Hello, All. First, let me say that my sister is my very best friend (excluding my husband, of course). Last fall, I started planning a return trip to Italy for my husband and me. We had been to Venice, Florence, and Rome and wanted to see Umbria, Tuscany, and Cinque Terre this May. The more I read about Tuscany, the more I thought of my sister and couldn't imagine going without her, too. Good food. Good wine. Beautiful countryside. To my surprise she said she'd love to join my husband and me if we could wait until next May to do the trip. That was okay and I was thrilled because she has never been to Europe and it would give my husband and me the chance to show off Italy, a country we love. So I initially had this beautiful itinerary for my husband and me ---
Cinque Terre/Vernazza - 3 nights
Lucca - 2 nights
Pick up rental car in Pisa and drive to agriturismo in either San Gimignano or Siena. Stay 3 nights.
Pienza - 2-3 nights
Assisi - 2-3 nights
Orvieto - maybe a night or two, but drop off car and head to Rome
Rome - 3 or 4 nights
That's a lovely schedule, isn't it? Well, my sister told me yesterday that she is only comfortable being away from home and work for 10-11 days total. I knew that about her so I can't complain. And it's totally worth it to me for her to go at all. (By the way, my husband thinks the world of her as well so he's on board with her going and us tweaking our plans.) So, my husband and I agreed that she must see Venice and Rome. I'm thinking we'll fly into Venice and out of Rome, in fact. I believe we'll need 3 nights in Venice to recover from jet lag as much as anything. And 3 nights in Rome for what we plan to do. That leaves 4-5 nights for Tuscany. I'm eager to stay at one or two agriturismos in the area -- outside San Gimignano, or Siena, or Pienza. My sister and husband are all for that! So the revised itinerary would look like --
Venice - 3 nights
Tuscan countryside - 4-5 nights
Rome - 3 nights
Sister heads home
Husband and I have another week in Italy
That leads me to my questions --
1. Would we get a good feel for an area and the agriturismo itself if we only stayed for 2-3 nights? We don't want to miss an experience and treat an agriturismo like a Holiday Inn Express!
2. My husband, sister, and I will have turned in the rental car in Orvieto before heading to Rome. If he and I want to see Assisi, Spello, Spoleto, etc. we'll need to rent a car...again. I figure we'll end up with the car we just dropped off three days prior! Is this less of a hassle/pain that I feel like it's going to be? It kind of seems ridiculous to rent a car twice in a week or so.
3. If we get the rental car, we'll stay in the Assisi area for 3 nights and tour around. After that, we'd head to Lucca to stay for two nights. Is the drive from Assisi to Lucca reasonable?
4. Another thought -- We could skip the extra rental car hassle if my husband and I omit the Assisi area and, instead, take the train from Rome to Pisa/Lucca directly. We would wrap up our trip with two nights in Lucca and 3 in CT. That sounds more sane, right? The trade off would be missing Assisi and the surrounding area. Would that area, however, (dare I say) 'pale' in comparison to the Tuscan trip we just completed a few days before with my sister?
5. It's killing me not to take my sister to CT knowing that she, most likely, will never go back to Italy/Europe. (She is not a traveler.) She does love the sea!n Is 2-3 nights in Vernazza worth 'begging' my sister to try and stay an additional 3 nights in Italy? :-) Then our schedule would look like this --
Venice - 3 nights
CT - 2-3 nights
San Gimignano or Siena agriturismo - 3 nights
Pienza - 3 nights
Rome - 3 nights
And now my short story comes to an end. :-) I'm sure I've either overthought all of this or I haven't thought of something obvious. I sincerely appreciate your input. Thanks!