Spring in Italy Advice

Need more info

How many nights will you have on the ground in Italy?

How will you travel- train, rental car?

Amalfi Coast is fine at that time-expect crowds ( everywhere really ) especially around the 2 holidays April 25 and May 1

(for a first trip I would fly in to Venice then Florence then Rome and fly home-you would want 3-4 nights in each location)

Just updatedl Thank

If you haven't booked your flights I might suggest flying into Venice and out of Rome. With this itinerary I'm suggesting it would save you some extra travel time. A few nights in Venice can be pure magic! From Venice it's an easy train ride to Florence. Maybe a day trip from Florence to Lucca and/or Siena would give you very different cultural/historical/visual experiences. Then on to Rome. I always spend at least a week in Rome every year (occupational hazzard for an opera singer). There's plenty to see and if you get bored in one century just turn left at the next intersection and you're in a different century!

If it were my trip, I'd do 3-4 nights in Venice, 4 nights in Florence with day trips to Lucca and Siena, and the rest of the time in Rome. A very interesting, and easy, day trip from Rome would be the ancient ruins at Ostia Antica.

14 days isn't a bad first time trip but I bet you'll spend the time on the flight home planning your next visit!

When you’re wondering about Amalfi, is that because you’re wondering if the ferries are running, or are you thinking of swimming/beach weather?

Also, are you open to a couple of 2-night locations, or should it be more like three 4-night locations?

And have you purchased your flights already?

Thanks for the additional info.
12 nights is not a super long trip so I would limit to 3 or maybe 4 locations.
Each location change eats up at least a half a day- don’t spend your time packing/checking in and out, traveling to and from /getting oriented and not just being there.

The only area that would probably need a car would be Tuscan countryside and you can see some of that on a guided bus tour or driver trip from Florence (we can make recommendations).

Train travel is easy and relatively inexpensive. Driving/car rental adds a whole other level of stress that you might not want (we have driven in Italy several times but for a first trip I’d say skip it)

The classic Venice- Florence-Rome trip is often referred to as the Holy Trinity. A lot of first timers do it because it covers the highlights and some important places- includes history, scenery, art, wine, food.

If you can change your flights (or haven’t booked yet) fly IN to Venice- much easier than flying out of Venice. Venice is the perfect place to get over jet lag - there is nowhere else like it.

A 3 night stay equals 2.5 days in that location.

Venice 3 nights- first day is arrival/jet lag day

Train to Florence- about 2 hrs
Florence deserves 2 nights minimum-more if you are really into art
add 1 night for every day trip you want to take (Lucca/Pisa, Siena or Tuscan countryside) so I would give it at least 3 nights

Train to Orvieto- about 2 hours
Orvieto- 2 nights- in Umbria but a beautiful hill town with amazing Duomo, classic white wine, great views and fun underground activities. It is right on the train line to Rome. This would give you a small town break between the 3 big cities.

Train to Rome- about 1.5-2 hours
Rome 4 nights or as much time as you can give it-you will never run out of things to see/do.
Fly home

On your way home- start planning your second trip which could include Amalfi Coast and other areas.
I just think the AC is such a time consuming hassle to get to and so very crowded that it’s not necessary on a first trip.

The AC will be packed in the spring -and fall- there is no shoulder season. It's been ruined by over tourism, in my experience. And moving about takes extra time and patience.
Do note and avoid the holidays mentioned above- April 25 and May 1, and the surrounding weekends.
I also vote for Venice -Florence-Rome, in that order. If at all possible, add a few days.
Have a great trip!

Welcome to Italy! (In advance) 12 nights is a decent amount of time for a visit to Italy. Is it enough for Venice, Florence and Rome? Opinions will differ on that end of things. As others have said, and you took their advice, hopefully, flying into Venice and flying out from Rome will make your trip a lot easier to handle. There’s just so much to see in those three places that for somebody like me, a travel nut, that I could spend 12 nights in Florence and not see it all. But this is your trip. 3-4 nights in each location will suffice. Personally I’d use the public transportation to get from place to place, unless you’re planning on doing side trips from Florence to other areas of Tuscany, such as Luca, Siena, San Gimignano, Montepulciano, etc. even those places are reachable by bus, for the most part. Honestly, I wouldn’t try to tack the Amalfi coast onto a first time trip to Italy; it’s just too much in too little time, and besides, there’s so much more to Amalfi than the touristic towns. I’d stick with your original plans and start planning on the way home, because you probably will be doing so. Regarding the weather. It will be warm already in April and May. Heck, it’s still very warm in late September up in northern Lombardy, much warmer than it normally is and even warmer than last year at this time. Let me give you an example. In April of this year, in the mountain home (500 meters above sea level) where my father-in-law and his wife now spend most of the year, except for late November to mid March, they had 14 consecutive days of temperatures above 30 Celsius. That’s NEVER happened before. There’s no real way to tell if a certain area will be too cold or warm but lately, it’s been warm when it shouldn’t be. Even these days one cannot go by historical weather patterns because those have changed.

