I see Positano as a long way to go just for 2 nites and really less than 1.5 days to enjoy. I do like at least 3 nites in Venice since day one is a wipeout.

Consider 3-2-4 with Florence in between Venice and rural Tuscany.

My preference is for option A.

I agree with Bob's first paragraph about traveling to Positano. It's going to take a lot of a day's traveling to be in Positano for a short time.

Three nights in Venice will give you 2 full days and a partial day. It will take time to arrive (about an hour from the airport to Venice proper and then finding your hotel, checking in, unpacking, freshening up, etc.).

Depending on where in Tuscany, CT can be hours of driving from your base. Probably not worth the drive.

Check viamichelin.com or mappy.com for driving times/distances.

3 - venice
6 - tuscany
1 - rome

Good - that was my reaction too, that it was too far for just a few days - but I wanted to be sure it wasn't oh-so-amazing that we should make it happen.

We would prefer to add the 3rd night to Venice and not bother with the night in Rome, but it will just depend on options for flight times home. Thankfully we know we can arrive in Venice at 9 a.m. and still get a half day out of our arrival.

We'll be staying near Pienza so CT is about a 3 hour drive...maybe better as an overnight stop if we really want to visit.

The Pienza area is beautiful - you won't want to leave to drive all the way to CT. There are so many wonderful towns much closer to Pienza.

If you looked up the drive time as 3 hours you'll need to add about 25% to that time plus you'll need to find parking in CT which can take a lot of time, particularly since you won't arrive first thing in the morning.

That sounds exhausting And all that to climb stairs and hike? I think I'll just sit somewhere with a bottle of wine!

Glad to hear good things about the Pienza area!

I agree with adrienne about the CT. Her comment about adding 25% to the travel time is accurate. Summer traffic will slow you down before you even start looking for parking.

And you won't run out of towns/areas to explore from Pienza, even if you go with Option A and 6 full days in Tuscany. And don't forget how close you'll be to Umbria!

I'm wondering why these are the only options.

You wrote:

"In any case we're both 27,seeking scenery, food, wine and long walks on the beach."

Did you mean you were seeking these in addition to visiting Venice and Tuscany, or you were seeking these by choosing Italy (over Germany or Russia or Ireland) for your June vacation?

If you want to see Venice and touristic Tuscany in 9 days, you should certainly go, but then it is hard to find it long walks on the beach, as others have pointed out. Although there is nice wine in both places, I advise you to do a lot of research about tracking down great food, and consider going with an apartment in Tuscany so you can do some market shopping beyond eating in restaurants.

If you've been dreaming of Italy because you love long walks on the beach, great food and wine, you might consider other parts of Italy than Venice and Tuscany and different ways of splitting your time.

I just re-read your first post.

I've nothing against the val d'Orcia (which is where Pienza is) or Umbria -- which I actually like quite a bit -- but the coastal area of Tuscany is almost NEVER discussed on Fodor's, and it has wonderful things to offer anybody who loves beaches, good wine and food. It is too far for you go to Positano in 9 days, but it is certainly not too far for you to go to the southern coastal areas of Tuscany -- and you can leave from there and reach the airport in Rome. You might consider splitting your time between areas around Pienza or Montalcino/Buonconvento (also beautiful) and what is known as the Maremma area of Tuscany.

In the Maremma, the wine growing areas of Scansano (which is where Morellino di Scansano wines come from) have gorgeous agriturismi with easy access to fine beaches (even some "wild" ones). There are lovely hilltowns, every bit as atmospheric as those in the more commonly talked about areas of Tuscany.

Pienza and the val d'Orcia Tuscan towns are understandably popular for their unusual austere scenery and Renaissance sights. But the Maremma has its own marvelous, wilder landscape to enjoy, and because it gets fewer tourists, it has retained much of the texture of traditional italian life.

It is hardly exhausting to spend 4 nights in the val d"Orcia and 3 nights in the Maremma. They are only about 90 minutes drive apart -- which is what you will be driving if you start doing day trips to Umbria.

