[surflvr911sc]

In February, my wife and I spent two weeks in Italy. We had both been there once for work but not together.

We just rented a car and had reservations for the first and last few days. The whole week in the middle we had a rough plan but no reservations anywhere, we just kind of winged it.

We hit Rome (a must, 2-3 days min), Naples (a bit scary, great food, we loved it), Pompeii (very cool, glad the fuel strike had us stuck in Naples an extra day), Cosenza (family ties, long drive, but ended up being the most romantic 24 hours we've ever had), Siena (staying in an old monastery waking to bells and birds was a nice change, a drive through the Chianti region is a must), Venice (if there is anywhere that we wanted more time in it was Venice, enchanting place, get lost there, literally, for a few days if you can), Florence (cannot miss Florence, the collection of art there is breathtaking and there is so much to explore throughout the city).

I would suggest buying a couple Italy travel books. There are worth their weight, written by people who have been there done that, and are usually very current. They have all the little secret spots that you will never experience on a tour. There are other ways to do it than renting a car; the trains are a pretty good way to travel too but I don’t think the cost would be any less. Travel books explain the options well and most even tell you how much the train will be between cities and where the good parking places are. Let me know if you would like any other info from our trip.

BTW, Swiss Air was great (from an airline/military family).