We are planning at trip to Italy in May of 2008 with another couple from Chicago, we are from Mesa, AZ.
My first itinery looked like this:
Day one leave Chicago, Day two arrive Rome, Day three stay in Rome, Day four off to Tuscany, Day eleven off to Venice, Day 12 in Venice, Day 13 off to Lake Como, Day 16 off to Milan, Day eighteen return to Chicago from Milan. However after reading almost every post for the past months it looked like I was trying to get twelve pounds in a two pound bag so I revised it. Besides trying to do too much the dollar is rapidly disappearing. The proposed trip now looks like three days in Rome, seven days in Tuscany and four days in Venice and then back to Chicago.
We had picked out two hotels in Rome, but are now interested in nice B & B's or apartments. We had done the same for Venice and are now interested in nice B & B's or apartments. We have a choice of five places in Tuscany as of today and they are: Fonte Bertusi near Pienza, Il Canto del Sole in or near Siena, Sant`Uberto Country Inn in Radda, Sant`Antonio in Montepulciano, and Relais La Suvera in Pievescol.
I would like help and suggestions with the B & B's and apartments in Rome and Venice as we have never done this before. I would also like comments about our choices in Tuscany. Also should we go from Rome to Venice or the other way around ??? Any advantages one way or the other ? How soon should we book our flights ? Seems like we out a long way to get good prices right now. Any suggestions ?
I guess I can sum up this post by saying that we are planning on going to Italy, but sure don't know too much more.

Your revised itinerary looks much better.

Yes, it does and as for your other questions, may I make a suggestion?

You will get very specific answers to specific questions if you re-post in separate posts with the names of the various places you are asking about. I did a quick scan and don't know any of the inns, but some will.

If you do a search on B&B's and apts. in Rome and Venice you will find more info than you could ever use for 10 trips.

It appears you have quite a few days.

I see nothing wrong with adding a few to Lake Como. You very close.

rew3434,
The best place to check out apartments is Slow Travel http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/vr/reviews.asp

Henry

Check out the Slow Travel message board for apt. and B&B reviews. www.slowtravel.com

We are going to stay in an apartment in Rome called Residenza Giubbonari
http://www.residenzagiubbonari.com
that is hightly recommended and is quite near Campo dei Fiori. They have four apartments, named for colors Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow. One of our reasons for choosing the Residenza is they have an elevator.

Charnee

By the way, let us know if you stay at Residenza G. the first week in June. We will be there with our friends.

Charnee

hi, rew,

i was posting a reply and lost it -duh.

i'll try again.


The classic route is flying into Venice and out of rome - something to do with the fact that apparently transatlantic flights leave Venice very early in the morning - not a problem for me as I'm in the UK!

in the time you have - 18 nights, 17 days - you've got time for 5 stops max, preferably 4.

So you could do Venice, a lake, Tuscany and Rome quite easily. allow an extra night in venice to a/c for jet-lag and a couple extra in Rome as there's so much to do.

if you stay at least 4 nights in each place, you should have no problem in getting apartments. there are literally loads, so you won't necessarily be able to get reviews of all of the ones you like. you can try to find them on www.slowtravel.com.

www.sleepinitaly.com is very well thought of but there are many other agancies.

in Rome, we used www.rome-accom.com,

in Florence, [but good for tuscany as well, I think] www.bedandbreakfastinflorence.com.

and in Venice we are using www.holiday-rentals.co.uk

happy planning,

regards, ann

It sounds as though you have shortened the length of the stay due to cost. I would fly into Venice (4 days), then Tuscany (5 days) and Rome (5 days). There is just so much to see in Rome, you'll be happy you made that stay longer.

We just returned from our first trip to Italy and did both Tuscany and Venice.

Since no one has not yet mentioned it: the best place to stay in Venice is Locanda Orseolo (see tripadvisor.com for it's glowing reviews). www.locandaorseolo.com
I imagined it would be to good to be true or not meet the high expectations, but it far exceeded them. I booked this inn nearly a year in advance and it was so worth it. They have only 15 rooms and they go quickly. They are very centrally located in a very quiet courtyard on a small canal. Excellent service, lodging and breakfasts (we're still talking about it). We stayed 4 nights in Venice and it wasn't enough. I've heard it said that you need to spend at least 3 nights in Venice to appreciate her...so very true.

As far as Tuscany is concerned, I received countless advice about how important location is...pick your home base wisely. This is also very true. We made the choice not to follow this advice since I had my heart set on a certain cottage. It made for long day trips, but the most romantic of cottages to come home to.

With another couple, have you considered renting a villa or cottage for a week. This way you have your own space and a kitchen to cook meals in (or hire a chef to whip up meals). It's amazing at how reasonable this can be. Of course, you could do this very luxuriously too.

We opted to rent a cottage for a week in Tuscany (near Ambra) and we did most of our day trips to the Val D'orcia region which is absolutely stunning. This is the region you see captured in most photos of Tuscany. Montepulciano or Pienza definitely gets my vote for a home base. This will be the area we stay in next time...hands down.

Siena was a lovely hill town, but crowded (even for October) and the surrounding areas were so commercialized and busy. We didn't do Chianti (it was on our list), since there was so much unspoiled beauty and discovery in Val D'Orcia (Pienza, Montalcino and Montepulciano).

Happy planning!

Hi R,

>The proposed trip now looks like three days in Rome, seven days in Tuscany and four days in Venice and then back to Chicago.

I also suggest flying into Venice and out of Rome.

In Venice, try www.alcampaniel.com/
www.hotelbernardi.com/en/hotel.html

3-star hotel in Venice that includes a nice breakfast is at La Calcina www.lacalcina.com

I second Locanda Orseolo in Venice. Stayed there April 2006 and had a wonderful time. The owners and staff are the best and the breakfast was fabulous. Rooms are not big, but are clean and charming. Wonderful location too.