15 nights in Italy - advise on what to see

Hello. That is a lot of places to see in 15 nights! You have listed 5 major stops (Rome, Sorrento, Florence, Cinque Terre, Venice) plus "some hill towns," and maybe Fanna. Theoretically that would give you 3 nights be stop, which is not really enough in Rome, Sorrento or Florence, and allows no time for the hill towns, Verona, nor Fanna. Fanna is a 3 hour trip from Venice via public transportation.

Soooo, I suggest you start by reading Rick Steves' Guide to Italy and narrow down what you really want to see and do in each location, then narrow down the wish list. The guide will also help you with issues like how to beat lines at museums, what to reserve in advance, and how to get from place to place (train versus car, for example). Determining how much time to spend in each location is really a function of what you want to see and do in each location. Rick's guides have a lot of tips on how to plan your time in each location.

Off the cuff, I would suggest dropping Sorrento and Pompeii. You can "do" Pompeii in a long day trip from Roma, but there is so much to see in Roma that you might better spend your time here. I know you want to make the most of your 15 nights, but often less is more and prioritizing, spending more nights in fewer places, will lead to a more memorable trip, in my opinion. Plus, if you are like many of us, one trip will just make you want another and you will find yourself planning your return trip on the flight home!

Do you already have flight tickets? Most people suggest flying IN to Venice, and OUT of Rome. It is easier as most Venice flights leave very early and it takes quite awhile to get out to the airport.

What a great time you will have! And you have plenty of time to get advice, read some guidebooks and figure out exactly what will work best for you.

At this point, my only advice would be to use the website Rome2Rio. It is absolutely great at giving you an idea about transportation options to all the places you want to go. I think you can book through them although I would suggest you use the info and then book yourself through the website of whatever transport option you want. But what it does do is let you know what the train, bus, plane, rental car, taxi options are and a rough approximation of the cost of each. Then, like all travelers, you get to decide what the time v money options are that best work for you.

Once you have sort of sorted out your options (which is the really hard part of every trip taken by anyone ever), the people here can offer a lot of suggestions about how best to arrange the things that you want to do.

Enjoy the planning.

You can do all those as long as you don't mind traveling and changing hotels every 2 days, and not expecting to see every sight in Rome with your limited time. I've done the whirlwind itinerary like that before with every 2nd day packing up and taking the train. I didn't mind it and got to take in a lot of the country.

Hi charlesndi -
I'm in Laurel's camp here; an awful lot of places for 15 nights. And is one of those nights your flight over? As tempting as it is to want to see it ALL, the reality is that you lose a chunk of a sightseeing day every time you move to another location. The more locations there are, the more that adds up. Opinions are apt to vary here as some people like a lot of moving around and other of us prefer to settle in, get to know a town/city a little better and have some time for a wander versus the mad dash to fit everything in so whatever your style is, your itinerary should be planned accordingly.

As she recommended, your very first place to start should be some time with a travel guide. I'd recommend picking up several (or checking them out of the library) as they all offer different formats, varying sightseeing opportunities, suggested walks, etc. Start making a list of the things which interest you. The longer the list for each location, the longer you should plan to spend in those places.

IMHO, I'd go along with taking Sorrento/Pompeii off the list as they'll involve backtracking, and you can have the seaside experience in the Cinque Terre. There are PLENTY of impressive ruins to see in Rome, and Ostia Antica is a good option for a much shorter day trip from the city to an excavation as well.

Fanna, as noted, will be a looooong day-trip from Venice.

Transportation: trains are a great way to get around much of Italy as you usually get on them in the middle of towns/cities, and they dump you out right in the middle of the next. A car can be a plus for exploring those hill towns but no benefit at all for cities like Florence, Venice, Rome, or the Cinque Terre where parking can be scarce and expensive and/or large areas are completely pedestrianized. The national rail system - Trenitalia - has a web version in English, and Italo is a private rail service that can be an alternative resource for trips between the more major cities.

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en
http://www.italotreno.it/en

But the fine points of rail transfers is a subject best covered once your itinerary is ironed out. For tickets/passes, it would help to know what ends up on your must-see lists and how much time you're going to have to do them? Passes aren't always a great deal if they don't cover enough on what's on the interest list or you don't have time to break even on them. Pre-ordered tickets or passes are ESSENTIAL, however, for those attractions which will require reservations or have long queues in May: Colosseum, Vatican, Borghese (Rome), Accademia and Uffizi (Florence).

I'll just suggest Orvieto as a hill town worth your consideration. It has a stunningly beautiful duomo, as well as a number of other attractions. You can get there easily by train from Rome, for a day; but staying a night would be better.
Verona looks to me like one obvious place to cut from your itinerary.

A very busy 15 night itinerary. As previously suggested, if you can start in Venice it's much easier.

