My husband and I just returned from a fantastic two weeks in France and Italy. We stayed with friends in Grenoble, France and flew from Geneva (about 1 hour away) down to Florence. I got some advice from Rex via this board on an airline called 'flybaboo.com'. We were hesitant but took a chance...what a great experience! I would highly recommend it, especially as we had difficulty finding any flights directly into Florence.

We spent a lovely 12 days in a small hill town of Tuscany, San Quirico d'Orcia. We booked an agriturismo which slept 6 (Riguardino) and it was fantastic. The location was perfect for day trips to San Gminignano, Siena, Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano, etc.

We spent a great day in Florence (be SURE to get reservations for the Uffizi - it's worth the 3 euros!). And seeing David (at the Accademia) was one of the highlights.

Since we were flying out of Rome, we spent the last day there and we saw most everything we wanted to in one day, all walking. We started at the Trevi Fountain and continued to the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Colosseum, Piazza Navona, St. Peters and the Sistene Chapel. This was a LOT of walking, but we didn't know when we'd be back and already had enjoyed so much leisure time in Tuscany.

All told, we had a fantastic trip and can't wait to return with our children--2006 or bust!

Sounds like a lovely trip, heat.

We have been contemplating renting an apartment in Pienza. Do you think that would be a good place to base ourselves for travelling about the countryside? We wanted somewhere that was quiet but in a town so that we could wander about in the evenings, have dinner, etc.

Rickmav,

Pienza is a lovely town (our favorite out of the quiter hill towns). It is also centrally located...within a short drive of Montalcino, Montepulciano, etc. Good luck!

Thanks heatmoore for your answer. I noticed you spent only a day in Florence and Rome - we were thinking of something similar, but felt bad that we would miss so much and would regret it. Do you regret just the day in each place?

Rick,

We just decided that we couldn't do everything, and decided that our main focus was Tuscany. We're glad we did, because it's always nice to relax a bit on vacation, and our budget didn't really allow for stays in the bigger cities.

Although we could have spent many more days in each of Florence and Rome, that was not our intent. I wish we had more time (and money!) to stay in Florence, but it was chilly and damp during our visit so we're looking forward to going back at a later time.

Regarding Rome, we were just happy to have seen everything we wanted to. The Sistene Chapel is closed often, so we were lucky there.

I think if you asked 20 people about how much time to spend where, you'd get 20 different answers!

Good luck with your trip!