My fiance and I are planning a 9-day trip to Italy in mid September. It's our first visit and we're having a little trouble choosing between all the intriguing places to visit.
So I wanted to pose this question to people who've traveled through Italy before: If you were planning your first trip to Italy again -- knowing what you know now -- how would you spend nine days? Where would you go & where would you skip? How would you organize the trip?
Thanks so much in advance for the help!
Kelly

That depends....

Do you love art? Museums? Do you want to drive? Are you looking to rest on a beach? Is this a honeymoon? Do you want cities? Or do you ant to meander through the countryside? Or both?

My first trip to Italy HAD to include David, Florence, Rome, St. Peter's, the Amalfi Coast and Venice AND we needed a mix of city and countryside. Because of time restrictions, Venice had to wait for another trip.

Give us more information, and you will get lots of excellent advice.

We are just about to visit Italy for the 7th time - in mid-September, too! With 9 days, if you like to see a lot in a little time, I would visit Rome, Florence and Venice, starting and finishing in that order. You can travel by train to all 3 cities. If you like things at a little slower pace, I would choose two of the three after you have done a little research to see what appeals to you. You really can't go wrong!

I'm no expert but would suggest "open jaw" plane tickets, so you go into Rome and out of Venice (or something like that). Then travel around by train in between. I would definitely include a few days in Venice.

I'm hoping to design an itinerary with a good mix of art & history combined with some play time (maybe somewhere on the coast?). I don't want to get overloaded with art, which I imagine can happen in Italy! I've heard Tuscany is beautiful this time of year especially and it's wine harvest season.
But there are so many options. So just hoping to get an idea of the experiences and places people liked most.

Funny you should mention ... we just bought $572 rt tickets on TAP Portugal. But we're flying into Venice and out of Rome. It didn't occur to me, however, until my travel agent friend mentioned the possibility. Great tip!

Nine days do not give you an awful lot of time. You're flying into Venice, so spend three days there; you're flying out of Rome, so spend three days there as well.

Your middle three days can be used for "play time." Mid-September is too early for the wine harvest; it may or may not be too late for swimming, if you go to the coast north of Rome. (I would not suggest the Amalfi Coast; you would spend more time getting there than being there.)

Have a look at Tuscan agriturismos, villas and farmhouses that take guests. Many of them have pools; many have restaurants.

You can also spend the three middle days in Florence, but I think it might be "museum overload."

You can look at agriturismo reviews at

www.slowtrav.com

(Southern Tuscany is where you want to be: the Siena/Montalcino/Montepulciano
area.)

There are many mentioned here in Fodors Talk as well, but normally only by name, making it difficult to search for them under a single term...

Even though we had been to other places, we never got to Italy for the 1st time until 2000. Here is how we planned it and it worked for us: but I only offer it as an example, not necessarily a model...
Day 1)Arrive in Milan--, stay 1 night to adapt to the jet lag,

Day 2)Depart late am for Venice, by train, arrive Venice mid afternoon. Stay 2 nights.

Day 4) Depart mid-day by train for Florence. Pick up rental car and go to Panzano for 3 nights as a base for exploring some Tuscan hill towns and spending a day in Siena

Day 7) Return rental car to Florence, mid-day and depart by train for Rome. Arrive Rome late afternoon and stay 3 nights.

As you see, we also stayed 9 nights. We made a conscious choice to have this be a travel equivalent of a literature survey class. We missed a lot, but we also know what we want to return to see. We decided to skip Florence so as to return and give it the time it deserves. What we had was more of a tasting menu of Italy and it worked out well b/c we never got tired of a place but also never felt overwhelmed trying to see and do it all, knowing we would go back.....

One thing we had on our side was the long days. We were there in late May, so we were able to stroll around places well into the evening and still have daylight. That made a big difference.

&quot;We&quot; can't tell you where to go in Italy because we don't know what made <i><b>you</b></i> <u>think</u> you want to go to Italy in the first place.

If you haven't already done this, you need books - - the more and the bigger the better, especially, the big picture-filled coffee-table sized books to find out what makes you drool the most.

When you can (close your eyes and) complete this sentence... &quot;I can't wait until I can get to Italy so that I can _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ &quot; - - <i><b>then</b></i> perhaps we can help you fill your nine days.

If you're set on paying your respects to Pope John Paul II, and I think that the single best thing in Italy is a visit to Pompeii... then is my opinion really suposed to trump yours? If you're in the fashion industry, and I omit Milan from your itinerary, then why did I bother?

&lt;&lt;where would you skip?&gt;&gt;

I haven't found a single square inch of Italy that I would skip.

Having said all that, Eloise has hit the nail on the head that your air travel already dictates the skeleton framework of your itinerary.

But all of these are equally good alternatives:

Venice 7 nights, Rome 2
Venice 1 night, &quot;other place(s)&quot; 6, Rome 2
Venice 2, Rome 7

and almost every other conceivable combination.

Tell us what makes your heart throb, and &quot;we&quot; can help you most.

