5 day itinerary for Rome, Pompei, Florence and Venice

If you must go to Venice and can’t change your flight then head to Venice on your first day. I’d cut Naples or Venice because you don’t have a lot of time. I would not want to train into Rome on departure day. What happens if schedules or train departures are delayed? I’d stay in Rome the last day.

I know you don’t want to hear this but I have to be honest.
You don’t have 5 days, you have 5 nights- which is 4.5 days. Your first half day is jet lag. You need to be IN Rome the night before your flight departure.
You barely have time for 2 locations, much less 4. The days are short in late November.

If you cannot change your flight to leave from Venice or Florence or Naples- then you need to choose 2 locations.

Fly to Rome
On arrival- train to Florence- 2 nights
Train to Rome- 3 nights
Depart Rome.

Fly to Rome
On arrival- train to Naples or Sorrento - 2 nights
Train to Rome 3 nights.

Fly to Rome
On arrival- train to Venice- 1 day gone
Venice 2 nights
Train back to Rome- 3 nights

Why 2 days for Vatican? (I would not do that on arrival day)
No interest in Colosseum, ancient Rome?
Have you been to Rome? Or any of these locations?

Have you researched train options and length of trips?

Is this trip THIS November?

Sorry, but in five days you can't see Rome well enough. Certainly, you can do Rome, Pompeii, Florence and Venice.

You are wasting a lot of time traveling. Stick to Rome or if you insist do Rome and Florence.

This sounds crazy to me. Are you driving or taking public transport?

Rome to Pompei is three hours one way. That's a lot of travel for a couple of hours in the area. And then you want to add in the Amalfi Coast? That's just waaay too much for one day. And the Amalfi Coast deserves more than just a quick drive through (which is not easily doable anyway).

Each city -- Rome,. Florence, and Venice -- deserves AT LEAST three nights and two days. Is your only interest in Florence the two museums you mentioned? Have you looked at the train schedules between these three? Have you considered flying into Rome and out of Venice (instead of returning to Rome)?

day 6 (wednesday) - check out of venice hotel early in the morning and catch a fast train and arrive in Roma termini around noon and take leonardo express straight to airport

There are many a riverboat gambler that would not try do that;

Pick two places and go there first and end in Rome.

This itinerary is past aggressive, it’s apocalyptic. You’re vastly overestimating the time available to you in a day, and underestimating the vagaries of time lost on mundane activities and local travel. Two locations max with this amount of time.

Imo, best option is go straight to Florence on arrival. Two nights in Florence, then last three nights in Rome. Or three nights in Florence, depending on your sightseeing priorities. It will be the weekend, so planning museum visits and negotiating the crowds should be your focus.

Just staying in Rome with a day trip or two would be an option too. Plenty of choices in that regard, like Ostia, Orvieto, etc.

Sorry but you would be crazy to try to do a day trip from Rome to Pompeii on your first full day there. You may be seriously underestimating the difficulties of getting up early when you're jet lagged. Going from Rome to Florence and then to Venice on the same day would give you almost no time in Florence-definitely not time for 2 museums. No way you should try to go to Rome from Venice on day of 3 PM flight-that's a recipe to miss your flight. And you do know you're supposed to be at the airport 3 hours before your flight?

Yep, I know this isn't what you want to hear but the proposed itinerary is beyond aggressive. Keep in mind that Day 1 is only a partial, and could very well be a jet-lagged one at that. Daylight will be short in late November, and you need to be IN your city of departure the night before an international flight lest a transport snag have you missing your plane. There's no way I'd want to be in Venice if flying out of Rome.

As well, the Vatican Museums are closed on most Sundays, and while they are open for a reduced 5 hours on "Free Sundays" (last Sunday of the month), that's the LAST time you'd want to try and see them due to potentially long lines and crowded conditions. Neither do you want to try and do them on a jet-lagged arrival day.

Yes, the Italian State Museums throughout Italy are closed on Mondays, although civic + some others are open.

Pompeii should be saved for a future trip when you can give that one + the coast adequate time. It's a brutal day to do as a day trip from Rome. IMHO. Cost of train tickets is the least of your issues. You say there are 3 of you? Do you have a child along?

Best idea, offered by a previous poster, would be to go directly to Florence on arrival day, spend nights 1 and 2 there, transfer to Rome on day 3, and spend nights 3-5 there. No day trips. If you've been to Rome before, then give Florence nights 1-3 and transfer to Rome early on day 4.

