14 day itinerary in Italy Need suggestions, we want a taste of everything

I would suggest cutting out a couple of locations. The 3rd and 17th are gonna be pretty much wasted days which leaves you 13 days to move to 7 locations. Gonna be alot of travel/hotel check in & out etc. Myself, I would cut out Sorrento, CT and Bologna and add them somwhere else and save those destinations for another trip.

You have too many places on this itinerary. I agree with the poster above to drop Cinque Terra and Bologna. Otherwise, you will waste too much touring time traveling from one place to another. Also, if you haven't already purchased your air tickets I would fly into Venice and home from Roma. The return flight from Venice usually leaves EARLY in the morning before public transportation is operating. This means you will need to private, more costly transportation tot the airport. On June 3rd you won't be doing too much sightseeing due to possible jet lag. Venice is a good place to walk around to work your way through the jet lag. On the 17th the only sightseeing you will do is looking through a window of some conveyance on your way to the airport. While wanting to see everything is a common goal, the reality is that you will see more in fewer places. You want a vacation not a marathon at a dead run. Italy isn't going anywhere, so plan on returning. Buon viaggio,

With this itinerary the only thing you'll get a taste of is the trains in Italy. You should cut out at least 2, if not 3, cities. You have 12 days to spend in Italy so I would suggest 3 possibly 4 cities. Part of one day is not enough for either the Cinque Terre or Bologna so I would cut those. Sorrento is in the opposite direction so I would cut it too. I would spend 4 days in Rome, 2 in Florence, 2 in San Gim, and the rest in Venice. This will give you a good taste of everything and leave you wanting more. Donna

Hi everybody, Thank you very much for the replies. I really appreciate it. I'll think about cutting out CT and Bologna. We have purchased our tickets already. We are flying into Rome from Turkey and then flying out Venice into Madrid.
So the jet lag shouldn't be too bad. I'm just not sure now, if I cut those two cities out..where to put my time. Thanks again, will try to revise my itinerary. Jaks

Before you revise your itinerary. I'm going to disagree with the other posters and say that you can see the cities you have listed. You just have to be willing to be a turbo-tourister. That means getting an early start each day, taking very early trains or buses, focusing on marquee sites, and being willing to save some things for next time. That being said, I have the following suggestions to you itinerary: 1). Consider heading straight to Sorrento via Naples after you arrive in Rome. That will get most of your big travel out of the way in one day. You can see the top spots in that area in two and a half days (Pompeii, Amalfi Coast/Capri and Naples Archaeology museum). 2). Consider adding a day to Rome. You really need three full days to see the top sites. 3). Consider basing yourself in Siena. See that city for one day and use one day each to see Florence and San Gimignano. You could also base in Florence for two days and day trip to San Gimignano. 4). Use the day cut from Tuscany in the Cinque Terre. It really takes a full day to hike and enjoy this area. 5). One and half days is sufficient to see the top sites in Venice (Doges Palance, San Marco Cathedral and Square, a couple of smaller sites). Here are a couple of thoughts to allow more time for sightseeing - Look for after hours concerts at smaller churches (e.g. Frari in Venice). Those will allow you to see a site when it would normally be closed and hear a concert. - Save your bigger relaxed meal for dinner and eat quick breakfasts and lunches. There are plenty of coffee shops, markets, pizza shops, etc. for a quick bite. - Use train station lockers to store you luggage if your hotel is not near the sites you're planning to see the first day you arrive in a city. Good luck.

Thanks again for all your responses. I'll revise just a little bit but again, I'm still open to suggestions. Flying into Rome 3 nights in Rome train to Sorrento via Naples for 3 nights drive to San Gimignano for 2 nights drive to Florence drop off car stay 2 nights train to CT stay 2 nights train to Venice stay 2 nights. Flying out of Venice Flights are already booked in and out. Thanks again for all the suggestions. I'm modifying a bit but still thinking of cutting things out. I'm having a hard time letting go of the cities I chose but will try to modify more when I'm more convinced.
Thank you.

