Italy recommendations

[Vas Deferens]

I'm going to Italy in 3 weeks (10 days). I need some good recommendations on cities to visit. So far I only have Florence and Rome on my list. What other cities should I visit? What cities should I avoid? Thanks.

[Chip Chanko]

In Tuscany Sienna is nice. I don't think you need to spend more than a day in Florence, but make sure to visit the boboli garden there (other than that and the Duomo I think it's a pretty boring city). Montalcino and Montepulciano are other good Tuscany destinations (small towns on hills...you could get tired of these after a while but the wine and food is always good). Venice can be amazing if you cross the bridge right out of the train station and then cut through town the back way and go around near the university (visit san marco but don't make a b-line for it).
 
 You need at least 4 or 5 days in and around Rome in my opinion. There is so much to see (and eat) and you want to take you're time and enjoy it. My favorites are Trastevere and around the Pantheon (plus Villa Borghese). Pay for a good tour of the forum...it's worth it. And get up on the Janiculum  for a nice view of the city.
 
 I've never been to the Amalfi coast, Naples, or Sicily so don't know what to recommend in those places. I think the north in the Italian alps could be cool, too.
 
 The most important thing is finding good places to eat. That's the best part of Italy. Plus everywhere you turn is a ruin of some sort.

[Chip Chanko]

Oh. Now that I re-read your post I see you only have 10 days (I thought 3 weeks). I'd say 3-4 days in Rome (4 if one is the day you arrive on your flight), 2-3 days somewhere in tuscany, then pick pompeii (south of rome) or venice.

[StoneTheCrow]

Venice.  Hands down one of the best cities I've ever been to.

[Chulahoma]

I just got back from Italy a few days ago.  Rome is a must, but I've heard amazing things about La Cinque Terra, so I would look into that.

[Mobius]

Amalfi coast, definitely.

[Vas Deferens]

Yeah, my neighbor was telling me something about La Cinque Terra that she's see in pictures...
 
 http://www.evergreen.loyola.edu/~slenzo/cinque_terra1.htm
 
 

Originally posted by bizou311®:
  I just got back from Italy a few days ago.  Rome is a must, but I've heard amazing things about La Cinque Terra, so I would look into that.

[Relaxer]

Second for Venice. One of my favorite cities in Europe.

[tigersscareme]

i didn't care for milan.
 
 love love loved florence.
 if you are in rome, you need to go to the forum and go to the top top garden tier. it's heaven.
 seriously.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Say hi to my mime friend in Siena.
 
 Definitely the Amalfi Coast. Beautiful. Take the bus ride that winds along the coastline. I'd skip Rome. Too crowded and congested and bustling. Not relaxing for a vacation at all. But I guess you're probably flying into Rome. Florence is great, especially when not in the summer time. Venice is overrated, but worth a day or two. Bologna is a cool university city. The day I was there, I got caught up in the middle of a communist party rally. Never been to Cinque Terre, but would like to. The Italian Dolomites are incredible, we nearly died there on out honeymoon.

[angelml]

third for venice...totally tourist-y but the gondola ride was fun  :p  
 
 i thought pompeii was very interesting...the tour was pretty good, but i think that all depends if you get a good tour guide.  mine was pretty funny and liked to point out all the brothels
 
 man now i want to go to italy!!!  definitely EAT a lot...mmm tiramisu...
 
 have a great time!

[thirsty moore]

Skip the Gondola ride and take the water taxi.  Cheaper.

[kookiemnstr8]

Originally posted by angelml:
  third for venice...totally tourist-y but the gondola ride was fun   :p  
 
 i thought pompeii was very interesting...the tour was pretty good, but i think that all depends if you get a good tour guide.  mine was pretty funny and liked to point out all the brothels
 
 man now i want to go to italy!!!  definitely EAT a lot...mmm tiramisu...
 
 have a great time!

Pompeii is good but Herculaneum is better.  Buried around the same time, its is better preserved and unbelievable.  Every see the Getty Villa out in LA?  Based on this area.  
 
 I said maybe take a day trip to Sorrento/Capri.  Lots of beautiful walking, you can take the tram up to Ana Capri and have a magnificent view.  Very relaxing and extraordinarily beautiful.
 
 I agree with the four or five days in Rome bit.  I spent almost a week there three years ago and it was the right amount of time.
 
 I'll see if I can dig up my itineraries. . . I spent ten days in Sicily this past spring with friends and it was a great time, I highly recommend making the trip.  The best way to do it, if you're not planning on making stops in cities on the way down the coast, is the night ferry from Naples.  Get on, pop a Tylenol PM, wake up in Sicilia.

[nkotb]

Italian Dolomite is my favorite wop-splotation movie.
 
 Ditto on every other suggestion given.  The only place I went that I'd skip was Milan.  Friends wanted to check it out, and it's absolutely no different than any other city in the states.  Also, if you can fit it in, see Pisa...it takes literally 30 minutes.  Just jump off one train, take some pics, and split.
 
 

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
  Italian Dolomites are incredible, we nearly died there on out honeymoon.

[chancegardener]

My wife and I went to Italy at this time last year, also for 10 days.  Had a fine time with Sorrento as the base camp for the Amalfi coast.  Stayed in an excellent hotel there called Hotel Minerva http://www.hotelminervasorrento.com/.  Defintely do the ferry ride out to Capri, and take the Circumvesuviana train up to Pompeii and Herculeneum.  You can catch a crowded bus to Positano, and Amalfi beyond that. Hairy, scary ride but beautiful towns. We went up to Umbria after that (NE of Rome) stayed a couple days in Orvieto, a very cool hill city.  Took an unforgettable day trip to a beautiful hill town called Civita ... like something out of "Lord of the Rings".  And spent 4 days in Rome ... so much to see: check out the Forum, of course, as well as Circus Maximus, also the Appia Antica http://www.parcoappiaantica.org/, and the Cat Sanctuary at Torre Argentina http://www.romancats.com/.  You can repeat our trip!  Have a great time.  And eat lots of pasta, pizza, fish, and try the wild boar (if you're a carnivore).