1st travel to Italy! (10 days)

Summer,

To begin with, welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately, the Itinerary you've mentioned is far too ambitious, and I'm not sure even possible in such a short time frame. It would help to know where you're travelling from.

A few things that stand out....

• Venice - only 1 day? You may be jet lagged and that won't provide much time to see anything.
• Florence - day trip to Pisa and day trip to the Cinque Terre. When were you planning to see Florence?
• Rome - 4 days is reasonable for a first visit but plan your touring carefully as there's lots to see.
• Naples - Flying from Rome to Naples is absurd as the high speed trains only take about 2 hours. A day trip to Pompeii and a day trip to Capri / Sorrento. Were you planning to see anything at all in Naples?

IMHO, this Itinerary needs a serious overhaul and you'll need to do it quickly as August is not far off. That's the busiest time of year for travel in Italy, and it's going to be hot and crowded. It would help to know more about your circumstances.

I totally agree with Ken. I'm counting nine days. If that is true, you can barely see the 'big three'. I understand the temptation to see as much as you can, but all you will be doing is traveling from place to place without really experiencing anyplace. Try to pare the trip down to no more than three places, then you can do day trips if you want. But you can easily spend a week in Venice, Florence or Rome and not run out of places to see and things to do!

Your itinerary looks a bit unrealistic, in terms of timing, especially for a first time visit. Here are some thoughts....
One full day in Venice should be ok, as long as you also stay overnight. Plan to visit St. Mark's Square during the day and again at night. It will probably be very hot and crowded during the day, but is so different after dusk, when it is fun to have a drink (with atmosphere) in an outdoor cafe.

Doing Florence, Pisa and Cinque Terre in two days is not really possible. Therefore, I suggest omitting Pisa, leaving you one day for Florence and another for the Cinque Terre. You can hike or take the train between most of towns in the Cinque Terre, but will not have time for all of them. You will probably enjoy Monterosso al Mare the most, since it has good beaches and night life.

Four days in Rome is fine, although you might cut it to three in order to fit in some of the other places on your proposed itinerary. Naples, Pompeii and Capri (or Sorrento) in two days will probably not work, so you should omit one of them.
Culturally and historically speaking, you should consider going to the Accademia to see the "David" in Florence (plan to purchase your tickets in advance), and while in Rome visit the major Roman ruins and Vatican City (definitely go to the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica).
Be sure to leave time just for fun....walking around, people watching etc. The pizza in Naples is not really as good as some people say it is. I actually had better pizza in the Cinque Terre. Fresh gelato is a must throughout Italy. Look for gelato shops offering homemade, natural, seasonal flavors. There are several excellent gelato shops near the Pantheon in Rome...We especially like Gelateria della Palma, which has a huge variety of fresh gelato flavors, ices and other sweets.
You mentioned flying between Rome and Naples, which is not necessary. Naples is approximately two hours from Rome by train, which is more efficient than going to the airport.
I highly recommend referring to Rick Steves' Italy book. He has excellent information on all the places you plan to visit. Have fun!

You have been given excellent and realistic advice above. No sense seeking advice on restaurants until you have a solid adn workable itinerary.

Count nights, not days. One day in Venice is only possible if you spend two nights there. Pick three stops max for this trip, i.e., Venice, Florence and Rome or Venice Florence and the Cinque Terre, or Rome and Sorrento. It will be HOT so young or not, it will affect your ability to do everything.

Uses trains in country and forget about flying or renting a car.

Something like this might work (I am assuming 9 nights):

Arrive Venice - 2 nights/1 full day. Do not sleep on arrival day until 9:00PM adn make yourselves get up by 6:00AM so you are on local time and can seize the day!

Transfer to Florence via high-spee train. Leave early so you can take advantage of the day. Sleeping late is not on your agenda with so short of a time. Stay 3 nights in Florence/ 2 full days. Skip Pisa, but consider a guided tour to Chianti with Tours by Roberto so you see soe countryside and history.

Now you;ve used up 5 nights. Transfer to Rome on the high-speed train. Stay 4 nights/3 full days. This is barely enough time to scratch the surface in Rome, but you'll get some of that "cultural experience" you are seeking by staying put and exploring the city.

