Three of us are traveling to Italy arriving June 23 in Rome, departing Rome July 6. I have been to Italy twice but never south of Rome. My brother-in-law has traveled in Italy, but this is my sister's first trip. This is our proposed itinerary. We have the generalities and some specifics planned but needs tweaking. Fly into Rome Sunday 6/23. Pick up car at airport, drive to Siena. We plan to spend 5 days in the Tuscany/Umbria regions. Our idea is day exploring Siena (to recup our energy after flight and drive,) then trips to some hill towns(to be decided), day trip to Pisa/Lucca, day trip to Florence. We plan on using Siena as our home base for our time in Tuscany, and I have made hotel reservations which can be changed. Is Siena a good base for this, or should we plan an overnight stay elsewhere? Any suggestions? Reading the rest of our itineray may help. On Friday 6/28 we will travel to Rome, and probably visit Orvieto and Assisi on the way. Would it be better to leave Siena a day earlier and stay in Orvieto the night before we travel to Rome? 6/28-7/1: Return car at airport and make our way to our hotel near Termini.Stay in Rome 4 nights. In planning activities I am taking into acct. Sunday and Monday closings. 7/2: Train to Naples and on to Sorrento. 3 nights in Sorrento, with one full day for bus/boat tour of Amalfi Coast, another day to tour Pompeii and related sites. Friday 7/5: Travel by train back to Rome. (would there be any advantage in taking a bus?) Need to find room for one night in Rome. Enjoy our last passeggiata and Italian meal.
7/6 Arrivederci, Roma as we fly home to states. Experienced Italy travelers, I would love your thoughts on this itinerary, especially responses to some of my specific questions. Grazie.
Posted by
Atlanta
967 posts
Jane, I think it might help you get a better feel for driving distances if you will check out www.viamichelin.com. For instance, your Friday Siena to Rome via Orvieto and Assisi is about 8 hours driving time with NO stops or traffic problems. Hope this helps you plan an enjoyable trip.
Posted by
roswell, ga, usa
1501 posts
If it's not too late for a flight change, it might be more efficient to fly into Rome and out of Venice or even Milano. Keep the first half of your trip in the South: Rome - Naples, Sorrento. Second half to the North Siena/Florence and Tuscany. (or the opposite, depending on flights) Personally, I've crossed the pond many times, and I COULD NOT do an 8+ hour drive after an overnight plane ride safely. Venice is a great departure airport, easy to maneuver, short distance from Florence, etc. I would prefer a home base in Florence because it's a big transportation hub. Easy bus trip to Siena, etc. There's a lot more to do in Florence and many more sites. It alone, deserves at least 2 days! They have 3 major piazzas, two beautiful museums, while Siena has one beautiful piazza. I spent a half day there once, enjoyed it, but have never felt the need to go back, while I've returned to Florence several times! You really don't NEED a car unless you want one with Florence as a home base. There are wine tours you can take from there, departing at 0900 and returning at 9pm. Open Jaw flights in Italy are a wonderful and efficient way to see more of Italy and after my first crazy all over the place trip, this is usually the way I do it. Sometimes I just concentrate on the "North" and next trip "South." And now, Rome! You could spend a month there and not see it all. We have family in the North, and first few trips we used Rome as a city to "recover" in. Last year I stubbornly insisted on Rome and I love it....all of it!
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Posted by
roswell, ga, usa
1501 posts
I do not like spending my touring time in Rome at a hotel near Termini. I think the neighborhood is a little "rough" and far from the sites. I'm Catholic and never go to Rome without going to the Vatican Museum and St. Peters, but even if you're not Catholic, it's one of the best sites in the world. Amazingly, there are many pre-Christian items, too many to count, even at the Museum. Then there's Piazza Navonna, Campo di Fiori, Spanish steps area, Trastevere....Trevi Fountain....and of course the Collisseum, etc.
If you can get a hotel near Piazza Navonna that is much more centrally located to most of the sites and when you're ready to collapse, your hotel will be in the middle of it, instead out at Termini. That's all! Hope this helps. You're going to have a wonderful trip! I've not been to Napoli yet either, nor Sorrento. Can't get the "Northern" husband to go South, although I did drag him to Sicily and he LOVED it! If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me. Ciao!
Posted by
Ann Arbor, Mi
3696 posts
I personally prefer to stay in villages than staying in big cities all the time, so I would definitely opt for a village in Tuscany vs. staying in Florence (personal preference) but I do find driving and parking in Siena to be a bit of a pain, so I would opt for someplace else to stay with my car unless you have precise directions for you car. Possibly San G or I have also stayed near Certaldo Alto and in San Donato (tiny hilltop village with a few hotels and a vineyard...close to Florence) No Venice?
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8139 posts
I'm with Terry kathryn. Stay in the countryside at an agriturismo or bed and breakfast. Virtually every farm in the region has accommodations as secondary income. We found Siena too difficult to park in and congested with apartment complexes. It's best visited by a bus. A Hertz car was picked up @ 53 Via del Sansovino in Florence (arranged through AutoEurope.com). We had no problems avoiding the ZTL when leaving town. We rambled all over Chianti/Tuscany hill towns, and especially liked Volterra, San Gimignano and Orvieto. We turned the car in at the Orvieto train station, and took a 45 minute train into Rome. Naples and the Amalfi coast is best reached from Rome on a fast train, and is between 150 and 180 miles south. I hope you've visited Rome before. It's worth a week of your time alone, and is a primary destination for anyone going to Italy.