They say a third times a charm....
 

Ok........


We have removed Paris from the itinerary, as we will see it when we visit France next vacation.


So, here is our new plans:


Day 1: Fly to Rome

Day 2 to 6: Rome

Day 7: Drive to Florence

Day 8 to 14: Florence and Tuscany
area

Day 15: Drive to Venice

Day 16 to 18: Venice

Day 19: Home to Montreal


A few of questions:

- Are we allocating to much time (7 days) to Florence and the Tuscany area, and can we use Florence as a base to see the Tuscany area?

- Is three days in Venice enough?

- Would you suggest a little less time in Florence and maybe stop over somewhere for two days between Florence and Venice? Is there anything along the way that would be very special for my two boys (ages 9 and 11) to visit?


Thanks so much and you have been so much help over the last few weeks.

Andie and Michael

Everyone is going to have a different opinion, but I think 2 days in Venice is enought.

Tuscany, you can never have enought time in this beautiful area.

Also, be very careful in Florence if you are driving, we just returned and I saw police officers everywhere in the center, looking at cars for identification, the fines are very large and frequent. There are a lot of threads on this issue.

We forgot to add... should we spend our alloted time in Florence and make day trips to the Tuscany area, or, should we spend half of our alloted time in Sienna or on the coast of the Tuscany area.

since you have full week in tuscany, IMO it'd be a shame to not rent a villa.
I'd base myself in Sienna and do daytrips from there. If you only had 3 days, I'd have said stick to Florence, but with a week, a villa is a no-brainer :)

I'd only have rented a car for the week in Tuscany and train-ed everything else, but thats just me ...

Your itinerary sounds perfect.

Yes, Venice is wonderful, and three days would be plenty for me. Tuscany is beautiful.

As mentioned, you'll get lots of completely opposite advice on Florence and Venice. Me? I'd skip Florence all together and spend a week in Venice and a few days in the Tuscan countryside.

But it's your trip so you get to do what you want. Having a car in Florence is generally not a plus. Parking is a nightmare and there are stiff fines for driving where you are not supposed to. If you stay in Florence for an extended period, you may want to forgo the car. Opting for bus tour or train day trips. If you elect to stay in the countryside, having a car is a plus and allows you to see more.

You could divide the Tuscany trip between Sienna and Florence.

If you don't need the full week in Tuscany in order to rent a house (or other requirements I'm not considering)... YES I personally would add a couple more days to Venice. Because it's a favorite of mine, I think at least 4-5 days is better.