Before and after
We'll be in Italy for about two weeks
The weekend is the fixed point. Around it we're taking our time. Rome for certain, Venice most likely, and a few other places we haven't pinned down. We're travelling with our kids, so the pace will be forgiving.
If you'd like to join us for part of it, we'd love that. No pressure and no hard feelings either way. Plenty of you will want your own trip, or just the weekend, and that's completely fine. Say the word and we'll loop you into wherever we've got to.
We'll post our rough route here once it firms up, so you can decide whether to overlap. If you are planning around it, tell us early. Booking a table for twelve is easy. Adding eight people the night before is not.
Worth the detour
Where to go from Florence
You've already paid for the expensive part of the journey. These are all reachable from Florence, most of them by train, and October is an excellent month for every one of them.
Hard-won advice
Three things worth knowing
Book trains a few weeks out
High-speed fares are cheapest well in advance and climb steeply near the date. Trenitalia and Italo run the same routes, so check both.
Base yourself, don't hop
Two or three nights per city beats one night in six places. Packing and unpacking will eat your holiday.
October is a gift
Warm days, cool evenings, a fraction of the summer crowds, and everything still open. Probably the best month to be in Italy. The first week is the warmest of it, which is not a coincidence.
You're already in the countryside
Most people base themselves in Florence and day-trip out. You'll be starting in the hills, forty minutes from the city, in a wine appellation with three serious producers within twenty minutes. Consider doing it the other way round.