17 Days in Italy

I do think Milan gets shortchanged in a lot of tour books. There is a lot to see in Milan. You could add a day to Rome and drop a day in Milan. You need to make advance reservations to see the Last Supper. Depending on the order, Milan could be a day to relax some, do some laundry, etc.

It seems like your trip involves a lot of looping around. I would consider skipping Milan and spending more time in Rome. You may want to consider staying in Sorrento instead of Naples. Naples is gritty and intense, while Sorrento is laid back and beautiful. From Sorrento, you can easily visit Naples, Pompeii or even the Amalfi coast on day trips. Reggio di Calbria is close to Sicily, so you consider visiting Palermo or other sites on the island.

You're going in loops from the far north to the extreme south of Italy. The trip to Reggio Di Calabria might be the destination that breaks the camel's back. Have you considered doing Venice instead of Milan?

I would totally do Venice before Milan! (Then again ,I've been 2 times and going back cuz I love it so!). Milan, the duomo was nice...ummmmm....the duomo was nice! We also did Naples but kept it close and went to Herculaneum (just a walk down the road fr the train stn) and still had time to go up Mt Vesuvius! We were there on a SUn, so things were pretty quiet...

(or visit Cinque Terre if you want quiet and a chance to relax- close to Florence, altho Venice isn't that far out either)

You have a lot of distance and not a huge number of days to do that travel in. When you say "3 days," how many nights do you mean in each place? And not the most efficient travel layout. If you really want to keep Milan in the itinerary, then could you fly into Milan, then go to Florence, then all the way down to Reggio di Calabria, back up to Naples, then finish Rome. Then you aren't making two separate stays in Rome, with the accompanying packing and unpacking. Caveat being, it looks like to get to Reggio Calabria by train, you'd need to connect to a different train in Rome anyway. Have you checked how long it will take you to get to Reggio Calabria - it looks like a LONG trip (like 7 hours from Rome?). Maybe you should consider flying there. I agree that you should drop Milan; and not add any new destinations, but spread those days from Milan between your other locations, or just add them all to ROme. Looks like you may spend almost two days merely getting to and from Reggio Calabria. It took us about 5 trips to Italy, several flying into Milan, before we spent any time in the city (and then only because my husband had a business meeting there). I was delightfully surprised at how much I liked the city. Not so touristy, a beautiful Duomo, the Last Supper, and some very nice smaller museums. BUT that was after we had visited many other places in Italy.

Thank you fellow travellers, Our trip is set in stone at this point. I chose 3 nights in Rome because I have spent time there before and thought other cities might be worth exploring. 3 nights in Florence I thought would give me some chance to see the basics and decide if I wanted to return in the future. 3 nights in Milan, many of you said nice things about the city itself. Perhaps some of the small towns around Milan are worth a day trip, or Lake Como, or driving to Bellagio. Going to Reggio di Calabria for 3 nights, I have no choice, one in my party needs to go. It will be a 9 hour train day in getting there, but perhaps it is an opportunity to rests and sleep a little. 3 nights in Naples. Naples must have much to see? I plan to go to pompeii or herculenium on one day. The trip back to Roma for 1 night is because we fly out early the next morning. None of these are really long train rides, 1 to 1 and a half hours except Milan to reggio 9 hr and reggio to naples 4 hr. I do appreciate the comments, but I cannot change my itenary. Any help with what to see from where we are going would be much appreciated.

Jon, I'm getting into the discussion a bit late, so now that your Itinerary is "set in stone" there's not much to comment on. Regarding sightseeing in Naples and other locations, I would highly recommend packing along a copy of the Italy 2012 Guidebook. There's a wealth of information there and I've found the books to be a good reference source during trips. As you'll be renting a car, are you aware of the "usual issues" regarding driving in Italy (compulsory IDP for all drivers, ZTL zones, CDW, etc.)? If not post another note for further information. Happy travels!

The National Archeology Museum in Naples is a must if you are interested in Pompeii/Herculaneum. Most of the artwork uncovered at the towns buried by Vesuvius are on display in the museum. I thought I would spend a couple of hours there, then see some other sights in Naples on a day trip from Sorrento. I spent 7 hours at the museum (I did see it all, though a few rooms were closed) and never saw Naples! Milan - The Duomo. Go to the top and wander on the roof. It is much more interesting than the inside. Castello Sforza and La Scala were interesting. The slow train to Verona takes 2 hours, the fast train 1.5 hours. Verona is one of my favorite places in Italy. Lots to see and do.