2 weeks in Italy- where should we go?

In my humble opinion, there is nothing more beautiful than the ferry ride up the Amalfi coast from Salerno. Stunning!!! and I would skip Sorrento... I know so many people are hot for Sorrento but, I was not so impressed. My stay was in Positano and when I go back, it will be Positano. Second choice would be Amalfi. Depending upon when you are going, the ferry is very cheap and you can get to most of the beautiful Amalfi coast. Just my opinion, my I feel Amalfi is as beautiful as it gets. If you do Amalfi, go to Ravenna. You cannot go wrong anywhere in Italy as you know (exception would be Naples).

Perhaps she mean to say Ravello. Ravenna is 6 hours north from Amalfi. And I have to disagree about Sorrento, thought it was charming, and they close down the main street at night for strolling, and easy to get to Capri from there.

KLT,

Regardless of the difference of opinions on Sorrento, it's a great home base for touring that area, as it has good transportation links to Naples, Pompeii, Positano and Capri. It also has a good choice in restaurants and other tourist amenities, so I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

Day 1 - Train to Bologna - 5 nights
Day 2 - Bologna sights
Day 3 - Day trip to Parma & Modena
Day 4 - Day trip to Ferrara
Day 5 - Day trip to Ravenna
Day 6 - Train to Padova - 3 nights
Day 7 - Padova sights
Day 8 - Day trip to Vicenza
Day 9 - Train to Verona - 3 nights
Day 10 - Verona sights
Day 11 - Day trip to Mantova
Day 12 - Train to Rome - 3 nights
Day 13 - Rome
Day 14 - Rome

Puglia is less known by Americans, but it depends on when you are traveling. It is not a winter destination, and the beaches are popular with Europeans in the summer, but May-early June and September-October should be great. A car is required. You could easily spend a week in Puglia using 2 or 3 bases to see different parts of the region. You can easily go to Matera in Basilicata, too. The drive from Roma to Lecce, for example, is about 6 hours, so to make all that driving worthwhile, I would allocate at least 5 nights, 6 or 7 is better. The food is magnificent and it is very reasonably priced.

Sorrento is a great base for seeing coastal Campania. We used Sorrento as a base for an entire week to see Naples, Pompeii, the AC drive through Positano to Amalfi Town, etc. Lots of great hiking on the Sorrentine peninsula. Ravello is lovely and offers two historical villas worth visiting.

Uh, David, she said south....

KLT
😊 PUGLIA👍
I have also stayed in Positano and Sorrento. I prefer Sorrento, just an opinion. I just loved both however I think Amalfi is too slow and not much to do the same for Ravello.
I also was looking for something similar last year. I had traveled to most of Italy, including Venice, Tuscany, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Luca, south to most areas around Naples including the Amalfi coast and others in between, but this time we wanted to try some place different. We flew into Rome (have been there 3 times and can't wait to return), picked up a rental car and drove to the Puglia region. Two weeks is a great amount of time to explore this area. We decided to stay at one place rather than 3 or 4 night here or there. This is truly a spectacular less traveled region. Our accommodations were in the town of Cisternino. We rented a truli at the LA Fogliarella B and B (see the website), although there was no breakfast. Which we knew before securing. A 20 minute drive to the Conferama in Fasano where we stocked up groceries and wine. There are many small towns with great restaurants very reasonably priced. During our two week stay we usually had a hearty breakfast then drove around the area chosing a different town every few days with rest pool side in between. The pool is very clean and we'll maintained but the chaise lounge chairs were a little weathered, don't let that discourage you. We cooked a few nights and just enjoyed the "resort". The hosts were very helpful and accommodating. There is a train station in Cisternino and we took the train one day to Lecce, very boroque and lovely. Don't go on Sunday everything is closed as are other small towns, those are rest days. The drive from Rome is very easy but finding your way around some smaller towns could be challenging. The road signs are not what we expect in the states, bring a navagation system or use your smart phone. The beach in Torre Canne is as beautiful as any in the Carribean. We packed a cooler, purchased in the Conferama, with beer, chesse, olives, pepperoni, fresh bread, fruit and wine and enjoyed a fabulous relaxing beach day. You have to rent chairs or bring large towels. The atmosphere is very casual in this region and the people are just wonderful, however, English is not as available as in the more to touristy locations in Italy. You can get the real feel for the Italian culture and people. I hope you consider this region you will not be disappointed.
Lorie

Turn the map upside down.
Just some ideas as an alternative, if you were not to head south.

Have you considered Sicily?

Thank you everyone for all your opinions!

I have actually considered Sicily, however I do not know much about it (i.e. where to go).

I would consider north Italy but I wanted to concentrate on one little area and thought south Italy would be nice (we are also going late May / early June if that helps!).

We are from Australia and love the beach so that is another reason we thought south.

Late May/early June should be great in Puglia, and before the big European crowds arrive on the beaches.