Moving around every night or two will leave you with a blur of dim memories. Slow down. You will be back. By the time you fly out of Rome, you will be planning a trip back.

Oh, and read the Rick Steves Guide cover-to-cover right now!

Adding my own 2 cents to the excellent advice above, Summer. Your itinerary as it stands unfortunately isn't realistic for the time that you have, and you will spend more time getting from place-to-place than seeing much at all. There's also no need to fly from Rome to Naples when the fastest trains can get you there in a little over an hour. But quoting Laurel above:

Count nights, not days. One day in Venice is only possible if you
spend two nights there. Pick three stops max for this trip, i.e.,
Venice, Florence and Rome or Venice Florence and the Cinque Terre, or
Rome and Sorrento.

Yes, count your nights and not your days: it makes a difference when figuring how much time you really have to work with. Consider than you lose about a 1/2 a day every time you transfer to another location so 2 days in Florence is really only 1.5 days: enough to see some of Florence but not enough for any day trips. If your 1 day in Venice is also your arrival day, you'll only have a matter of hours to explore that one.

Very tight itineraries also leave no wiggle room: the one day you scheduled for the CT might pour rain, or the one full day in Florence might be one that the best of the museums are closed.

That said, I'm inclined to go with her suggestion of no more than Venice/Florence/Rome or just Rome and Sorrento. Day tripping to Capri and around the Amalfi Coast will be easier from there than Naples. Pompeii is only 30-40 minutes away Sorrento by train as well, or could be done en route from Rome: check your bags at the site.

The heat will be a factor, and the Cinque Terre will be mobbed; unless you can stay there for a few days - and getting reservations at this late date will likely be a challenge - I'd skip it.

Were you originally intending to fly home from Naples?

This explains a bit more.....

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/first-travel-to-europe-1-month-london-france-italy-spain

I hadn't seen this when I posted my reply in this thread, but I'll try to also offer some comments in the other thread later today when I have some time.

Hi Sunny,
It seems obvious you do not have a clue of the distance between cities in Italy neither of all there is to see and visit.
Are you arriving in Venice? Are you departing from Rome?
If you are arriving in Venice:
I would spend 2 nights (3 days, leaving Venice around 5 pm on the 3rd day) and head for Florence (3 nights) (4days) And the rest of the Time in Rome.
Rome is huge.
You Will come back to Italy, so take your Time to discover architecture, savour food, a good meal takes 2 hours, discover so many différent types of wines coming from so many différent types of grapes and different types of soil (rocky, dry, hot or Warm climate).

In Rome if you want a perfect view of Rome - see the 7 hills etc.
I would recommend taking the elevator to the top of the Vittorio Emanual Monument.
Here is a link:
link to info on the monument and views

From the top you can walk around on your own and take pictures of all the views.
You can look down and see the whole Forum, and across the street is the Colosseum,
We stayed up there for at least 30 minutes looking around reading the info signs and taking
tons of photos.

Summer, look up rome2rio.com to find out how long it takes to travel between locations. The trains are great to move between cities. As others mentioned, we feel you'll be spending too much time moving between sights instead of being able to enjoy the locations.

To answer your food question, there's numerous places all over with great food. We don't remember too many "misses" selecting food. My advice is to look for a restaurant at least a few blocks away from any major tourist site, stay away from places that have photos of the food for their menu, and let your nose point you to the perfect spot. Also, eat later in the evening to mix with the locals.

Thanks so much for all your priceless advices, guys!!! And I apologize for making such a silly mistake of saying "a flight from Rome to Naples" I've mixed it up with my planning for France. Thank you all again for reading my questions and spend time answering it with your most concern.
More info: We're flying from New York to London --> Paris --> Venice and flying from Naples to Barcelona to finish our trip. We have not purchase train passes or flights yet. But once its finalized, we'll be sure to purchase/book for stays, admissions, and transportation in advance.
Here is what we've worked on accordingly and am hoping to hear some thoughts from you guys about it :)
Thanks again!!!!! :)

Venice (Sleep 1)
Day 11: Venice
Basilica di San Marco
St Mark’s Campanile
Rialto Bridge & Markets
Campo Di Santa Margherita corte del calderer
Grand Canal
Cruise (San Marco ← → Ferrovia Santa Lucia)
Piazza San Marco
Gondola ride

