Hi<BR><BR>Am planning a trip a 3 week trip to Italy in October 2003, would appreciate some help. <BR>Would like to spend time in the following areas<BR><BR>Amalfi Coast<BR>Tuscany (countryside)<BR>CT<BR>Florence<BR>Venice<BR>Dolom ites<BR>Lake Como<BR><BR>Will be using train transport mainly but would like to rent a car to use through the Tuscan area?<BR><BR>Any comments appreciated.<BR>

Can't really help on northern Italy, as have only been to Venice. However, here is a schedule of how many nights we felt would be sufficient for some of the places you mentioned:<BR><BR>Tuscany (including Florence) - 7 days (yes, take the car)<BR><BR>Amalfi Coast - 3-5 days (inc Pompeii, of course)<BR><BR>Venice - 3 days (it's beautiful of course, but what else is there to do besides lounging around?)<BR><BR>Just my thots ...

Hi Harlie,<BR><BR> It's doable. <BR>Have you checked the train schedules at www.trenitalia.com?<BR>Also www.railsaver.com for prices point-to-point vs railpass?

The only problem with this I see is Amalfi. You're talking about a lot of northern Italy destinations, with that one exception. It'd probably be doable if you did Como/Dolomites -&gt; Venice -&gt; Florence -&gt; CT -&gt; Tuscany -&gt; Amalfi.<BR><BR>2 days in Como, 2 in Bolzano, 3 in Venice, 3 in Florence (I'd take one day and see Siena), 3 in Tuscany, 2 in CT, and 4 in Amalfi (Sorrento, Amalfi, Pompei, Capri). That leaves you with 3 travel days. Lots of training, but it could be a very fun vacation if you have the energy.

hi<BR>we are going back to italy in may. this will be the 3rd time. years ago i was in venice and loved all the waterways and narrow winding streets to discover. if only i had had enough money to have taken a gondola ride. watch the pigeons in st mark's plaza!! must be the breeding ground for all pigeons! <BR>in august '01, we were in italy again. this time we were in northern italy. we stayed in a castle. one thing i did not know about the north was that german is their first language and then italian. many people spoke english up there. we took the train and then hiked to the dolomites. i have to say, they were unique, but ... was it worth it? it wasn't quite what i expected. glad i saw it, but then we turned around and went back for lunch. that area is very different from southern italy. very alpine. i felt like heidi would come popping out over the hillside - singing. the country side is gorgeous-mountains and castles. we rented a car and those drivers are crazy! really. i can't tell you the number of times we were nearly killed, but it was pretty thrilling. we were just driving the way the italians do - what speed limit? what solid, double line? but we got pulled over. the polizia carry uzi's. just be careful! good to have the italian phrase book because whenever i used it, people seemed to speak more english! enroll in an italian class.<BR>we also stayed in chianti country. a whole new look. driving a car lets you appreciate every aspect of the area. when we go back this time, we are only staying in the chianti area at the villa we stayed in 2 years ago and just relaxing and enjoying the moment instead of rushing around trying to see it all. but, sometimes you just have to do that. florence is a big city, for italy, and those moped drivers and bicyclists are nuts! we rented mopeds and we had an accident as we tried to avoid being hit by an auto. if you rent a moped you just have to watch everywhere. we will have a few days in florence again, and i would still rent a moped, but this time i want my own! <BR>i love italy, so much history and beauty and great food. seems like every village has a duomo and baptista. usually, you can wear whatever you want inside, but in milan and possibly florence (we didn't bother to stand in the long line last time) a woman needs to have sleeves (short or long, but not sleeveless) and no short shorts. and it doesn't matter if you remind them what century this is or tell them they are sexist, they don't care! now that is the one place they still follow some rules.<BR>no matter what you plan you will have a terrific time.

Looks great--but I would start north and end south in Oct. Good luck !

Hi - looks wonderful! We did Herculaneum instead of Pompeii and really enjoyed it. It's in the same area as Pompeii but has hardly any tourists and the ruins are in great condition (for ruins!). Gorgeous views. Might be worth considering...

Venice--there's plenty to do. In fact, you cannot see all the sights in Venice in just 3 days. Most people think that Venice has only the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge, P. San Marco, the Doges' Palace, Basilica S. Marco. They are either too ignorant of what's in Venice or to timid to move just a few minutes walk away from the vicinity of the Grand Canal. Try the Accademia, the Guggenheim Museum, CadOro, the Ghetto, the gondola yard, the Arsenale Naval Museum, a dozen specialty Museums, several interesting islets; e.g. Murano/Burano; various churches of interest for art and architecture. The list goes on. Anyway, that's some that you can do besides lounge around.