2-week Itinerary in May - Rome, Amalfi Coast, Napoli, Florence, Venice

We were just there in May, 2023. We had unprecedented bad weather - so much rain. The ferries don't run in bad weather, and Positano has a smaller dock and smaller ferries. The dock was actually out of commission a few days because of storm damage. Folks were stranded in Positano, couldn't get out on some days. Hopefully that weather doesn't happen two years in a row.
Sorrento and Salerno are better bases.
Get rid of the 25" suitcase - you don't need that much " stuff".
I'd add a night or two in Venice and take time away from the AC. After awhile , you get tired of the AC chaos and it's such a challenge to move around. There is no efficient transportation mode in the AC. How are you planning to get around if the weather is bad?
Do you have flights and lodging already? Flying into Venice is better than flying out of Venice. Early flights out of Venice are a pain.
You're a bit late for lodging- most folks make reservations 8-9 months in advance. I'd recommend firming up your itinerary and make reservations for lodging asap. There is no shoulder season in the AC anymore- it's packed nine months a year.
Congrats on the pregnancy. With a bit of tweaking, this will be a memorable trip. I do think you need to plan time for naps and a slow down day in the middle. It will be warm in the AC in May. Safe Travels!

It’s a great framework for an itinerary. However, Naples, Florence and Venice seem to be afterthoughts; there are only 3 or 4 days set aside for these three major cities which just is not enough time. Can Naples really be seen on Day 12 if you’re also planning to train 3 hours up to Florence that day? Isn’t Day 13 a blur if you’re planning to tour Florence on the same day you’re switching locations to Venice? And Paestum is a two-hour drive from Positano, traffic permitting. Without a rental car, I don’t know how many hours it will take but one estimate is 4 hours! You might want to spend extra time at Rome’s Pantheon— the best preserved Roman building in the world—and save Paestum for a future trip.
If adding days to the two weeks you have is not an option, I would skip Paestum and borrow a day each from Positano and Rome and allocate those 3 days to the 3 cities that don’t have enough time to enjoy them.
If accommodation rates in Positano are already stratospheric— Atrani is much more reasonable and Atrani is right next to the town of Amalfi with its ferry and bus connections. Have a great trip!

Also note that you could be standing on the regional trains from Naples to Pompeii and Sorrento. We were exhausted after a day in the May heat at Pompeii, and had to stand shoulder to shoulder on a non-air conditioned train to sorrento, which was late, and took twice as long as scheduled. My husband also caught Covid on that train. Mask up on public transportation.
This isn't a schedule friendly to a pregnant woman. Slow down !

Hello emily- welcome to the forum!

Not a fan of all the one night stays!
I can sense your excitement for first trip to Italy but you are trying to do too much.

Each time you change locations you lose at least a half a day.
You have 14 nights in Italy with 6 location changes by my count. That’s a a lot of time spent checking out, getting to train, riding train, finding new lodging, checking in, getting oriented.
A 2 night stay is really only 1.5 days for sightseeing.

Have you booked flights yet?
Have you booked lodging yet?
If so- are any changeable?

Pay heed to Pat’s warnings about how chaotic and time consuming transportation on the AC is.

And get rid of the big suitcase. 20” each plus some kind of tote/under seat bag that slips over the handles should be plenty of packing space. You will thank yourself as you are getting on/off trains/ferries looking for where to put those bags! You can do laundry in sink, or have hotel do it or on one of your longer 3 night stays- find a laundromat- it’s kind of fun.

It is much much easier to fly IN to Venice than out of so that’s the first change I would make.
But Venice needs more time- 3 nights to really enjoy it.

You have this now:
Rome 4 nights
Sorrento 1 night
Capri 1 night
Positano 4 nights
Naples 1
Florence 1
Venice 2

Florence should get at least 3 nights- you like museums. You hardly have more than an afternoon and maybe a morning in Florence- hopefully not on a Monday!

I would drop both Naples and Capri.
If flight is booked then you have to keep Venice I guess. Any chance you can fly in to Venice out of Naples?

Paestum is a fantastic site but you are really squeezing yourselves on that day. I would drop all that and head from Positano to Florence or Venice. It’s going to take most of the day.

I would stay in Sorrento 2 nights. What is it that you want to see in Naples? If it’s the Archaeologic Museum then day trip from Sorrento. You can also day trip to Capri from Sorrento or Positano.

