Lexma90

For your time in Tuscany, I would also suggest staying a little further south, unless you really like Chiantis (the wine).

We really like San Gimignano. It's so cute that it gets really full of tourists during the day, on the main street through town. But the side streets aren't full, and if it's your base in Tuscany, you'll mostly be there in the evenings and mornings anyway, and off touring elsewhere during the day. We park in one of the lots outside of the city walls, then just walk into our hotel in town (check out La Cisterna). If you're major foodies, then check out La Dorando, a member of the Slow Food movement - well worth a meal whether you're staying in San G. or just visiting.

Siena's a good choice too, though because it's larger, it's a little more difficult to get in and out of. And Montepulciano is good too, though a little further south.

jetsetj

here is where we stayed in CT and in Rome. We LOVED both places.

http://www.cinqueterre-laposada.com/...partments.html
ask for Sole y Luna apt.

https://www.romesweethome.it/apartme...nt.asp?lang=it
this is in perfect location right by the campo de fiori...

kybourbon

To see the locations of cameras in Florence, click the box that says autovelox and zoom in. You don't want to cross into the ZTL.
http://news.comune.fi.it/muoversi/se...ervizi=Servizi

Probably the easiest town to get in and out is Pienza which is between Montepulciano and Montalcino, but it's easy to visit all of them. There are many places to eat and sample wine in each of the three towns.

Pienza: www.portalepienza.com

Montalcino: http://www.prolocomontalcino.it/index.php?lang=en

Montepulciano: http://www.prolocomontepulciano.it/index.uk.php

I enjoyed sampling some Brunello's at Osteria Osticcio in Montalcino. They have killer views of the Val d'Orcia (click on visita)although their website doesn't show it very well. They serve food all day where many restaurants in Montalcino are only open lunch and dinner and closed in the afternoon.
http://www.osticcio.com/index.htm

Get the TCI Toscana map(Touring Club Italy) for Tuscany as it shows the little roads. You may find it at your local book store and order it online.

nytraveler

Everyone's must sees are different. If it were me I would cut one day from Amalfi Coast and one from Tuscany and spend them in Florence.

And yes, you really do need a car to see Tuscany efficiently - some towns are served only by buses (not very often) and to some the train schedules are not very regular.

jetsetj

i forgot to tell you the one we stayed at in Venice..
http://www.knowital.com/veneto/venic...partment1.html

Zerlina

A much better base and much closer than Sorrento for seeing Positano, Capri and Ravello "on the cheap" is Praiano, very close to Positano and connected to it by local and coastal buses. It's connected to Amalfi (for Ravello) by bus. In season (generally to the end of September), the ferry service Coop Sant'Andrea has return trips to Capri from Positano.

Zerlina

As for Tuscany, my vote goes to Montepulciano. It's larger and livelier than Montalcino; its wine (Vino Nobile di Montepulciano) is more or less on a par with Montalcino's Brunello; it's an awful lot less touristy than San Gimignano, which has no wine in the same category. A day trip by car to San Gimignano is feasible.

citychicnyc

ok guys, i have booked my lodging for rome [first 4 days] and venice [last 3 days], an apartment in piazza navona and a room @ foscari palace respectively. i am now trying to figure out the middle portion of my trip, which i have not booked any lodging for yet. i am 95% sure on the one day in florence on sep 24th. i have a feeling this will not be my last trip to italy, so if i love florence, i will come back and do it right along with cinque terre and lake como or something like that. but, right now, i NEED YOUR VOTES on sep 21st - one more day in amalfi or tuscany? fyi, i will have a rental car in tuscany.

here is phase II itinerary:

Sep 13 - JFK to rome
Sep 14 - day 1 - 8 AM arrival / easy day in rome
Sep 15 - day 2 - rome
Sep 16 - day 3 - rome
Sep 17 - day 4 - rome
Sep 18 - day 5 - positano - relax this day
Sep 19 - day 6 - day trip to capri (?)
Sep 20 - day 7 - positano / ravello
Sep 21 - day 8 - NEED YOUR VOTES: AMALFI OR TUSCANY ON THIS DAY?
Sep 22 - day 9 - tuscany - siena / san gimignano
Sep 23 - day 10 - tuscany - monalcino / pienza / montepulciano
Sep 24 - day 11 - early AM drive to florence >> david. duomo. ponte vecchio. piazza della signoria. battistero
Sep 25 - day 12 - venice
Sep 26 - day 13 - venice
Sep 27 - day 14 - venice
Sep 28 - day 15 - fly out of venice

Peter_S_Aus

Five places to stay in fifteen days is horribly busy. I'd add the day to Florence or Venice.

kybourbon

Have you looked at how long it will take to get from Positano to Siena? Even renting a car, it will be a long day. You should go to the Montepulciano/Pienza area before Siena area to avoid backtracking. You need to look at a map.

