Angie525

I am trying to figure out the itinerary for a trip to Italy that my husband and I will be taking in November 2008 (I know it's early but we like to plan ahead). I have been to Italy once before and know my husband would love it. We are planning on going for 2 weeks, including travel time. I would like to see Venice, as I have never been there. We would also like to go to Rome and Florence, and spend some time in the Tuscan countryside, as I think this is one of the prettiest areas of Italy. I would also love to go to the lake region if we have time. A few questions, first is this doable, or am I trying to pack too much into 2 weeks? Also, does anybody have suggestions for the ordering/amount of time in each place? We would like to not drive in any major city, i.e, Rome, Florence or Venice, but have no problem driving other places, where do you think we should pick up/drop off the car? Finally, does anybody have suggestions for the prettiest/least touristy areas of the tuscan countryside that we should not miss if at all possible?

Thank you in advance for your help with this.

Grandma

Well....sort of reminds me of my first trip. I would decide how much time you want to spend in Rome and Venice. Then, I'd explore pickiing up a car in Orvieto (it's easy to get to Orvieto from Rome by train and car rentals are near the station if you don't want to stay over.)... and dropping it in Venice. (Very easy to do.)
Then I'd plan the route in between using one of Fodor's guides and a good Michelin map. Also, a Michelin green guide has good advice on driving options, etc.
In November I doubt the lakes would be at their best.

On the other hand, you could consider the option of taking trains between Rome, Florence, and Venice.

Only you know how fast you and your husband move - (When we were young we covered a LOT of territory.... We cringe now at the short shrift we gave so many places. But it did help us figure where we wanted to return.)

Jean

Some people like a fast-paced itinerary, but three cities and two "areas" in two weeks is too much for me. I generally prefer at least 3-4 nights in each destination. Factor at least a half day lost moving from one hotel to the next. If you have 14 full days (not including arrival and departure days), then you could conceivably see Venice, Florence, Rome, and part of Tuscany. (I wouldn't visit the lake region in November.) That would still be too rushed for me, but this is your trip.

Definitely book flights into one end of your itinerary and out of the other end (i.e., into Venice, out of Rome).

nosocksnoshoes

I agree about skipping the lakes in November.
I think if you skip the lakes region, your plan is do-able.

Although it is in Umbria, not Tuscany, I thought Assisi was the most beautiful place, the views were incredible of the Umbrian countryside (Assisi is where St. Francis of Assisi is buried) Although I would not say it is untouristy but most are day trippers - It would be lovely to spend one or two nights in Assisi when all the day trippers are gone.

I would do:

3 nights Rome
3 nights Florence/ 3 nights Tuscany
3 nights Venice

Not to "put a damper on things" but I think it rains alot in November in Venice, etc.

nytraveler

Agree this is not the best time of year for the lakes - nor for the Tuscan countryside - which will be largely brown and crunchy.

You can certainly see Rome, Florence and Venice - and do some day trips to smaller towns in Tuscany - or Umbria (but the countryside won't be much to look at).

cheryllj

If you are planning a two-week trip, that probably gives you 12 nights on the ground, and that would be enough time to visit Venice, Florence, Rome, plus a brief stay in the Tuscan countryside. You would have to move quickly, but it could be done.

I agree that an open jaw flight makes the most sense, and I agree that you should save the lake region for another trip. Fly open-jaw into Venice and out of Rome.

Fly to Venice - 3 nights
Train to Florence - 3 nights
Pick up rental car, visit Tuscan countryside - 2 nights (or one night in Siena, one in Orvieto)
Drive to Rome, drop off rental car - 4 nights
Fly home

KimiG

Take some time to read the countless Italy trip reports on this site. You will be inspired and then you will know exactly where you want to go. I would stay in no more than 4 locations in two weeks. You will savor and love your time in Italy! What a great way to spend this winter - reading and planning and dreaming of Italy!

Lily

I love to plan way in advance too!

In 2005, my husband and I went to Italy for two weeks. We flew to Rome for four nights, then took the train to Venice for four nights, then took the train to Florence and immediatly rented a car and drove to Montepulciano for seven nights then back to Florence for one night then train to Rome for return flight. We were unable to book an open jaw ticket to fly out of Florence so we needed to return to Rome for our flight home.

Florence was a little short but we did manage to see the major sites along with the Uffizi and Accademia.

We never felt rushed as we had reservations for the Uffizi and Accademia and we were able to linger in all of the other locations. I don't see how we could have fit the lake district in though.

Angie525

Thanks for all your responses! Now that I have read some of your comments, I am rethinking going to Italy in November now. I am thinking that I may go in October. When in October do you guys think is the best time? Also, which do you think would be better to see Venice or Florence. Last time I went I saw Florence and missed Venice, but my husband has never seen either. For October, where are the best spots? Can we do the lake region in October?

Thanks again!

Jean

I can't/won't tell you whether to choose Venice or Florence. That's a personal choice based on your interests. I will say that if Tuscany is still in the mix it would be hard to by-pass Florence when you're (presumably) so close.

Finding the "prettiest/least touristy" parts of Tuscany will definitely involve driving and will generally NOT be places discussed at length on this board (i.e., Siena, SanGim, etc.). Personally, I think places become "touristy" because they have a lot to offer/see, but if you want to get away from crowds you'll need to go to towns not frequently promoted on travel forums by other tourists.