Pay heed to Pat’s warnings about how chaotic and time consuming transportation on the AC is.
Positano is a small dock and more often affected by inclement weather. Amalfi or Atrani are better bases along the coast.
If you haven’t booked your AC/Sorrento lodgings yet you need to do that asap.

Some suggestions:
Fly to Venice
Venice 2 or 3 nights

Train to
Florence 2 or 3 nights

Train to Sorrento via Naples
Sorrento 2 nights- don’t stop at Pompeii- day trip instead to Pompeii then Naples from Sorrento if you must. It will be so much easier without your luggage (Circumvesuviana to Pompeii then to Naples- you can take ferry back to Sorrento)

Ferry or driver to
Positano or Amalfi/Atrani 3 nights 1 day for Ravello & Amalfi, 1 day for Capri, 1 day to chill

Ferry to Salerno- train to Rome
Rome 4 nights
Fly home

OR
Fly to Rome
Rome 4 nights

Train to Sorrento via Naples
Sorrento 2 nights

Ferry or driver to
Positano or Amalfi 3 nights

Ferry to Salerno- train to
Florence 2 or 3 nights

Train to
Venice 2 or 3 nights
Fly home

I’m not a big fan of 2 night stays either but this keeps almost all your locations with fewer changes.

Slow down a bit.

Hi Emily, I paused when I saw the size of your suitcases and that you’re pregnant. Plus it could be hot, and your feet may swell. I would suggest being kind to yourself (& hubby) and switch to just one of those suitcases and add a decent backpack, such as the one I use - a Cotopaxi 35L. (To clarify, the Cotopaxi is what I bring for my clothes, etc. I don’t also have a suitcase.). A lot of hotels have lots of stairs and tiny or no elevators. And you don’t want to be trying to carrying a suitcase up steep stairs, plus the up/down stairs at train stations.

Time for some chopping. Write down all of your locations on papers and throw away two of them. As much as I love Venice, I would drop it from your itinerary. Currently, a full day in Venice and not even a full day in Florence is not worth the transportation time….and I’m a fast traveler. That short amount of time is how people come back from a trip hating Venice.

If you already have flights purchased, my two cents would be to drop Naples, Go to Paestum & stay in nearby Salerno on Day 11, and take the 9:59am train on Day 12 up to Venice that arrives at 3:34pm (this one has no train connections - all on one train). Enjoy Venice for two full days and fly home..

Bad weather on the coast for this time of year is pretty rare. It was gorgeous and calm when I was there. Freak events happen of course, but I would not worry about it. Overall, yes this itinerary includes far too much. You are barely stopping in most places. It is physically a grind. Be kind to yourself. Generous cuts will make this much more enjoyable. Your focus right now is on the Amalfi region, so just keep it there. Drop Florence and Venice. They simply don’t belong on this trip, like… at all. The Amalfi coast is best when you can maintain a little flexibility in your plans. Transportation (and almost anything) seems to take extra time there. It’s not a clockwork place. Take those two nights from Florence/Venice and use them here or bookend with Rome.

You’ve got 7-8 nights for AC. This is good and should allow you to mostly see everything you want. However, I would split your stay between Sorrento (3-4 nights) and Positano. This day where you’re ostensibly seeing Naples and Pompeii en route to Sorrento is somewhere between impossible or masochistic. Stay in Sorrento and give a day to Pompeii. You won’t spend the whole day at Pompeii, but the place is exhausting. Plan on visiting in the morning before it gets crowded and hot. Naples deserves somewhere around a day too. Or a split day between these two, just not on a day you’re traveling from Rome. Capri works fine as a day trip from Sorrento, and seeing it en route to Positano is totally doable. I enjoyed Capri, but did not feel like a night there would be necessary.

Just note that if you’re doing the above, we’ve got you down to 3 (or 4 if you bookend Rome) stays over your original 7. That sounds easier right?

Positano isn’t the best “base” if you’re trying to bounce all over, but if you limit yourself to a couple day trips should serve fine. Hard vote against Path of the Gods. Harder than it looks and less rewarding than it sounds. Take a bus up to Nocelle from Positano and go to Ravello for the same views. Seriously, PotG was my biggest regret here. Definitely wouldn’t do this five months pregnant either.