Sicily, as Chani mentioned, is a great idea, but you should devote the entire two weeks -- or at least 10 days -- as it is vast.

To a fellow Australian heading to Europe to enjoy the beaches, I say be prepared for disappointment.
I joke of course, there are some nice ones ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hotels/11235705/The-top-10-beach-holidays-in-Italy.html

Perhaps a week on either Sardinia or Sicily, then a week split between the Amalfi Coast and Rome.

In two weeks, you could spend a few days on the Amalfi Coast, go south to Paestum, easy to Matera, and end in Puglia. Castel del Monte might be worth a visit, too. Puglia has trullo towns but also some hill towns (Ostuni, Martina Franca, Locorotondo, and Trani on the coast).

If you want some ideas about Sicily, I wrote a very detailed trip report from my visit in April-May 2014: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sicily-palermo-caltanisetta-siracusa-taormina

From Rome, you would fly into and out of Sicily (constant service from Rome to both Catania and Palermo airports). If you don't want to rent a car, there are other trip reports on seeing the island without one.

Sicily has it all, from the ancient Greeks and Romans, Normans and Byzantines, of course Renaissance, excellent food and wine - fresh fruit and veggies, lots of fish and seafood, charming villages and beautiful beaches - even by Aussie standards. The only caveat - to see some of the best, you need a car for part of the trip.

Wow, Harold. Just read your trip report--very accurate & gives a good sense of Sicily, even though when we were there in 2010 we only stayed on the eastern coast, from Catania to Taormina, and the medieval villages of Savoca, Forza D'Agro and Castelmola. Yes, Sicilians like to say 'this isn't Italy', but of course, it is. It's just a little different. And quite wonderful.

Back to business. Let's say, KLT, you're flying in & out of Rome, and have 14 nights to work with. Fly Rome to Catania, and start from there. I have not driven in Italy at all, but if I were, Sicily would not be my first choice of places to drive, no way. We took private tours up, up into the mountains, towards Etna, also to see the film locations of the Godfather movies, which was fascinating. And had we driven, even with GPS, I'd have been a nervous wreck. Hairpin turns & cliffs scarier than anything in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, Blue Ridge Mtns of Tennessee or Yosemite Nat'l Park in California. To see all of Sicily, in my estimation it would take much more than a week to do it right, but 5-6 days is much better than not going there.

Thus, I would obtain private transport from Catania airport and base in Taormina, as we did. Explore the history and view the spectacular vistas while taking private daytrips, with tour companies at reasonable prices, to Mt. Etna, Palermo, etc. Fantastic dinners at night, enjoy my favorite cuisine in Italy. Then, even though it would be wonderful to take the ferry across the Straits of Messina to the mainland and take a bus to the caves of Matera in Basilicata for a day or two (hopefully my next trip), it's probably more efficient to fly Catania (or Palermo) to Naples, and chill out on the Amalfi Coast either in Sorrento or Ravello for a few days. In that time, it's easy to visit Naples, Pompei, even Paestum south of Salerno. BTW, we stayed 5 nights in Salerno and that's quite a nice base as well. But the beaches are better on the A.C. Your choice on mode of transport, but I wouldn't rent a car here either. The distracting views are almost as beautiful as Taormina, and the traffic that time of year will just start being horrendous, on and off the peninsula. Trains & buses around here are very efficient, so are ferries & hydrofoils. Best to stick to those.

Then the day before your flight out of Rome, take a train and stay in town overnight just to be safe from a timing standpoint. You never know in Italy!

I, on the other hand, had little trouble driving in Sicily. The best quote I got was from Autoeurope for Hertz. I picked the car up on my way out of Palermo (it was much easier than I'd expected to find my way to the autostrada) and returned it at the Catania airport. I did drive to the airport a couple days before my departure to make sure I knew where it was. It took me about 10 minutes to return the car (mostly waiting in line) and then it was a couple hundred meters walk across to the terminal.

I traveled solo, without GPS or a detailed road map, which led to my only difficulties, twice not finding my hotel in a town (got directions from locals), and once taking a wrong country road (got directions at the next gas station). I drove up to the top of Erice (the cable car wasn't running because of high winds) lots of hairpin turns and nice views but not stressful, just a lot longer than zipping up by cable). I drove up to Etna and didn't think it was at all difficult, driving down was slower because most of the road was fogged in, but it wasn't hard, just slow.

Some of the towns were challenging because of narrow streets, steep hills, and sharp blind corners, but that was a very small portion of the driving. I did not get to Taormina.

Hi! I would suggest you to have a look on this site: http://italyxp.com/en It proposes a lot of traditional tours and original things to do in the main Italian cities. I tried one of the Vatican tour and a cooking class in Rome, really fun and well organized. Also, I read on their FB page about a blackFriday promotion in this days. Hope it can help. Enjoy Italy!