HartmannA

My husband and I are flying from Boston to Rome and would like to visit Rome, Florence, and the Tuscan region. I would also like to visit Cinque Terre. But should we fly home out of Milan or Rome? How far is Cinque Terre from the Tuscan region? Or should we skip it this time around. We wiil be there for 11 days. Thank you.

ira

Hi

You can easily do Rome, Florence and Tuscany for 11 days.

Consider:
4 nights Rome,
5 nights Florence (includes Sienna, Lucca and Pisa)
Return to Rome and overnight before leaving from FCO.

Alice_Twain

I wouldn'r call Siena Lucca and Pisa "Tuscany". I mean, there is a lot in Tuscany beside these three ^_^. Anyhow, Pisa and Lucca can be seen on one daytrip. leave Florence early in the morning by train. YOu do not need to book in advance (trains to Pisa and Lucca do not allow seat booking) and you just need one ticket to Pisa and one ticket from pisa to Florence. Stamp your Florence-Pisa ticket and head to Pisa. Try to get to Pisa as reraly as you can, so that the big crowds will not yet be swarming Piazza dei Miracoli. Later go back to the station, stamp your return ticket (Pisa-Florence) and get off the train in Lucca. You have six hours to spend in Lucca before the ticket expires. You can chose wether to have lunch in pisa or in Lucca. Before returning on the train for the Lucca-Florence part, stamp the other end of the ticket.

f64club

There are no non-stop flights from Rome to Boston anymore. They all go Rome-Milan-Boston. If this makes a difference toyou (as it does me), fly out of Milan. It's also easier if you have to drop off a rental car.

bobthenavigator

The real question is if you should try to do 4 destinations in 10 days. So, let me suggest that you either fly into Milan[or Pisa] and do the 3 more northern venues--or, fly into Rome and do Rome, Florence, and Tuscany. If you had 12 days then maybe all 4. How many nites will you have in Italy? What are the best and cheapest connections from Boston? That should decide for you.

LeslieC

With only 11 days, I would suggest you visit Rome/Florence/Tuscany or Rome/Florence/Cinque Terre but not both Tuscany and CT. Whether to choose CT might depend on the time of year, as I think the coastal scene is the nicest (though most crowded) from late spring through early fall.

Also, would suggest you not go all the way north to Milan only to fly home. If you can find an open jaw ticket that's reasonable I'd fly into Rome and home from Florence.

Also, some of this depends on your willingness to rent a car for about 4 days to tour Tuscany as this is truely the best way to go and taking advantage of at least one countryside stay at a B & B style agriturismo.

Personally, I don't like staying in Florence and taking more than one day trip (Siena being the only one I'd advise, going by bus). Otherwise, you just exhaust yourself going back and forth to Florence, in my humble opinon.

It it's your first trip, I'd skip the CT in favor of Tuscany.