Lastly, ditch the suitcases. RS has great advice and videos on packing light. Start working on that now. Pack bags and drag them around town with you while you do errands and what not.

Pompeii has possibly the world's largest cobblestones, and the sidewalks are mostly way, way higher than the streets. You'll need to go up and down at times, and I found it quite challenging at 5'2". I'm a lot older than you, but I was not five months pregnant. I recommend spending some time reading about the highlights in Pompeii, looking at a map and figuring out how you might reasonably manage to see as much as you have energy for. You won't know until you get there exactly what is open on the day of your visit; there will be a list posted so you can avoid taking a long walk to something that's closed. You'll be given a map at the site, but you should be able to download one to your phone ahead of time.

Herculaneum and Paestum are much easier to navigate than Pompeii as well as smaller.

Three quick suggestions:

If possible, fly into Venice and back from Rome. Flying back from Venice is usually harder than from Rome due to the problem of getting to the airport for an early morning flight.

Traveling by train with suitcases that large will be a problem. Try to use smaller, easier to handle luggage.

And finally, consider slowing down. Your itinerary is doable, but I'm afraid you'll be completely exhausted by the end of the trip. Italy is to be savored, not gulped.

You have good replies. I concur that otherwise undistinguished Sorrento is the best base for daytrips. I'm puzzled at your focus on the AC area and neglect of (for example) Venice. Your screen name suggests you might be from the Pacific Northwest, one of the many places in the US that has better beaches than most of Italy. My comments are colored by fact that "seeing" Positano was a must for me, but I was greatly disappointed, and two hours there were plenty. No question that Ravello is beautiful, but it's a time-consuming visit.

You are underestimating how difficult travel is on the AC itself, and May is plenty busy already. It is late to book hotels for May, 2024 already. Air conditioning is very important in May in this area (Opinion.) I have never taken a ferry in Positano, but I understand (and have seen) that the dock only accepts the smallest ferry boats. (our Sorrento-Capri ferry carried several hundred passengers (and cars and trucks) in the last week of May.) That means fewer seats and more weather sensitivity.

Our host, Rick, has written in his books that in high season, it's not uncommon for the bus back to Sorrento (from Amalfi) often skips Positano in the afternoon, because it is already packed to the rafters and cannot accept any more passengers. So recommends that Sorrento sleepers visit Positano first, and go home at the end of the day from Amalfi (where the bus originates.) I know you're not sleeping in Sorrento, I'm telling you a story about sleeping in Positano and making day trips!

It is perfectly true that many people write "Ooooh, you must sleep on Capri to experience it." I happen to disagree, but you have too many one-night stays. Do you have an understanding of the "overhead" of changing hotels and locations?

Venice or Florence either need more time, or I'd drop one. I'd personally pick 1 place at the Amalfi Coast to stay (either Sorrento or Positano) and then head to Florence after that or remove Venice. I toured Europe a decade ago when pregnant, it is hot and exhausting, but we had a great time. I'd also try to reduce the 25" bag if possible.

Is the original poster still around? There hasn't been any response to the many well- written suggestions.

THANK YOU all so much for the helpful replies! I've read all of the comments carefully and made a few adjustments to the itinerary. We are going to (1) have one more night in Sorrento (-1 from Positano) for Pompeii day trip, (2) skip Naples and stay in Salerno after the trip to Paestum, (3) pack lighter, and (4) be physically and mentally prepared for incremental weather.

I also considered arriving in Venice and leave from Rome, but the award flight availability is not ideal. Our flight departing Venice is around noon, so hopefully going to the airport won't be a big issue. We love traveling by train and we can generally rest pretty well on the train. I'll make sure to pack locks, book train tickets in advance, and use Campania Express is possible between Naples and Sorrento.

We thought about making Capri a day trip instead, but neither of us are morning person so getting up early and leaving the island by 6pm will be a big disappointment for us. We are thinking about extending the trip by one day, so we can have extra time in Venice or Florence. I already have a list of hotel with their availability confirmed, so we can pull the trigger once we are set with the itinerary.

I have not slept on Capri, but make sure your hotel tells you about baggage handling, explicitly. Also check vertical elevation of the Positano hotel, and their baggage handling. Much of Capri is 100% pedestrianized, and even Masters of The Universe can't take a gasoline taxi right "to" their hotel. Walking on Capri is essential, and can get very hot. Carry plenty of water, of course you can buy more.