Whatever your decisions, congratulations for your plan of a new life in marriage... and...

Best wishes,

Rex

Thanks much for all the expert advice. I'm thinking we'll definitely want a 2-3 days in Tuscany. Do we need to rent a car? If so, what's the best way to do that? Should we rent in Florence and drive to Tuscany or take the train to Tuscany and then rent one? I haven't explored the rail maps yet so not even sure idea #2 is an option.

The train is the easiest and cheapest way to travel between cities in Italy.

But to visit Tuscany, a car is probably the best way to go. I don't drive myself, so I hope someone can give you advice on where to pick up and drop the car.

P.S. The city of Florence is the capital of the region of Tuscany. You could, for example, take the train from Venice to Florence, rent a car, visit Tuscany, return the car to Florence, and take the train from Florence to Rome.

But some people do not like driving in Florence, which is why I hope you will get advice from someone on where to rent and drop a car.

HI Kelyspo--as I mentioned above, we rented our car in Florence. Florence is in Tuscany, so you will already be there if you arrive by train. There are a large # of car rental agencies located a reasonably short distance from the train station. They are also relatively near the exit from the city, so you do not have to drive thru the whole city. That does not mean it is not challenging, but it is not like trying to drive in Rome!! We had little trouble exiting the city w/the car but returning it was a little harder in terms of re-entering Florence. Driving in the Tuscan countryside was a wonderful experience and easy to navigate in terms of finding one's way between places--we visited Greve, Radda, and Castellina in addition to Siena and had no trouble. The roads are narrow but well paved and breahlessly beautiful. Someone on another thread made reference to scenery and views that could move one to tears!!

If you do rent a car in Florence and drive into southern Tuscany, return the car in Orvieto (rather than back-tracking to Florence) and catch the train to Rome.

My 1st 9 day trip would have been:
Venice - 3 days
Florence - 1 day
Siena - 1 days
Rome - 4 days (including a day trip to Herculaneum or Pompeii or Ostia Antica)

Just a gentle suggestion. Everyone talks about one day, two days etc. A more accurate description is to talk about how many nights, one night, two nights etc.

If one says one day what does that mean? Arrive and leave the same day? If one says one night then it means arrive day one, stay overnight and leave the next day. If one says two nights then that means arrive day one, stay that night, have all of the next day withour arriving or departing, stay that night (night two) and then leave at some point the next day.

Your itinerary is taking shape very nicely.

You have open-jaw tickets...that is a big plus. You know you are flying into Venice and out of Rome.

LoveItaly is right about thinking in nights not days. Also keep in mind that traveling takes a lot of time out of your day, so it is usually best to stay in one place longer...unless you enjoy a hectic pace.

Assuming you have 9 nights, these would be my two options:

Venice: 3 nights (a must)
Florence: 2 nights
Tuscany: 1 night
Rome: 3 nights

or combine Tuscany and do a day trip to Florence:

Venice: 3 nights
Tuscany: 3 nights
Rome: 3 nights

From Venice, train to Florence. If you decide to stay in Florence, rent a car when you leave for your time in Tuscany, even if it is for one day. Drop car off in Rome.

One one of our trips, we were anxious to get out of the city, so we cut short our time in Florence and rented a car for two days/1 night in Tuscany...and were very glad we did...no matter the cost.

Thanks so much -- this is all very helpful. Here's what we're thinking for now:

Venice - 2 nights
Tuscany - 4 nights (with day trip to Florence)
Rome - 3 nights

Are there any big problems with this itinerary? Where would be a good place to stay in Tuscany or should we stay at two different places? The most important factors for us are scenic beauty -- lush countryside -- and some good food and wine. A nice place to unwind.

Hi Kelyspo --

I would recommend choosing one location in Tuscany as your base and going from there.

If you're looking for good wine and lush scenery, I would recommend Montalcino. It's a nice quiet town in a good location for exploring neighboring towns (Pienza, Montepulciano, Siena). Montalcino is known for Brunello, a yummy full-bodied red wine, but the area also produces several other types.

Otherwise, I think you should consider LoveItaly's itinerary and add one night back to Venice. You can see a lot, or choose to relax and just wander the streets. It's so romantic... perfect for an engaged couple!

Good luck! -- Heather.

Please, please, please add one night to Venice. You will be glad you did.

&lt;&lt;Please, please, please add one night to Venice. You will be glad you did.&gt;&gt;

In my opinion... lorac failed to elaborate that the need for this extra time in Venice is because it falls at the beginning of your trip. I typically recommend that you start your trip in some <i>fabulous</i> place (like Venice) because that first 24 hours, you are fairly unlikely to fully enjoy it after your (first) sleep-deprived trans-atlantic flight.

But you already had the tickets purchased, so I decided not to belabor that point.

You can enjoy Venice fine in three days and two nights (getting that third day implies leaving late in the day, of course) - - but if you find yourself dog tired the day you arrive, and plan a morning departure after your second night there, you may essentially have only ONE day there. And you could end up feeling like &quot;oh, I really don't want to leave here yet!&quot;