Or fly into Venice, spend nights 1 and 2 there, and then transfer to Rome for the duration.

In short, the best you can do with any hope of quality sightseeing in 4.5 days is 2 destinations, not 3 or more.

eunited, could you please describe (itinerary) your 2019 trip that included Rome, and tell us how it went for you?

I notice this is only your second post in 4 years. What kind of travel have you enjoyed the most?

day 1- 8 AM arrival-- depending where in the US you are coming from, your body clock will be between 11 PM and 2 AM.
If 'Vatican' means the Museums, you will have a very blurred memory of the experience.

day 2- Sunset is before 5 PM now and getting earlier later in Nov. Pompeii alone is an ambitious trip, but going to AC is not remotely feasible

day 3- Have you thought about what you are doing with your luggage while in Florence? Factored in the time it will take to get to/from the train stations; find and retrieve bags from storage; how easy/difficult it will be to find your Venice lodging in the dark?

day 6-- To get to FCO before noon you need to be ON the train before 630 AM And hope nothing goes wrong

...I put together a nice itinerary..

I would substitute 'grueling' for 'nice'

Its your trip, so you get to do as you wish.

For me 5 nights would only be Rome with one morning or afternoon to Ostia. Perhaps a day trip to Orvieto. Move too much and all you will see is the inside of a train. J

Ok, I will play along with the original email. But I also agree that the comments in this thread need to be considered.

This is how i would work your whistle stop tour hitting your points. I will assume you have carry on only.

day 1: (Friday) Arrive Rome train directly to Venice (5 hours) you will arrive at 3.34 most likely. Stay close to Venice S. Lucia train station. Enjoy Venice Overnight
day2 (Saturday) - Stay the day in Venice, you will need it from a long flight
day 3: (Sunday) check out early morning, and see Florence on the way to Rome (Catch an early train 2:15 trip to Florence ). (Catch a late train to Rome 1:35). Stay in Rome overnight
day 4 (Monday) - Rome (Vatican)
day 5 (Tuesday) - Rome (Day trip to Pompeii and Amalfi)
day 6 (Wednesday) - See Rome in the morning (Trevi, Spanish Steps Pantheon, etc ) check out and go to the airport

In theory this is a better flow than what you have, however it is very quick. You get your 2 nights in Venice and 3 nights in Rome..

Plus in theory a day trip to Florence and a day trip to Pompeii.

For others on the Forum, just re-pacing the OP's trip, not commenting too much whether this is for me If the 2 museums are the Ufizzi and Academia, you have a massive day on the Florence stop.

Buying train tickets is not too large an expense, compared to flights accommodation and others. For my trip in Jan, trains are making 8% of my pre travel costs, so not large.

Good luck on what you decide..

Well, most have said it already - this needs vast simplification. My opinion is spend all 5 nights in Rome, and do a day trip to either Orvieto, or Florence. You will be much happier in the long run. If you want to visit the other locations, either extend your vacation, or plan for it on the next vacation.

Glenn

I can’t imagine even attempting this itinerary. If one thing goes wrong (late or cancelled train), then your whole itinerary is out the window. If you are flying in and out of Rome, then just stay in Rome. There is so much to see and do, and you will enjoy yourself so much more if you aren’t packing up every day and running for the next train. This type of trip is best done with open jaw flights, fly into one city, and out of another. This saves you from wasting time backtracking to fly home. If you stay in Rome you may be able to do a day trip to Pompeii, but it would be a long day. Someone else mentioned Ostia Antica, it’s easy to get to on public transit, or you could walk the Appian Way and pop into some sights along there (you may be able to rent bikes for this, also).

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but feel I would be remiss to not offer a word or two. If you try anything like your proposed itinerary you will have, in my opinon, only vague memories of trains and train stations, and very few memories of the things you traveled thousands of miles to see. Moving that much involves not only the actual transit time, but also the time lost while packing, checking out, getting to the train station, finding the right track and ect. Upon arrival you will lose more time finding the hotel, checking in, and unpacking to a degree. You might want to consider staying the entire time in Rome with a day trip to Florence to see the museums. Just offering food for thought.

thanks everyone for the feedback - highly appreciated. I am thinking we will spend the first night in Sorrento (mainly to do the amalfi tour) and then spend the remaining 4 nights in Rome. We will reserve Florence and Venice for a future trip. I am now looking for hotel rooms - contrary to what the description says, lots of hotels I am seeing seem to be nothing more than some rooms in a guest house with one double bed and what seems to be a pull out couch - we are three adults and we need two solid beds (a queen and a twin) - our budget is $150 per day - may be we can stretch it a little more. Are there any recommendations?

