Travel itinerary

One night stays are really a waste of time and you have two of them that will eat up most of the time you've allocated to see Siena and the CT. I would get rid of one of those single night stops and give it to the other place. In addition, although I love Venice more than any other city on earth, even I think 5 nights is too much there. I would take a night from Venice as well and add it to your destination. You'd then have 3 nights in either the CT or Siena. I haven't been to the CT but I love Siena.

The first thing I see is a pretty smart move to stay mostly to the north. You'll be happily surprised how easy it can be to get around by train and bus which means your travel days aren't filled with just . . . well, travel. I love Venice. Flying into Venice means an amazing view of the Alps then this island (twice the size of Central Park, I'm told) that certainly doesn't look anything like the 21st century. The airport is easy to deal with and it's easy to get to Venice from there by water or by bus. I like water. 5 nights can be magical. The city is crowded from about 10:00 am to 4:30 pm with tourists off of the cruise ships. Before and after, the place is pretty much yours! But even during 'tourist hours' you can get away from the crowds by simply turning left or right down any alley. You're on an island, you can't get lost no matter how hard you try!

Siena is a beautiful city, especially at night. For me, 1 night isn't enough. For me 4 nights in Florence is too many. But, that's me. From Florence take a bus to Siena - it drops you off right at the start of the medieval city which is where you want to be. The train is a distance below. Everyone has their own opinions about number of nights in each place. Listen to their reasons and decide for yourself what you are looking to experience. For me, Siena has a wonderful balance of art, history, views, food and calm. Florence too, except for the calm. 4 nights in Florence can mean very full days of churches, museums and shopping - not bad but maybe tiring.

Cinque Terre is so totally different! This is a great place to relax and just meander around the towns. Take the boat from town to town for the best views. Amazing seafood!!!!

That leaves you 5 nights in Rome. Smart move to fly home from there! The international departure terminal makes it so much easier to deal with an otherwise difficult airport. What I like best about Rome is the variety. If you get tired of the 21st century, turn the corner and you're in the 16th century, turn again and you're in the 1st century. In the evening go to Trastevere and BE a Roman. Bet you'll go back there at least more than once!

Have a wonderful time planning your trip! I know you'll come home with some very vivid and happy memories.

I agree about the two one-night stops, but if you decide to proceed with the original concept:

I thought the order of your itinerary could be improved, so I checked the TrenItalia schedules. It turns out that there's only about 1/2 hour's difference in total travel time all the way from Venice to Rome, so who cares? But you might want to make a conscious choice, based on which specific legs will be long.

Your proposed itinerary has two legs that will be over 4 hours: Venice to Siena and Cinque Terre to Rome.

If you shuffle things and go Venice - Cinque Terre - Florence - Siena - Rome, you'll have just one long leg (but it will be at least 5:18), Venice to Cinque Terre; by judicious train selection you can keep all the other legs under three hours.

Honestly, I don't know which I would prefer; it might depend on whether I had plans to visit a sight at the destination that didn't close during the middle of the day, or whether I didn't want to start out too early and wanted to maximize my opportunities for nice lunches at my destination.

Thank so much for the replys. You've given me much to consider. I'm thinking taking a day off Venice & Florence and adding a night to Siena & CT might be the right fit for us. Regarding getting to CT...everything I've read seems to show CT is the easiest to get to from Florence. Maybe I'm missing something?

The logistical problem may be that Siena is a bit of an outlier so getting to/from there adds an hour or two of extra travel time. See it as a day trip (by bus) from Florence and spending 2 nights in the CT if that's a high priority for you.

5 nights in Venice does sound like 1 more than you need. An easier 1-nighter, instead of Siena but as good, is either Verona or Padua (my personal preference is Verona).

4 nights in Florence - well, that depends on your interests. If you love Renaissance painting, sculpture, architecture, then 3 days is the minimum. If you just want the highlights, one day is enough. I was surprised at how crowded with tourists Florence was in mid-May when I was there 2-3 years ago.

5 nights in Rome is 4 full days - easy to fill that up. I'd tweak the rest but not take any time from Rome.

I would go with no more than three nights in Venice. Also, why go to Siena next, Siena is south of Florence, between Florence and Rome?

