We had three weeks to travel. How to see as much of Italy as possible in that time without creating a whirlwind that diminished the experience?  We decided to limit ourselves to central Italy and ruled out Venice, Milan, Palermo right off the bat. Next we reluctantly eliminated many places that could have been on our route: Lucca, Porto Venere, Montepulciano, Ravello. Another goal was to stay at least two nights in every place we visited. We padded our stays in Rome and Florence. Then we padded them some more. In the end, we came up with a varied itinerary anchored by those things we most wanted to see, do and eat.

Siena (roof tops and tower) – 2 nights

Naples (pizza margherita) – 3 nights

Sorrento (cliffs) – 2 nights

Rome – 2 final nights

Rome (Piazza Venezia pictured) – 5 nights

Manarola (Cinque Terre trails) – 2 nights

Bologna (parmigiano reggiano factory) – 2 nights

Florence (interior Palazzo Vecchio) – 4 nights