spent 5 days driving throughout Tuscany, Italia. Arrived in Milan, rented a station wagon for myself,wife and two daughters. Drove on the autostrada to Pisa, then on to Firenze,approx 5 hours driving time. The autostradas are wonderful. The toll from Milan to Pisa is 20 euro, from Pisa to Firenze is 9 euros but well worth $. GPS however is highly recommended especially when booking hotels inside cities. Drove to Siena from Firenze, a 1 hr drive. Siena is must see for wine drinking, shopping, cuisine , and architecture. Also do not miss the town of San Gimignano, a walled town nestled high on the tuscany hillside. Next we headed northeast to Venezia,travel time approx 2.5 hours on the autostrada. We spent 1day/1 night in Venezia but suggest spending another full day and night to take it all in. We found the people charming, the food was typical italian/florentino cuisine. Peculiar was the lack of seafood restaurants in the area considering Firenze is only 60 miles from the sea. Have fun!!!

Our tour with Stefano Celli of Tuscan Sunshine Tours was the highlight of our European vacation! He arrived at our hotel in a Mercedes, and we headed off to tour the beautiful countryside of olive groves, vineyards, and charming Tuscan homes and churches. Stefano (whose English was excellent) kept a running dialog educating us on the area -- including information on the prolific cyprus trees, the different types of olives and the grape picking and wine making process. Our first stop was to a charming village where we had time to see the shops – including an amazing, traditional meat and cheese shop! From there Stefano took us to a monastery where we strolled the grounds and had an opportunity to see the church. We were impressed by its beauty, though it was a relatively small, country church.

Our next stop was to a family owned winery where Stefano is practically a part of the family. As one of the family members was finishing a wine tasting demonstration to another group, Stefano stepped behind the counter and we had our own wine tasting. We were also privileged to try the family’s balsamic vinegar and several olive oil combinations. Fantastic! An educational tour of the winery was followed by a delicious, family prepared lunch on an arbor-covered patio. The setting was idyllic.

I would highly recommend Tuscan Sunshine Tours (www.tuscansunshinetours.it) for your trip to this beautiful part of Italy.

We are still finding it hard to even talk to our friends of how beautiful and breathtaking the Tuscany region of Italy is. Our trip was perfect with a mix of blending with the locals and doing the tourist spots. We did not plan to have fancy but agreed we would splurge on Italian food!

We picked the city of Lucca, for no particular reason, to stay 6 nights. Stayed at Al Tuscany and would highly reccomend. Great, helpful hostess. Quiet ,but right next to the main street, Via Roma. Lucca was our favorite city and we went to a lot of cities. Planned day trips from Lucca. Must see's if you only have 7 days here: Cinque Terre (hike the cities), Barga and Florence. Rent bicycles in Lucca and ride the ramparts and the entire city.

We rented a car and spent our last 7 nights near the city of Scorfinio. On the drive, the city of Volterra is not to be missed. We stayed in an agriturismo (rented room in a farmhome) outside in the rural country of Scorfinio. Absolutely stay an agriturismo. Ours was perfect at Agriturismo Casa Elisa, which is a working goat farm. Rented room with kitchen and all. Perfect. Montelpulciano and Siena you have to see and our favorite was Pienza. Tour the palace in Pienza, walk every nook.

Here are a few memories that will never fade and could even be helpful to you! It is important to drive like an Italian. Fast, quick and without hesitation and you will be fine. I learned to love to drive in Italy. Eat pecorino cheese, prosiuitto, pasta and lots of excellent house wine (always order house wine, forgot buying a bottle!). buy grocieries in an Supermercato. Order the fruit, meat and vegetable of the season. Touch the Mediterranean Sea and learn a few common italian words and use them when ever you can. Savor every single second because it is one of the most amazing journies you will go on. It is worth every penny.

We just returned from a vacation to Italy- 11 of us in total- 6 adults, 5 children- ages 18 months, 9, 11, 13, 17! We had a fabulous trip!

We flew into Pisa direct from JFK great choice- no changing planes after flying all night- and Pisa Airport is small and manageable. We rented a car through autoeurope.com and got the car without a problem. Our GPS did not work- because we didn't read the instructions- but I think it would have if we had been patient.

We stayed in Cortona- 2 1/2 hrs. away, at a rental villa called Il Rifugio- paradise! www.sojourn-in-italy.com- the owners have a wonderful home and will cook, clean, whatever you want for an extra price, or you can go solo- 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, and a fabulous large kitchen, living room, etc. Check out the website!

We did many day trips from Cortona (but loved Cortona the best!) We went to Assisi, Perugia (toured the Chocolate factory the kids loved it), Sienna, and took the train to Rome for one day! Busy, but worth it!

I need to mention that I had a head cold when we were flying to Italy- and my ears were fine because I took Sudafed Sinus, advil, and I used "earplanes" great earplugs made for flying and sold at CVS- I highly recommend them for adults and children (they sell two sizes). The combination saved me!

I am going to offer Sketchbook/ scrapbook classes at Il Rifugio ( a way to get to go back!) and there will be a cooking class and a wine tasting, as well as day trips- check it out- [--]!