Visiting Italy for the second time

How many nights will you have on the ground in Italy? What were your two-or-three favorite places of the 5 you stayed in last summer? Do you an idea of the sights and sites you would revisit or ones that you missed because of the rushed nature of your trip?

Mixing in old favorites and new places to discover is a nice way to construct a second trip.

A car certainly makes it easier to explore Tuscany but basing in Florence can be a parking nightmare. Perhaps look at a smaller town like Montalcino or Montepulciano as a base.

Cosider not renting a car -- just going from place to place by rail and hiring a local driver to visit the places not served by trains. Parking can be a real problem, as well as ZTL zones, and speed cameras. Then too, the driver will miss a lot just because of paying attention to the road and traffic. Just food for thought.

How many days? I would not necessarily try to replicate but instead pick fewer places and take them at a slower pace. Preparation can prevent problems with driving, and I would definitely plan on that for rural Tuscany.

What is your opinion on visiting those places again?

In November, we are taking our fourth trip to Italy since early 2023. We have been to other places too, but we keep returning to Italy. There is no other place like it, and there is so much to see you could never see it all. Sigh.

The last time we were in Rome, I said to my husband, "I could spend a month here, easily." We'll do it eventually but for now, I have to work to pay for our trips! :)

I wouldn’t bother to rent a car just for the day. By the time you are done with going to the rental agency, rental paperwork, drive out of the city (then repeat for the return), you will have little time to visit places. It’s a different story if you plan to head out to the Tuscan countryside for a few days and stay in a small town or a farmhouse or country villa/hotel for a base. If you stay in Florence, then you are better off using buses or trains to reach smaller towns that are well connected to Florence.

Thank you everyone for your input and advice. To answer few questions, we're planning to stay in county twenty one days. Would love to stay longer... If I must choose to pick less locations, the only place I honestly can "drop" it will be Milan. No because we didn't enjoyed it, we had a great time there too. Just because we enjoyed the other places so much more. Honestly If I could, I would extend my vacation to do more... (30 days sounds wonderful )
I guess, we just felt in love with the country and can't wait to visit again.

You need a minimum of three full days to see Florence properly, included the two wonderful museums, Accademia and Uffizi.

Both Siena and Pisa are easily visited by public transportation. Another good option is Lucca.

I am confused--how many days did you have the first time? Are you planning to do all of the same places, just add more time to each? I see nothing wrong with that if you have the time, but going to the same places for the same amount of time would result in much the same effect to my mind.
I was sort of interpreting your question as about visiting the smaller places by car, so I am not sure if I grasped what you were asking.

Yes, visit those places that you enjoyed, that you felt you didn't get enough time in!

Like others, I would also suggest, however, that you plan to stay in smaller cities than Florence, and do day trips from there. This is due, in part, to the hassle of parking in Florence (outside of the ZTL) and getting in and out of that city.

We have driven a lot in Tuscany, including the places that you mentioned, and while it's up to each individual, it gives us a lot more freedom to visit smaller towns and to enjoy the countryside. We trade off driving, so one person can enjoy the scenery (though when I'm driving, I can appreciate the countryside in a different way). For example, we have made two 5-night stays in Siena, and took many day trips from there. We found hotels that worked for us; one where we could easily park in their lot that was just outside the ZTL, and another that was just inside the ZTL but easy to get to and the hotel correctly reported our entrance into and exit from the ZTL each time we came and left. I cannot express enough how much we enjoyed sitting in the Campo at a cafe every day and people-watching. You can have a similar experience in a lot of smaller cities/towns.

If you want to also visit or stay in other towns, consider Lucca or Bologna.

For each town we stayed in, I carefully researched where the ZTL is (plenty of maps available online), and located convenient parking. I located convenient parking ahead of time for our day trips too, but of course that's not necessary, it simply, for us, made it easier to navigate to the town and to parking that was convenient for what we wanted to see.

There is nothing wrong with revisiting places you’ve been but do consider adding in a few new places. There are so many lovely small towns and villages- most easy by train. Our first trip was V-F-R with a bit of Tuscany and Umbria thrown in- and we have returned to all of those places again.
On our 2nd, 3rd, 4th trips to Italy we visited Sorrento, AC, Stresa, Bergamo, Bologna, Ravenna, Padua, Verona, Vicenza, Lucca, Pisa, Orvieto, Santa Margherita Ligure, Milan and others. We've usually done a combination of car and train. Mostly train in Italy.
I’ve got 3 or 4 future Italy trips “planned” still so much to see!

Figure out where is best to fly in and out of- for us that is Rome, Venice or Milan so repeating those cities for a few days is usually on our itinerary- you’ll never run out of things to do! (Except Milan- I think we saw all we needed to there!)

You might split your time between 3 regions. Base for a week or 2 bases in a week.

Fly in to Venice spend 2 or 3 nights- then on to a base in Veneto- Vicenza and Verona both work and have lots of possible day trips.

Bologna makes a good base for a 2nd region- visit Ravenna, Ferrara, Modena, Parma, etc.

Florence is always a good base but it sounds like you might enjoy some time the countryside. Train to Florence- spend a night or 2 then pick up a car to see Tuscan hill towns- Siena is a good base or somewhere near Siena, we love the Val D’Orcia area so maybe 2 bases in Tuscany- 3 nights each. Or scoot over to Umbria with the car and see Assisi, Spello, Orvieto.
So many possibilities.

Head south to Puglia for a week. You’ll want a car here.

Rome is a good place to fly home from- and again- you can never have too much time in Rome.

If you’d like to see the Lake region do that at start of your trip and work south.

Take a look at some of RS Italy tours for ideas. But keep in mind those tours are fast paced for a reason. You have a nice long 3 week trip. Stay 3-4 nights at each location. 2 nights is often fine too because sometimes that is all you really need for a small village. Avoid 1 night stays unless it helps the itinerary flow (or night of arrival, night before departure that can’t be avoided).

Be very specific when you choose lodging. We prefer hotels right in the center so we never have far to walk for a spritz. We appreciate the hotel bkft- when I am traveling/vacationing I don't want to waste time shopping/cooking/fixing my own meals unless it's a picnic lunch.
Parking must be easily accessible and secure for places when you have the car.

Travel in a north to south “line” as best you can and choose locations that are not a transportation hassle to get to. Rent a car for just the days you really need (Tuscany for example)

Happy planning!