3 weeks in October 2017

I wonder, why you prefer to stay outside of Venice? Doing so would involve a daily commute by train or bus, which would make being there really early in the morning or late in the evening, when the crowding has abated, much more difficult. I think you'd be much happier staying in the city.

Your plan is good. 3 nights in Venice is good. Stay in the historical center.l
VE S. Lucia to Firenze Santa Maria Novella is 2 hours by train.
Florence 3 nights is good. Rent a car in Florence after your 3rd night there and head out. Try to find a location in a small town or countryside somewhere near Siena. Along the Freeway Florence-Siena is good.
No need to go back to Florence to return your car. Too much hassle and backtracking. Rather, return your car in Rome. Car rental locations near the Tiburtina station are easy to reach from the freeway (Tangenziale Est-A24). There are also other locations on the north side on via Salaria, if you prefer.
Take a taxi from the rental car return to your Rome accommodations.
Not sure you have enough time for the Amalfi Coast. If you have less than 4 nights it may not be worth the trouble. If you go, drive there from Tuscany. Then drive back up to Rome for your last nights before flying home. Always leave the city you depart from for last.
Rome deserves 4 nights, or at least 3 nights at the very bare minimum (but that would be rushing it). So plan your nights and see if Amalfi Coast is doable.

these are some great ideas. Do you mean rent the car in Florence- then return it in outside Rome?? Doing the Amalfi by car then Rome sounds like something we hadn't thought of. Didn't know about Venice. Will look at staying in the historic district. Love these suggestions, keep em coming. What do you think weather will be like the last three weeks of Oct. We could go beginning or middle of Oct.

Just another thought. If you decide against the Amalfi coast, consider staying in the Veneto longer and make day trips to Padova and Verona. Very easy by train with frequent service to both cities. Remember when planning that cars in Europe are normally smaller than in the US. Consider this with 4-5 travelers plus luggage. I was in the Venetoin late October and the weather was in the low 70's daytime and low to mid 50's at night and, thankfully, had no rain.

That would be perfect weather as long as it didn't rain much. That sounds possibly better- staying longer in Venice and doing day trips without luggage. We don't want to put too much in. We don't want a hectic pace.

I have questions! And suggestions ☺

First, why are you doing the planning if you're the only one who hasn't been? I'm not trying to be abrasive, just curious. Is the idea that since you haven't been, you get to choose? Which places are new to the others? (BTW I love your "young 60's" description)

Trains are great in Italy and very comfortable. I'd only take a car for places that I can't get to by train. Have your friends driven in Italy? There are so many caveats. And 4-5 in a small car isn't very comfortable and a larger one can be difficult to maneuver and to park.

It sounds like a week in Tuscany including Florence, a week in Venice and Rome and a week to fill - certainly enough time for the AC. I meant Amalfi Coast, but typing AC reminded me that Italy can be pretty warm in October. I got by with a table fan in Venice but I was mighty glad to return to an air-conditioned room in Florence in mid-October. Farther south, probably warmer.

Venice - 3 nights minimum and stay in the city - there are lovely areas away from the most "touristy" spots. I would not use Venice to day trip for two reasons. First, it's expensive to stay in Venice; second, it can take a long time to get to/from the Santa Lucia train station. If you want day trips to Padua, Ravenna, Verona, Ferrara, Parma (the list goes on), stay in Bologna and take the train. Easy-peasy and great food in this very charming town.

Tuscany - do you really need a car? Where do you want to go? You can day trip by bus or train from Florence to other Tuscan towns without worrying about how to get to the "off-limits-to-cars" historic centers.

If you include 5 nights or more around the AC, then go there from Florence (maybe drive if you do take a car and drop the car when you get there, maybe Sorrento or Salerno). You want to be in Rome at the end of your trip, so you might as well visit there last and not have to look for rooms for one night. You will use the better part of a day getting there from Florence and another 1/2 day or more getting to Rome.

Most people don't want the hassles of driving on the AC. I'm planning to try it in February when there's virtually no tourism so I'm expecting the roads to be fairly empty. I'm discovering that even in off-season, parking can be an issue. Where to stay depends on what you want to do. If you want to visit the AC towns, stay there. But if you want more variety - Pompeii, Herculaneum, Capri, Naples - Sorrento has much better transportation connections for day trips.

My first but the others third trip.

Hi Mary -
Like Chani, I'm a little confused and wonder if we're either misunderstanding the statement above or there's some useful information missing. Did you mean that the others have traveled together 3 times but not yet to Italy, or that the others have all been to Italy 3 times before? If so, where did they go and how did they do it? I find it odd that they don't seem to know anything about the top 3 cities (Venice, Florence, Rome) if they'd been to Italy in the past?