I agree with Peter except I think you have listed 6 places in 15 days. The Tuscany part is too hectic.

ellenem

Peter, By my read, the itinerary includes stays in Rome, Positano, a single tuscan location, and Venice—4 places in 15 days. Florence is a daytrip from the Tuscan location.

citychicnyc

i started to research logistics and total time travel of rome to positano and positano to tuscany and only now i am realizing that it is not exactly fast and easy. it is definitely making me second guess the original amalfi and tuscany itinerary because i realized that i don't have as much time as i thought in these two areas.

if i am not mistaken, the fastest way from rome to positano using public transportation would be to take a train from rome to salerno and then take a ferry from salerno to positano [4 hours total]. even better than this would be to take a train from rome to sorrento and then hiring a driver to take us to positano, but it is costly.

i am thinking i should just stick to my original plan of leaving out florence. even to me, phase II itinerary seems way too hectic and not enjoyable.

Sep 13 - JFK to rome
Sep 14 - day 1 - 8 AM arrival / easy day in rome
Sep 15 - day 2 - rome
Sep 16 - day 3 - rome
Sep 17 - day 4 - rome
Sep 18 - day 5 - positano - relax this day
Sep 19 - day 6 - day trip to capri
Sep 20 - day 7 - amalfi / ravello
Sep 21 - day 8 - positano
Sep 22 - day 9 - tuscany - montalcino / pienza / montepulciano
Sep 23 - day 10 - tuscany - montalcino / pienza / montepulciano
Sep 24 - day 11 - tuscany - siena / san gimignano >> drive to florence and spend the night
Sep 25 - day 12 - venice
Sep 26 - day 13 - venice
Sep 27 - day 14 - venice
Sep 28 - day 15 - fly out of venice

when i look at this itinerary, i see that i have 4 full days in rome, 3.5 days in amalfi coast/capri, 2.5 days in tuscany, and 3 full days in venice.

citychicnyc

btw, positano will be my base for amalfi coast/capri, staying 4 nights @ albergo california.

i am thinking i will make either montalcino or montepulciano as my base and spend two nights there [sep 22 + 23]. on sep 24, i will check out in the morning, drive north to siena and san gimignano for the day and then drive to florence in the evening where i will stay for the night. the following morning, i will drop off the car and then take the train to venice.

or... i can just stay in the val d'orcia area all three days and drive to florence to catch my train to venice on the 25th.

aahh so many choices!

Mimar

You have my permission to skip Florence -- this trip. (I gather you're not Renaissance art/architecture aficionados.)

I like Pienza or San Quirico d'Orcia as a base for touring southern Tuscany. They both are on the flat, easy to drive in and out of.

You have a good itinerary, much slower than a guided tour. You do need to get into the specifics of getting from one place to another. For instance, consider picking up your rental car in Sorrento and driving to Tuscany.

Also you don't want to park your car overnight in Florence. In fact, you'd probably best avoid driving in central Florence. Drop the car at the Florence airport. Plenty of transportation into town.

An even better option would be to drop your car in Siena and train or bus into Florence. The bus from Siena to Florence leaves from a central location; the train station is outside the walls.

citychicnyc

mimar: we actually love architecture and art! but for our very first trip to italy, we want a good mix of coastal town(s), countryside, and city. with two weeks, i don't think we'd be happy doing the big three [venice, rome, florence] and have to sacrifice either the countryside or a coastal town. a more varied trip sounds nice.

i will definitely get into the specifics of logistics and travel times... and map out our route on google maps. i just need my high-level itinerary set so i can reserve my lodging. right now i feel comfortable with my amalfi plan, so i will book my positano lodging today. i will be back after i start my research on tuscany.

thanks for your suggestions mimar!

rickmav

Hi there. While you are waiting to buy your guidebook, you might pick up a few tips from my trip report for Italy:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...any-umbria.cfm

Also, here is Fodor's thread with other trip reports for Italy:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-to-italy.cfm

Have fun.

citychicnyc

i've been reading about transportation in/out of positano and i'm getting confused as to which route is the easiest and fastest:

option #1: train from rome to naples, transfer to sorrento, and then take a bus to positano.

option #2: direct train from rome to salerno, ferry to positano

option #2 seems the easiest to me because there is one less transfer. but, when i read up on some old threads, some people recommend option #1 and others say option #2. so which is it?

also, i am considering picking up a car in salerno [since i will be renting a car for the tuscany portion of my trip anyway] and driving up to tuscany [pienza]. google maps is telling me it will take 4 hours and 35 minutes. do you think i should do this? or just take public transportation to tuscany and then pick up the rental in orvieto?

citychicnyc

my plan in tuscany is:

Sep 22 - day 9
drive?? from amalfi to tuscany
1/2 day to explore montalcino / pienza / montepulciano area

Sep 23 - day 10
another day for montalcino / pienza / montepulciano area

Sep 24 - day 11
san gimignano and siena [is it possible to see both in one day?]
drop off car in siena, take evening bus to florence, stay overnight in florence near train station

Sep 25 - day 12
take an early AM train to venice