I've been to Italy when I was in my teens and remember the main cities pretty well. However, this is the first trip for my husband. I'd like him to see Rome, Venice and Florence but I also want to fit in some new cites for myself (Cinque Terre, Siena, Tuscany). I'm also very intimidated about doing the planning myself and was thinking of doing a group tour. We can commit probably 12-14 days for the trip. Does anyone have suggestions?

You can get lots of good help here to plan it yourself. My first suggestion is to not go to 5 places in 12-14 days (especially if it's 12). Too much moving around and not enough time in one place. Assuming 14 days and 13 nights actually in Italy, I would fly into Venice, stay there 4 nights, train to Florence, stay there 4 nights with 1 or 2 daytrips (bus to Siena would be a good one), train to Rome and stay there 5 nights, fly out of Rome.

You can do some searches here for hotels and restaurants. If you post a question for advice on hotels, be sure to tell us how much you want to spend per night.

ditto

Ditto aswell

If you have 5 days in Rome, you could also add in a couple of day tours aswell, depending on your like/dislikes.
I've used Appian line tours for a 3 days trip south of Rome, but they also do day trips to the likes of Pompeii etc.
http://www.appianline.it

PS if you still feel like carrying out a multi day bus tour, the following is just one of many available

http://www.cosmos.com/Default.aspx?t...p;source=Italy

I did this tour last year and the mix of small towns in addition to the big cities was well balanced. Note, hotels are average 3 star and would not consider a bus tour to be very romantic

Happy planning

You could squeeze all this in,but I think that you might want to do 5 days Rome, 3 Florence and 4 Venice to get the most out of them.
That pretty much takes up your trip. If you can add a couple days in Tuscany you can make them day trips.
This trip needs to be open-jawed.

Hi M,

2 weeks is perfect for Venice - 4 nites, Florence - 4 nites and Rome- 5 nites: in that order.

Think how happy DH will be with hos own personal guide.

Fly into V and out of R.

See www.kayak.com

See www.trenitalia.com for trains

Take the SITA bus from Florence to Siena for a day.

Take the train from Rome to Orvieto for a day.

Also see Helpful Information: Italy 2
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34568596

Enjoy your visit.

I would agree with the advice from the posters above. However if you do want to visit Orvieto, do it as an overnight stay. It's easy to do and you get a whole different feel to the town in the evening.

Buon viaggio!

Ok, so it looks like we can only go for 9 days now due to work conflicts. Thanks for the advice. What's the best way to book an affordable open jaw flight? I think right now Rome and Venice are must sees for us and will opt for the self planning. Thx

Open jaws are often no more than roundtrip s these days. I fly Delta internationally and they offer very good open jaw fares.

There is only one way to see the Tuscanny region. We did it in November with a private guide, Luigi. He was the absolute best guide we've ever had. I have more info at http://www.bombasticlife.com/people

Good luck and have a bombastic time!

If your bypassing Florence, then definitely take a trip to Orvieto as mentioned, great small hilltop town with beautiful cathedral. Its about an hour out of Rome by train with lots of services throughout the day.
enjoy!

Hi M,

>What's the best way to book an affordable open jaw flight?<

Try www.kayak.com

I also recommend at least a daytrip to Orvieto from Rome.

I Sette Consoli is a great restaurant.

All, Thanks for the replies. I've started some prelimiary planning. One quick question, Ira, you suggested that I fly into Venice and out of Rome. I was debating about doing the opposite because I will be doing more touristy things in Rome but less so in Venice. I was thinking that my last leg of the trip would be at a more relaxing pace in Venice so it would be great way to leave Italy. Thoughts? Also, I'm going around Oct and will be hunting for some good airline deals. What is a good price for that time for 2? I've been in the habit of booking flights via Expedia. For my last trip to Paris, I found a good deal for a nice hotel and flight and am wondering if I'm apt to finding some good deals for Italy, although I'm not sure they even book open jaw flights Thanks to all.

Also, which airports should I fly into Rome and out of Venice? In Rome, I will probably find a hotel near the Piazza Navona. I found some really good ideas about where to stay in Venice but first things are first...flights....Thx

You can book open jaw flights on many website, including Orbitz and those of the airlines themselves.

The reason that many people prefer NOT to fly out of Venice is that many of the flights leave early in the morning in order to connect with transatlantic flights in Rome or Milan. When we did this we had to take a private water taxi to the airport. If you are not on a strict budget this may not matter.

When I visited these cities, I started in Rome and ended in Venice for exactly the reason you mentioned, martite: I wanted to end in the most relaxing place. I'm glad I did it that way! My flight out of Venice was late enough to take the regular water taxi and then bus to the airport. Hope that helps!

Dear martite, there have been some interesting conversations here about Rome-Venice vs Venice Rome itinerary.

I am one of those who usually likes arriving in a lively city because I tend to be wired not tired when I arrive someplace. However, last trip to Italy we flew into Venice and out of Rome and it was perfect. For me, Venice seems so much easier to navigate when I am jet-laggy - it is smaller and I don't have to figure out as much transportation (fly into Marco Polo, take one of the two bus options into Venice and then follow the directions your hotel has provided. Get lost once or twice and you are there!).

Enjoy your trip; you will so enjoy seeing Italy again!

Ok, so I'm going to go to Italy in Oct 2007. I'm from Chicago and so far the best flight price I can find is $1019/person. Would like some idea of what is good price these days to pounce on. Thanks