Still planning our first trip to Italy. Think we will fly into Florence, spend 2 nights there at Hotel Lungaro, and then down to Tuscany and stay 5 nights at Locanda Amorosa.

I realize flights into Florence are limited (we are coming from Boston), but that seems our best option for not wanting to do alot of traveling since we want to see Florence anyway.

Can we train to Chiusi from Florence and pick up a car down there, or will we have to get a car in Florence?

Is 5 days enough to see what we want in Tuscany - Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano, Cortona and possibly Assisi?

We might be able to add 2 additional nights -would we be best to use them for seeing more of Tuscany, or could we reasonably squeeze in another location - ?Rome - without running ourselves ragged?

Sorry - meant Hotel Lungarno in Florence.

Hi Wanderer,

Have you considered:

Fly into Florence, pick up car, see Tuscany, drive to Rome, drop off car, fly out of Rome?

Same as above but see Venice instead of Rome?

Fly into Rome, get car, drive to Tuscany, drop off car in Florence, fly out of Florence?

Another option would be to spend your last 2 nights in Cinque Terre, which is just a few hours from Florence. You can fly back out of Genoa.

Always use as many nights as you can when in ITaly! I love it!
I'd do the 2 nights in FLorence, rent a car there on your way out of town (reserve it before you go) and head into TUscany. See Cortona b4 seeing Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino or you'll be disappointed (the other 3 are near each other and nicer).
Add your last 2 nights and stay in NW Tuscany in San Gimignano and see Volterra, SIena or Lucca, then fly back home from Pisa or Florence!

My husband really wants this to be a relaxing countryside vacation - just touring Tuscany - he doesn't think cities are relaxing, but I can't imagine being so close to Rome, Venice and Florence and not seeing one of these!

Of Florence, Venice, Rome, for non-museum/art people who love great food, wandering around on foot, great architecture, looking for a romantic place - least crowded and hectic, which would you suggest and how many nights? (I am thinking 3 - 5 in Tuscany and 3 in the city we pick)

Yes you can train to Chiusi to pick up the car. That is exactly what we did this summer--we had driven to Florence to drop off the car the year before, and I dreaded doing that again. Besides, the train station in Florence is so handy--I just didn't want to fool with the car in Florence.

Your description of yourselves to me screams Venice. It will do everything you have described--and you really don't have to see a single art museum to thoroughly enjoy yourselves in this extremely romantic, exotic city.

We spent a week in Tuscany and Umbria this year--and went to Siena, Volterra, San Gimignano, Montalcino, Assisi, Spello, Cortona. This was our second time to do this, and what we are finding is that many of the towns must be experienced by staying in them. For instance, last year we did a day trip to Assisi--and of course, it is full of people during the day (like us) who pop in to see the utterly amazing St. Francis Cathedral. But there is SO MUCH more to Assisi, and staying there for a couple of nights, as we did this summer, was magical.

We would definitely recommend Assisi to you.

Montalcino is a must in our books--we always lug back 4 bottles of Brunello and the best place to get it is in town.

Please, please take the time to visit Civita. It is a tiny town built on top of a mountain and the only way to get there is by walking to it on a long bridge. You will be so glad you went.

We would also recommend (while you are in that area) visiting the Sant Antimo Abbey--the abbey and its surroundings are SO lovely.

Cortona, while very lovely, was a day trip--and I believe the most crowded city/town/village we went to--Frances Mayes, while writing a great book, has created a mecca for a gazillion tourists.

The most fun of all for us is the driving on the back roads from village to village, and taking advantage of serendipitous places, people, food. The beauty of both Tuscany and Umbria is magical, no matter where you go.