It would also be useful to know what sorts of things you all want to do/see on this trip? For example, how long to stay in Rome and "how best to do it" depends on how much interest you have in what it has to offer. 4-5 different people may have very different ideas about how they want to spend their time.

For Tuscany (Florence is in Tuscany, BTW) and other parts where you're considering a car, a plan which offers as much individual autonomy as possible - meaning not staying in locations where a car is necessary and everyone has to do everything together - might be a consideration. Also, different members of the group may not operate on the same sort of personal schedules; late sleepers may have early risers sitting about twiddling their thumbs. Being within easy access of things to do on foot or via public transit - like daytripping to other locations - would best accommodate those differences.

Individual stamina levels are also a factor. Do some members of the group wear out more quickly than others? Do some have more difficulty than others with lots of stairs or steep climbs?

Taking all of the above into consideration and assuming that no one in the group has been to Italy before, I'd skip the car and maybe spend 3-4 nights in Venice (absolutely stay IN the city), 5-6 nights in Florence and take some day trips by train/bus, 4 nights in the Amalfi/Sorrentine area (Sorrento is a good base for transit) and the balance in Rome. Alternately you could shave a night or two from anything but the Amalfi for a short stay in a smaller town like Lucca or Orvieto.

I am one of the young 60's and have been to Italy before. I have been to Florence, stayed in Cortona and drove all over Umbria and Tuscany. I, and the others have not been to Rome or Venice, thus we are seeking advice as how best to plan our trip. I like Roberto's idea of renting a car in Florence and leaving it in Rome. I have used the trains and they are a great way to get around. If we could do this without a car, I'm game to give it a try. Most of you mention staying in Venice. Do you have recommendations as to a specific hotel? We also considered renting a home in Tuscany and day tripping from there, north to Venice and south to Rome, via train. Any assistance is greatly appreciated! Ciao!

suzchad, not sure if you are saying you'd try to day trip from an Airbnb in Tuscany to Rome and Venice? I'm a little confused. If yes, I would definitely stay in each of those places and not try to day trip to them. They are worthy of staying on their own and that's a LOT of backtracking, especially considering the wonderfully long timeframe you have to work with (you guys will have so much fun!).

I would definitely spend my nights in Venice itself and not outside of Venice. I hate losing time moving around so we always stay central to sights. It's lovely there, especially at night.

The others are correct about rental car size - I would recommend packing lightly to be able to fit all your persons and luggage as well.

As a potential starting point: 3 nights Venice, 3 nights Florence, 3 nights northern Tuscany with car, 3 nights southern Tuscany with car, 5 nights AC, 5 nights Rome. That's 22 nights...what's your max? I suggest splitting your locations in the Tuscan countryside so you can spend less time backtracking. It looks like there is a 3-hr fast train from Florence to Naples so that could possibly be a quick way to get to AC? I have no experience there so hopefully others can help more.

Far too far to commute to either Rome or Venice from rural Tuscany and see much.

If you are leaving from Rome, why wouldn't you stay in Rome? You certainly wouldn't want to try to get to FCO from Tuscany on the same day.

There are thousands of hotels in Venice, many of which are suitable for most people. Can you give a bit more of what the 5 of you collectively want out of a hotel, specifically in Venice? I visit Venice - one of my favourite places - once or twice a year almost every year. Depending on my budget that trip and our desires for the trip I either stay just off the Grand Canal at the Best Western Ala, with the nuns at Don Orione Cultural Centre in Dorsoduro, overlook the Rialto Market in a 13th century building at Pensione Guerrato, overlook my favourite part of the Grand Canal with a picture window in the lounge at Ca' Angeli or stay as my parents used to do at the Westin.

All completely different one from another, and all of which I would be perfectly happy to stay in any day of the year.

Oh yes, and not suggested in any way for people who are not returning after many visits, sometimes when I drive from home I stay in Quarto d'Altino on the Sile River at Villa Odino, now poshed up as the Hotel Borgo Cà dei Sospiri. Don't stay other than in the main islands of Venice this trip is my advice.

Far too far to commute to either Rome or Venice from rural Tuscany and
see much.

I'm with Nigel: besides the distance and expense (fast-train tickets are not inexpensive on a whim) there's too much to see in both to cover in day trips. We've stayed a total of nearly two weeks in Rome over several trips and have only scratched the surface. As none of you have done these cities, I'd stay at least 3 nights in Venice and 5 in Rome.

It looks like there is a 3-hr fast train from Florence to Naples so
that could possibly be a quick way to get to AC?

