4 weeks to travel London to Naples or Naples to London

Without dissecting all the details of your proposed itinerary, I'm just going to comment on which way to go - north to south, or south to north.

Have you ever been to Europe before? In one of his "Best of Europe" shows, Rick Steves specifically suggested that for someone new to the continent, it's usually best to start in London and work your way north-to-south to (or through) Italy. Why?

First, England is "easier" - English is the default language, Americans (assuming you are) are culturally, historically and otherwise connected to the UK, so it's an easy entry point. Things get increasing different, "foreign", complicated, and even increasingly chaotic the further south you go. So you ease into the more challenging places as you go (as you build up some experience). Also, things get "spicier" (my word choice, for lack of a better term) as you go south. If you start in southern Italy and work your way up to London, by the time you reach the end of your trip, London may feel a bit "like a wet noodle" by comparison (Rick's description). So going north-to-south probably makes the most sense.

Unless you do not do well in heat...

Dates will be more like Mid May to Mid June

Southern Italy can get hot by mid-June (it gets hotter in July and August, but it's all relative). It's impossible to predict, but recent summers have included some serious heat waves. Southern Italy during a heat wave is not my idea of fun (but I'm built for the North).

If you're not accustomed to intense summer heat, you could beat the heat by starting in Italy (in mid-May, there's no great heat to complain about), and when you end in London during mid-June, if there's an early heat wave in Europe, folks might be sizzling in Naples but London would probably be spared the worst of it. If you don't mind some summer heat, then I'd go north-to-south.

Snorkeling with manatees...in Italy?  Really? I learn things every day here...

Some thoughts:
London -Hop on Hop off Bus- you will sit in traffic jams, a waste of time and money! Use the Tube to get around London easily and quickly.
Venice- Why do you list Mestre under Venice? Forget about Mestre, stay in unique, magical Venice, there is nowhere else on earth is like it.
Rome- you left out The Roman Forum.
Florence- Add l’ Accademia to see Michelangelo’s “David”
Innsbruck- replace with Grindelwald in the Berner Oberland..
Naples/ Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Capri etc. Do you really have three full days for all of those amazing places? Priority should be Pompeii. Capri is beautiful but can get mobbed with day trippers.

Sorry, that Stonehenge, Bath, Lacock, Windsor day would not be fun. It would be an endurance race.

what could you hope to see and do in Mestre? All I have ever done there is change trains (many many times) and parked a car (once) opposite the train station. What caught your eye there? There are oil refineries towards the Marghera end if that's what you're looking for.

Looks like it's Naples, Florida for the Manatees! LOL!! 🫣🤣😂🤟🏼

Hi! To do the Walk of the Gods, you need to be in great shape and carry lotsa water. I did it 2 yrs ago and thought I was not going to survive the walk!!. While I admit to not being in good shape, I thought since the walk began at 2000 ft down to nearly sea level, it should be all downhill, easy eh! Trust me it is very difficult. You go up 50 yds, then down 100 yd. It's the uphill part that was the killer. It was not a smooth path like you find in our National Parks, it was walking on uneven surfaces, and stepping up 1-2 ft. every step on the uphill part......exhausting!!!! Only one place to rest and refill your water bottles. Take several bottles, you will desperately need them. To know where I'm coming from, I was 76 yr. old, a little overweight, and walked about 1 mile everyday, some uphill. It was wonderful views, all along the trail, tho. If you're in good shape, go for it, if not, be careful!

In addition to what everyone else has said, personally I would want more time in London, at a minimum 5 days. That will give you time to recover from jetlag and have time to really see London, especially if a daytrip to Windsor is a priority.

We did a day trip to Windsor on our own via train and it was absolutely time well spent, so if it's important, do it on its own and give yourself more time in London itself.

You could also consider Westminster Abbey, a West End show, time in Covent Garden, the Tower of London etc. I feel like you'd be missing some of the highlights of London with the list you have there.

Couple of things I'm seeing right away.
This itinerary:

London; 3 days (give 1 day for arrival jet lag)
June 1 - June 4 (travel to Paris June 4)
Big Ben
Buckingham Palace -changing of the guard
Rent car or Tour (TripAdvisor) for Stonehenge,
Bath, Windsor & lunch at Lacock Pub?
London Bridge
River Thames Cruise
London Bus Tour / jump on and off
Jack The Ripper Tour
Borough Market
Fat Tire Tour?

If you have 3 nights (June 1, 2 and 3) you have AT MOST 2.5 days in London. As you want to reserve June 1 for jet lag - and no idea when your plane would get in - I don't see the itinerary above being possible in two days. As it is you have two trips out of London planned? "Big Ben" is a bell in the Palace of Westminster's clock tower so just a walk-by en route to something else. And yes, it's Tower Bridge you likely mean.

This itinerary:
Train to Venice (Train is 4.5 hours, drive is 4); 2+ days
June 18 - June 20 (Travel to Florence June 20)

You won't have 2+ days fro Venice. Travel will eat up a big chunk June 18, and you're leaving on the 20th so you have 1 FULL day and change. Don't stay in Mestre: stay in Venice.

This:
"Train to Rome (Train is 4.5 hours, drive is 5); 3+ days"
"Fast" trains from Florence to Rome are 90 minutes, not 4.5 hours. And do not drive.

If you leave the Amalfi Coast on July 1, you only have 2 FULL days and change (the hours left after transport from Rome). As well, where are you flying home from? If it's Rome, you want to stay IN Rome the night before your light. Even if flying from Naples, if it's a morning flight then I would stay in Naples the night before. In short, you don't have time for everything on your list.

