13 days in Italy

Posted by sverhey on 02/19/19 04:51 PM

*Traveling as a family with a 15 and 12 year old end of June/beginning of July.

We have a total of 13 days on the ground in Italy (not including travel days). We will be packing lightly and using trains. Trying to decide on how to spend these days. Due to the timing of meeting up with family in Sorrento, toward the end of the trip, it gives us about 8 days to see Florence, Cinque Terre and Tuscany before heading south. We can either fly into Rome or Florence to begin our trip. (Was thinking Florence would cut down on travel up north at the beginning of the trip).

After the 8 days up north, we will then take a train to Sorrento to meet up with family for an event for 3 days. We will
end our trip by spending 2 days in Rome and then fly back to US.

Any suggestions from you all on travel timing? 1-2 nights in Florence upon arriving from US sound good? 2-3 nights in Cinque Terre? 2-3 nights in Tuscany and where specifically? Suggestions for young teens interest? Cooking classes in Tuscany?

Thanks.

Posted by valadelphia

02/19/19 05:05 PM

5250 posts

If you are only in Sorrento for three days and have family evens the entire time, you may wish to arrive early to see Pompeii, Naples, the Amalfi coast, or the islands. If that is of interest, then I would fly into Rome so you can have more than two days there and then head to the Amalfi coast area. (I prefer the hiking in the Amalfi coast to that of the extremely crowded Cinque Terre).
If that is not of interest, then fly into Florence. Or, fly into Genoa or Pisa to start much closer to Cinque Terre.
What are your interests?

Posted by epltd

02/19/19 05:31 PM

3124 posts

Are you meeting up with family members who live in Sorrento or nearby? If so, I'd definitely ask them for advice on what to see and do.

If the family members don't live in the area, then the obvious question is why Sorrento was chosen as the place for everyone to meet. For example, it's a great home base for visiting the Amalfi coast, but your proposed itinerary doesn't include the Amalfi coast.

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

02/19/19 05:54 PM

28428 posts

I think most travelers interested in smaller Tuscan towns and villages rent cars for that part of their trip. Public transportation to the small hill towns is limited, and it can be difficult to visit more than one per day. That's not a great situation when you're going somewhere that might only keep you occupied for an hour or two.

If you are going to try to do this by train/bus, simply staying in Florence may be your best bet since it's the major transportation hub in Tuscany. Alternatively, rather than heading for hard-to-reach small villages, you could go to Lucca or Siena and spend a night there. I don't know whether Siena works as a base for visiting nearby villages by bus or train. You need to consult a guide book and decide which towns or villages would be of interest to you.

In thinking about how you will spend your days, keep in mind that Italy is likely to be quite hot during the time of your visit, and you won't find air conditioning as widely available as it is at home. Some museums, restaurants, cafes and shops are not air conditioned, so it's not always a simple matter to pop in somewhere to cool off. It can be difficult to push through the hottest part of the day. Taking convoluted day-trips by public transportation is likely to have you away from your base city at a time when you might like to have access to your air conditioned hotel room to cool off and relax for awhile.