Where are you looking?

Booking.com is good
Use the filters for location, price, needs etc

I am thinking we will spend the first night in Sorrento (mainly to do
the amalfi tour) and then spend the remaining 4 nights in Rome

Hmmm. Given the time it takes to get there from the airport in Rome, are you sure you don't want to stay 2 nights on the coast and 3 in Rome? A partial arrival day, at a time of year with short daylight hours, doesn't give you much time at all to explore the Amalfi. You could also do Pompeii on day 3 on your way back to Rome; they have bag storage at the site.

Rooms: Christine's suggestion is a good one as we've used booking.com quite a lot with very good results. Using Friday, Nov. 25th (a guess, as you said you were arriving on a Friday in late November), the hotel we stayed at is out of your range but there are many others, and not all of them call a fold-out a 'bed'. For instance, here's a two-bedroom suite that's within your price range, is centrally located, has very favorable reviews, includes breakfast, and real beds for all. Sorry about the long URL but scroll down to "Two bedroom suite" for description and pix (click on it). $143 for the Friday date.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/suites-sorrento-elegance.html?aid=356980&label=gog235jc-1DCAMo7AFCCHNvcnJlbnRvSDNYA2icAogBAZgBMbgBB8gBDdgBA-gBAfgBAogCAagCA7gCt8WmmwbAAgHSAiQ0NTk4ODI3Ny05ZWUzLTQ1OTktOGI3ZC0zM2QzNmEwZDkxYmTYAgTgAgE&sid=d40c4561a96a5a11ab771be6844aa274&dest_id=-129972&dest_type=city&nflt=distance%3D805&room1=A%2CA%2CA&;group_adults=3;group_children=0;no_rooms=1;checkin=2022-11-25;checkout=2022-11-26;highlighted_blocks=302139902_246065949_4_1_0;atlas_src=sr_iw_btn;from_sr_map=1;from=searchresults;ucfs=1

Editing to add:one of your former posts indicated that you may have been to Rome at least once in the past. If so, what did you do/see on that trip? And who are the other two adults traveling with you this time? Young adults? Older adults? Mix of both?

Agree with Kathy
At best you arrive in Sorrento by 1pm and that’s a generous estimate
You’ll have about 4-5 hours of daylight, really not enough to explore the Amalfi coast

Sorrento is not on the Amalfi coast

we were planning on doing amalfi the day after our stay at sorrento and get back to Rome that evening - if that is too ambitious we may have to stay the second night at Sorrento.

our 2019 trip was just the two of us. this time our adult son is traveling with us. we did the same in 2019 - three nights in Rome and two nights in Sorrento - we did all day capri. Hence we want to do Amalfi now.

thanks for the sorrento link for accommodation - I just need to find a similar one in Rome now.

I still think you are being too ambitious and not allowing enough time to enjoy where you are going.

So, you fly into Rome from the States on Day 1 and immediately drive more than three hours to Sorrento? And then you turn around the next day and drive to somewhere on the Amalfi Coast where you get to spend a couple of hours before driving back to Rome. Whew! I agree with Kathy -- two nights on the coast and three in Rome. At least that way you'll get a chance to actually see something in either Sorrento or Amalfi.

How do you plan to travel along the AC from Sorrento?
Is Pompeii still in the plan?

If AC is most important, you might consider Salerno for 2 nights. Visit Paestum while you are there.
If Pompeii is more important, stay in Naples for 2 nights.
Direct train back to Rome from either.

We really liked Sorrento but it is a further journey from FCO. After an all night flight.
Your time is so short, try to save time in transit/fewer changes.

One thing to also consider places (restaurants, shops etc) may be closed at the end of Nov. we were in Sorento end of Dec and found many places closed for the season. Take a look at ferries too if that is part of your plan. While planning our recent trip. Just got back today from Italy I actually scrapped going to the AC since some places were already closed in early Nov.

How do you plan to travel along the AC from Sorrento?

Yep, this matters. Using your current itinerary, If you plan on using the local buses then you'll be dragging your luggage along en route. Makes it difficult for exploring at stops along the coast. That's why a second night, which would allow you one FULL day and ability to leave your bags at the hotel, would be a plus.