Bob K

I was there last fall in the same places you are going. What are your travel dates. Do you have reservations? Depending on dates you may not need them. I type to slow, if you would like to talk about it I would be happy to talk to you about how we did the trip .
Bob K

John Howard Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

Thanks, but don't need help with Italy. Been going there for 40 years. More concerned about having the right gear and how to carry it. Thinking about a large bag as carry-on to get it all there and then a smaller, soft shoulder bag to carry around. After a bad experience changing lenses in the field, I like having two cameras with different lenses. And then there is the tripod issue. I will have one with me for early and late night shots. During the day, likely rely on VR.

KVM

My wife and I did the Cinque Terre and Venice in 2008, you will really enjoy it. The Cinque is like a National park in our country, you buy a pass which includes the train that stops at all the towns, recommended. The Third town you meet the bus at the train station and ride to the top or you if you do not have a train ticket you climb 350 steps to the top, steep. We stayed in that town, we asked the Gelato man where to stay and got a local lady if she had anything. She had two place left with great views and great rooms for minimal $. Even though your at the top you can still hike higher to some church and vinyards. I have more on honest people, I left my backpack with my expensive Nikon lenses and money in the first town on the ground at the top of some stairs that split the street by accident, I was so excited to shoot it all. We then hiked to the next town when I saw a lady with a back pack that reminded me of mine and I had to run a full mike back to retrieve it, it was still sitting in the same spot, nothing in it touched. I forgot to tell you that you can get off the train and back on anytime you want, it go back and forth so you can choose when you want to hike.
We were in Pisa before going to the Cinque and left our suitcases that we did not want to take stored at the train station baggage office. That lightened the load. I have a lot more, maybe later if you like what you read. WE were 72 when we did the trip.

John Howard Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

Good for you.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

I recently traveled with a Scottevest for 5.5 weeks and these are me comments:

1. It is warm. In Tuscany in late May and Provence in early June is was just too hot (the male sleeveless model).

2. The huge number of pockets is a blessing an a curse. Sometimes, I could not remember where i put things.

3. The zipper has a tendency to open at the bottom - repeatedly.

4. It did help me stay warm enough on the flight, and was a very convenient method to carry my iPad ready for use on the flight.

My takeaway: Buy a good light weight photo vest. If necessary have an extra pocket or two sew inside to place a laminated photocopy of your passport and emergency contact/medical information.

HTH

Robeng Loc: California

I shoot in Italy a lot. Recommend you buy an all in one lens similar to a 18mm to 270mm. Keep that combo and all your stuff in one pack. You don't want to lug around a heavy backpack while you're hiking around in places like Cinque Terre. Also be careful lots of pick pockets in Rome train station. Feel free to check out my site for ideas.

Deacon Pete Loc: New Jersey

Never leave used memory cards in camera bag, place them in the hotel room safe. Also, take the memory card out of the camera if you ever decide to leave your bag in a car ( which you shouldn't ) I learned the hard way several years ago in Rome- went home pictureless!

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

What are you talking about "went home pictureless"? They were all over the internet. LoL LoL