Second Try at Itinerary

twg,

Whew, that's a lot of information to cover. I'll try to answer at least some of your questions, presented in the same order.

I'd suggest arriving in Florence a bit earlier than 18:00, so that you have time to do a bit of a familiarization walk-about before dinner. There are frequent high speed trains, and the trip only takes about 90 minutes. You can buy advance tickets for that trip if you're willing to commit to a specific train, date and departure time as the fast trains have compulsory seat reservations.

Many day tours are possible from Florence. Some that you could consider are Siena, Pisa or Lucca. You could also take the Bus up the hill to Fiesole and have a nice meal. Great views of the city from there. Yes, the Bus is the best option for travel between Florence and Siena, as you'll be dropped in the main part of Siena rather than the bottom of the hill where the rail station is located. I'd suggest leaving Siena as a day trip from Florence, as travel from there to the Cinque Terre takes longer than from Florence.

I haven't stayed at either of the hotels you mentioned in Monterosso, but they both have excellent ratings. Both are located in the "old town" and of the two Albergo Stella Della Marina is further down the hill so access will be a bit easier. I'd probably make the choice based on price, features, etc.

Yes, it's very easy to get from Monterosso to Varenna by train. I'd suggest using one of the direct (no changes) trains from Monterosso to Milano Centrale. I'd use the departure at 10:54, arriving Milan at 13:50. The train from Milan to Varenna is a Regionale, and there are frequent departures (travel time is 1H:03M). If you use the train suggested above, there's a departure at 14:20, arriving Varenna at 15:23. DON'T forget to validate your ticket prior to boarding the train on the day of travel. You can buy tickets for both the Monterosso-Milan and Milan-Varenna segments at the station in Monterosso. Note that the "official" name for your arrival station is Varenna-Esino.

I haven't stayed at either of the hotels you mentioned in Varenna, but either one should be good. Albergo Milano is a big favourite with many here.

In order to connect with the Bernina Express, you'll first have to take the train to Tirano. If you want to use the B.E. panorama cars with the large windows, there's only one departure per day as I recall (at about 13:00). The trip from Varenna to Tirano is 1H:28M, and there are frequent deparrtures. You can research rail trips in Italy using the Trenitalia website. You may not want to travel the entire B.E. route to Chur, as that's going to take awhile. You could always just travel part of the route, before returning to Tirano and Varenna via "regular" train.

There's good information on how to obtain tickets to "The Last Supper* in the RS Italy 2016 guidebook. You may find it helpful to pack a copy along, as there's an enormous amount of information there.

The trip from Varenna to Venice is also very easy. Take the Regionale to Milano Centrale, and then transfer to one of the high speed trains.

Thank you, Ken for your very helpful advice. I really appreciate it!

If we save Siena for just a day trip and don't spend Friday night there, then where should we go for that one night we have free between leaving Florence on Thursday and our reservations in Monterosso on Saturday?

I have read the information in the RS 2016 and also the information on Rick's blog and it is confusing about what is really successful. I was hoping for tips from people of what worked for them.

As always Ken gives great information. If you drop the one night in Siena, I would add it to the Cinque Terre as that is a bit of a trek to make for only two nights.

As to your time in Roma, brief as it is, I would suggest you use a private guide to make the most of your time. Francesca Carusa ([email protected]) does all of the Rick Steves groups so is difficult to retain, but try her. Her colleague, Sonia Tavoletta ([email protected]) is also excellent. They will customize your day to hit your highlights and ensure you can meet your schedule and get to Firenze as desired in late afternoon.

Last Supper tickets are notoriously hard to get from the museum. You will probably have to use a consolidator like Tickitaly. They do not come cheap. I used this company several years ago, FWIW.

twg,

I agree with Laurel regarding the extra night. If at all possible, add it to the Cinque Terre. You may find when you arrive there that you wish you had booked more time, and you shouldn't have trouble finding things to do for two full days. Some of the activities you could consider would be.....