Note that when you buy your Capri ferry ticket, they will try to sell you your return, which is probably a good idea. Make sure you have a printed itinerary to show them to make clear that you are returning to Positano, not to Sorrento, I mean like with the hotel address. Try to find a bulletin board (??) at the Capri harbor to tell you where your departing ferry leaves from, it won't be the same slip as you arrived at. We had to sit on the floor when we returned from Capri, not even the last ferry of the day.

Emily, thanks for sharing your trip modifications, I'm sure you will enjoy travel more with a lighter itinerary. Keep us posted as your plans evolve. Safe travels!

Less, Less, and LESS.

you will go back to Italy.
Each change of location requires a day. Packing up, getting to the train/airport, and then getting to your next location.

think about one day to get there, one day or two to explore, and one day to get to the next destination. Using thing method will shorten your trip but will make it exceedingly more enjoyable. don't spend all of your time in transit or checking into the next hotel/hostel.
hope you enjoy your trip.
Remember, time spend in the train/airplane is not connecting with the place you want to go.

I also considered arriving in Venice and leave from Rome, but the award flight availability is not ideal. *Our flight departing Venice is around noon, so hopefully going to the airport won't be a big issue*.

This won't be an issue- its the really early flights- before 9am that are problematic.

We are thinking about extending the trip by one day, so we can have
extra time in Venice or Florence.

YES!

Good changes!

So…
Rome 4
Sorrento 2
Capri 1
Positano 3
Salerno 1
Florence 1 or consider dropping- it just needs more than 1-2 nights.
Venice 2–3 add night here

You have a nice amount amount in Rome, AC area. 4 changes already but well- that’s the way it goes there.
11 nights so far. Are you going to want to change hotels 2 more times?
Is this supposed to be a chill vacation?

Consider 2 nights in Salerno (much calmer/real there than AC villages, also budget friendly) then train to Venice for 3 nights 6 ° train.

The Positano to Salerno to Paestum is a long day. You said you are not morning people. Get a ferry at 11ish. No rush.
Just go to Salerno- spend night, see historic center, eat gelato, walk the lungomare, join the passiegiatta,
Train in am to Paestum- it’s a full day. Buy your RT tix at Salerno station. There is only a kiosk at Paestum, often doesn’t work.
Check train time carefully. As I recall, there are a few trains from Salerno to Paestum in am- then a gap til 2 ish?
Trying to make one of the am trains coming all the way from Positano is going ot be difficult anyway.
Drop your bags at you Salerno hotel and spend the day there. They will hols your bags til check in.
We stayed at Hotel Monstestlla- simple, modern, right on the corso, good bkft, inexpensive and 5 min or so to train, 1 min from ferry.
https://montestella1914.it

Have dinner at Mythos and Gelato at Bar Nettuno.
Do a Search for Salerno and Paestum. There’s a lot of related threads/recommendations.

Florence 1, Venice barely 2 is what somebody said above “a bit of an after thought”
Pick one or the other, flying out of Venice makes that cut/decision easy.

Plan to visit Florence & Tuscany hill towns with your toddler.

Piano! Piano!

Thank you Christine!

After reading your reply, I noticed that I mistakenly missed one night in Florence when I wrote this post based on my itinerary planning spreadsheet. We are staying two nights respectively at both Florence and Venice, and we are considering adding one more night in one of the location, making the whole trip 16-17 days long.

For the Paestum trip from Salerno, yes, there's no train between 9:30a and 1:30p. We can arrive Salerno 11:30, have lunch, then head to Paestum at 1:30, return 7p-ish, walk around Salerno and have dinner + gelato. Hotel Monstestlla looks really nice, but it doesn't seem to be available this May on every site.

Broadly speaking, this trip will be our last big and packed international trip before the family expands. It could be challenging to have busy travel schedule with young kid(s), so we want to burn our crazy travel energy with this one. This is the underlaying reason why the initial itinerary is so packed.

Kind of a general question, how's the B&B quality around Amalfi Coast? I'm eyeing a few B&Bs in on booking.com with 9.0/4.5+ ratings on booking.com and google. All of them family-run with a few rooms and have decent official website. Are they usually as good as the pictures and the reviews or I should be cautious about it and book hotels instead?