The out of the way place is Cinque Terre, which may not be as easy to reach if you are taking rail travel. In any event, go to Florence after Venice, great train connections, then drive to Cinque Terre, stop in Lucca and Pisa on the way. Spend a night or two there, then back down to Sienna and then Rome.

Rome deserves five nights as you mentioned.

Another choice is the skip Cinque Terre and use rail to do Venice, Florence (side trip to Sienna), Rome and the Naples area.

Hello! I don't know if this helps, but our 9 night/10 day trip in April will include:
Venice: 2 nights
Cinque Terre: 3 nights
Rome: 4 nights

I agree that one-night stops are very short. I'm really, really looking forward to CT, so in my opinion, I would suggest you add more nights there!

"Thank so much for the replys. You've given me much to consider. I'm thinking taking a day off Venice & Florence and adding a night to Siena & CT might be the right fit for us. Regarding getting to CT...everything I've read seems to show CT is the easiest to get to from Florence. Maybe I'm missing something?"

Correct — when I booked our train tickets from Venice to Manarola, the majority of the routes went through Firenze SMN. I recall seeing just a few train routes with train changes in Milano. We chose the Venice-Manarola route with a stop in Firenze SMN.

I don't like 1 nights because check in is usually 4 PM and checkout is 11 AM ; leaving you zero actual days on the ground just an evening and breakfast in the morning.

The Siena 1 night while I am not sure a great idea I think can be worked with if you are a light packer since you have 4 nights in nearby Florence following it but still leaves uncomfortable hours post check out in Siena before you can check into a new place in Florence.
Most would do Florence 5 nights and visit Siena as an all day easy day trip.
The 1 night in CT is a terrible idea though IMO ; it is hard to get there and then hard to get from there to Rome ; going that far out of the way for 1 evening really doesn't make sense and doesn't give you time to see the CT well at all.

Don't see the need for 5 nights Venice so the easy solution is to remove 2 nights to Venice and give them to the CT ; leaving them both at 3 nights each ; keeping everything else the same.

In addition making Florence 3 nights and Siena 2 I would probably prefer but not as important a change for me.

Thank you all so much for your replies. While I really, really want to visit CT (it sounds like it's going to become more restricted in the future), I've come to the conclusion that it's just not a good fit for this trip. The revised itinerary is...Venice for 4 nights, onto Florence (via train) for 3 nights, Siena (via bus) for two nights. From Siena we'd love to rent a car and drive the "Heart of Tuscany Drive" ending with a night in Montepulciano, then on to Rome for 6 nights, dropping the rental car before we get to Rome. Any thoughts on how/where to pick up / drop off the rental car.

"I don't like 1 nights because check in is usually 4 PM and checkout is 11 AM ; leaving you zero actual days on the ground just an evening and breakfast in the morning."

But, assuming you're staying in a hotel and not an apartment, hotels will let you store your bags before check in and after check out. So, you can arrive in the morning and drop your bags, then sightsee, then go back before dinner to check in. The next day, check out after breakfast, but stay in town as long as you like. Before leaving, go back to the hotel to retrieve your bags. As long as you choose a central hotel, this is easy; I've done it many times.

Thanks for all your suggestions! From your replies & the forums & RS books, we have decided we will spend 4 nights in Venice. Train to Florence for 3 nights, then rent a car to stay in Siena for one night, Montepulciano for 2 nights. Drop the car off before Rome. Five nights in Rome. Any suggestions for a place to stay in Siena?

Several years ago I stayed at Hotel Minerva, onsite covered garage parking and a short walk (10-15 minutes) to Piazza del Campo.

I don't like a string of 1- and 2-night stands, but I don't see anything wrong with yours. I spent one night in the CT (albeit before it was quite so popular). I left Florence early, stopped to see Pisa, arrived early afternoon and left late afternoon the next day. I had just enough time for a nice evening, a morning hike, and the lovely ferry trip between Monterosso and Reomaggiore. I would have liked more time - but just about everywhere I go in Italy I want more time!

I went to Siena as a day trip from Florence and I in retrospect, an overnight is a better choice. What I would suggest is to take the high-speed train to Florence, leave your suitcase either in your Florence hotel or at the train station and then take a small overnight bag on the bus to Siena. The bus stop is across the street from the train station and takes you a lot closer to the historic center than the train does.