If I was focusing on Rome and Florence, wanted one other place, and was open to renting a car, somewhere/anywhere else in Tuscany comes to mind!

validate regional train tickets

Validate paper regional tickets, the only open tickets left. It may be obvious to seasoned tourists, but you don't have to validate any e-ticket from Trenitalia

don’t order cappuccino after 11am

I'm literally translating from Italian here, without adding any "american filter": w.t.f. are you talking about????

Marco is so right about validating (Late edit : paper) train tickets. Italy’s train conductors are like cops and if your ticket is not properly validated … you can only imagine. A conductor berated us when we told him that the validator in Padova didn’t work. We were supposed to know to search him out and report that immediately! He arranged the arrest of a family of four who were seated near us. And don’t expect the conductors to speak English.

The temptation you face is to add Venice to Rome and Florence. BTW, two nights is not enough for Florence and even three is not enough for some of us.

The joys of Italy are often to be found in smaller cities. For us, those have included Orvieto, Volterra, Siena and Lucca in Tuscany and Umbria. For you, they may include Assisi, Montepuciano, Pienza or Montalcino.

Whether you yield to temptation or search out smaller gems, enjoy your spring trip to Italy. Buon Viagge.

I have the impression he berated you without giving you a fine.

We were supposed to know to search him out and report that immediately

Otherwise every teen would claim stamping machines to be broken and use the same ticket all day long. It's quite obvious you must do something when the machine doesn't work, if you have no time to look for another "validator" at least you can write date and time on your ticket.

arranged the arrest of a family of four who were seated near us

This could happen only if they refused to hand the conductor their IDs so that he couldn't write a fine. When Cops arrive first they ask everyone to show a valid ID, they do not arrest free-riders who cooperate.

And don’t expect the conductors to speak English.

Just like I do not expect Amtrak conductors to speak Italian.

Ciao Marco.

Right, berated with no fine. It helped that we could show our validated ticket from that morning from Venice to Padova, along with our not validated ticket for the train we were on, from Padova to Verona. So he could see we weren’t trying to manipulate the system.

As for the other family, we could not follow all that was said. We only had a very short, 8 week course of Italian language instruction.

With respect to language, OP Taylor is on a first trip to Italy. Sometimes Americans expect that folks in Europe speak English. Of course, when it comes to speaking a second language, we do not do so well, ourselves.

Ciao.

@ Catherine and Taylor

You asked about Amalfi. So, this is our experience.

My family and I were last in the area from 7 May through 12 May 2024. Before in Sicily 4 May to 6 May, previously Puglia 27 April through 3 May.

My travel diary tells me the weather was enjoyable with temperatures ranging 18C through 24C. My wife and I remember it as a truly delightful time.

Our accommodation was in Agerola which overlooks the coast from Positano through to Amalfi. End/start of the Path of the Gods. Gave us access to Naples, Sorento and the Massa Lubrense peninsular. Our preference is to stay in rural locations rather than built up areas. Also, my Italian friends made us aware of an estate for sale in Agerola that my sons might consider adding to our real estate portfolio.

Amalfi did not seem crowded to me. On one occasion we were able to find two parking spots within about thirty metres of each other on the main throughfare in Maiori, probably just lucky, I guess.

We had cars, on this and previous occasions, but I am not advocating them for you. Driving is not for everybody. Instinct.

My observations about eating in Italy as measured against your criteria. Our experience has been that the best food is to be found at those with an Italian only menu, usually a chalk written menu. Those with pictures are fine. Just have required less effort/care in preparation and presentation. Still Italian and fulfills most expectations, leaving tourists elated.

Our most enjoyable/memorable meals in 2024 along the Amalfi coast were Trattoria da Rispoli in Pogerola and the two restaurants in Hotel Rufolo. In addition to the food and wine, there is magnificent views and romantic atmosphere.

My only suggestion is to allocate lots of time for amore and creating personal memories. In hindsight my wife and I think we should have made more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPcjvjAWiI0

Regards
Ron