October in the lakes area can be beautiful. We've had very good luck with weather through the entire month, although it's not unusual for there to be rain. FYI, if you're considering mid-Lake Como (Varenna/Bellagio/Menaggio), many hotels usually close for the season after the second weekend of October. There will still be hotels and restaurants open, but your choices will be much more limited. Menaggio, being the largest of the mid-lake towns and more populated with year-round residents, will have the most options.

dorkforcemom

Hello Angie!
Along with other posters, I'd be glad to offer my opinion on your itinerary. My friend & I just returned from Italy last week. We spent 10 days there. We flew into Rome, took the train to Chiusi, picked up our rental car for a 3 night stay in southern Tuscany (my favorite area!), returned the rental car to Chiusi, trained to Florence for a couple of days, trained to Bologna for our flight home.

I hope to gather my notes for a trip report soon. In the meantime, I'll give what I consider the pros and cons of travel in November. (We've also covered the same territory in May, June, and September.)

Pro - few tourists. We enjoyed the personal attention and "getting to know" restaurant and shop owners. There were no lines at major museums, churches, and we were fortunate enough to have secured Scavi tickets as well. Traffic was light - both on the road and train travel was a breeze (no need to purchase tickets ahead)
Con - weather. It was very cold! We were unprepared for exactly how cold it was and checked (daily) the weather websites in advance. Yes, we took layers (and wore every one of them just about every day!) including gloves, ear muffs, and wool scarves with our jackets. We were still cold - one of the most beautiful sights was looking out of the restaurant window (Acquacheta) while lunching in Montepulciano to big, fat snowflakes! Short days made travel a bit different as well.

Neutral - the Tuscan countryside was beautiful, just different from May or September. No less enchanting!

We were in Venice in June. I would imagine it to be really cold in November, just a thought.

I hope this helps...glad to answer any other questions.

Dayle

Angie,

On my second visit to Venice, I made a real effort to seek out interesting things to see besides Piazza San Marco and the Doges Palace. Here's what I did in 4 days.

Burano - I'm a photographer and really enjoyed the island

Ca d'Oro
Guggenheim
La Scuola Grande di San Rocco
Basilica (again)
Santa Maria della Salute
Il Frari
Accademia
Murano
wandered, wandered and wandered

Still haven't done a gondola ride!

Dayle

Oops, sorry wrong post!

whitehall

Hi Angie,

My wife and I just returned from 11 nights in Italy. We had already been to Rome, Florence and Umbria seven years ago. Still need to see Venice, Sicily and Capri/Positano.

Perhaps some of this could be used:
We used a great apartment in Montepulicano for 4 nights as a base to see eastern and southern Tuscany. Sights included Cortona, Chiuisi, Pienza, Motalcino, Monterrigioni, and many other small hill towns and lots of beautiful countryside that still offered colorful fall foliage. We missed Siena, although we drove through it, because we couldn't figure out where to park...it was the most crowded area we visited on this trip.

We used Volterra for 5 nights as a base to see northern, western and coastal Tuscany. Sights included Pisa (on a spectacular Sunday), Lucca (a very busy place on Sundays with families out and about and a weekly antiques market), Massa Marittima, San Gimignano and many smaller hill towns. And, we really loved Volterra...became regulars at a couple pastry and pizza shops.It seemed to have a little bit of everything we come to Italy for. If we needed only one base, we would choose Volterra; it seemed a little busier, in a good way, than Montepulciano this time of year, and it also isn't far from some of the towns to the east.

And we spent 2 nights on Lake Maggiore so that we could be closer to the Milan/Maplpensa airport, our exit/entry point. The weather there was the dreariest, rainy 30's, snow on the mountains, fog that diminished visibility but we took the opportunity to drive around the lake, visited several great towns and had Thanksgiving lunch at a great little place in a small Swiss town with palm trees at lake elevation and snow on the mountains.

We travelled Nov. 11 -23...the weather was warmer at the beginning so we highly recommend the earlier the better in the month. Expect some great, almost summery sunshine and some raw, damp, bone chilling weather (we had to buy a hat, gloves and scarf at market day) but simple layers of the usual stuff, warm shirt, sweater, windbreaker did the trick. We only travel with carry ons.

There were NO crowds. Everyone says avoid San Gimignano during the day; we had the place to ourselves on a beautiful sunny day. We also were told that you can't drive to the Cinque Terre region but on our way up to the Lakes area, we decided on the spur of the moment to drive to Vernazza, a seaside spot we had always wanted to visit. Admittedly a very difficult drive on a road with many hair pin turns but we were the only ones on the road and we saw things most people will never experience, like Vernazza from on top of the cliffs.

We would be happy to provide more specifics. We were surprised at how many hill towns you could visit in a day when crowds are minimal and the drive between them can be stunning. And, we were not afraid to take the least travelled paths on very rural and beautiful roads. Very easy, at least in November, to drive around Tuscany. Less traffic than we see in places like New England.

We have a seasonal summer business so we are unable to travel except in the off season. The last time we were in Italy, it was October; things were more crowded, but the weather was a little better But I think we enjoyed ourselves this time just as much.

Good luck!!!