With all the traveling in between cities, I think it makes sense to make the travel time as short as possible. Therefore, if you're going to keep the sites you have listed in your latest post, I would rearrange your order a bit. Fly into Rome Go straight to Sorrento via Naples (3 nights) Train to Rome (3 nights) Drive to San Gimignano (2 nights) Drive to La Spezia (or Pisa) drop off car train to CT (2 nights) Train to Florence (2 nights) Train to Venice (2 nights)
Fly out of Venice Going straight to Sorrento avoids a bit of backtracking. Also, driving from San Gimignano from Sorrento would be an exhausting 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 hour drive (without stopping). Driving to San Gimignano from Rome will cut 2 - 3 hours off of your drive (~3 hours 15 minutes Rome-San Gim according to Google) and you may not be completely exhausted when you get there. Also I would drop off your car and go to CT after San Gimignano, even though Florence is a shorter drive by about an hour. My reason is that the train from CT to Florence (~2 1/2 - 3 hours) is MUCH shorter than the travel time from CT to Venice (~6 hours). Then the travel time from Florence to Venice could be as little as 2 hours.

I like the last post a lot. The only problem is that I booked a few hotels already. Our flight coming into Rome is from Turkey..and I it looks like it arrives in the afternoon. I think my husband and I would rather stay in Rome right off the bat then we would take the train early on the the 6th to Sorrento via Naples. Would the drive from Naples to San Gimignano be terrible? I arranged to pick up the car in Naples then drop off in Florence.
I agree with dropping off in La Spezia. Would definitely save some time. I'll keep revising. Thanks again for the advice. Very much appreciated. Jaks

Do you have a layover in Turkey, or are you flying to Rome after visiting Turkey? I think the flight from Turkey to Rome is relatively short, and even if you land in the afternoon you could easily get to Sorrento at a decent hour that 1st night. I urge you to reconsider staying in Rome the 1st night. I think it would make your whole itinerary so much smoother if you stayed in Sorrento 1st. Have you pre-paid for your hotel rooms? If not you should be able to make changes without penalties. Also, who did you book your car through? I booked through AutoEurope and originally booked to pick up in Pisa and drop off in Orvieto, but had to change the dropoff to Rome. AutoEurope handled the change without an issue. No matter who you booked the car through you should still be able to change or cancel unless you prepaid. I have no idea how the drive from Naples to San Gimignano will be, but I know I would be pretty useless after 5+ hours of driving. We're all different, maybe that's ok for you. I also like to minimize my travel time in between cities so that I have more time to actually see the places I've gone to see. But its your trip and you're the only one who can make those choices.

Hi Jaks, I've been lurking on this board for a few weeks while I plan our 21 day trip in June. I can boil down what I've learned about cars and trains: If you can make a trip on a train without a lot of connections and lost time, then do it on a train, unless you've got four people and the car becomes cheaper. You can go from Naples to Florence in 3 hours for 50 euros each with a mini fare. That is 300 miles or so. The gas alone would probably cost you close to 60 euros. You might hop into your car and drive 300 miles in Canada and not give it a moment's thought. In this case, you're driving in a foreign country. In this foreign country, my friends who lived there for a year were STILL confused about how to get to this little Tuscan town as compared to that one. What I'm getting at is I think you are seriously underestimating the complexity of driving in Italy. When you're on the main highways, it's pretty clear. Then you only have to worry about understanding the signs. Once you get off the main highways, things are not as clear. Then the fun begins! So I'm assuming Sorrento is cast in stone, you REALLY want to go there. OK, so after you visit Sorrento then train to Florence and enjoy Florence. Rent the car in Florence, then drive to San Gimignano, CT, Bologna. I'm a little dubious about one day in CT since you'll spend most of your time getting there, but I'm sure others have said that. Anyway, you can drop the car in Bologna or Venice, your choice. Cont'd

Here is our first trip to Italy: Rome: 6 days Tuscany farm house: 6 days Rome: 2 days We got to see almost everything we wanted to see in Rome, we chilled out in a farm house in the countryside for 5 days, then returned to Rome and flew home. Here is our upcoming June trip: Milan-arrive, 1 night CT-3 nights Tuscan farm house-5 nights Florence-5 nights Lucca/Bagni di Lucca-2 nights Parma-1 night
Milan-3 nights, fly home We train until Lucca, then rent a car in Lucca. We drop in Milan on arrival. 21 days in Italy, 3 days with a car. I'm from Los Angeles. I've driven from LA to Alaska and back; La to NYC/Boston/Quebec and back. I've done alot of driving in my life. I've driven in Amersterdam, Paris, Munich and Geneva. I only drive in Italy when I REALLY need to drive in Italy.

