Kate101

23 Days (9/29 to 10/21/08--fly into Paris and out of Rome):

Days 1-6 - Paris (Hotel St. Jacques)
Days 7-11 - Train to Avignon, pick up rental car, stay in Rousillon (5 nights) (Would 2 bases with shorter stays be better for seeing Provence?)
Days 12-13 - Train from Nice to Levanto. Stay 2 nights in Levanto, hike the Cinque Terre if weather permits
Days 14-17 - Train to Pisa, pick up rental car, drive to Pienza area. Stay 4 nights in an agriturismo.
Days 18-20 - Drop off rental car in Florence. Stay 3 nights in Florence.
Days 21-23 - Train to Rome. Stay 3 nights at the Residenza Canali.

The tricky part has been figuring out a graceful way to get some Provence to Tuscany. My husband would like to see the Ligurian coast, and after struggling with this part of the itinerary, something like Levanto seems to work.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

kevin_widrow

Kate -

Seems pretty reasonable to me. I'd say though, with just 5 days in Provence you are best off using just one base. Everything is pretty close, in any case.

-Kevin

zeppole

I live in Liguria, and I don't know a better way to get from Provence to the le Cinque Terre area without a car.

Levanto should work just fine.

Kate101

Thanks for the replies.

Zeppole - Is there a better place to pick up a rental car from Levanto than Pisa? I picked Pisa because it was a bigger city and didn't seem too much trouble to get to from Levanto.

bobthenavigator

Nice trip and well planned !
Kate, you could get the car in La Spezia, but since you have to get on a train anyway I would just go onto Pisa. Have fun !

Kate101

Thanks, Bob!

Dayle

Kate,

Sounds like a wonderful trip! One I would do for sure.

Just one small suggestion based purely on my personal preferences, take one day away from Florence and add it to Rome. 2.5 days in Rome is not enough, unless you have visited several times before!

Buon viaggio!

Kate101

Dayle - My son will be in Florence on a study abroad program, which is why we are staying three days. I was thinking 3 nights in Rome was too little, but I wanted to be in Florence over the weekend when he is out of school.

zeppole

I concur with Bob re Pisa rental pick up.

TDudette

Hi Kate101, I concur with OP-looks like a lovely trip. Please report back when you return.

Will you have time to see any of Pisa? The Tower and Duomo are worth it IMHO.