Italy bus or train
 

Hi I am going to Europe for six weeks with my 22 year old daughter, we both like to hike, love art, parks, and history. We will be landing the end of April in London for two or three nights then flying to Rome. I would like advise on the number of nights I am considering for each place and is the bus, if there is a bus, or train better to go between places. Also I was thinking of a few half day tours in Rome and Florence...any recommendations?
My current thoughts are
Four nights in Rome
Three in Florence
Four in Monterosso, Cinque Terre
Three in Vience

Then we take a train to my brothers in Germany and travel with him and my sister in law, we come back to USA via four nights in Iceland. Thanks!

These destinations are linked by trains. Look at www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en and also at a site that has excellent train insider info: www.seat61.com

The Italy train system is very convenient and quick, you should take trains whenever it's possible. See the links that michel posted above. Bus is only for small towns where you can't find train there. The website http://rome2rio.com/ will show you all options for going from towns to towns.

If you have 6 weeks, I recommend that you stay more in London. 2 or 3 nights is very little for such a large and ample city like London. 5 nights in London is good, or even more if you do day trips to towns around London.

4 days in Rome is okay... but you could also extend it and add 1 or 2 day trips.

Florence, at least 3 nights, if you're into arts and architecture.

www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm is indeed very helpful, and it makes sense to avail discounted tickets by pre-purchasing them online as soon as your schedule is frozen.

I have excellent experience with online ticket buying at
Trenitalia. Good website. Payment by credit card. Emailed pdf for printing at home. But remember it only understands the Italian originals of place names.
Do you already know which train to take from Venice to Germany? Last year I took the train from München (Munich) to Verona (and there change to Venice and Trieste). Perfect train trip. Right through the mountains. And very cheap (some EUR 40). Can also be booked on the website of the German Railways (www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml), which has less problems with foreign spellings of place names.
Personally I find four days for the Cinque Terre a little bit much, and would put at least one day on Rome.

tonfromleiden makes a good point with "But remember it only understands the Italian originals of place name" - Venezia, Firenze, etc.
The topper that stumps many: "Monaco" is Italian for München=Munich.
If you want the principality in the south of France, in Italian call it the hyphenated Monaco-Monte Carlo.

Thank you all so much for the advice. I appreciate it.

Any thoughts on tours in Rome or Florence?

Thank you all so much for the advice. I appreciate it.

Any thoughts on tours in Rome or Florence?

What types of tours interest you?

I would only advise you not to pile on too many tours. They make your schedule very inflexible. Stick to tours of the things that you really can't do on your own, which may turn out to be almost nothing.