stress, your kids can stretch their legs, walk to the snack car, etc. The trains are used by everyone, and most of train types are very nice.

You might want to give each of your kids one location to research and find out all of the possibilities, i.e. bike tours, cooking classes, free walking tours, etc. to have some input into the trip. Also, have them research the best gelato shop in each town!

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks, Jean! I'll definitely do that. What a cool way to consider car vs train!

One of the things I ran into before when I was checking schedules was that unless we got on an early morning train, around 7 or 8 am, to CT, our options were limited and we were stuck waiting until around noon and end up on slower trains to boot. Two of my kids and my husband are not morning people, so getting them up for a 7 am train would be a total pain.

Regardless, I'll definitely do a comparison! Thanks!