Hi, we want to go to Florence, Cinque Terre, Florence and Tuscany from Rome. The following is our rough plan.

1. Rome to Cinque Terre (train)
2. Cinque Terre to Florence (train)
3. Go around Tuscany (Car)
4. Florence to Venice (Train)
5. Fly out of Venice

Does this sound like optimal route?

Thanks

It sounds fine to me. Do you know where in Tuscany you want to visit, apart from Florence? It's quite a large area with a lot to see and do. If visiting southern Tuscany it might be best to go there from Rome before Cinque Terre. If visiting north west Tuscany, you might want to go there before Florence.

As Dreamon says, Tuscany begins just about 100 miles North of Rome. If you mean this part of Tuscany, visit it first, go then to Florence, the capital of Tuscany and finally to 5Terre. From there (Monterosso, Levanto, etc.), it's often easier to reach Venice via Milan. You may also travel from La Spezia via Parma - Bologna.

how long do you have? to do this itinerary justice, you need at least 3 weeks.

What time of year are you going?

Look at both your current thinking: into Rome then out of Venice as well as the opposite: into Venice then out of Rome.

Why? Depending on where you are coming from, return from Venice can pose logistical issues depending on the departure time. It takes time and money (if early and not near the ATVO/ACTV bus stop) to get out of Venice to get to the VCE airport. Some would say what is the big deal, you only have to take a water taxi. It is not a big deal if you are willing to pay for a water taxi.

Rome return has easier and cheaper options at any time of the day. If you arrive in Venice, you can take time getting into Venice using slow but cheapter public transit or a water taxi if you are willing to pay for it.

I was talking to two couples in Siena at a breakfast. They were heading to Venice to fly home at 6am. They have not even thought about how to get to the airport. They were staying at Marriott on an island even further away from the airport than Venice.

Yes, it's usually easier to fly into Venice than out of Venice. If you look into this and find it to be true in your case, simply turn your trip around.

We don't know how much time you have allocated, in what season you're going - those details might make a difference, but on the surface of it, your plan looks fine to me

Between Rome and the Cinque Terre lies Pisa, not to be ignored, give it at least a half-day so you can walk through the old town, via the lovely Piazza dei Cavalieri that takes you back by a few centuries if you overlook the modern street lamps, to the cathedral, baptistry, and - of course - the leaning tower.

Just so you know: Trains between Rome and Pisa (and then on to La Spezia and the Cinque Terre) go via two routes - one is straight up the coast, the other is via a change of trains in Florence. www.trenitalia.it

Time of year has to with the tremendous crowds during the high season. From Venice you would go there first, a train journey of 5-6 hours. If planning on Northern Tuscany you could take a train to Pisa and pick up a car and dump it in Florence. For the southern part, you would head to Florence, 2.5 to 3 hours, get a car after staying there, maybe drop it in Chiusi or Orvieto and take a train to Rome.

Crowds I was referring to Cinque Terre.

Thank you all. We have about two weeks, between March-April and in Tuscany, we want to go to San Gimignano, Agriturismo and Taverna Di San Giuseppe.

I mean we are thinking of spending a night at an Agriturismo in Volterra and another in Montalcino.
Greg/Michelhuebeli - we do have an AM flight out of Venice and we will be spending the previous night in a hotel close to the airport.
Annhig - we have 14 full days (excluding the fly-in and fly-out days).

Annhig - we have 14 full days (excluding the fly-in and fly-out days).>>

Do you want actually to stay in Rome and Venice? You need 3 nights minimum for each, [and i would prefer 4 in Rome to allow for jetlag] then time for Tuscany and Florence.

Frankly i would drop the CT [it will take you too long to get there and back and the weather may be dodgy that time of year] and concentrate on your basic itinerary.

it's helpful to lay it out in days so you can make sure that you've counted the nights correctly and allowed time for travel e.g.

Day 1 - arrive Rome. transfer to hotel, arrive, say 12 noon. Rest of day in Rome.
Day 2 - Rome
Day 3 - Rome
Day 4 - Rome
Day 5 - drive to Montalcino [about 2 ½ hours] [if you go on the train you have to go via Florence and it will take most of a day to get there] stay 2 nights
Day 6 - Tuscany
Day 7 - drive to Volterra, stay two nights [drive is only 100 mins or so]
Day 8 - Volterra
Day 9- drive to Pisa, explore town, return car, get train to Florence.
Day 10 - Florence
Day 11 - Florence
Day 12 - train to Venice
Day 13 - Venice
Day 14 - Venice
Day 15 - fly home.

you may need to amend this if i've got the no ,of nights wrong, but you get the general idea I'm sure.

Annhig's plan looks great. In Rome, when heading north, the best place to pick up the car is either at Termini station or Tiburtina station. There is a bigger choice at Termini station, but Tiburtina is further away from the center.

When dropping the car before visiting Florence, either Pisa airport or Florence airport are best. If you choose Pisa airport, you might as well drop the car before visiting Pisa, maybe avoiding payment for an extra day.

Unless you have an EU license, you'll need an International Drivers Permit (IDP), in addition to your regular license. You should familiarize yourself with the limited traffic zones (ZTL) in nearly every city and town in Italy so that you don't get an unpleasant surprise in the mail months after you return home.

I too like Annnjhig's plan except I would drop off the car in Florence and do a 1/2 day train trip to Pisa while staying in Florence.

@Annhig, we really want to go to CT and willing take a risk. CT and Tuscany are our main attractions. Any feedback on our plan below?

We are thinking of 3 nights in Rome, take a train to CT and stay for 3 nights. Then take a train to Florence and spend 3 nights. Then two nights in Tuscany, return to Florence and then to Venice.

We want to skip Pisa.

Thanks a lot.

cheers2000, your plan is fine. Most of us would like to visit more places for longer but the reality that we have to choose the places that appeal the most and balance out the time available. Your only remaining decision is - where in Tuscany? - as this will determine the most sensible order of travel.

Have you settled on San Gimignano or not sure? Is there an image or activity in your mind's eye which will help decide? The restaurant to which you refer is in Siena (assuming I've got the right one). If eating there in the evening it might be best to stay in Siena. There is transport available between Siena and San Gimignano if you want to visit for the day (but more limited on Sundays). If staying in Siena, you might prefer to stop there enroute northwards, to avoid backtracking.

You could even stay in Siena instead of Florence if you wished and take a day trip to Florence. Passionate fans of Florence would be horrified by that but I think depends on your priorities.

hi Cheers,

No probs, it's your trip after all!

if the CT is a must, I might swap the order of your itinerary around a bit, like this:

Day 1 - arrive Rome. transfer to hotel, arrive, say 12 noon. Rest of day in Rome.
Day 2 - Rome
Day 3 - Rome
Day 4 -train to CT
Day 5 - CT
Day 6 - CT
Day 7 - Train to Pisa, collect car, drive to Montalcino
Day 8 - Drive to Volterra
Day 9 - Drive to Empoil, return car, train to Florence
Day 10 - Florence
Day 11 - Florence
Day 12 - train to Venice
Day 13 - Venice
Day 14 - Venice
Day 15 - fly home.

Personally, I think that i might drop either Montalcino or Volterra as i don't like one night stands but that's your choice.

Too much for two weeks! I agree with annhig about the routing, but would find the time in Rome, Florence, and Venice too little for my tastes. YMMV.

I think Rome especially is being shortchanged here and you might want to cut Rome out and add time to Tuscany

Thank you all, especially @Annhig for your wonderful recommendations. We are still working out our plans and will post our final plan soon.