I’m in the extreme early stages of planning a trip to Italy for fall of 2003 for 10 days. Definites on the itinerary: Rome for 3 or 4 nights and Venice for 3 nights. (My plan is to fly into Rome and out of Venice). Now the question is where do we stay for the other 4 days. The obvious choice is Florence. I have visited Florence before and my friends and I would rather only go as a day trip from another area. I know we won’t do Florence justice, but we aren’t into art that much and would rather concentrate on either Tuscany or Umbria. One of my friends definitely wants to visit the Ducati factory outside of Bologna. We are interested in wine, history, good food, the countryside and relaxing after 4 busy days in Rome. Help me to start narrowing down the places to base ourselves out of Tuscany or Umbria. I’ve started to read guidebooks and I’m getting more overwhelmed at the choices, everything sounds so wonderful!!!! Thanks for your help. Tammy

I would park myself in or around Assisi for those 4 days. Southern Tuscany is very close by. Montalcino, Montepulciano and Pienza can be reached within an hour. There is much to see and do around Assisi. We went to a great town when we were there called Trevi. Orvieto and Todi are pretty close by too. Also don't forget one of my favorite places - Deruta for ceramics. I'd look into staying into an agriturismo for those 4 days.

Hello Tammy, First, 2 questions. Do you plan to drive in Tuscany, and do you have a price range in mind? I would train into Florence or Chiusi and start my exploring from there by car. The most obvious choice is to stay near Siena and hit the major hill towns from there--especially south of Siena. You can hit Bologna enroute to Venice if you are driving and then drop the car in Venice. If you stay near Sinalunga you can see south Tuscany and also get as far east as Cortona and Assisi. Lots of good options--pick location first.

Dawn, thanks! I forgot to mention that I was also interested in ceramics! <BR><BR>Bob, yes we're planning on renting a car. I've always liked the idea of taking the train north and then renting the car. In regards to hotel price ranges, I'm thinking around $100 a night for a room with a bath or shower. <BR><BR>Thanks to both of you for the great suggestions!

Tammy, in addition to the wonderful information on this site, there's LOTS of information (especially about southern Tuscany) available at www.slowtrav.com and www.slowtalk.com. IMHO, half (almost) the fun of a trip is planning it!<BR><BR>Buon viaggio

Betsy, thanks for the web sites! I agree, trip planning is tons of fun. I just need to figure out the best place to stay for 4 days. So many choices....