Need trip advice for Italy in Sept
 

Hello:

I just booked myself and my better half to Milan, Italy from Sep 22 - Oct 1 in Business Class using my Delta FF miles. Now the fun part begins ie. how to best utilize that time in Italy. I haven't done much reading but want to include Rome, Venice, Cinque Terre and/or Tuscan areas. Want to see if anyone has done something along the same lines or have some input that i can use as a starting point. Also would it make sense to do it all on trains or a rental car is a better option (I personally like the freedom of a car but want to be practical when it comes to Rome/Venice)

Quick background: I cannot do a open jaw since this is our 'stop over' when coming back from another Asia trip so we have to fly in an out of Milan. We are both around 30 and like to pretty fast paced.

Thanks in advance!

Forgot to mention... We arrive in Mialn @ 12:45 PM on 22nd September and fly out @11:45 PM on 1st October

No cars allowed in Venice anyway. A car in Roma is not freedom.

By putting both Venice and Rome on your itinerary you are looking at doing a lot of rushing around and superficial sightseeing, or else for convenience, sticking to the conventional Venice-Florence-Rome tour that everybody does, whether they are interested in art or not.

Do you have any interest in lingering in some places?

While I agree Venice, Florence and Rome are the usuals in Italy... I wouldn't call them 'superficial' sightseeing. But as I said before, I am open to any ideas!!

You have 9 days of travel time. If you try to see Venice, Cinque Terre, Tuscany and Rome, you will in reality have less than 8. If you are trying to fit 3 or 4 major destinations in those few days, you will either end up seeing only a few things in places with many amazing treasures or else rushing through a lot of things at a hectic pace.

If you are open to suggestions, a fascinating and lovely trip would be Verona, Lago di Como and Venice.

Or Cinque Terre, Pisa/Firenze/Tuscany.

Or Cinque Terre, Roma.

That way, you could actually relax in Italy, which is one of the things that makes Italy so special, unless you'd rather move quickly and sightsee.

Sort of like asking would you like a lot of little presents for your birthday or one or two major ones?

Given the amount of time you have and the logistics, I'd drop Rome from this trip and concentrate on areas closer to Milan I would choose Venice (3-4 nts) and either Tuscany or Como area for the remainder, with the last night being spent in or very near Milan.

^^^