My DH & I will be 30 in 2011 and we LOVE traveling so we both want to be on a trip on our birthdays. DH will be 30 on May 31 and I will be 30 on October 4.
We would love to go (back) to Kauai for DH's bday. Next May will mark 4 years since our first trip to Kauai. We feel it is the perfect place to celebrate DH's bday.

For my bday, I would love to go to Italy. Our first, and only (so far), trip to Europe was to Paris in October 2008. My initial plan was to visit Cinque Terre, Florence & surrounding Tuscan hilltowns but with our trip to Kauai in the same year (and a few months before) we feel it will be too difficult to pull off such a big trip to Italy. Instead of changing destinations, I've decided that I could scale back the trip for my bday in order to do both.

Here is the reason for my post: I've narrowed it down to a few possible combinations to scale back my bday trip. Which combination would you choose & why? How would you split the time for each combo?
1) Paris & Cinque Terre
2) Cinque Terre & Tuscany *See Florence as a day trip...is that plausible?
3) Florence & Tuscany
4) Paris & Tuscany


Sidenotes:
*The trip will most likely be 10 days including travel. We will be traveling from Austin, TX.

*Although we have been to Paris, it was for one week, it was our first trip to Europe and it was a very rushed week going to typical sights. We had it difficult adjusting to the time and I know it takes several trips to "accomplish" seeing Paris but our first trip did not give it "it's due".

*If we choose Tuscany, I would like to stay at Locanda San Francesco in Montepulciano and visit surrounding hilltowns. If I scaled back, instead of staying a few days in Florence, we could see Florence as a day trip from Montepulciano.

Thanks so much!

With just 10 days (inc. travel), to maximize your time, I would skip Paris. So, 2 or 3 looks good to me. Tuscany in Oct is lovely.

Instead of visiting Florence as a day trip from Montepulciano (a long daytrip and not worth it to me), consider flying home from Florence and spending your last 1-2 nights there. Or, fly into Florence and start the trip there.

Several years ago my wife and I did about 10 days in Rome, Florence, and Tuscany. We did 3 nights in Rome (the Roman Forum and colesium are incredible as is Vatican). We then took train to Florence and stayed two nights. Rented a car in Florence and spent 4 nights in Siena (very central to visit many of the small hill towns). Incredibly interesting and exciting trip.

I would also choose 2 or 3. My personal choice would be 2, we absolutely loved Cinque Terre but several people on this board didn't have the same love! Those two would reduce your travel time by a lot. I would do 3 days Cinque Terre and 5 days Tuscany.

Another vote for choices 2 or 3, leaning toward the Cinque Terre. And staying in Florence overnight, rather than a day trip. The piazzas are fun places to hang out in the evening, and you couldn't do that on a day trip.

I vote for option three. Our interests when visiting Italy are food, wine, public markets, long walks, gorgeous scenery and an interesting street life to enjoy.


I am not a fan of the CT but do enjoy the Ligurian coast. With only 8 nights, I would be likely to stay a few nights in Rapallo or Santa Margherita Ligure and the rest of the time in Florence.

louistraveler5,

I am a "bang for the buck traveler", so the only one I would consider would be Florence and the Tuscan countryside. I would not want to spend 1 day of a very short 10 day trip traveling between countries.

One alternate suggestion: Paris and somewhere in the French countryside! One year (early Oct) some friends and I did a France trip. I flew in early, drove around the Loire for 4 days, then joined them in Paris for 5 days. From there we flew to Nice and did 5 days with daytrips out of Cannes. Loved the daytrips, didn't like Cannes.

But I love Italy much, much more and would choose the Tuscan countryside in October - definitely.

Given the 10 days including travel, I'd choose either two or three. I went to Italy when I was around thirty and visited Venice, the CT, Florence and Siena with only ten nights on the ground. And I wasn't <i>too</i> tired or rushed.