Suggestions for our trip

Okay, what follows is of course my opinion. Take it or leave it. :-) Frankly Pisa isn't worth an overnight stay when there are so many more interesting places to see. As for the CT, I would start crawling up the walls after two nights. 3 max. Varenna is lovely but 2-3 nights max. It's also a similar experience in many ways to the CT - small picturesque village on the water with not all that much to "do." I would instead do Rome and/or Venice, even tho they're a little out of the way. Have you been to Venice? If not, you really should. Maybe you could list the places you've been and your thoughts about returning. For example we've only been to Florence once but had 4 nights there which was perfect. Now there are other places we'd like to see more. Have you bought your tickets yet? What have you enjoyed doing in Italy on your previous trips?

Personally Siena isn't worth three nights to me. If you wanted to add in another city you could definitely shorten that, and take a night off of CT or Varenna and see another. I haven't seen much of the other cities so I can't advise well on those, but one day in Siena was enough for me. Tuscany is beautiful and great, so you could visit Cortona or Arezzo or another Tuscan city while you travel around.

Also, I agree with Michael that Venice is fabulous and I would highly suggest visiting if you haven't been. Even if it's a little out of the way, it is worth it. You could cut one or two nights out of Siena, one from Pisa, 2 from CT and just there you would have 4 nights to head to the Venice region. If you want to do Venice and another city in the region, you could take off a night from Varenna and have even more time. Venice is amazing, you can visit Murano, Burano and Torcello, and there's a lot more to see.

I would also encourage you when possible to plan to alternate between bigger cities and smaller towns.

We have been to Rome twice and have not been to Venice. Does it make sense to go there on this "swing"? The reasoning behind our ideas was that we also would like to see the Dolomites area and could include that in another trip with Venice. Any ideas for side trips that we could include and then use the places listed for a "home base"?

I like your relaxed pace. If you are looking to relax, possibly with a daytrip or 2, the 3 nights in Siena are fine. The 2 nights in Pisa? I'm not sure if you've been or not, but it probably wouldn't be the first place I'd choose to stay overnight. I would highly recommend nearby Lucca, with a daytrip to Pisa; especially if you haven't already been (to Lucca). If you are into hiking, 5 nights in the Cinque Terre would be just fine; I'd love it. Keep in mind there are many hikes, and you can also daytrip up the Italian Riviera or down to Carrara. 4 nights in Varenna are OK, again, if you'd like to relax and/or go hiking/daytrips up and down the lake. Otherwise you could possibly add one of those nights to Milan and use the extra day there to see more in Milan, or daytrip to a nearby town (like Bergamo) or even another lake (like Maggiore). But overall it looks good! Enjoy your travels!

Love all of the ideas! We are not "sitters" but would like to have this trip more relaxed than changing places every 2 days. We love to be outside and eat! Great idea on not staying in Pisa...we wondered about that. Venice is looking more and more interesting; esp the suggestions on what to see.

Cindy: Siena is a good base. Rent a car and see some hilltowns from there. Have you already committed to flying to Florence? If not, fly into Milan. Here's an idea for your itinerary assuming Milan as an arrival location: - Day 1 - arrive Milan and transfer to Venice - Day 2 - Venice - Day 3 - Venice - Day 4 - Venice - Day 5 - transfer to the CT - Day 6 - CT - Day 7 - CT - Day 8 - CT - Day 9 - transfer to Lucca - Day 10 - Lucca - Day 11 - transfer to Siena - Day 12 - Siena; take a tour with Tours By Roberto - Day 13 - Siena; rent a car and visit Volterra and San Gimignano OR Cortona - Day 14 - transfer to Varenna - Day 15 - Varenna
- Day 16 - Varenna - Day 17 - transfer to Milan for flight out the next day; get tickets to the Last Supper if you can, and see the Duomo Venice is fantastic and there is more to do than you can do in three trips. Take lots of walks, visit the outer islands. If you fly into Milan you can be in Venice by mid-afternoon. The CT is worth 4 nights if you want to both relax and hike. It is a Slow Travel sort of place. Lucca beats Pisa; Siena is a good base for going other places, but is worth seeing. You could stay 4 nights in Siena and 2 in Varenna, depending on personal choice. If you are committed to flying in and out of Florence, you can still do this itinerary. Ciao and have fun!

Wow! Thanks Laurel! We are not committed to any airport yet as we wanted to figure out where we were going first. Your ideas sound awesome! We would rather not rent a car, so could we still to your ideas by train? I have been thinking maybe we should give up Milan and just fly in to Florence and end up in Venice. Definitely will sit down and look at all the ideas. So appreciate the help.

You do not need a car. You can do a bus trip out of Siena to Volterra and San Gimignano, for example. One reason to fly into Milan is to make it easy to transfer to Venice. There is a train from the airport to Milan Centrale and then a connection to Venice that is quite efficient.

What follows is only my opinion. A day trip to Pisa would be enough...nothing there but tower and church.
Siena is great...2-3 days is good. Verona is wonderful. Bologna is too. (Both not too far from Milan and on a good train route) Also, what about Lucca....I am spending 3 days there next month. My towns on this trip are: Cannobio, Verona, Bologna, Siena and Lucca over a 14 days period (with a couple of days in Switzerland...am flying in and out of Zurich) and doing trains the whole trip.

Some people love Lucca. I thought it was okay, but not up to the breathless hype you sometimes hear. We stayed there 3 nights in 2008 and in hindsight I would choose someplace else instead. But the B&B Romea where we stayed was lovely.

Hi Cindy, I also love the more relaxed, leisurely, soak up the ambiance, type of travel. I will be spending more time in my desired bases, than most travellers typically spend, on my next trip to Italy in July: Rome (5 nights with a day trip to Orvieto), Positano for a full week in an apartment, CT for 3 nights, and Venice for 8 nights in an apartment. I don't want to just see the major sights, I want to live like a local (food shop & prepare our own meals) and relax in piazza's, take long strolls, and enjoy watching my kids play in some parks, hopefully meeting some Italian children, etc....My husband thankfully speaks Italian, so maybe we'll get to meet some friendly locals ourselves!

The direction we wanted to take on this trip was just more relaxed. We love the tours, but sometimes didn't get to spend as much time in one place as we would like. That is the reasoning behind our ideas. We have re-looked at the towns/length of time and will definitely go to Venice after reading the responses. We were trying to do a "loop" so the distance between stops wasn't too much. We so appreciate all the input!! Thanks!

You'll be soooo glad you added Venice. Have a wonderful time! And if you don't have at least the RS Italy book for 2011, buy it. Best money you'll spend on the entire trip.