Yes, you can get to Naples from Florence in 3 hours but Naples isn't the Amalfi Coast. To go on to Sorrento - which isn't the Amalfi either but on the edge of it, and a good hub for train/bus/boat transport around the region - you must change at Centrale/Garibaldi to a regionale train which takes another hour to 70 minutes or so. I would agree with a previous poster that the AC isn't an area in which I'd personally want to mess with a car.

(edited for a typo)

Going to Salerno by fast train might be another option.

Salerno is an option unless Sorrento is going to be the base. It takes considerable time by boat or Sitabus to get there from Salerno, and bus might also be the only option around the AC on rough-sea days when the ferries aren't running. That doesn't occur frequently but it does happen.

What to choose for a base in the AC region can depend on what one intends to do/see. Sorrento can be the better choice for plans which include trains to Pompeii, Ecolano (Herculaneum), Vesuvius, or a combo which include may the archeological museum Naples. It's also the best choice for jet boats to Capri as they take a lot less time than from Salerno.

Day trips to Naples are very efficient by train from Salerno, Paestrum is easier from there than Sorrento, and Pompeii is also easy by train.

SITAbus service around the AC is available from both as are ferries during their season and when weather permits. Ferries may be more numerous/frequent from Sorrento but schedules aren't available to check during the off season so I can't swear to that.

(edited the above to specify ferry schedule availability)

Anyway, there are pluses, minuses and toss-ups for either base, and no wrong answer depending on personal preference. Accommodations in Salerno are rumored to be less expensive than Sorrento as it's not as popular; not a bad thing either.

Salerno has a nice pedestrianized area just outside the train station. There is a bus to Pompei's archeological zone. Ferries stop at many different ports, depending on the ferry line.

Mary,

Here is the itinerary 2 friends and I used last September.

1. Travel.

2. Arrive Venice. Buy bus and 72 hour vaporetto tickets @ airport.

3. Venice

4. Venice.

5. Train: Venice-Florence.

6. Florence.

7. Florence.

8. Rent car, drive to Tuscany.
   Maybe stop in Greve on way
   To Castellina in chianti. This agriturismo is about a mile outside of town and 15 minutes from the Firenze Siena autostrada.
   http://www.collelungo.com/en/

9. Castellina. Day trip. Monteriggioni and Siena.

10. Castellina. Day trip.
    San Gimignano and Volterra.

11. Check out of lodging.
    Drive to Montepulciano. Either spend the night here or 1 hour drive to Orvieto. Beautiful in the evening after day trippers have left.

12. Morning in Orvieto.
    Drive to Sorrento. (4hours).
    Stop at Autogrill along the way.
    Sorrento. Drop car.

13. Sorrento. Day trip. Amalfi and Positano.

14. Sorrento. Day trip. Ravello and Atrani.

15. Sorrento. Day trip. Pompeii Scavi or Ercolano.

16. Check out. Circumvesuvian to Naples. Drop luggage at baggage deposit, metro to Arch.Museum. Or other sites.
    Late afternoon train to Rome.
    Rome.

17. Rome.

18. Rome.

19. Rome.

20. Rome.

21. Travel home.

This was a fairly easy pace, but a good mix for my friends who had never been.

With 4-5 of you look for two bathrooms in apartments.

Some sites we have used, booking.com. Cross-pollinate. Com. VRBO.com Tuscany Accomodations .com

Remember sunset hours.
Oct. 1 6:44.
Oct. 28. 6:02
29th 5:01

Gerri,
Thank you so much for sharing your itinerary. That is sooo helpful. Is is quite easy to rent a car in one place and drop off in another?? It sounds like wwe want to do a very similar trip to yours. Did you love it. Would you do anything differently or drop anything offf to give yourself more time somewhere else. This is super helpful. I have used both booking.com and vrbo. Have never heard of cross pollination. Will check it out. What are some of the things you just wouldn't have missed???
Mary

Renting in one city and returning in another is quite common. The only problem you may encounter is whether a company has offices in both cities. Autoeurope.com is a good place to start looking. They are a consolidator and sometimes their rates are cheaper than going directly to a rental company, but sometimes you can get a better deal directly. Do read the fine print because sometimes the Autoeurope quote doesn't include certain fees but the rental company's does. Another good place to check in gemut.com. First of all, there's a wealth of information for first-time drivers in Europe. Second, while you can't get an on-line quote, they are based in the U.S. so you can phone them easily. Others have reported good success booking through them.

Then, be creative in your thinking. If you want to take the car in Florence and drop it when you get to Positano, that probably won't work. But you may have several options if you leave the car in Sorrento or Salerno or even Naples.