f it was me, I'd skip the "down south to Sorrento" part of the trip, and add those days to the other places. The way it is right now, you will stay in six different places in 15 days. That's a lot of moving around.

You have Rome - 4 nights
Sorrento - 3 nights
Florence or Verona - 3 nights
Cinque Terre - 1 night
Venice - 4 nights.

If you go to Veroona, then maybe 2 nights would be enough - Verona is a small town - which I love.

Thank you Peter. I see you are well traveled and your favorite city is Venice? Hmmm...your opinion definitely weighs heavily then. If you have anything out-of-the-ordinary to share about Venice, please let me know! (Hidden gem of a restaurant, good place to see live music?)

I agree - 1 too many stops.

I would take at least 1 of the nights from dropping Sorrento and add it to Cinque Terre so you have 1 full day. Travel there takes quite a while, so you wont get there until the afternoon likely. And then if you are heading to Venice the next day that will be a long travel day so you will want to leave in the afternoon - so that doesnt even give you 1 full hiking day.

You may also need to be flexible in the Cinque Terre. Depending on the weather and conditions - no point heading all the way there if its going to rain the whole time. Half the trails were closed when we were there in June 2010 so be sure you check.

Thanks Jamikins. I see you've been to Italy as well; any other destination suggestions if we decide to keep things north of Rome?

I would replace the CT with Verona.

Rome
Sorrento
Florence
Verona
Venice

There are certainly hiking trails near Sorrento. You could easily find them with an internet search.

I have that book about Hiking and Eating in Tuscany and Umbria. Been on a hike or tow that was pretty satisfying. Three nights in Sorrento gives you a very good opportunity to hike on Capri, which, IMO, is the best of all.

I can dig up the info on the trails we used, but there are plenty of them, and the TI offices will all have good hikes for you, in even Rome itself.

Thanks tuscanlifeedit. I will certainly consider it as I do know that Capri would be much warmer than Cinque Terre and though I said "Cinque Terre is a must", if it can be replaced with Capri, well, that's not a bad substitution. (Of course I also understand that it could be cold and rainy but we can't predict that just yet.)If you would be so kind as to share any info on the trails you took, please do: ed_smith_1980@hotmail.com

If you drop Sorrento, go directly from Rome by train to le Cinque Terre. Then do the rest of your trip.

By the way, you can look ahead at the weather, and I would avoid the scenic coast if the overnight forecasts are for rain. If that happens, consider going to Perugia. It's a very steep hilltown, so you can do some urban hiking, plus also eat lots of chocolate, but there are also many indoor things to do and you can make easy day trips to other pretty hill towns.

Another idea if the coast is rainy is to go to Pisa, and make day trips to Lucca and Volterra. Lodgings can be cheap in Pisa, and if the weather suddenly turns pretty, you can scoot up to le Cinque Terre by train easily.

Hope you have beautiful weather the whole way!

PS: Don't look at the coastal weather forecasts until you are actually in Rome. There are plenty of place you can find an internet point. You should make your decision based on a 1-day forecast, not a long-term one.

I would personlly stick to your original list, less Sorrento and not add any more destinations. We like to spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying the place we are in and find that changing locations is stressful and takes a big bite out of our budget and enjoyment time.

Enjoy your trip whatever you decide!

On our last trip to Italy, we also kept things pretty open, as you wish to do. We wanted to go to Luca anyway, so went there for a couple of days, then checked weather. It was rainy and cold in the CT, sunny in Florence, so we went to Florence, just the kind of thing Zeppole is reccomending. So, my advice: go to Rome. See what things are like. You can then go to Sorrento or head to CT. You need more time in CT, so I would skip Verona and add time to CT & Florence, and day trip to Siena from Florence.

Not sure why anyone thinks that Capri would be much warmer than Cinque Terre. the weather is very similar and in October will be too cold for the beach/swimming at either place.

If you want to hike CT then do it. IMHO the Amalfi coast is much better in season - when you can bat, swimm, see all of the sights, everything is open and the Pompeii opening times are longer.

I don't know what your budget is but I recently returned from Venice and really enjoyed my meals (with my boyfriend) at Ristorante da Ivo and Ristorante da Rafaelle. Both are in sestiere San Marco and are a short walk from Piazza San Marco.
I have a very detailed restaurant review, including gelato, that I posted on the Forum (look for my name), but I will summarize.

Da Ivo is very tiny, 10 or so tables. It is rustic, charming and very romantic. Both service and food were fantastic. It is accessible on foot and by boat as it is located on a back canal. It is expensive.

Da Raffaelle is also located on a canal, near Santa Maria del Giglio. You can dine inside or alongside the canal. The food there was very good too. It was recommended to me by a friend who travels to Venice often. There is also a gondola station in front of the restaurant. My boyfriend and I went around 7:30 and arranged for a gondola ride, got drinks in the restaurant for the ride, took a half hour sunset gondola ride with our Spritz along back canals and the Grand Canal then returned for our 8pm reservation. It is slightly less expensive than Da Ivo.

If you want to go to either restaurant, I would suggest making reservations, either through their website or your hotel concierge.

I appreciate the input from everyone. (Thanks Delaine for the first restaurant description in this thread!) Keep posting - this is some great information! I feel I owe it to the forum to write a trip report upon my return.