Best cities to visit in Italy?

My husband and I are planning a trip for next year, and so far we are leaning towards Italy.  We live in the US and usually take a tropical vacation, but last year we visited Vienna and Budapest and had a fabulous time, and would really like to visit Europe again.

I am starting my research (I know it seems early but I want to get this planned and on the calendar or else it won't happen), and I am overwhelmed.  Where is the best place to go?  I heard Florence is amazing, but what else?  What is the maximum number of cities you can see in a week's time and really enjoy without killing yourself trying to visit everything?   I would think 2 would be best.

Any recommendations on hotels that are located near all the touristy places are appreciated as well! When we went last year (our first sight-seeing type vacation), we went sight-seeing in the morning, had lunch and then came back to our "home base bar", and relaxed and drank and people-watched all afternoon.  It was sooo much fun.  We are looking for that type of experience again.

Thanks in advance for any input!

I studied in Rome for a semester during college.  I'd highly recommend going there for a few days.  There is so much history, architecture, good food, and of course, wine.  I was there for over 4 months and still didn't see everything.  It's a must for anyone visiting for the first time. 

I studied in Florence for a semester, so I'm heavily biased towards it.  I think per square foot it has more museums than anywhere else in the world.  I think I've heard over 50% of the world's art is in Florence, but that may have been an exaggerated figure they gave us.

So, if you're interested in amazing churches and museums, then Florence is your place.  I'm also a great fan of the food, but it isn't what you would expect if you're used to American Italian food.  For that you'll have to go farther south to Rome and Sicily.

I also enjoyed Rome, but it definately takes at LEAST a week just to get started.  Florence would also require at least full week.

If you wanted to take a nice 2 week trip, I would recommend a week in Florence, and then a week driving through the Chianti countryside and seeing Sienna, San Gimignano, Greve, etc.  Alternatively, visit Rome and surrounding areas.

I wouldn't recommend seeing multible big cities in 2 weeks because there is too much to see.

ETA:  I also realy enjoyed Venice and the little islands around around it (Murano, Burano, Lido, etc).  However, it is NOT representative of Italy, and very much so has its own culture.  You could do 3-4 days in Venice and be content, but it is kinda' far away from the rest of Italy, so it is hard to fit in with the transportation time to get there.

I went to Italy in 2006 and visited Rome, Venice and Milan in about a week. I was also doing some business there, so it wasn't all vacation time. Rome was amazing.....definitely worth seeing! We did two full days in Rome: on the first day we saw the Colosseum and the Roman ruins, the Trevi fountain, etc. On the second day, we went to the Vatican museums to see the Sistine Chapel and also visited St. Peter's Basilica and Vatican Square. It was a lot to squeeze into two days, but we felt like we got to see a lot of what we wanted to see. 

Venice was also amazing. I liked it better than Rome, but unfortunately we didn't have nearly enough time there. We were passing thru the area on our way to see a client in Slovenia, so we stopped at a hotel near there (not on Venice, on the mainland) for the night. Had dinner in Venice, and went back the next morning to explore for a few hours. We actually liked it so much that we changed our return flight back to the states to fly out of Venice so that we could spend one more day there. 

Milan was ok. Beautiful city, and we got to see The Last Supper, which was a really cool, but other than that, it wasn't really my favorite place. We were only there for one day though, so we didn't really get to see that much of the city.

I have heard that Florence and Tuscany are both incredible. We drove thru Tuscany, but didn't have a chance to stop. 

I think that if you planned it out well, you could do at least 3 cities in a week. Italy is really not that big of a country, so traveling between cities doesn't take too long. Look into rail passes, it's a great way to get from place to place. Just make sure that the tickets you buy have actual seats....some rail passes are "open travel" passes, meaning that you have unlimited use of the passes for a certain period of time, but if the train that you want to take has sold out of seats, you are out of luck.

Check out raileurope.com. They also have City Passes that you can buy on the website as well. These passes give you access and free admission to most of the big tourist attractions in whatever city you are going to. I got one in Paris and it was great! Don't know what options they have for Italy, but it's worth checking out! 

Good luck planning your trip! :)

Oh a week will be tight, but I agree with Kaffwyn that Florence is the best! Of course, I spent a semester there as well. With only a week I would stick to Florence and Rome, it's not enough time for either, but it's where all the famous art and architecture is so your trip will be jam packed with things to do and places to see. Both are super touristy cities, but for good reason. Also, try not to go in the summer when it will be at it's hottest and most crowded because half of your day will be spent waiting in line. Seriously, you're going to have to get to the famous museums an hour before they open unless you want to wait in line ALL DAY.