Day 1: Arrive Venice in am. Light sightseeing. Stay in Venice.
Day 2: Venice (St Marks, Doges Palace). Stay in Venice.
Day 3: Venice (Rialto Bridge, sightseeing). Stay in Venice.
Day 4: Morning Train to Padua. Visit Scrovegni Chapel and Duomo. Afternoon train to Verona. Stay in Verona.
Day 5: Verona. Take late afternoon train to Florence. Stay in Florence.
Day 6: Florence (Duomo, Accademia)
Day 7: Florence (Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti)
Day 8: Florence (Ponte Vecchio, Pallazo Vecchio,
Day 9: Morning Bus to Sienna. Stay in Siena. (Can also just day trip to Siena)
Day 10: Rent car (Can also just train to Naples). Drive to Orvieto (and maybe visit one more Hill town). Return car in Orvieto. Train to Naples. Circumvesuvianato Sorrento. Stay in Sorrento.
Day 11: Sorrento. Visit Pompeii in the morning.
Day 12: Sorrento. Morning car tour of Amalfi.
Day 13: Morning Circumvesuvianato Naples and train to Rome. Stay in Rome.
Day 14: Rome
Day 15: Rome
Day 16: Depart Rome

You must, must, must get a guide book (Rick's Guide to Italy would be my choice) and read it, study it, enjoy it and then you will understand why others here are telling you that you have too many destination in mind. You can't do it all, you can't, so decide what your priorities are. By the way, so that googling gets you on the right track, the town near Fanna is spelled Pordenone.

I think you can achieve most of what you wish at a reasonable pace.
Head straight to Sorrento after your arrival in Rome.

Day 1-3 Sorrento + Pompeii
Day 4-6 Rome
Day 7-9 Florence + Tuscany
Day 10-11 Cinque Terre
Day 12 Fanna (or Verona)
Day 13-15 Venice

I echo others---get Rick Steves Italy 2016 or 2015. Read it, then come back and ask more questions. We love to help!

Thank you all for the advice. I am reading Rick Steve's Italy 2015 guidebook. And have just begun exploring the internet to see what I can find out. Airline tickets have been purchased, so arriving Rome May 10 at 10:30 a.m. and leaving Venice May 25 at 1:25 p.m. My husband and I can keep a fairly quick pace and switching every 2-3 days won't be a problem. I will start to make our list of places to see and come back to post once I have any more questions. Thank you all so much!

May 10 - Arrive Rome, transfer to Sorrento - 3 nights
May 11 - Capri
May 12 - Amalfi+Positano
May 13 - Train to Pompeii, then via Naples to Rome - 3 nights
May 14 - Rome sights
May 15 - St Peters and the Vatican Museums
May 16 - Train to Florence - 3 nights
May 17 - Florence sights
May 18 - Tuscan countryside (or Siena)
May 19 - Train to Cinque Terre - 2 nights
May 20 - Exploring Cinque Terre
May 21 - Train to Pordenone/Fanna - 1 night (or Verona)
May 22 - Train to Venice - 3 nights
May 23 - St Marks and Doges Palace
May 23 - Venice sights
May 25 - Depart Venice

You certainly have a busy schedule planned! And every stop you mention is as wonderful as the one before and the next one. In Rome, and also Florence, you can get "time specific" tickets to many museums on line. Really can be worth it! Lines are the last thing you want to deal with if at all possible. Flying into Venice and out of Rome really can be the better use of time (time for a last stroll and cappuccino before the ride to the airport) - have you asked the airline what they would charge to reverse your itinerary? Just a thought. Pompeii is a full day (train and time at the site). Herculeum isn't really closer but impo I liked it as much if not more. Ostia Antica outside of Rome is also mind expanding - and much easier to get to. In Rome I'd spend at least one night roaming around Trastevere and stay for dinner. For me the magic of Venice is unlike a museum where you go to look at art, in Venice you walk IN the art. Morning, noon and night Venice has lots of charms to offer! Sorrento is one of my favorite places as a base for doing the Amalfi Coast. Cinque Terra, sorry I had enough after one day but I'm not a beach person. What about Lucca? Verona can probably be done in a day since train service from Venice is fairly regular. Padova is even closer to Venice (20 minutes by train) and has lots to offer for a day trip from Venice. Hmmm, why do I think I'm planning my trip this summer - for the 13th summer in a row! Have a wonderful time, whatever your schedule!!!!

As long as you don't mind the fast pace, Davids' itinerary is very doable. The only change I think I would

make, is to rent a car in La Spezia, drive to Verona, (3 hrs.) explore Verona then drive to Fanna. (2.5 Hrs.)

Spend the night in Fanna or Pordennone, drive to Venice the next afternoon.

The train on this route will take you 8-9 hrs., so a car makes the most of your time.

Edit. Drive Fanna-Venice around 1.5 hrs.

Gerri's idea of a car for the Pordenone section is a good one.
I would suggest still taking the train as far as Verona, and getting your car here.
Drive to Pordenone/Fanna and return the car on entering Venice.
An extra night if you could for Verona too would be fantastic.