Help me plan 10 days in Italy

10 days is really a short time to do all that. I would do north or south but not both. I would do Venice/Florence/Tuscany or Rome/Amalfi Coast. Otherwise you will be spending too much time travelling from place to place. The best place to visit wineries is in Tuscany and yes I find that the tours are similar to the ones I have been on in California. If you are looking for small towns, I would suggest Tuscany where there are plenty of medieval hill towns to visit that feature beautiful scenery and exceptional wines. We are doing Venice/Florence/Tuscany in March. My favorite base on the Amalfi Coast is Positano. From there you can visit the other towns along the coast. The scenery is gorgeous.

Don’t even think about driving in Rome.

Agree. Naples can be skipped. If you can get to bellagio go there....the mountain views are spectacular. Rome is a must as is the amalfi coast. Portofino looks like a disney creation with the colored buildings on the sea. The square in florence is worthwhile as is the ponte vecchio bridge. The food is straight from the farm to your plate in most small towns. Try to eat where the locals eat.

go buckeyes.

our cabbie in rome hit a pedestrian and got out and cursed the guy quite an adventure!!!

quote:

---

Don't even think about driving in Rome.

---

We had a car in Rome one time. We were driving from Rome to Tuscany and rented a car on our 2nd to last day in Rome because we wanted to go to Hadrian's Villa and the Gardens of Villa D'Est in Tivoli which are highly recommended. The only thing worse than driving in Rome is parking. It is a real pain. Most hotels don't have parking garages and charge an exorbitant amount to valet park your car. We ended up parking at the train station and catching a cab to and from the hotel.