Eight routes, with the nights worked out
Each one opens the planner with the trip already described. Change anything you like — the point is to start from a shape that works rather than a blank box.
Rome, properly
A short trip, or a first taste. One city done well beats three done at a jog.
Rome and Florence
The classic week. Two bases, one fast train between them, no wasted mornings.
The first trip
Rome, Florence and Venice with the nights weighted properly — Venice needs two, not four.
Naples and the coast
The south on its own terms — the best eating in the country, the ruins, and a week by the sea.
Slow Tuscany
One car, two country bases and a city at each end. The trip people mean when they say they want to relax.
The north
Lakes and cities, all on fast rail. Cooler in summer than anywhere further south.
The deep south
Further, slower and emptier. Add the days rather than squeezing this onto a Rome trip.
Sicily
A trip of its own, not an add-on. Two bases, a car, and Etna in the middle.
Common questions
Can I change one of these?
That is what they are for. Each one opens the planner with the trip already described — swap a city, add days, drop the car, and the plan rebuilds around it.
Why so few places on each?
Because every move costs you a morning: checking out, crossing a city, checking in, finding lunch. Two bases on a week and three on ten days is not caution, it is the difference between visiting somewhere and passing through it.
Do any of these need a car?
Slow Tuscany and the deep south do, and both are worse without one. The rest are better by train — a car in Rome, Florence or Naples is a liability and the historic centres will fine you for it.
Which one for a first trip?
The seven-day Rome and Florence if you have a week, the ten-day first trip if you have longer. Both are well-trodden for the good reason that they work.
What if I only have a long weekend?
One city. Rome, Florence, Naples or Venice — pick the one whose photographs you keep coming back to, and do not add a second.
Or describe your own — it does not have to look like any of these.
Build my itineraryKeep planning
The rest of the guides, and the catalogue behind them.