The really early stages of planning normally involve reading guidebooks and websites and looking at maps. No one here can tell you where is a "must to go" in a country as big and varied as Italy. We have no idea what your interests are, what your budget is, or even why you chose to travel to Italy.

I would get a map, a few guidebooks, maybe a video or two and figure out what draws you to that part of the world and what attractions you are interested in.

For example, you say you will hire a car, but if you want to visit the major cities - say, Rome, Venice, and Florence - a car will be useless. But we don't know if you want to visit cities or not.

When you have some idea of what you want to do, come back and run it by Fodors and you'll get plenty of info to help you refine it.

Do you have a guidebook for Italy? That's where you should start They answer all those questions.

Once you choose where you'd like to go in Italy, you can do decide whether you need a car and do simple googles searches for "self catering" and "holiday rentals" or B&B -- plus your destination -- and find huge numbers of offers. Or use Venere.com and specify your budget.

Have a great time planning your independent trip and Italy itself.

Welcome to Fodor's. Many on this forum would love to tell you what to do and see. But as others have said, my "must-go" is probably differs from yours. Do you love/hate . . . art? museums? cities? small towns? architecture? hiking? relaxing? history? shopping? . . . you get the idea. Also, you must have chosen Italy as a destination for some reason, some preconceived notion about what you think a vacation in Italy should include. Tell us and we will help you make it so.

Does your 10 days include traveling to and from Italy? How many actual nights will you have in Italy?

I usually use a site like kayak.com to research flights since it will compare so many airlines, but then I usually book directly with the airline that offers the best deal.

Right thank you for your comments. I will post again once I have done more research.

It is good that you have not booked your flight. Many make flight arrangements incompatible with the itinerary.

"Cheap" and "hiring a car" do not always go together depending on where you are going. If your objective is to drive in Italy, then hiring a car and choose itinerary and accommodations compatible with car travel makes sense. If a car is just a means to transport, consider it as one of several ways to get around.

Exciting--another tip is to check out themed books based on your interests, be they food, nature, etc. Once you have the region narrowed down--and there are SO many choices--you'll get loads of help here. Resist the urge to traverse the whole country, as 10 days will go by in a flash. The only must sees are those of your own choosing. Have fun planning!

In addition to the above comments, what style of travel do you prefer? You could spend 10 days just in one city like Rome, or choose 2 or 3 bases (personally, I feel 3 or more would be too hurried and involve too much travel , unpacking and packing).

In terms of accommodation, I tend to use homelidays.com or holidayrentals.co.uk, but you obviously need to work out where you wish to go first.

I'd avoid driving in Italy. They drive like Italians. This is not good - think New York (or Boston, which is worse) drivers with too many espresso hits.

Start out by going to your local public library and checking out as many guide books on Italy as you can. Even if they are a few years old they are a good start in your planning, and they also give you an idea of what guidebook you want to buy. Also go buy yourself a good basic map of Italy so you get an idea of where places are, how far apart, or you can go to google maps, but it's nice to have a map in hand that you can write on.

You can even hit the travelogue section of the library and look for books written by people living in different areas of Italy. These are a lot of fun to read. There should also be a section of books on Italian history and art.

This should keep you busy for awhile. Actually it's kept me busy for well over a year, and I will be leaving for Italy in less then 3 weeks. I'm still reading and I'm still learning.


Once you have done some reading start a wish list. Where do you wish you could go and what do you wish you could do if time and money were no object. That will give you a good start on your plans.

Of course, unless you are very fortunate, you will have to cross a lot off your wish list, but having one gives you direction.

Planning your own trip takes time and patience, but you learn so much about the country you are visiting.

Good luck, have fun, you have plenty of time to do this.

CindyP.

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April 2012 ???
When planning your itinerary, keep in mind timing of Holy Week. Palm Sunday is Apr-1 with Easter on following Sunday, Apr-8.