Visiting Italy in November
 

My husband and I are going to travel to Italy at the end of November for only 6 days. It's our first time and we want to see as much as we can in Rome, Florence and a day in Tuscany. I would appreciate any recommendations. We prefer not to go on a tour group.We would love to experience history, food, wine and the countryside.

Everything is easy with the possible exception of the "day in Tuscany." You'll have to expand on what that means to you. Drive around a part of Tuscany in a car? Travel to a town and wander around for a day? Just FYI, at the end of November, it will start getting dark before 4:30p.

Otherwise, check the flight options from your home city. If possible, fly into Rome and out of Florence or Pisa (or vice versa). If you must round-trip using Rome, you can fly in and train immediately to Florence. Spend a couple of days in Florence, do the Tuscany bit, and then train (or drive) to Rome for the last couple of days.

I suggest you read some travel guides (paper or online) and decide your sightseeing priorities in Florence and Rome before deciding how you want to divide your days. Note the open days/hours of sights to understand how you need to organize your plans. For example, lots of things in Florence are closed on Mondays and/or alternating Sundays and Mondays. A newbie might want to avoid planning a short trip to Florence on those days.

Thank you so much Jean.

I forgot to mentioned that our plan is to fly into Rome and on that same day take the high speed train to Florence; stay there for a couple of days. Spend one day touring Tuscany and 3 days in Rome and flying back to Atlanta.

Unless, this is the one and only time visit Italy, consider basing yourself in Rome for 6 days.

There is too much to see and miss.

The weather may be unpredictable and Tuscany with blue skies and much heat is unforgettable. In November and possible driving rain, it can be wholly missable.

Personally I like Tuscany in winter. Way less tourists and pretty in a different way.

You can see our pics here - taken over two different New Years weeks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...57639164500734

I just did a "Best of Italy" fast trip, showing it to someone who had never been. Mine was a bit different, we had 8 days and we also included Venice and didn't do "Tuscany" (although Florence of course in IN Tuscany) but you might get some ideas from my trip report. I described how to 'see' Rome and Florence in a "day" (which was one full day plus bits of the day before/after).

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-in-march.cfm

To read a longer version with photos:
http://andiamo.zenfolio.com/blog/201...es-part-3-rome

http://andiamo.zenfolio.com/blog/201...art-2-florence

"Spend one day touring Tuscany..."

If that means driving from Florence to Rome through Tuscany mostly on secondary roads (as opposed to the autostrada), you need to have an idea of the towns you'd like to see along the way, which will determine your route and how long the drive will take. It would be very, very easy to spend an entire day driving, not counting even minimal stops. FYI, whoever will be driving needs an International Driver's Permit, and you need to learn about ZTLs (zona traffico limitato) which have been established in almost every Italian town, no matter the size.

https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.co...with-ztl-zones

Alternatively, you could stay in Florence an additional night (or two) and make a day trip to a couple of smaller towns using public transportation. There are several options within an hour of Florence. One advantage is the ease of returning to Florence well after dark.