I understand your thoughts totally. I will say in Italy you have loads of opportunities to get wonderful pics with both. I always use an automatic camera for the simple reason it is so easy to take with you. My husband lugs the larger camera with lenses but honestly mine are just as good. Now we are not professional photographers in any way. As a matter of fact I would like to know which of the point and shoot cameras you suggest. To make your decision easier I think I would suggest you take both and with the larger camera take a wide angle and a regular one that has a good zoom. I used my 20x zoom many times in Italy and other places.