Very kindly, there are no manatees on the Amalfi Coast. As far as I know, other than an aquarium/zoo, there aren't any in Italy at all. :O)

Although you have limited time in London, the Jack the Ripper Tour might be possible since it's in the evening. I took the one offered by London Walks (a very respected company) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt I was getting accurate information, delivered in an engaging manner, rather than tall tales. London Walks is no asking folks to reserve in advance, but you don't pay until you show up for the walk.

London-
Look at walks.com. You could conceivably do a walk the evening of your arrival. If you want to have great access to London, pick 4 additional besides their Jack the Ripper walk and enjoy! I used them extensively when in London and loved every walk (30) that I went on. Really helped me find my way around on the tube too! As for Bath, Stonehenge and Windsor-hmmmm. Been to all three and I’d save them for a different trip. Stonehenge is small and was a great disappointment to me. Bath is lovely but a little difficult to take in all the good bits on your own. The immediate area around Windsor Castle is charming, but touring the castle itself? Know I’m being the skunk at the picnic but for such a short period of time there, I’d spend it all in the immediate area of London. Hampstead is fascinating and gets you out of the city proper-walks has a tour there too!

Paris-you only have 4 full days there. Arrival and departure days are exactly that. Arrival-get settled in and have dinner-maybe one sightseeing adventure. Departure-pack up and leave as it’s a travel day so you can get to Nice and get settled in. Lots of time in Nice-must be the Riviera calling? Or is Nice a turnaround day? If it is, I bet you’ll decide to spend the time in Paris rather than time on the train going to and from to see Nice in a blur!

Innsbruck-so now you’ve driven what I see as almost an 8 hour drive from Nice to Gossensass or what did I miss in your itinerary between Paris-Nice and Gossensass? Is the calculated drive time of 5+ hours Paris to Gossensass?

Admittedly, this part of your itinerary was a bit confusing.

So then if you’re going from Gossensass to Venice, that drive would be nice, although probably slower than google says. Drop the car at Piazzale Roma?

Venice- one full day! Not enough for anything really. Plan a full 3 days minimum-5nights. Sure, if all you want to do is a round trip on the Grand Canal and see St. Marks, you have enough time.

Florence- also not nearly enough time there. Definitely skip Cinque Terre as it’s a timing factor. Go up to Fiesole instead. Not the same, but a better use of time.

Rome- not enough time. I’ve read over and over again on this forum, 4 full days minimum.

The skunk is getting bolder-enjoying the picnic! Cuz at this point, I’d say skip Naples and Amalfi and add those days to Venice, Rome and Florence if you can. I really feel once you get to those cities you’ll see the allure.

Please do a bit more research on just how much time each of the travel days will realistically take. Adding 3+ hours to the actual travel time might give a better picture. For instance, London to Paris- time to get to St. Pancras, go through security, etc. then once you reach Paris, the time to get from Gare du Nord to your accommodation and get checked in, etc.
Car pick ups and drop offs can really use up hours. Our last rental was in Florence scheduled for 10:00am pick up. We didn’t leave the garage until noon. Several people ahead of us, both dropping off and picking up plus getting the car packed up. It all takes time.

You really want to ENJOY this trip. Bustling about Europe to try to take it all in will surprise you in the end as to what you don’t remember, photos and all. An aggressive itinerary is one thing, overly aggressive quite another.

Just a general statement…don’t book any tours thru Trip Advisor or Viator which they own. Research there but book directly with the company providing the tour. That information is on the Viator booking page.

And I agree with the above comment…please do not try to do Stonehenge, Bath, Windsor and lunch at Lacock. To me Bath or Stonehenge/Salisburyare at least full days, Windsor is 1/2 to 3/4 of a day. Lacock is cute, been there several times but not worth trying to get there for a pub lunch and a short time frame. There are some tour companies that offer the Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath combo and it just seems insane to me. I am very fond of all 3 locations but not in a forced march.

For your Paris plan, it seems like you’ve been there before but Day 1 looks like too much. I’d move the Musee d’Orsay to the Rodin/Cluny day depending on the day of the week. Both Rodin and Cluny are smaller although I’ve not been in Cluny since they reopened in May.

Day 2 looks pretty spread out. Day 4 looks quite light compared to your other days. Perhaps you can move your Day 1 cafe/people watching to this day.

Also for the record, I don’t tolerate heat so I’d be doing your itinerary in the Naples to London direction.

Janet, could you help unravel some confusion here?

In your London itinerary, you mention that you're leaving for Paris on June 4.
In your Paris/France itinerary, you say you have 5 days including arrival and departure, but dates of June 6 - June 9th, leaving Paris for Nice on the 9th. Was that mention of June 6th an error, you arriving on the 4th, and your days 1, 2, 3 and 4 are June 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th?

Nice is June 9th to June 14th? The plan is to drive to Innsbruck/ Gossensas from there on the 15th until the 17th?

If you re-work your plan, it would likely make more sense to do it by nights you'll be staying in any one location, and exact dates instead of "Day 1, Day 2, etc. For example, instead of "Train to Paris (3.5 hours); 5 days (including arrival day and leaving day", do it as:
June 4 - depart London for Paris
June 5 -Paris: sightseeing itinerary
June 6 - Paris: sightseeing itinerary
June 7 - Paris: sightseeing itinerary
June 8th - Paris: sightseeing itinerary
June 9 - depart for Nice.

We all do our plans a bit differently but along with a more accurate look at the time you have, you'll be able to identify any potential conflicts with attraction closures based on those dates. For instance, If your "Day 2" for Paris is June 6th, that's a Tuesday and the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays so you'd need to reshuffle your plan. Does this make sense?