Italy Itinerary
 

My husband and I are planning to visit Italy in July for two weeks. We will be renting a car and will try to have a relaxed itinerary but would like to see Venice, Florence, possibly Tuscany, Naples and maybe a day or two in Sicily. We are considering flying into Venice and then out another Southern city. We have not established a itinerary and generally hate to make a firm schedule so we can change it up if necessary. We are foodie type people that travel to experience the food, culture, and scenery. We generally avoid the high tourist locations like coastal areas but want some advice of must sees in the time we have planned. My husband feels that Venice is a must see so we are putting it at the beginning of the trip. Any advice would be appreciated.

Sounds like fun, but you do not want a hint of a car in Venice, Florence or Naples.
Sicily is too far---you have a super itinerary with your 4 destinations---make that enjoyable.

Drop Sicily, a day or two is not worth the drive. But if you were willing to fly in-fly out, or take the overnight ferry, Palermo would be worth two days of visit with Monreale thrown in.

The first 45 pictures of this set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...49637005/show/

Driving to Sicily takes forever - including the ferry. I f you go there you want to fly - and you don't really have the time to anyway.

The other thing I notice is that you have left out Rome. If you have alredy been there before - fine. If not - Italy without Rome IMHO is almost a crime. This was the center of the western world for almost a millennium - never mind it's place in political, religoioous and artistic history since then. Hard to see how you can understand Italy without seeing Rome.

Agree with above comments -- I would forget the car and travel by train. Trinitalia, the Italian train system, is handy and reliable. Cars in Venice, Florence, and Naples would prove to be problematic. You could get a driver in Florence and make a nice day trip to Siena, Volterra, and perhaps Monteriggioni (don't miss Il Pozzo with your foodie leanings!) That would give you a good feeling for the Tuscan country scene.

I would also drop Sicily in favor of Rome; it is a great city with many wonderful restaurants and fabulous art and history.

If this interests you, many of your fellow Fodorites can chime in with their favorite eateries in these cities. With your two week specification, you can get a great feel for Italy -- but realize that once you succumb to its charms, you will make many return trips. My wife and I have been there 7 times since 2000 and will return in April.

One more thing...flying into Venice and out of Rome makes sense.

Thanks to all for the information. We want a car because we don't want to just be in the cities but the areas in between, and we also want the flexibility of going where and when we want to go.
We were going to skip Rome altogether this trip but maybe that is a mistake. And, yes, I agree Sicily may be worth another trip another time. Yes, fellow Foodies (Fodorites) please offer some places that we definitely should see/taste.

Michael- you pics are awesome. My husband is a photographer and I will have to show him these.

OK--but train to Florence and get the car for Tuscany.
Then drive to Sorrento and drop the car there---too much hassle on the coast.