2 weeks in Italy
 

My husband and I are traveling to Italy in October 2011 for 15 days. We will fly into venice from Boston. We want to spend a few days in Venice and also want to visit cinque terre. We would like to spend a week in Florence or Tuscany- which would you suggest? We are looking to visit some hill towns and prefer outdoor architecture and beautiful landscapes (wineries/farms) over musuems. We want to walk around small towns and visit local markets, coffee shops etc. Any suggestions on places to stay? Should we rent a car once we leave venice or take trains/bus?

Start in Venice---train to Florence---get car and head to Tuscany location---drop car in Pisa or La Spezia and train to CT location. Fly home from Pisa or MIlan. Good luck !

Hi ENT,

Florence is in Tuscany.

Do you mean, should you stay in the city or hick towns?

I would stay in Florence and visit Siena, etc by bus or train.

((I))

I, too, recommend staying in Florence and perhaps taking a day trip or two to the Tuscan countryside. San Gimignano and Siena are both easy trips from Florence. You can take a bus from Florence centro to Fiesole, a charming town with beautiful views overlooking Florence.

You don't need (or want)a car for Florence but will need one if you choose to stay in rural Tuscany. If you decide to stay in Florence, all of your trip can be done bu bus and train.

Evie,
This might help http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm

on the other hand, you could stay in Lucca, which is a small city not far from Florence on the rail line. After Venice, train to Florence for a couple of days, then train to Lucca and stay for several days while touring around the Chianti area by car. Then on to Cinque Terre by train. As suggested, fly home from Pisa.

Lucca is a lovely small city also in Tuscany with mostly car-free streets inside the walls, which are very wide at the top and actually have a circular park on them now, which is nice for walking or biking. The main piazza was built on the ruins of an old Roman colosseum. It's not jammed with tourists like Florence. And it's easy to get into rural parts of Tuscany from there.