You might want to read up on the Maremma and its coast. I would target agriturismi around Scansano or Magliano in Toscano, or near Manciano. If you want to be right on the coast, Porto Ercole is my favorite, but others like Talamone. It is a 2 hour drive from this area to FCO airport. Depends on how early in the morning your departure flight leaves, but if nothing else, you can wait until 4pm the day before your departure to head down to FCO and stay a night right on top of the airport. You'll arrive in time for dinner.

http://isolarossa.co.uk/isolarossa/monte_argentario/index.php

Thanks for all the info - we will definitely look into the coast areas you mentioned! We do love beaches of all sorts - especially the wild ones like you mentioned - but it isn't a priority or the reason we chose Italy...was mostly just an off-handed comment on deciding if we should trek all the way to Positano or not.

Going to look into that area right now - looks like our flight will leave Rome at noon so with the close proximity we could probably leave straight from that area. Many many thanks!

Maggie,

You will need to be at FCO 2.5 to 3 hours prior to departure. I would not risk driving from the Maremma to make a noon flight.

If you plan on Venice and Tuscany, maybe you should check flights into Venice and out of Florence or Pisa.

This pretty much was my itinerary in Italy in 2010. We were sad we only had 3 nights in Positano, it just wasn't enough. However we used the time to get a bus to the Circumvesuviana to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum. So we were ultra exhausted on this leg. (However these sites, to me, are worth it.) We had a bit longer in Italy though, I think 14 days. Positano is beautiful, but far.

I see no need to include Rome if you are just going to being flying from there.

I suggest flying into Florence, rent your car at the airport, then drive the 1.5 hours to your Pienza/Val d'Orcia base. Either drive or train from there to Venice and then fly out of Venice. Or, start in Venice, rent the car when you leave Vencie, drive to Tuscany, and spend your last night in Florence before flying home. In the morning, the Florence airport is only a 10 minute taxi ride from the city center and the airport is small and easy.

Thanks folks! We've settled on our itinerary now and Positano will just have to wait. We'll be spending 3 nights in Venice, 2 nights in the CT, and 5 nights in Tuscany which we're confident will give us the balance of sightseeing, relaxing, and active adventure that we're looking for.

Flying in/out of Florence creates a significant increase in airfare with less desirable flight times/connections, so we will be sticking with Venice and Rome though we're still deciding which direction we'll do the trip in. Maybe because I grew up 2.5 hours from the nearest airport but a two hour drive, give or take, prior to a noon flight doesn't phase me.

From reading on this forum, I think the suggestion would be to fly into Venice rather than out as outgoing flights tend to leave very early in the morning.

I can't wait to read your trip report of this adventure. I still get to laughing when I remember your Ireland trip report!

Why would you price flying in and out of Florence? If you are starting in Venice, price the flight into Venice and home from Florence (or nearby Pisa which actually has some non-stops to the US which Florence doesn't).

>>>Maybe because I grew up 2.5 hours from the nearest airport but a two hour drive,<<<

Sorry, but the US isn't Italy and where will you be departing from that you think you can make it to the airport in 2 1/2 hours? There can be big traffic jams around Rome and long waits to return rental cars not to mention having to take a shuttle bus at the airport to check-in area and another shuttle bus to departures.

Thanks irishface - we got lucky with an afternoon flight out of Venice and an early morning arrival in Rome so we're happy!

ky - no need to get your panties in a bunch over where I fly in and out of. I was never seeking advice on that in the first place, I was just oh-so-kindly given it, including the recommendation to consider Florence.

Of course there can be traffic jams and long lines to return a car. That's the case in every city. When I drive the 2.5 hours from my home to Chicago for a flight, I take those same things into consideration. It doesn't bother me to plan accordingly. That's all I was saying.

PS - I hadn't realized that the US wasn't Italy. Crap. I don't know if I even want to go then...