Day 12: Morning train Venice → Florence

Florence (Sleep 2)

Day 12:
Santa Maria Novella
Mercato del Porcellino
Piazza della Signoria
Uffizi Gallery
Palazzo Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio
Vivoli Gelato
Bargello National Museum
Via dei Calzaiuoli
Piazza della Repubblica
Mercato Centrale

Day 13:
Piazzale Michelangelo
The Boboli Gardens
Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence
Piazza Lorenzo Ghiberti
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
Piazza del Duomo
Giotto's Bell Tower
Pegna dal 1860
Cappelle Medicee
Riccardi Medici Palace
Galleria dell'Accademia
Mercato Centrale
Da Nerbone

Day 14:
Pisa
1. Piazza del Duomo
Campo dei Miracoli
The Leaning Tower
Duomo di Pisa
Baptistery
Cathedral’s Museum
Cathedral’s Cemetery

Day 14: Afternoon train Florence → Rome

Rome (Sleep 4)
Day 14: Lazy evening

Day 15:
Vatican City
Vatican Museums
pinacoteca painting gallery
Raphael Rooms
Classical Antiquities Museums
Sistine Chapel
Viale dei Bastioni di Michelangelo (Gelato)
St. Peter’s Square
Dome of St. Peter’s
Castel Sant'Angelo
Medieval Trastevere District
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Santa Maria in Trastevere

Day 16: Rome R2
Colosseum
Palatine Hill
Roman Forum
Trajan's Market
Piazza Venezia
Basilica di Santa Maria in Aracoeli
Piazza del Campidoglio
Chiesa del Gesù
Enoteca Corsi for Tea Time
Largo di Torre Argentina
Portico of Octavia (Augustus Walkway)
Marcello Theater
Santa Maria in Cosmedin

Day 17: Rome R3
Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore
Chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria
Piazza Barberini
Piazza di Spagna
Antico Caffè Greco
Piazza del Popolo
Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo
Pincio
Trevi Fountain
Piazza Colonna
Giolitti (Gelato)
La Casa Del Caffè Tazza D'oro
Pantheon
St Maria Sopra Minerva Basilica
Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè
Piazza Navona
Fountain dei Quattro Fiumi
Campo de' Fiori

Day 18: Morning/afternoon train Rome → Naples
Naples (Sleep 3)
Day 18: Naples R1
Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Gabinetto Segreto
Naples Cathedral

Day 19:
Pompeii
Day 20:
Capri/Amalfi Coast (Sleep 1)
Day 21: Afternoon flight Naples → Barcelona

Set your expectations to not accomplishing everything on your lists. You have not allowed any time for °cultural experiences°. If you are really going to try to do all of this, be sure you know the dates and times each site is open and closed. Many people are disappointed when they have one day in a city and find the site they most wanted to see is closed.

Ditto to Laura's post: I don't think it's realistic to expect that all of that is going to get done. If it were me, I'd cut Naples/Pompei/Capri, add those 3 nights to Venice/Florence/Rome, and fly out of Rome. 1/2 day for Venice really isn't worth it, IMHO, and I'd do Pisa as a day trip from Florence or skip altogether.

If you keep the Naples piece:

Day 18: early train from Rome to Sorrento; see Pompei along the way (check luggage at the site). Sleep Sorrento

Day 19: Capri+maybe Positano; sleep Sorrento

Day 20: train to Naples; sightsee; sleep Naples

Day 21: Fly from Naples

I see lots of 11+ hour days, not counting transit time from place to place. Some churches close in the afternoon, and some of those do not reopen.

Some museums do not open before 9 or 10 am, and close by 5 or 6 pm most days.

Hi Summer,
I have just gotten off the train from Naples to Rome - it took 1 hour and seven minutes. We spent 4 days in Rome earlier this month, and it was plenty. The only thing I would suggest is to book a tour for the Vatican and Forum/Coliseum; it makes the experience much more rewarding and less frustrating. Don't take one of the huge tours with more than 6-8 people, if you can't get it or don't want to pay for a more personal tour, then use one of Rick's audio tours.
Don't stay in Naples; stay in Sorrento. If you have to choose between Capri or a drive down the Amalfi coast, skip Capri. Sadly it isn't much more than a big tourist trap/ the scenery along the Amalfi is much better.