My sister and I will be in Italy for 11 nights. She has never been, I visited Rome, Florence and Venice last year.

Here's what we have so far. I've marked *** where we have questions or need suggestions. No preference for "starred" restaurants, mainly good food, stylish casual, not terribly expensive (unless it's a "don't miss"!). Good pizza spots most appreciated! Vineyard tours are not high on our agenda. We enjoy quaint towns, history, lovely scenery, window shopping, walks. In Rome it's history, art/architecture, history, history!
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Palazzo Squarcialupi, Castellina--2 NIGHTS

La Fonte apartment, Pienza--4 NIGHTS

Rome: Apartment nr Pantheon--5 NIGHTS
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DETAILS:
<b>November 1st (Thursday)</b>
Fly into Florence, 10:30am.
P/up rental car
To San Gim for lunch, afternoon.

Late afternoon, to <b>CASTELLINA</b>
Dinner in Castellina
***[Suggestions welcome for next full day/night in Chianti.]

<b>November 3 (Saturday)</b>
Castellina to Pienza
<b>***</b>[Should we stop in Siena: lunch, duomo, piazza? Or save Siena as part of day-trips over following days?]

<b>PIENZA </b>
Dinner in Pienza - Latte di Luna
Next 3 days drive around Val d'Orcia hill towns. I've found many itineraries to draw from for this region---Thanks Stu, Bob, and many others!
<b>***</b>Particular restaurant rec's welcome.

<b>November 7 </b>(Wednesday)
Pienza to <b>ROME</b>, drop car at FCO, noon.

We're hiring a private guide for 3 of the 4 full days---3 hrs per day---to cover Ancient Rome and Renaissance/Baroque Rome. Haven't decided on Vatican tour yet. Otherwise itinerary will cover the usual sites.
<b>***</b>Restaurant suggestions near apartment? Also, Trastevere. I didn't get to that section of Rome last time and so am not familiar with it.

LEAVE FROM ROME November 12 (Monday)
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General issues:
We had not planned to have a phone. But would like to be prepared in case of car trouble. Do we need to buy a phone card? At the Florence airport?

Anyone know of any festivals or events we should look for? If I'm not mistaken this is olive harvest and also truffle season.

Lastly, Grazzie! to everyone who has posted trip reports and other helpful items. This forum is really a treasure trove! I will happily repay my debt with a full trip report upon our return. (For those who remember my last trip report, I intend to avoid the &quot;fashion police&quot; with fervor this time around!)

The best Web site I have found for &quot;sagre&quot; (festivals centred on a particular food) and &quot;feste&quot; (no translation needed) is

http://www.saimicadove.it/tempolibero/sagre_toscana.asp

It requires a minimal amount of Italian to understand. As you can see, there are dozens of them listed for this weekend. Check the site at the end of October for what is on during your stay in Tuscany.

For restaurant recommendations in Chianti, check

http://www.divinacucina.com/code/tuscany.html

Sounds like a good trip. The only change I would make is to drop off the car at Orvieto, then take the train into Rome.

Driving to FCO just for rental car drop off is an unncecssary and time consuming detour.

You're probably right but the company we are renting from does not have another drop site that worked for us. Well, other than in Rome itself...and I'd rather not drive in the city.

My wife and I didn't have a car during our recent trip to Rome, but we brought along cell phones anyway because the apartment we rented didn't have a landline and because we didn't expect to find a lot of pay phones. There are many threads in this forum that deal with international calling. To find them, search for cell phones or sims. You can also find stuff on international calling at http://www.thetravelinsider.info/2002/0308.htm