Our first trip to Italy was 4 years ago with three other couples in mid-May. We were in Rome two nights, then had a house rented for a week in Montecatini and took day trips from there. We had a private guide for our two days in Rome and had two rental vans for the remainder of the trip. This time I am planning for just the two of us for Sept of 2012. We have enough frequent flyer miles on AA to cover our air but I'll need to book soon as those seats go so quickly.
We absolutely loved the Cinque Terra on our day trip and want to return there for two or three nights. We are looking for a laid back trip done at our own pace. I'd like to fly in and out of Milan and also see the lakes region. We prefer to not change hotels or apartments more than two or three times and are planning on staying 9 nights.
Looking for some itinary suggestions from the Fodorites! Thanks in advance for your help and expertise.

I trust you are aware that the CT suffered some disastrous floods and may not be back to normal anytime soon. That said,I would pick 3 destinations---one of the lakes, the CT or Ligurian coast, and a touch of Piemonte in the midddle. Asti makes a good stop, or even Torino. That is all doable in 9 days. Read about the lakes and pick a location. You can combine Como with Lugano or Maggiore with Orta, especially if you have a car. Sep is a good time to go.

I loved Lake Orta for 2 nights in 2001 and plan to return for 2 nights this coming October. Small, intersting things to see and quaint. Depending on your flight home, you could drive to Milan and floiy out the same day.

Only Vernazza in the CT was severely damaged. Monnterosso had some damage but not nearly as much. The other villages weren't affected at all.

I highly recommend staying in the area. Do stop by Vernazza and spend a little money. There will be a few places open--www.savevernazza.com lists businesses openings. They could certainly use your tourist money and it's such a lovely village to visit.

We stayed in Riomaggiore for 2 nights at the end of Sept 2011 and would have stayed a 3rd but the weather was so gorgeous, we couldn't get a room or our parking extended -- and we tried less than an hour after we checked in! You can check my pictures here: http://ladyoleisure.kodakgallery.com...7-Xpp2c0.email - since they put all my "public" albums on the same page, you will need to click on Cinque Terre.

Connie, we are also visiting CT this May. we need to catch an early morning train from La Spezia into France, but would rather stay in one of towns, not La Spezia. Do you know how early the trains start from the small towns into La Spezia? Just want to be sure that we have enough time to get from one of those smaller towns in the early morning to make it in time for the 0630 departure from La Spezia... any thoughts?

We prefer to not change hotels or apartments more than two or three times and are planning on staying 9 nights. >>

that's still quite a lot of moving about, Paige, for someone who says she wants a laid back trip.

unless you have an overwhelming desire to use Milan as more than an airport, i suggest going immediately to the CT, spending 4-5 nights there, then going to your lake [maggiore?] and spending the rest of your time there, returning from there straight to the airport [Malpensa?] which is just down the road.

Glad to see this thread was resurrected. Once I learned about the flooding I did not pursue Italy for 2012 any further but it sounds like things may be in better shape by the fall. I thought I should spend at least one day and night in Milan to catch the highlights but it's good to know we can easily drive from the Lakes region to catch a flight without needing to stay over in Milan.

I think Milan is worth a day of sightseeing. If you want to view the Last Supper, you need a reservation. I would pursue that as soon as you have your date/s fixed.