We need some guidance. My Husband, I and my 18 year old son will be heading to Italy in the middle of June next year. We will have 10-12 days. We would like to do Rome, Venice and the amalfi coast. We don't want to rush and have narrowed it down to those three places. Is this too much? If not what would be the best travel plan?
Thanks,
Sam
1) Are open jaw tickets into Venice and out of Naples (or vice versa) an option for you?
2) When you say The Amalfi Coast, describe what that means to you, i.e., a few days of seaside relaxation, or lots of sightseeing day trips--Naples? Pompeii? etc.
Yes, I think that would work. Fly "open jaw", that is into one city and out of the other. Have your last destination be where you fly home from. I'd look into something like this :
Fly into Venice, 3-4 nights.
IF you fly home from Rome
after Venice go to Amalfi for 3-4 nights (a long travel day but doable by train, could also get a cheap flight to Naples)
train to Rome, 4-5 nights, fly home from there.
IF you fly home from Naples then:
train to Rome 4-5 nights
train to Amalfi 3-4 nights
home from Naples (this will take a little time to get to the airport, don't book a crazy-early flight)
I don't think it's too much, if that's 10-12 days actually IN italy. It will be more rushed if those include the 2 transatlantic travel days.
Flying open jaw (multicity) will save a lot of time. Fly into Venice and stay 3 nights. Fly to Naples and then train or bus to your Amalfi town and stay for 3 nights. Then train to Rome for the rest of your stay and fly home from there.
Thanks for the fast responses!! Yes open jaw tickets are possible, although are they traditionally more expensive? We definitely would do sightseeing to Pompeii from the Amalfi coast area but did not have any other ideas yet.
If you want to focus on the Amalfi Coast, Salerno is an excellent base, the easiest place to get to because it's served by the fast trenitalia trains. There are even a couple each day that go straight to/from Rome and bypass Naples. From Salerno you can get to the AC towns by bus and by ferry, and to Pompeii by train. You can also visit the Greek temples at Paestum by bus or train. If you want to focus on the archaeology (Pompeii, Herculaneum, Naples) and Capri, Sorrento is a little better or if you are ready for a little reality, stay in Naples - best access to the archaeological sights and there are ferries to Capri - but the AC towns are too far for a day's visit.
I think the 3 locations are doable if you have 11-12 nights on the ground. with less, I'd drop the Amalfi Coast as too much wasted travel time there and back but maybe fit in Naples.
I have never found open jaw to cost more, but as others helpfully added, you could fly from Venice to Naples, then do Rome last if that flight works out better. You can also see Pompeii en route.
I would only do all three with 12 days. There are just so many beautiful places to see within reach of all three, that I don't like to spread myself too thin.
Open jaws may cost a touch more than a straight round trip, but remember a. you are saving time to see more rather than travelling back and b. you don't have the cost of transportation back to the original city in the form of train fare or rental car day. So you get more time and may actually save money even if the plane fare is a bit more.
We do open-jaw tickets for most of our European trips. Often times find them cheaper but it just depends on the cities and time of year. Into Venice and home from Rome would be you best option. Flying home from Venice generally requires very early flights connecting somewhere else in Europe. Rome has a lot of conveniently timed, direct flights back to the US. Besides Rome is a terrific place to end your Roman holiday. Throw your coins into the fountain. As previously recommended Venice, Amalfi Coast, and Rome is you most efficient route. Easily and cheaply done (advance train ticket sales) via the train.
I am not sure where others find Open Jaw tickets cheaper than Round Trips (if using frequent flyer mileage they are often the same I would say).
In your case I would expect you will find the cheapest option from the us R/T to Rome.
Milan is sometimes the cheapest Italian option to fly to but won't help you, Rome probably second.
For the most time on the Ground the best plan would be to fly to Venice first, go to Rome from there and then fly out of Naples after the Amalfi Coast.
I would be shocked if you can find a Venice/Naples flight as cheap as you can find a Rome R/T you also may be able to get a direct flight into or out of Rome but will need a connection for Venice or Naples.
Back to the plan at hand. 3 nights Venice, 4 in Rome and 4 in Positano would for me be the best plan based on 11 nights in Italy.
Open jaw in my experience is a little more than r/t but balanced by extra transport back to the first city. ESPECIALLY if you need an extra night at a hotel near the airport, like if you ended in Amalfi but had a flight home from Rome the next day.
You need to book it as one ticket - 2 one way trans-Atlantic flights are often ridiculously expensive. Open jaw booked together is quite reasonable.
Instead of everyone guessing and making assumptions about open jaw tickets, here are some actual numbers. Used Denver as a departure, mid-week and mid-May.
RT Venice $1120
RT Rome $1140
in Venice/out Rome $1144
As I posted earlier we often find OJ tickets cheaper but in this case it varies by max of $24. Hardily worth arguing about. In my opinion, the open jaw tickets are almost always the best way to go unless you staying put in one general area.
"Open Jaw" is not a term you will ever find on an airline or travel website. It's always called something like "Multiple cities" or "Multiple destinations." Some people don't realize this and think incorrectly that they need to buy two one-way tickets, which can indeed be MUCH more expensive.
Michael is correct. Open jaw jargon goes back to the old days of travel agents and was a common term then. I should remember to use multi-cities as that is the box on most airline sites. The other thing that I have found is that it can be much cheaper if you have multi flights is to book all at the same time. We recent did a US five leg trip over a ten day period that was far cheaper than another other arrangement -- Denver - Charlotte, Charlotte - Tampa (4 days later), Tampa - Atlanta (2 days later), Atlanta - San Antonio, finally home to Denver. Using multi-cities flights tied together tends to get over looked when booking flights. The same works in Europe if doing several flights. The savings can be substantial.
Day
1. ARRIVE Venice (3N)
2. Venice
3. Venice
4. Train (via Florence) to Sorrento (4N)
5. Sorrento / Capri
6. Sorrento / Pompeii
7. Sorrento / Positano
8. Train (via Naples) to Rome (4N)
9. Rome
10. Rome
11. Rome
12. DEPART Rome
Less is more. Spend more times in smaller town and get a fell of the evening. Very different from the day time feel of the City. Three maybe four day of your trip. Rent a car and get lost. Wonder around a town and get a feel of Italy.
John
Rent a car and get lost
With the cost of fuel in Italy being about 3 times the cost of what it is in the U.S., that is not a suggestion I support
I like David's outline. If you are going to do all 3 destinations your need at least 12 days
Rent a car and get lost.
Renting a car should be the LAST thing the OP should do for any of their planned destinations! You can't drive a car in Venice. The Amalfi area is better navigated by bus/ferry/train. And driving in Rome.....just plain nutz. I think public transport is the best solution for this particular itinerary and time frame.
Getting lost with a rental car is a good way to get the "Italian Surprise" a year later. Not a good plan or recommendation. Stick to public transit.
