Hi, we are a mature couple, budget travelers, who have been to all these places before. Rather than stay in the same places, we'd like your suggestions for some towns and rentals that you have liked. Rental could be studio or 1 bedroom. Here is our rough itinerary. Fly from New York to Venice, three nights in Venice. Rental idea? Train to Cinque Terra, 3 nights, which town and rental? Pick up car in La Spezia, drive to a nice small town in Tuscany, 3 nights in what town and rental? Train to Rome, 3 nights in small central rental? Train to Naples, transfer to Positano, central rental? 15 nights total. We have some favorite rentals and towns, but we need ones now that do not have as many steps. What are some places that you have loved and would recommend? I just talked him into this trip yesterday, so any recommendations you can give me would be great. Thanks in advance.

In Tuscany, I would suggest the city of Lucca. We stayed there for four nights in May, 2024. My husband thought it was one of the nicest places he had ever been, and wants to go back. We don't stay in apartments because they're too risky, so we stayed at the Marriott's Grand Universe Hotel, which was classy, and in an excellent location. The manager told me that Marriott was in the process of acquiring some apartments, so you may want to look into that.

I sought out rental car quotes, and I found them to be outrageous. We took day trips using regional trains and buses. The city of Lucca deserves one full day of sightseeing, and then you can venture out to Pisa and Petrasanta, like we did. I wish we had more time there, as I had a long list of places I wanted to go on day trips.

Not that you asked, but I think your itinerary is too rushed and all over the place. Why not focus on one region, and stay in less places? Our best memories of Lucca include have sitting out and having drinks, or just wandering around the streets and window shopping. It's an easy train ride from Florence.

You don't give exact dates but remember April means Easter, the 25th long weekend and the May 1st long weekend . That means crowds and higher prices. You may even find some places long rented

Honestly unless for some reason you can only travel in April I'd push it out to May. Better weather. Less crowds in general. Less likely to be booked up.

Then you have weather to consider. Venice to Cinque Terre is five plus hours on the train. That makes the first day a write off. If the weather is bad do you really want to spend that long on the train?

April in Cinque Terre (if it were Cingue Terra it would be "five town" not "five towns") might be muddy on the paths

Lucca is a nice place to stop with an easy train commute into Florence

Siena lacks good public transport but has great public parking at the base of the mini-mountain which makes that a good choice as well. Florence itself is a bit overwhelming and overwhelmed with tourists itself.

Of the three I prefer Siena if you want a larger city.