However, if you can add a few days to the trip, Venice is so worth seeing. It's so romantic and pretty and there are no cars, only boats, so it's like you're floating around in the 1500s.

Hub and I went to Italy last June. We stayed our first 3 days in Rome, traveled to Pisa, stayed one night, then to Venice area for 3 days. Back to Rome for our last 2 days.

Even though we stayed the bulk of our time in Rome, we could've easily stayed there the whole time and not see it all. We stayed at the Best Western Globus and liked it a lot, good price and about 5 blocks away from Termini (bus and train station). I think it was about 80 or 90 Euros per night and we had a lovely room with a balcony.

Pisa was nice, we really only went because we wanted to see the Leaning Tower. We did, it leaned. We weren't disappointed :D We stayed at a hotel right across the street from the train station, I think it was called La Jolly. It was about the same rate/night.

We spent our first 2 nights on an island off of Venice, Lido, at a Best Western again (roughly the same rate as the others). Don't remember the name of it, but there was only one BW there. Beautiful beaches on the non-Venice side (the island is only about 250 yards wide or something like that, very nice and quiet) It took about about 10 minutes to get to the mainland by water bus. If you go to Venice, get a however many day water bus pass, you'll save lots of money, but the pass is expensive (I think 100E per person?).

Our last night in the area we stayed at The Sturion (I think it was called?), right on the Grand Canal with a view of the main bridge thingy (my memory is awful! can't even remember the name!) It was 150E for the night, hence the reason we stayed on Lido for the first 2 nights.

Back to Rome on the train, it was a 7hr train ride (ours was direct, no transfers). Bummed around the last 2 days, went to the coast (we're beach bums).

Sorry for the lengthy lengthy post! If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me, or I'll be back to check on the thread :)

- the only reason we skipped Florence was because we aren't museum people, but if you are, go there for sure!

My sister and I went for a few weeks in 2007. We rented a car and drove down from Rome, staying at each place a day or two.

My favourite places, besides Rome, were Sienna and Asissi. Asissi was tiny and quaint, they have preserved it as a real medieval village, very quaint and clean and we went to a restaurant there that was amazing. Sienna was gorgeous and fun, some amazing architecture and culture.

I loved the smaller towns along the coast in Liguria (the Italian Riviera,) and down the Almafi coast.  Genoa is a beautiful place, but I especially enjoyed Portofino, Santa Margherita, Rapallo and the seacoast.  But if what you really want is the famous sights then the big cities are for you. 

My husband and I honeymooned for two weeks in Italy last summer and did Rome, Florence, and Venice.  I loved Rome and Florence but would not likely go back to Venice.  Rome and Florence would definitely take up 2 weeks on their own if done right (we missed a lot in both cities but plan on going back someday).

Oh man...I wish we stayed in Rome longer. IIRC I only spent one day there, and I would jump at the opportunity to go there again...not for a long while for me though :( Also, Florence, but you already seem to have that down. 

I know some people don't recommend Venice, but I say go there at least once to see what all the hoopla is about. It's quite nice, and I got some amazing photographs there. The Pisa tower is fun to race up, but not a needed stop.

I just did the big touristy things b/c it was easier for a tourist agency to work out the logistics than us. We did a whirlwind tour through ... nine or so countries, depending on what you consider Monaco and the Vatican City. 

I went to Italy for 10 days during the summer of 2007.  9 cities in ten days. I wouldn't recommend this. I think 3 would be a good number.

By far, my favorite was Venice. We stayed at a hotel on the Grand Canal ( be prepared for smallish hotel rooms.) Great pictures and St. Mark's Square is wonderful. You should at least visit even if you don't stay. There are tons of shops and restaurants. There are glass shops everywhere. The one we went to allowed us to watch them make a glass vase and they were not extravagantly expensive. Also, a gondola ride is a must if you visit!

I didn't really get the appeal of Florence. I liked it a lot, but enjoyed other cities more. It was beautiful but not somewhere I would go back to stay overnight. Yes, I would definitely visit again, but not stay for an extended time.

My second fav (really tied with Venice) was Capri. We didnt stay there but went during the day and climbed the mountain (?). It was relatively easy considering I was 20 pounds heavier at the time. It was good if you like to get away from large crowds. There were a lot of people but it didnt have the hustle and bustle of Rome or Florence and the Blue Grotto was amazing.

Good luck and have fun!

This is great information! Thanks to everyone and keep it coming!