5 year anniversary trip!

Some comments:

I count 5 different places (Rome, Naples, Amalfi, Florence, Venice). I think you are moving around too much. I would postpone Naples, Capri, and Amalfi till next time. Then maybe you can plan to be there when the sea is warm.

Pompei(i): if you want to visit the museum (double i) and not just the city (single i) I would leave Rome in the morning. When we were there, we used about 7 hours (including lunch) and you have a lot of logistics: arriving in station, locking up your luggage (have you checked if there are lockers in the station or do you plan to carry it around with you?)

Venice: I think you should add at least one night to Venice. See https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/ for some info.

After Rome I would headquarter in Sorrento-from Sorrento easy day trips
to Pompei, Capri, Naples & Amalfi Coast by train, bus and boat. Sorrento
is a beautiful small city with plenty of restaurants & shopping and great views.

Thank you both for your responses!

Yea I guess I am moving around a whole lot. I hadn't thought about all the logistics of leaving my bags at a station. It would make more sense to do a day trip from Rome to Pomeii. Don't want to be rushing all the time.

I will definitely look into sorrento. Should I decide to keep me current itinerary.

Thank you so much for the informative website

You will probably hear similar comments from other people on this site, but it really is true. Any time you move from one spot to another, it's half a day. Buying tickets, finding your way to the station, finding the right bus/train, getting there early enough so not to miss it and the actual traveling time... I know it's hard to cut cities off of your list (I constantly have to fight that battle myself), but I have learned that often times less is more, especially when that "less" gives you the time to truly appreciate and enjoy whatever city you are visiting.

I just came back from a recent trip to Italy, my second but my husband and kids' first time to Italy. We spent 5 nights in Rome, 3 in Florence, 2 in Siena, and 3 in Venice. I wish we could have more time in every city we went. That being said, we did have enough time to become familiar with each city. I remember the first day in Florence, after dinner (10 pm) we were putting our heads together trying to read the map and deciding how to get back to the hotel, while the whole time we were standing right next to Palazzo Vecchio and it was less than 5 min stroll to the hotel. We laugh about that by the 3rd day in Florence. So give yourself enough time to get familiar with the city, even if it's just the touristy bits. That will really enhance your experience.

Happy planning!

Look at flying multi city, into Naples and out of Venice. This would put your trip in a straight line rather than backtracking. If you do this, make sure you have a mid to late morning flight out of Venice, as early morning flights can mean your transportation to the airport can be very expensive.

Here's what I'm proposing.

Fly into Naples. Take this bus, nice coach, to Sorrento. €10. 1 he 15min.

http://www.curreriviaggi.it/autolinee/images/AUTOLINEE_CURRERI.pdf

Spend 4 nites Sorrento. Easy train to Pompeii Scavi, ferry to Capri, bus or ferry to the Amalfi Coast. Timetables below.

https://www.sorrentoinsider.com

Leaving Sorrento, train (Circumvesuvian) to Naples. Then use Trenitalia.com for trains.
Napoli Centrale to Roma Termini. 1hr17 min. Spend 3 nites Rome.

For Florence, Rome Termini to Firenze SMN 90 minutes. 4 nites Florence.
Try this for your bike ride.

https://www.getyourguide.com/florence-l32/chianti-classic-wine-region-guided-bike-tour-t165905/?referrer_view_id=6fef4c6e88ff6360a329b1383a684c1d&referrer_view_position=2

Last, Venice. Train Firenze SMN-Venezia S. Lucia 2hr5 min.
Spend 2 nites.

Alilaguna or bus to airport.

Since this is to be a romantic trip, I would eliminate Naples and Pompeii and add Varenna on Lake Como. It is one of the most beautiful, romantic places I know. Venice is a close second, but it is a different experience dealing with all the crowds. To fully appreciate Pompeii, you really need to tour the archaeological museum in Naples to see all the amazing frescoes and artifacts they pulled out of Pompeii. Then the trip to Pompeii is a full day of travel and exploring the massive scavi. Not much romantic about that. The Amalfi Coast is lovely, and you would enjoy Sorrento, but you might make the Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Pompeii, Amalfi for your 6th anniversary! Varenna is serene, less crowded in May ( we were there mid May of this year) and easily accessible by train. You could fly into Florence, spend time there, take the fast (Frecciarossa) to Venice, enjoy that romantic spot, take the fast train to Milan then the local train to Varrena from Milano Centrale station, soak up Varenna ( stay in Hotel du Lac) then take the train back to Milan to fly home. From a woman's perspective, that would be my favorite trip. Plan to return to fascinating Italy to explore the central (Rome) and southern ( Amalfi, Pompeii, etc.) at another time. Italy will be tugging at you, I guarantee.

Check flight schedules from Venice to your home airport. For some US destinations flying out of Venice means an alarmingly early departure time, a shockingly early wake-up call, and expensive private transportation to the Venice airport.

One more suggestion. If Varenna becomes a destination, and you stay at Hotel du Lac, book a room with a balcony overlooking the lake!! Take a boat tour to Villa Balbianello or Villa Cipressi. Sit at Bar Il Molo, have a drink and watch the sun set over the mountains. ( The Alps are visible from Lake Como.)

It sounds as if you are short changing Naples. It is a worthwhile city to explore. If you go to Capri, spend at least two nights more.
However, you say your wife’s dream is to ride bikes in the countryside which sounds like Tuscany, Umbria, Piemonte and not Amalfi Coast, Capri, etc.
Rome, Tuscany(or Umbria, or Piemonte) and Venice will more than fill your time and give you a more relaxing Italian experience.

surprise 5 year anniversary trip

Make sure her passport is current, or you may have an unpleasant 'surprise'

Also agree with gerri to do a 'straight line'.

