Suggestions for order of travel in Italy.

ss,

Although the train trip from Siena to the Cinque Terre requires several changes, I'd suggest changing the order to Rome > Siena > Cinque Terre > Florence > Venice, as that's the most efficient method for the route you're travelling. One other suggestion would be to make Siena at least a two night stop as one night will realistically only allow a few hours to look around. To clarify one other point, the trains from the Cinque Terre to Venice typically travel either through Florence or Milan. I find the Florence routing a bit faster.

Have you decided yet which of the five towns in the Cinque Terre you'll be staying in? Most people here on the forum have a preference, and my choice is Monterosso, the most northerly town. It's the largest and therefore has the greatest number of hotels, restaurants and other tourist amenities as well as the best beaches.

As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip, as that includes a lot of good information on "how" to travel well in Europe. After that use the country or city-specific guidebooks to plan sightseeing, hotels, restaurants and transportation. You can find the guidebooks in larger bookstores or order from THIS website. Many of these are available as E-books as well.

On the topic of "transportation", there are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of when using public transit in Italy. If you need further information, post another note.

I agree with Ken, but either way don't worry about back tracking a little. It's still is a logical order of stops, and I think you'll really like it.

Since it's your first trip, I highly recommend watching Rick's travel skills episodes if you haven't already: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show

Also read the tips section on thefts and scams: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/theft-scams I just say this because you'll see all kinds of people going after tourists, especially in Rome and Florence, so it's good to know what to look out for.

I also agree that ... Rome > Siena > Cinque Terre > Florence > Venice ... is your best routing.
Your choice of itinerary and allocation of nights is perfect.
This will be a fantastic trip for you. All the best for your planning.
Enjoy.

Hey, I too agree with Ken, as he knows his stuff. And I agree with your itinerary as you're spending enough time in each city. So many travelers miss so much as Italy has so much food, culture, art and history to take in.

Have a great trip.

Great trip. You will love it. You didn't mention your departure city for Athens. If that isn't booked you can fly out of Venice.

I love Venice and would spend more time there and maybe one night less in 5 Terre. But, of course, it is up to you guys.

I would never spend three days in Cinque Terra. Boring. Add two of them to Venice.

Have you thought about visiting Siena as a day trip from Florence? That will save you a few hours spent finding your Siena hotel, checking in, unpacking/packing, and checking out. Florence is only about an hour away from Siena by bus (or train), and visiting on a day trip from Florence probably will give you more time to explore Siena.

Sherry definitely voiced my thoughts: stay in Firenze and day trip to Siena. (Or vice-versa.) You'll save a 1/2 of time, at least.

The Cinque Terre for 3 nights is great if you are a hiker. Otherwise you can tour each village for a couple of hours (Rick Steves has self-guided tours of each) and maybe take the boat between villages or go over to Porto Venere by boat. Very nice town.

As you fine-tune your trip, you may want to consider the 'personalities' of your fellow travelers. My younger daughter, for example, needs time away from the crush of cities during a trip to kind of de-stress. Some of her happiest moments on our trips have been away from cities, for example on a farm stay, spending the afternoon in a large park/garden photographing the snails(!), etc. RS advocates leaving time in a schedule to just explore. Consider reading about his concept of 'taking a vacation from your vacation', also mentioned in his guidebooks, particularly because this is such a long trip.

With a 15 year old I'd add another day to Venice. She may like Venice better then art museums. I would! Also, consider staying in Lucca and do Cinque Terre as a day trip. If it rains in May three days of mud is not good in CT. Sounds like a great trip. Enjoy.

Wow, thank you so much for all the good advice. I had to add an extra day to our Italy itinerary to get the flight I needed from Venice to Athens. So here is my itinerary after thinking about what you all have said. This is my second draft. If anyone has any other great ideas please let me know. Thank you again.

Rome - 5 days, May 22 - depart 27 high speed train to La Spezia then catch a regional train to Vernazza.

Cinque Terre 3 days, May 27- June 30 (I thought about what Jim said about getting bored with 3 days, but we like to hike and after 2 months of sight seeing we may need to have that vacation from our vacation that Lia talked about and just read a book overlooking the sea.)

Florence 4 days, June 30th to departure on June 4 On the train route to Venice & do a Day trip to Siene (I took Laurel and Sherry's advice)

Venice 4 days, June 4- depart on June 8 Fly to Athens. Is 4 days too much in Venice?

To answer your question about Venice – 4 days is definitely not too much time. I've spent at least a month there over the course of several trips, and I'll be going back for a week in the spring. Venice is a wonderful place for relaxing without an agenda. You also can spend one day touring islands in the lagoon, and if you run out of things to do, Padua and Verona are two of several wonderful, easy day trips.

ssfaucet - can I come with you? ;) Sounds perfect. I've had 9-10 nights in Venice over 4 trips and could (and will) go back for more. You can spend a day alone exploring Burano/Murano/Torcello, spend a day getting lost in the back alleys, spend a half day alone seeing San Marco, the Doge's Palace and a day seeing many of the other beautiful churches and museums(if that is your thing). So 3 nights is def not too many.

I just realised I can add one day to the itinerary because I wasn't counting May 31st.
So if I am doing
5 days in Rome
3 days in Cinque Terra
4 days in Florence with a day trip to Seine
4 days in Venice

To which of these locations would you add one more day to or suggest a must see day trip. I was thinking to add the day to Rome.
Thanks for the help. Almost done!

Or maybe 5 days in Venice to just soak in the atmosphere.

New voice here ssfaucet, (is that like sterling silver faucet? If so, pretty ritzy!),
I would add a day to Florence, and plan to take a day tour from Florence to some of the smaller towns in Tuscany. A winery tour might not be your thing, with a 15 year old, but I'm sure there are other types, and the small towns and countryside of Tuscany are wonderful! Also, from my experience in Siena, try to go by bus from Florence, which drops you right in town, unlike the train, and also try to go back on the latest bus in the evening. Siena is nice during the day, but busy, congested and with many day trippers, but The small city turns magical in the evening, when it is calmer, not congested, and when the major public buildings are illuminated.

ss,

I'd suggest leaving Venice at four days and adding time to either Florence or Rome to allow additional day trips. You might find that "soaking in the atmosphere" in Venice starts to wear a bit thin after three days.

Maybe a one night stop in Lucca to break the journey from Rome to Cinque Terre.
This would also allow you to check out nearby Pisa.

And I'm the opposite - I never tire of seeing Venice and being in Venice, but Florence's attractions for me are the Renaissance painting and sculpture. If you tire of Venice, Padua is a 1/2 hour train ride away and Verona is a little over an hour.

Two fun things to do in Venice - the Doge's Secret Itineraries tour and a gondola lesson.

If you add a day to Rome, you could do a day trip to Orvieto, a smaller town, with gorgeous scenery.