• hike any of the Sentiero Azzurro trails that are open
• explore all of the five towns using the local trains or boats
• take a day trip to Porto Venere by boat
• take the train to Levanto for the afternoon
• spend some time on the beautiful beaches in Monterosso

The evenings are usually quite lively, with lots of happy diners in the restaurants, the locals visiting in the main square, etc. There are lots of restaurants to choose from there. If you want suggestions, post another note.

I would be remiss of me not to add one minor caution however. The Cinque Terre towns have become VERY popular, especially with cruise ship groups, and they can become quite crowded during the day time. Monterosso seems to handle the crowds a bit better as it's larger, and only a portion of the groups seem to find their way into the "old town". I would not recommend being in Vernazza in the main part of the day. If you're out touring other places during the day or safely ensconced in your comfy hotel room with a glass of Prosecco and a good book, then the crowds won't be a problem.

Thanks Laurel and Ken. I definitely don't want to give up a night in Siena for a third night in Cinque Terre. I want more time in Tuscany.

Should we take the train from Siena to Monterosso?

I sent an e-mail to Francesca several days ago, but haven't received a response yet. I will contact your other suggestion as well.

I guess it was a mistake for me to make such a lengthy post with too many questions. I guess I will ask them all separately. Sorry about that!

Thank you again!

twg,

Yes, you can certainly take a train from Siena to Monterosso. You'll first have to take a Taxi down the hill to the rail station. One of the quickest and easiest trips will be a departure from Siena at 11:41, arriving Monterosso at 14:52 (time 3H:11M, 2 changes at Empoli and Pisa Centrale, first two segments via Regionale so DON'T forget to validate, last segment via InterCity which has compulsory seat reservations). The layover times on each change are relatively short, so that would be a good one to use.

Florence is also in Tuscany (it's the capital) so you can count that as "time in Tuscany" as well.

Thank you, Ken! I really appreciate your help with figuring out the trains. I realize Florence is in Tuscany which is why I chose it as a base. I just don't feel like 5 nights is enough! I guess I will just have to go back, but there are so many other places to see and experience that I want to see as much as I can this time. :)

As for visiting the Mamertime Prison, the church of Saint Peter in Chains, and the Colosseum/Roman Forum, they are all very near each other. You could throw in the Campidoglio (Capitoline) Museums as well. The ho-ho bus is a big waste of money, in my opinion, since these sights are so near each other.

I have used Select Italy for Last Supper tickets, they mark up the price a little but I have always found tickets available.

Siena is a good choice for an overnight, but so is Lucca (inside the walls). I have stayed at Hotel Minerva in Siena and at a small B&B in the university area, I forget the name but I think it's Livia's Rooms. I found it through Booking.com.

Montalcino is a great combination of a small city with great food and wine (Brunello, in particular) and it is near Siena. You can get there by bus and tour it on your own. Arezzo is also very nice, closer to Firenze, I think.

I don't have much to add as the gang has covered all the bases!

I'll throw in my 2 cents on the Mamertine, though? Respectfully, I wouldn't waste the time on it. That one was the single regret of all we've done in Rome over several trips, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. We did it strictly for the archeological value (some of the claims attached to this one are purely speculative) and honestly, I learned more about it on my own from other materials than anything they covered there.

Zoe, thank you for your advice. I will check them out for tickets to the Last Supper. I have been to Mamertine prison and St. Peter in Chains. I thought Moses was stunning. I remember it being near the Coliseum, but we got a little lost trying to find it.

Kathy,
Thank you for your input. I have been to the Mamertine prison and it is one of the most meaningful places to me in my Christian faith, I am the only one that has been there in our traveling party. I just read that it is closed for renovations though. I hope it opens up before we are there in June.

Thanks again everyone for being to kind and taking the time to help me!

I would increase your Florence stay to 6 nights.
Sun - Train from Rome to Florence
Mon - Excursion to Siena
Tue - Florence sights
Wed - Excursion to Lucca
Thu - Florence sights
Fri - Excursion to Arezzo or Fiesole
Sat - Train to Monterosso with stop in Pisa

Thank you, David. I appreciate your advice! I will check out the places you mentioned!