Hi again guys, Thanks again for the help. Amy, we are visiting Istanbul for 5 days prior to our visit to Italy. So yes, should be a short two and half hour flight or so. We haven't booked yet, but the flight we are looking at arrives around 2pm. Everything I've booked can be changed. I just emailed all the hotels I potentially booked to see if they have any availability for the changed dates. So just waiting for their replies and hoping they can all change for the same rates I booked them at.
I'm seriously considering your itinerary. I definitely want to minimize our time on trains and driving. Ted, thank you for your advice on driving. The only thing is we have to drive into San Gimignano. The place I booked can only be reached by car. It would be from Rome hopefully if I can change my itinerary. I'm really having a hard time cutting out CT or Bologna...I want see both...but I think it would be wiser to spend two nights in one or the other. Again, any more tips? Again all your advice is very much appreciated. I just wish I would have asked my questions earlier. Thanks again, Jaks

Glad to hear everything can be changed, and that you're open to changing. I understand not wanting to cut anything out, but as others said you'll actually see more by seeing fewer places. My only other suggestion would be to try to limit your hotel changes. While the itinerary I posted for you works, it is still a lot of moving around. You'd be staying in 6 different cities/towns in 14 nights. That's still an awful lot of moving around. I would choose either Sorrento or CT, but I wouldn't do both. If CT is a must for you, I'd consider skipping Sorrento this time around and adding those 3 nights to Rome, San Gimignano and Venice.

This is another issue....do we really need to see two coastal areas as beautiful as they are? Now part of me is just thinking of sticking to the North...Tuscany, the food, etc... I really have to rethink this whole itinerary....Sorrento can be cut out. You guys are all right that Italy will still be there and we can always go back. What would my itinerary be without Sorrento? You guys are all amazing....
I never imagined I would get so much help. You guys really did open my eyes. Thank you again...now going to try and figure out another itinerary without Sorrento. Again open to more suggestions........all very much appreciated.

Rome to Florence: 1.5 hours, 36 euros ea. (mini fare) 3.0 hours, 24 euros ea. (mini fare) You don't WANT a car in Florence, IMHO. You can get a car in Florence, or you can take the train to Siena and get your car in Siena, then dump it in Pisa or La Spezia and continue on to CT. I assume you are checking these: Kayak.com - rental cars trenitalia.com - train schedules

I have been reading this topic with great interest. I am planning a trip to Italy this fall with a RS tour to Sicily in mid-October. I want to see more of Italy beforehand. I took the Village Italy tour a couple of years ago and loved it. Florence is a must, maybe 3 days. Rome also a must, not sure how many days.
I would like to see some smaller villages BUT I must use public transportation. I am toying with San Gimi or Volterra. Any suggestions of day trips or overnight trips to some smaller villages that are do-able by train (bus also an option, but I prefer to use the train). THANKS in advance.

June, Public transit is well distributed in Italy. You'll need to learn to use the bus system. I posted about google maps, that works for some areas. So, you can get to small towns without renting a car, but it takes time. If you have the time, then go for it. ciao

June Perhaps you can add your own question on the board. Then we can specifically address your needs. Bobbie

Little late, but hope this helps: I'd substitute Siena for San Gimignano. SG is much more of a tourist town and didn't seem to have much going on at night. Siena is alive at night with families out and about. We spent about 6 hours in SG and that was about enough. Siena I'd use as a home base again for certain. Siena is a little more central too in case you want to sneak off to other towns.

Thanks Andrew for the note. I've thinking of substituting myself. Just searching for accommodations right now.
Thank you again, Jaks

Jaks, We are heading to Italy for 17 nights at the end of May. It's my fourth trip to Italy, but one was a long time ago and the other three were short trips. I agree with the advice to skip Sorrento this time and take the train whenever possible. The only place you really need a car is in Tuscany. Forget driving one into CT. I agree about staying in Siena rather than SG. In order to use our free miles, we had to fly in and out of Milan. We've been to Milan, so our plan is to take the train directly to Venice (3 nights.) Train to Florence (2 nights). Train to Rome (6 nights). After Rome, we plan to rent a car and stay in a farm house near Sienna to tour Tuscany (2 nightsprobably not enough). We'll drop the car in La Spezia and take a train to Cinque Terre (2 nights.) Then another train to Milan for our last night. The problem with our itinerary is that we are planning to rent a car at the Rome Termini (at the end of our stay there.) We'll drive to Tuscany, probably stopping in Orvieto along the way...but I've read that it's not a good idea to pick the car up at the Termini. Now I'm thinking we should get it in Orvieto or somewhere near Sienna! If there was a way to do it, I'd skip renting a car entirely!