Sandie

My husband and I are in mid-30's taking 1st trip abroad to Italy Aug 23-Sept 11. Want to use train and bus travel since we are naive to traveling. Any thoughts on this plan? Want a mix of small and large towns..<BR>Sat Aug 23 12:30 am leave Anchorage<BR>Sun Aug 24 10:30 am arrive Venice<BR>Mon Aug 25 Venice<BR>Tue Aug 26 Venice<BR>Wed Aug 27 Venice<BR>Thu Aug 28 Venice to CT train<BR>Fri Aug 29 CT<BR>Sat Aug 30 CT<BR>Sun Sep 1 CT to Piza then Florence<BR>Mon Sep 2 Florence<BR>Tue Sep 3 Florence<BR>Wed Sep 4 Florence<BR>Thu Sep 5 Florence to Siena Bus?<BR>Fri Sep 6 Siena, San Gi..<BR>Sat Sep 7 Siena to Rome<BR>Sun Sep 8 Rome<BR>Mon Sep 9 Rome<BR>Tue Sep 10 Rome <BR>Wed Sep 11 Rome to Anchorage<BR>Too short on time in Rome?...made it heavy in Venice since we'll have had to travel 2 nights in Air to Venice...<BR>Would really appreciate any feedback!!<BR>Sandie<BR>

Diane

Sounds wonderful to me. You are allowing several nights at each stop and they are not so far from each other. We did Venice, CT, and Nice in 12 nights and it was just about right. We took a night train between Venice and CT, arriving at our hotel at 8 am. We were very happy they had our room ready as we didn't get much sleep in our compartment. I recommend training during the day.

StCirq

Looks very well thought-out to me. Have fun! Rome has never grabbed me, so I think your time there is well allocated. Others will disagree, but, oh well. You've done a great job of picking and choosing Italian venues and of allocating the right time to each. Have fun!

John H

Hi, Sandie,<BR><BR>Looks well thought out. Having been to Venice 3 times, I think 5 nights is a lot of time there. You might want to cut out a night there and add it to Rome or somewhere else. You could add a day trip, e.g. Orvieto out of Rome.<BR><BR>Also, the train and buses may not allow you to get off the beaten path as much as you could with a car. So, if you want to add smaller towns and meandering ability, you might think of renting a car for a portion of the trip.<BR><BR>Have a great trip.<BR><BR>john h

Santa Chiara

Exactly what John H said. I would seriously consider renting a car for the Tuscany part, and I would add a day or two there. I understand your wanting to use Venice as a get-over-jetlag experience, and this is a wise choice. However, I would take one day off Venice and one off Cinque Terre and spend it in the Siena to Orvieto area. I would skip Pisa unless your heart is set on it. I realize the train runs through it on the way to Florence, so if you want to stop off, that's certainluy doable. <BR><BR>You do realize you are also visiting in the dead time for Italy, but all the places you have chosen are tourist oriented, so you will find plenty of places open. However, Cinque Terre may be a problem, but I haven't been there in August, so it may be okay. You might want to consider Porto Venere as your headquarters. I was there in August and everything was open. You could take ferries from there to the Cinque Terre towns.<BR><BR>Have a great time in Italy.

Dayle

Hi Sandie! This does sound like a wonderful first time trip. Lucky you! I've been to all your destinations & my personal opinion would be to stay outside Siena & rent a car for those 3-4 days before Rome. Bus to Siena, spend as long as you want, then pick up a car there.<BR><BR>Again, my opinion, but Siena turned out to be a bigger town than I had expected. the old city within the walls is great, but there is lots of "sprawl" & freeways all around it.<BR><BR>However, it would be a convenient place to catch a bus for San Gimignano/take a tour of Chianti if you definitely don't want to drive.<BR><BR>I think you do have just about the right amount of time for each place. Have a wonderful time!<BR><BR>