Would welcome itinerary suggestions for two week trip to Italy (husband's never been, I've been to Florence but would definitely return). Much thanks.

I spent 2 weeks in Italy, interrailing with a friend. As relatively impoverished students we stayed in hostels, took lots of trains, and mostly bought bread, cheese and fruit in markets for meals. I'm guessing you'll want something a little grander so I won't offer reports on hostels, but if you're interested, I will. This was in late March/early April, a perfect time of year to go with sunny weather and fewer tourists (and on that note, you may want to do a search on this forum for Italian travel in the year 2000-you might want to postpone Italy for a year or two!) My trip was several years ago so I can't remember the exact nature of our itinerary, but it went something like this: <BR> <BR>Met up in Florence and spent a couple of days there. Then on to Rome; another couple of days for Rome and Vatican City. From Rome we took an early morning train to Pompeii, spent the day there, then hopped back on the train to Sorrento. Stayed there a couple of nights, spending one day there and one at Capri. From this point on, my memory fails somewhat. I know that wherever we went from Sorrento, we had a layover in Naples and rushed out to get pizza at an AMAZING place but unfortunately I can't remember its name-got it out of Let's Go. Rushed back to the train, and I think we went back to Florence, then caught a bus to Siena, spent the day there, and went back to Florence for the night. We then went to Venice, stayed a couple of days doing Venice and Burano. From Venice, we went to Milan. I'm sorry I can't remember the exact way we did it-I'll have a look at my photo album and see if I can get a better reconstruction for you. In any event, we hit all the above cities and I can't imagine having missed a single thing. We would have liked to have gone down to Sicily too but even college kids have their limits! <BR> <BR>

Hey Lucy, thanks for the tips -- your trip sounded great !! However, what's the deal with the year 2000 & Italy ??? I live in NYC (ground zero for Y2K hysteria) and can't imagine it being any worse !!

Just got back and loved my itinerary: <BR> <BR>Fly into Rome <BR>three days in Rome <BR>Train to Florence <BR>four days in Florence <BR>Rent car to drive to Tuscany <BR>three days in Tuscany (countryside) <BR>Drive back to Florence and catch train to Venice <BR>four days in Venice <BR>Fly out of Venice. <BR> <BR>I might take a day off Venice and add it to Rome. There is so much to see in Rome and Venice is very small. Loved our hotels, so if you are interested in more details, send me an email.

I'd break the country into regions, figure out which ones appeal to you most, then put the pieces together. <BR>We went thru the same process this past summer. <BR>The favorite regions a/o cities on this forum seem to be: <BR>Florence <BR>Tuscany <BR>Lakes region (esp. Como, Orta, Maggiore, Lugano) <BR>Rome <BR>Venice <BR>Naples area (incl. Positano, Capri) <BR>Sicily <BR>Italian Riviera (esp. Portofino) down to Cinque Terre <BR> <BR>Most people will tell you to pick a few and thoroughly enjoy them. For first timers, (tho you're a veteran I realize)I think the top picks should include Rome, Tuscany, Venice and Florence plus/minus Lakes. Easily covered in two weeks. <BR>Itineraries need not include entry and exit at same portal (extra cost is nil or nominal). We flew into Milan, spent a few days at the lakes (relaxation and depressurization was the goal, only a 40 minute drive from Milan), then down to the Riviera (which I would rank low on my list of priorities for next visit), a few days in Tuscany (where you could spend nearly 3 weeks without running out of small interesting towns to explore), Florence, then Rome and home. The Amalfi Coast is a real highlight which we couldn't squeeze in. Next time we'll cover the southern points of interest. We skipped Venice...which is a love it or hate it venue if you ask around. Most people love it. It's likely not my style based on the wealth of info I've gathered. I don't ever plan to visit. I'm definitely in the minority on that one, though. <BR> <BR>I'd suggest you do a little light reading, assess what it is that you and your husband enjoy most about travelling, and prioritize from there. You can find more info than you can assimilate on this site alone...if you've already been to Italy you'll have a big leg up on things. When you get down to particulars, write back. No shortage of opinions here, and the more specific your question, the better answers you'll get. Good luck.

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Just another note on 2000 and Italy. One of the travel mags I subscribe to says that they are expecting 3 times the number of tourists in 2000 because it has been declared a Holy Year by the Vatican (Jubilee 2000). A lot of hotels are already booked so you might try to find hotel vacancy before booking a flight. Or perhaps save your trip for another year when it won't be so crowded. We went in March several years ago and certain places such as the Sistene Chapel and Uffuzi were crowded even at that time of the year.