e_roz--did you find yourself exhausted at the end of your trip? And did you feel you spent too much time on trains?

Degas, your suggested itinerary was my original, then my hubby said, "It would mean a lot to me if I could see AC Milan play."

Thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to respond.

Hi Pat,

If you look up "last supper milan" on www.google.com you will get links to history and pix of DaVinci's Last Supper.

You might also want to read "The DaVinci Code" which is a thriller with lots of interesting info on the meaning of the picture.

It has been recently restored, so your art teacher's comments are no longer operable.

Tell your husband that you will go with him to the soccer match if he goes with you to see some art. If he says "no", tell him you'll meet him after the game.

Hi Degas and Chat,

I reread what I wrote and can't understand why I wrote it. :?

I apologize.

Patphilli

Now it all makes sense why you wanted to delay in milan and asume the extra hassle. I'm not a soccer fan so it passed over my head. You will have a great trip no matter how it finally gets scheduled.

I'm going to really throw you a curve ball. I'd fly into Florence and start your trip there. If you must fly into Milan, I'd head straight to Cinque.

Unless you know someone playing in the soccer game, forget it.

If you can fly into Florence, spend time there. Head to Cinque (you'll love it) and from there, head to Rome.

Where is Venice you ask? If you include Venice AND CT, you'll run yourself ragged. And I would rather see Cinque Terre rather than spend all my 2 weeks in major cities where you'll be going a mile a minute.

Save Venice for your next trip.

Carry on.

I am going to print out this thread, slice and dice it this weekend, and start booking hotels!

Thanks to all of you for your help! I am beside myself with excitement about this trip.

Patty

There are easy train connections to CT via Genoa. I would then travel to Florence via Pisa, From there to Venice and finally Venice to Rome. I did this very trip in reverse a few years back. You'll have a wonderful time I'm sure.

Have you made plane reservations yet that fix you as to flying into Milan? Can you not fly into Venice (VCE) instead? I don't know about other airlines, but Delta has a nonstop JFK-VCE flight. Flying into Venice, and then going Milan-Florence-5T-Rome would be logistically better.

I am planning a trip for two weeks as well. We are flying into Florence and out of Rome. I am not finished planning, so if anyone thinks this seems insane...please let me know. We are planning on five nights in Florence. Have hired a private driver for two of the days we are in Florence. He will take us to Siena, San G., Chianti area on the first day. On the second day, Pisa, Lucca and Cinque Terre. Then we have 2 and 1/2 days in Florence. Does this sound crazy? We take the train to Venice for four days and then fly to Rome to end the trip. One glitch...I am still undecided if i want to skip Venice and do Capri instead. HELP???

jal, you'd be better off starting your own thread; I doubt there'll be much of a response by tagging on to this one. Say something like, VENICE OR CAPRI???

Jal - It would make more sense logistically to fly into Venice and out of Rome (or vice versa) rather than into Florence.

Venice or Capri? What a choice! It depends on your priorities - and really only you can decide ...

Steve

We did a similar trip this past May. We flew into Venice. We then went to Rome, Tuscany (Siena/orvieto), Florence, Portofin/CT and ended in Milan. We flew out of Milan. I would personally avoid back tracking. If you are flying into Milan and out of Rome, I would recommend the following:
Milan for the day you arrive. Then on to CT - that is a great place to relax. It is much slower paced than the large cities with jet lag. Then I would go to Venice, Florence and Rome. You may even want to divert on your way to another smaller city. I also recommend getting a hotel with a bath tub in the big site seeing cities. I would have killed for a tub to soak my feet in after tons of walking and site seeing in Rome! (I am very fit too...I teach aerobics and I was pooped!). When we were in Florence we booked a room with a jacuzzi tub....worth the extra cash in my opinion! I like the idea of breaking up the big cities with something more leisurely. We rested when we were in Tuscany and CT on our trip. That was perfect. Doing Venice and Rome back to back was exhausting after flying into Venice (with the time change and all). You will have a great time! Save some money to shop in Florence...it's the best! If further questions, email me at [email protected]. Good luck!