My gf and I have 3 nights/ 2 days in the middle of our 15 day vacation (first 2 weeks of october) with no plans on where to go. We will be in Venice for 2 nights, Florence 5 nights, Rome 5 nights. We would like to stay away from a "big" city for these three days as the point is to relax between Florence and Rome. We were thinking Cinque Terre but if the weather is bad the trails will be closed. Our other plan is to wait till we are there and go where the weather is nice. What would you do? We love the outdoors and active sports and the hiking is why we want to do the C.T.

Southern Tuscany, i.e. the Val d'Orcia would be my pick. Beautiful small hilltowns, great food, can be very good weather in October (we were there in Nov. 2 years ago and it was amazing!!). Specifically I would say San Quirico d'Orcia, Montepulciano, Pienza, Montichiello, Bagno Vignoni, Montalcino.

I would wait until you are there and see if the weather is nice in le Cinque Terre. If it is, take a train over. If it is not, and areas south of Siena are sunny, rent a car and go there.

If it is raining in most of Italy, consider going to Ferrara and staying there (the town is full of porticoes, and from there making a day trip to Ravenna. There are a few other small towns reachable by train from Ferrara, like Dozza or Brisighella that much fill your urge for small town exploration even though it is raining.

Another option you have since you say you like hiking is to move from Florence to Perugia and make your base there. From Perugia, you can use public transportation to get to Assisi, Spoleto or even Gubbio, and even though these are not villages, your legs will really get a stretch climbing these vertical cities, but you'll still find enough to do indoors, and lots of chocolate and hearty umbrian fare to eat in restaurants with open fireplaces.

Around southern Tuscany, if it is rainy, the views are not as great as when the weather is nice. Plus you will need a car to make the most of it.

So if it's sunny, head to le Cinque Terre. If its rainy, don't try to have a scenic experience. Try to have a small town experience in places with better protection from the rain (like porticoes) and indoor things to do.

Thank you, if it is raining in the Cinque Terre could we get to the Dolomites from Florence? We would be leaving Florence on a Tuesday and need to be in Rome on Friday.

If we decided to visit some hill towns in Tuscany would we need a car? We are already doing a day trip from Florence to Sienna or S.G.

Hello, mike, if it is raining in the Cinque Terre I don't think you would find the weather any better in the Dolomites. Plus that is the opposite direction of Rome. If Cinque Terre didn't work out due to rain I would probably go to Perugia for two nights and Orvieto for one night. In any case I would head toward Rome versus travelling further away so that you do not lose precious vacation time. Just my thoughts. Do have a wonderful trip!

There is a fast train that goes from Florence to Bolzano. It takes under 3 hours.

Another hiking destination reachable by train would be Assisi and the trails above it.

You would do best to have a car to explore hilltowns in Tuscany.

Another hiking destination you might consider is the Sorrentine peninsula. It would take you 4 or 5 hours in transit, but getting to Rome would be shorter than if you went to the Dolomiti, and it may be that you get better weather down there.

http://www.massalubrense.it/Ehome.htm

But as Love Italy points out, Italy is a small country. Sometimes it will rain all over Italy in October for days in a row, and outdoor activities are problematic wherever you go and you may not want to go driving around in the rain.

From Florence, it is not hard to reach Bologna, which has miles and miles of porticoes to shelter you from the rain, including a walk up to the ornate Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca

http://www.mariadinazareth.it/Prodig...i_san_luca.htm

You might prefer to stay next door in the much smaller town of Ferrara, which also has porticoes to protect you from the rain, and is a fascinating beautiful town with good connections for day trips to Ravenna and Bologna.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/200...nvents-holiday

And if the weather suddenly turns sunny, you can head out from Ferrara to Brisighella

http://goitaly.about.com/od/brisighe...risighella.htm

I would go to Amalfi, Positano or Salerno. It's nearer to Rome than the Cinque Terre --- and lots more to see. Hotel rates should be less than their summer peak periods, and it is just beautiful! Try to get out to the ruins at Paestum --- more impressive than any we saw anywhere, and the best part was there was no one there!