Am so jealous! I went with a friend about 6 yrs ago when doing a few places around europe. We used London as our base so flights were bloody cheap. We didn't sort out any accommodation before we went and there were always heaps of people waiting at bus and train stations offering cheap accommodation. We stayed in some interesting places and some lovely places that were less than 1/2 the price than if we had booked ahead. We were only there for about a week so had a few days in Rome (probably wouldn't go back, but good to see the main sights), Florence (LOVED IT!) and Venice (had bronchitis so didn't feel that flash but still loved it. And you can buy antibiotics over the counter!) Travelled by train between places which was really easy and cheap. Loved the food. Travelled end Nov/early Dec which was great. Got some cool christmas decorations so every year as I pull out all the decorations I have a chance to relive holiday .

Its worth thinking about going in shoulder season (basically oct-dec) the weather is still nice enough for travelling, not too hot, and some accomodation will be cheaper as summer is when they hike their prices up. Look at getting a rail pass rather than hiring a car, its a whole lot easier to travel on the trains, and they go pretty much everywhere anywhere, and with a pass you can get on and off where you want.

Everywhere in Europe is expensive when you are converting NZ$ to Euros, but its all about the experience and if you are worried about every last cent that you are spending then that takes some of the fun out of it! We found some of the most enjoyable "meals" were created by buying yummy things at the markets / bakery grabbing a nice (cheap) bottle of wine and finding an amazing spot for a picnic!

Southern Italy is stunning, we hired a villa in a small village outside of Amalfi for a week, and it was just heaven, although not many people in the village spoke english, but we managed with our basic italian and a good phrase book.

Depending on how "flexible" you want to be, its worth being brave and not booking accomodation until you get to a place - we would just rock up to hotels and negotiate a price for the night, we got some great bargains this way, but you have to be a little bit brave to do this!

Good luck with the planning - dont over-plan it though, do your research and have an idea of what you want to do, but leave yourself some flexibility if you can!

oooo how exciting , id go back to italy in a heartbeat . I went to Pisa , Rome , Venice , Florence, and verona all were short stays (a few nights ) . my opionon: didnt like Venice , cool place to maybe visit very briefly but i found it quite dirty and overpriced , nothing too special , Rome is quite cool , vatican is a must and of course the coluseum and Trevi fountain , i went on a 5 hour walking tour around rome and forgot my camera , Big mistake!!! i definatly regretted that, also went to a realy cool chruch in rome where the inside is made out of human bones , creepy but cool, Pisa- all there is is the tower and lots of Nigerian men trying to sell you fake handbags , Verona- thought it was a beautiful wee town , nice shops , saw romeo and juliet balcony , nice and quaint . my fave place by far was Florence , AMAZING!!!!! loved the markets , loved everything about it , had a florentine steak which was just devine , dont really know why it stood out , it just had such a fantastic feel about the place and i loved the markets, pretty cool nightlife too ( if your into that - i was 22 at the time of my travels so i did aot of partying.

Food is quite expensive in the touristy places , i had an amazing pizza in Florence but a really awful pizza in Rome , i rememebr paying 8euro for the teeny tiniest glass of orange juice at a cafe in rome ( thats about the equivialnt of $16 nz $$$)  , great gelato in rome in every flavor you can imagine - chocolate , rasberry , peanut butter , even pistachiao flavor , dont think that was too overpriced because i remember going back the next day for more!!!