eerickso

We've just decided on Italy (mainly Tuscany countryside, but we'd also like to visit some coastal areas) for next year's vacation and at this point we're flexible on where to fly to/from. Flying on a good airline is important to us, and we'll likely be flying in Business Class, out of MIA. Our preference is toward an international flight out, vs. an initial domestic hop, but we're flexible on that. (If the first leg is domestic, our preference is to fly out of PBI or FLL.) We don't have enough miles in any program at this point to make a difference, so this will be a cash transaction vs. trying to get an award ticket.

Neither of us has been to Italy, and we're looking for a scenic/relaxing trip of about 2 weeks, with a focus on food and wine as opposed to hitting most of the tourist areas.

Thought I'd start here for suggestions since at this point we're pretty wide open to suggestions and I'm just starting to learn about the area.

Thanks for any thoughts and suggestions ...

(ETA: Started checking out some flights and at this point leaning toward Swiss via Zurich, into Venice and home from Florence.)

Perche

It would probably be easier if you had more specifics, such as what time of year you are planning to go, a proposed itinerary. It's very hard to make comments about a blank itinerary. One thing to think about, if you are going in the summer time Venice, Florence, and most of the rest of Tuscany are are one big tourist area, and you have to plan very carefully if you want to avoid that.

JMN57

If you have an AMEX Platinum card, you might want to look into the Amex International Airline program. Buy 1 First or Business ticket and get the second for taxes/fees.

You can usually beat the 2 for 1 with a good fare but if you are booking at a time when you can't get a good business class fare it may be a better deal.

http://iap.americanexpress.com/

eerickso

JMN57, thanks very much for the info on the AmEx program. I wasn't aware of it.

Perche, I'll stop back in once I have done enough research to have a few more specifics. Right now it's pretty much a blank slate. Since we're very flexible on timing, I was leaning toward late spring or early fall to try for reasonable weather while avoiding the height of the tourist traffic.

slawecki

alitalia has a non-stop mia-fco. if you go to the alitalia website, and figure out how it works, i think you can buy a nonstop rt ticket for under 5k in biz class

eerickso

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated!

Philatravelgirl

Keep an eye out for emirates JFK to Milan promos they had a deal for couples that I was mad about bc not applicable to solo traveler. - Venice is train ride away as is Florence
I just spent all of May traveling Italy and suggest that you look at the various tour companies just to get an idea of what you might want to do.
In Tuscany the new Rosewood opened which is getting great reviews.
There are great travel bloggers that should have some info too - look at Girl in Florence as a start. There are also great destination specialist travel agents that can plan this for you obviously for a price - listed at Conde Nast Traveler.
I did a cool Fiat500 tour in Florence that was fun and unique - it's on my blog (same as user name) if something of interest

eerickso

Thanks for all the tips. We've got a big trip coming up, but I expect to start planning for next year in full force when we return. I appreciate you taking the time to post and will check out your blog and others.

eerickso

Well, we're back and our itinerary planning has progressed a bit since I first posted. We have booked 5 nights in an agriturismo outside of Siena followed by 3 nights in a small town on the coast. It's still too early to book flights (we'll be going in September).

Flying in C, it's seems like the best deals by far are on Virgin/BA into BLQ via LHR. We're pretty flexible on where we fly into and out of since we plan to have a car.

Since we have about 2 weeks overall, any suggestions on what to add to the trip? Of course we also have the possibility of using a night at the end of the trip to position ourselves close to the airport we'll be leaving from.

pbiflyer

Depending on what you like. Florence is close, as is Rome. Both are amazing places. Crowds should start thinning out by then.
I would train to either rather than drive though.
Do you have time to just wander the countryside? We ran into several interesting towns and villages driving from Rome to Venice.

eerickso

Thanks, and yes, we do have time to wander so perhaps it's best to keep our plans pretty loose at this point.

Also, the reason I was thinking of a car was so we could travel easily around the Agriturismo and then to/from the coast.