Sort of depends on your interests. I would stay a 6 days in Rome and split the remainder between Florence and Venice…

Casale-Villa with No Bidet
http://www.angelfire…

An ideal suggestion could be as follows;
Day 1 Arrive Rome
Day 2 Rome
Day 3 Rome
Day 4 Day trip to Pompei
Day 5 Day trip out to Tivoli including also Villa d’Este, Villa Gregoriana and Hadrian’s Villa
Day 6 Arrive Florence
Day 7 Florence
Day 8 Day trip to Siena
Day 9 Day trip to San Gimignano
Day 10 Day trip biking around the Vineyards and onto Fiesole.
Day 11 Day trip to Pisa
Day 12 Arrive Venice, just walk around and getting lost
Day 13 Cruising the lagoons
It’s not rushed, the day trips out of the major cities are only short distances

Can’t work out anything better then Jennifer&Chester route

If you can fit Cinque Terre in there, do it !!!

I’m not really sure whether Cinque Terre is that nice in October. Guess it very much depends on the weather – if it is warm and sunny, it really deserves a day-trip – probably at the expense of Pisa (which can be done as a half-day trip on the same day with San Gimignano for example)

I was in Cinque Terre last year in October and it was beautiful, the weather was not too hot but the sun was shining. We had a really good time hiking on the trails between the small villages. I can see though, if it was raining there would not be much to do in a couple of the towns. However for me, it was definitely worth it!

If you are going early, the weather will probably be OK, but late September is better. There are lots of wine festivals in small villages then. I recently returned from one.

Save your money and treat your wife to a night or two in a nice hotel in Ravello above the Amalfi coast. It is something neither of you will forget.

Bag Pisa, and perhaps instead of just seeing cities in Tuscany, think about staying at an agriturismo someplace in the country. That would also be a treat.

Thanks for everyone’s input.

Looks like I have a lot of decisions to make—it’s a good thing I am planning this so early.

More questions for all of you:

Is it better (weather-wise) to visit Venice (more north) first or Rome (more south) in October? I know it’s only a few days difference, but not sure if Venice would get much colder in late Oct vs. early Oct.

I am thinking about arranging everything (ie: airfare, hotels, trains) on my own separately. However, I have seen some really good packages at somewhat attractive prices. From your experiences, which seems to be more economical? I am not on a real tight budget, but I can’t afford to splurge on 5* hotels every night for the entire two weeks. Bottom line is I want to be able to get the most value out of my travel dollars while having a memorable time.

Thanks in advance. Happy Halloween for those in the US!

Worldtraveler

I would say it probably makes sense to go to Venice first, and then Rome. But keep in mind, you will probably fly into Rome, so it often makes sense to start there. I guess it depends on your itinerary.

In October, won’t be that much difference in the weather…maybe a few degrees.

As far as planning it yourself, I prefer doing it myself as opposed to a package deal. If you can speak Italian at all, it’s easier to make reservations, change plans, etc. And I enjoy the flexibility, etc. October is not tourist season anyways, so you can probably find some good deals on your own. A friend of mine went by himself last year, and often got good last minute deals at some of the 3 star hotels by just popping in town. I wouldn’t recommend this for everybody, but it can work.

Larry

http://www.italian-l…

To my mind, if you want to minimize your budget, you just go to the hostels and plan your trip on your own as topuroperators won’t sell hostels. But if you are planning on spending a bit more money and stay in let’s day 2-3* hotels, the touroperator might have the better deal due to discounts he is given from these hotels. Thus the best things you get with your own planning in this case is more freedom and flexibility. I would just compare the prices for booking entire accommodation with the travel agent to the rates in the hotels they would offer to you.

I haven’t seen any Italy tours that can get cheaper hotels than I can find myself. You can get great deals with a little investigation. But if you have found a good deal, could you post about it? I’d be interested.

One thing that a tour might be good for is if you have a driver and he takes you to a bunch of little places all in one day. There’s no doubt that it’s hard to cover as much ground if you’re inexperienced with the area, particularly if you would otherwise rely on public transit.

I have 13 nights coming up in Italy: 4 nights Venice, 4 nights Florence, 5 nights Rome. I could easily extend all of those times, because I have so many things I want to see. As a solo traveler, I found I could get reasonably-located 3* hotels for 50 Euros or less per night, including breakfast, in all of these cities (although I might choose other options anyway).

When I was speaking on possible cost advantages of the tour, I mostly meant that you’ll hardly beat touroperator costs if you decide to stay in the same hotels that package tour offers. Going on your own you can certainly save much more just choosing good but cheaper places.

I just got back from Italy we were there Oct 12th-23rd and it was wonderful!! The temp was perfect! Mostly in the low 70’s and high 60’s. I planned the whole trip myself and ended up only paying $2500 for me and my husband for 11 days for airfare, car, and lodging.

We stayed at the Beehive in Rome and it was great we had a private room for 70 euro and it was wonderful!! Very clean and very nice. I really didn’t care for Rome itself. I think maybe if we had a guide to show us around Rome maybe it would have been a little better.If you can get a guid for a day or two and I think you will get much more out of it.

We stayed in Cinque Terre and it was romantic and relaxing!!!! We stayed at an apartment by Mar mar and it was perfect. We had 2 balconies with a sea view and a small kitchen. It was only 65 euro and there weren’t a ton of steps. ( because Riomaggiore and the rest of the towns have a ton of steps. )But amazing views!!!

We also stayed in a villa in Livorno Tuscany and did day trips which saved us a ton of money because it was only 196 euro for a week!!!! It is like a little studio apartment with a kitchen . It was like a brand new place. VERY VERY nice!!! It was called Relias San Francesco. I will give you the website if you are interested.

In Venice we stayed at a convent called Istituto San Guiseppe it was only 70euro for a double room. Very neat! We woke up to school children singing. It is centrally located between the Rialto bridge and San Marco square. I can give you the number to call if you would like it.

I suggest maybe taking an Italian for Travelers Class given by most community colleges. If not just learn some basics like "I am lost ,I don’t speak Italian"- " Mi Sona perso, Non parlo Italiano" also learn how to understand right, left, and straight ahead- they all came in very handy – everyone was very nice and eager to help. We did get lost plenty while we were there.

We also took a day trip to Elba Island off of Tuscany- It was wonderful we rented a scooter and drove around. It was very romantic!!

We loved Florence. We took a wonderful stroll around at night and enjoyed a guy playing music on the Ponte Vecchio under the moonlight. We had an amazing meal at Trattoria ZaZa!!

My husband really liked it when we did a daytrip to Modena to see the Ferrari Museum. Modena is about 30min west of Bologna. He was so thrilled to go there and we also got to peak through a gate to watch some Ferraris on a test track. He was in heaven. Not my cup of tea but he really liked that part.

fer – great info sorry to cut in on the thread, but could u give me the website of Relias San Francesco? Whats Livorno like?

Here is the Villa Website:

http://www.agrituris…

Livorno is a cute little port town. The villa is actually located in a town called VADA. And really really close to Cecina. We ate in a great resturaunt in Cecina and a not so great one in VADA. But I felt like I really got to experience Italy instead of being surrounded by a bunch of tourist. I will see if I can find the manes of the resturaunts. Have fun!!

i was just in italy last month! like the previous poster stated, the weather was good all around. i don´t think it matters too much if you go to rome or venice first.

one thing though… go to sorrento!! it´s a short train ride from naples (about 60mins) and you can do an easy day trip to pompeii. check it out, it´s sooo worth it. very beautiful, and you can check out the island of capri from there. you won´t regret it!!