Barb makes a good point to shrink the geographic spread of the trip

First: bravo on this lovely surprise; your wife is lucky and will be thrilled.

You can't go wrong with whatever you decide, as long as you calculate in the travel wisely as others have said.

Our first trip to Italy was Rome, Sienna, Florence. It's a marvelous introduction to Italy with a mix of big cities and countryside. Venice will give you water as a balance.

We've been to other major areas of Italy as well BUT. We just returned from three weeks in the Amalfi Coast and I am now in love. The mix of mountain and water is breathtaking and intoxicating. Positano and Ravello are the two towns I'd return to in a heartbeat.

But again, you will enjoy whatever you decide!

I'll just add that for me half the fun of a big trip is the researching, day dreaming months in advance, especially during crummy weather. So you may want to consider if you are leaving her out of the fun by planning everything. Maybe the surprise could be the initial flight tickets and have her help with everything else.

I would get rid of Florence...that is not a romantic city... The AC and Rome And Venecia are

I do agree with kellis. Mabye make the surprise with Rick's big Italy guidebook. While it is lovely to ask other traveler's advice, you don't want to exclude your wife from this big adventure. She may have ideas all her own. To realize her dream of biking in the Italian countryside may be more important than spending time in a big city. I would not buy plane tickets yet. For a May trip, we start to get serious about prices in early Nov.---6 months out. Half the fun is planning and visualizing yourself in all these wonderful places.

Agree with others--include your wife in the planning. The fact that you have started this so far will be a surprise for her! As a married person, my husband and I sometimes have very different ideas what we would like to do, so we research together and plan...and daydream.....more fun for us.

Enjoy your trip!

I agree with the others about bringing your wife into the planning. Or at least give her the choice to help plan.

Fewer stops make for a more relaxing trip! And I would consider flying into Venice and out of Rome. Many flights to the US leave Venice very early to make a connection somewhere in Europe.
Leaving Venice early in the morning is not as easy as Rome. The other thing is Venice is a good place to get over jet lag, walking strolling and riding the Vaparetto. Without traffic on the island, it just seems more relaxing.

Whatever you decide, have a great trip, and please keep us posted!

Mimi

What a wonderful surprise!! I would land in Rome & go straight to Florence (say May 3 to May 7). I would cut Venice this trip. From Florence you go back to Rome (May 7 to May 11), spent a few days then head to Sorrento or Almalfi coast (May 11 to May 17), visit Pompeii & head back to Rome (on May 17). But I would definitely limit myself to 3 towns. Rome to the Almalfi coast is 3 1/2 hours by train. It really does take a lot out of you & you lose a lot of time. Remember this is like a 2nd honeymoon, I am sure you want it to be relaxing and not like the greatest race. Happy planning! (Some girls have all the luck, lol!!)

Hello!

Thank you everyone for your great advice! I have been finding ways to figure out what would be her dream trip to Italy. Wether having a friend bring it up in conversation during dinner or asking questions in a sly way :). Having the train scheduled definitely help so thank you for that! I am beginning to get a more refined idea for how to execute my plan thanks to you all.

Do any of you have an Airbnb you reccomend in any of the cities that have been mentioned? Or a tour company for the Colosseum and the Vatican? Favorite secret spots?

I am getting really excited planning this.

How about a 1/2 day or full day cooking class together? Also, a boat ride around one of the lakes is romantic (my favorite lake is Maggiorie). I do think you are going too many places. I like to focus on one "big" city and then do 2-3 smaller villages on my trips to Italy. I try to only move 2 or 3 times depending on how long I am staying and flying into one city and out another (open jaw) will save you some time.

Yes, a good idea to think through what SHE will truly find romantic. Just for instance, for one anniversary my husband gave me the correct number of bags of oak leaves he had raked up himself somewhere in our neighborhood (it was more than 30, as I recall), and because I am a gardener and really wanted a lot of oak leaves, I thought this was a really thoughtful, romantic thing to do for me. A bunch of roses would have been anti-romantic because I don't like roses and my romantic partner would know that. We've been together almost 40 years more than you have --- it sounds like you are on the right track to be avoiding travel exhaustion and figuring out what HER dream of Italy is!

Florence has plenty of romantic places to savour, far quieter than Rome.
Florence needs a minimum of 3 days and can also be a good spot for day trips in Tuscany.
For advice on hotels B&B or apartments, it would be nice to know the rates you are thinking of, whether you want a romantic place on the hill of Florence in Fiesole or a palace in the centre

Also tell is the amout of days you have, would you like also to go to the Seaside?

Try Walks of Italy for the Vatican tour among other excellent choices.
We did the early morning Vatican tour last year and it was excellent. Also did their evening tour of St Marks Basilica in Venice, well done and most informative guide and enjoyable.

Thank you again for your responses.

When it comes to rates for florence I am comfortable spending around 200 and below.

I was interested in places in the city of florence as well as outside, but not to far from the town. Although a romantic place on a hill sounds nice..

My only worry with staying away from the center in the country side is getting around. Unless I were to rent a Vespa or small car when I arrive in Florence.

The Amalfi Coast is amazing. I highly suggest to stay in Praiano at La Maurella, it's such a romantic location with views of the Mediterranean sea! You can walk the town and walk to the beach. We were there for 3 nights and it's an easy bus ride to Ravello which is another amazing place to visit. Good luck and enjoy....