>>>Not sure about day trips from Florence, as I like the idea of overnighting and soaking in a few days of Lucca...<<<

I'm not a fan of Lucca. I'm not sure what you plan to "soak in" there, but you could easily visit it from Florence. I would add days to Rome and drop Lucca especially that time of year.

I think you need to realign your itinerary depending on how you are flying Italy/Barcelona or whether you are taking the overnight ferry. Orvieto seems a strange place to end your Italy portion as there are no airports around. If you are starting in Rome, I would head to Orvieto next, then Florence, then CT if you are flying out of Pisa (or are you taking the overnight ferry?) or Genoa. Itinerary would depend on how you are getting from Italy to Spain.

Thanks everybody for your passion and insight.

We have scrapped a couple of places already: Lucca and Barcelona.

Our new itinerary includes 3 nights in Siena on the way to Orvieto, and more days and Granada and Seville and Rome, for reasons I won't bore you with.

As far as being self-consciously terrified of being a tourist and not blending with the locals, I come from Italians who worked the land and made their own wine and food in California for generations. The exotica factor is neither here nor there for me, even if I stumble with language, and have only been to Italy once a long time ago. The 'authentic' off the beaten track experience is just another version of a tourist's dream, too. Not having a car and being pressed for time, along with not having the money to travel often, as well as joining my wife who has not seen Italy before, makes me want to visit some of these cities that continue to draw in the world tourists.

Thanks again

No one suggested you would be "self-consciously terrified" of anything. That's a straw man, and wonder why you are so defensive. But maybe someday if you spend more time in Italy you will see that the Italy that that exists today beyond the places that draw the world's tourists is quite different (not exotic, but different) in quality, texture, food, everyday life. You implicity deride it as a "tourist's dream", but I would put in the category of a traveler's imperative, for people traveling for different reasons that you do.

Many people of Italian American ancestry think they know "Italians" and "Italy" but it's the "little knowledge is a dangerous thing" kind of knowing, whereby they think there is nothing more to learn. Italian culture is startlingly varied, from region to region, even town to town. It's nearly inexhaustible in terms of interest.

But so are the mega-tourist sights, so I imagine it will be a very long time before you see that other Italy if you stick to your present tourist desires.

>>>Our new itinerary includes 3 nights in Siena on the way to Orvieto<<<

How do you plan to get from Italy to Spain? It may be better to visit Orvieto, then Siena (there is a bus from Rome to Siena and one from the airport to Siena) on the way from Rome towards CT/Florence to avoid wasting time backtracking or putting Rome entirely at the end and heading to Siena when you arrive in Italy.

Just my two cents, I've been to Cinque Terra twice in the first week of November and both times we had lovely weather and hardly any people. That was in 2005 and 2010, so may have changed since then

@ frencharmoire,

Again, I appreciate your passion, although I wonder which one of us is feeling defensive? As for straw men, it looks like you have a few of them on your lap yourself!

Did I say I know Italy? Nope. I merely said I find less tension between the tourist/local experience.

You, on the other hand, claim all Italian Americans say they know Italians. You are clearly an expert on this subject. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," is right on the money in your case, ha ha.

I actually appreciated what you had to say about Lucca, and found it helpful, as I consider myself a curious student in most things, so not sure where all the projection is coming from. Defensive? Straw man? Presumptuous Italian Americans? You have clearly taken something personally. I'm not sure I can help you there.

My apologies for unwittingly causing offence with my two left feet. Better luck next time. And I apologize in advance if I have pressed any more buttons with this post.

Thanks Kalnalci! Your 2 cents is appreciated!

Kybourbon: Rome to Seville, after Orvieto. Any tips?