Hubby & I are going to Italy at beginning of April and are trying to plan an itinerary. Our 3 musts are Florence, Venice & Cinq Terre, but I'm unsure the best way to travel. We would like 3 nights in each, but am unsure where else to go..I had looked at a couple days in Lucca - as it was enroute from Pisa to Cinq Terre. With the areas we are doing I was thinking that we would not rent a car on this trip. I would love some ideas on the best way to travel and a good place for our 4th stop. We aren't huge lovers of paintings, so art museums are lost on us, but I did read that a tour is an option to make these more interesting. I had thought, as we arrive in Florence around noon, was to take the train to Venice right away, then we can crash around 8 pm & get up bright & bushy tailed the next day. Any tips or advice would be appreciated.. As an aside - we loved roaming Capri, loved Sorrento, climbed Strombolii , thoroughly enjoyed traipsing around Sicily & thoroughly enjoyed 5 nights in Rome on our last trip to Italy.

You might want to take a look at the Michelin Green Guide to the area. You don't need to drive to benefit from its excellent information on what to see / do in the area.

I like the idea of going straight to Venice after your flight.

Do your 12 days include travel time, or is it really 10 days (11 nights) with a day of travel on either side?

Whether 3 nights -- so less than 3 days -- will work for you for Venice or Florence depends on what you want to see do. Personally, I'd add time to one or both, but that's just me.

IMO, 3 nights in the Cinque Terre makes sense.

A problem with planning an early April trip to le Cinque Terre is the high risk of rain that could last for days. There is nothing to do in le Cinque Terre if it rains (no hiking, and trails may be closed that early in the season anyway). If seeing it is "must" for you, then you might decide it is worth the risk of disappointment, but just wanted you to know that.

Venice straight away, great idea.

Transport, use the trains, they take you city centre to city centre, avoid the learning experience of driving in Italy and parking in Italy and is normally faster and cheaper.

Buses, though, are less good but still highly affective if you want to get out to special places.

I'm using rome2rio more and more and it is an affective starting place.

Lucca is nice, probably only needs 2 days and is a commute (train or bus) to Pisa http://www.rome2rio.com/s/Lucca/Pisa-S-Rossore shows 24 minutes and £1 for the fare.

You might enjoy Genoa as a seaside ancient city if CT is buried in mud or just wet.

Thank you for the replies - we have 11 full days...I did not realize that it could be so rainy in Cinq Terre. After having a rainy hiking vacation in Oregon last year, I don't want to waste my vacation in my room. Maybe we should look at basing in Levanto so that we have a few more options if it's raining...Or maybe hit Verona and leave Cinq Terre for next time....

Verona would be a great option. It's an underrated Italian city with some fine small churches, the arena and the castle. A great place to stroll with options for side trips to Padua or Vicenza.

There is really no functional difference between basing in Levanto and basing in a le Cinque Terre village if it is raining. There is next to nothing to do indoors in Levanto. If you want to hedge your bets against the possibility of spending all your time in a hotel room on a rainy day, the possibilities are:

Option 1) Book someplace in le Cinque Terre that has an excellent cancellation policy, but also book a "Plan B" to stay in somewhere with more to do if, once you arrive in Italy you look on the internet and see weather forecasts for le Cinque Terre for persistent rain. Then go with Plan B and cancel le Cinque Terre. If you get the "all clear" for le Cinque Terre, then cancel the Plan B reservations.

Option 2) Stay in a town roughly at the midpoint between le Cinque Terre and Genova, like Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure or Camogli. You can day trip to le Cinque Terre from there if the weather is nice, and they also all have beautiful hiking paths and seasides of their own. However, if it rains a lot, there are more indoor activities avaiable in town or within a reasonable train ride in Genova, Nervi and Chiavari.

Option 3) Stay in Pisa or Lucca and day trip to le Cinque Terre if the weather is nice.

Lots of options...I had planned on booking an Air BnB apt - we generally prefer these to hotels, so the cancellation policies aren't great, but the midpoint to Genoa/Genova would work....I will have to sit down & do some reading as I am not familiar with this area.