9 Night Itinerary Please Help

Just returned last month from a 17 day trip that included all of your destinations and a couple of others. My thoughts:

The Amalfi Coast seems like an outlier here, plus you definitely do not want to rent a car while there. I would choose Cinque Terre.

Would also recommend choosing one destination in Tuscany and combine those nights there. We stayed in the Val D'Orcia, which we loved, but somewhere in Chianti would put you closer to the other destinations (Siena, Florence). Plus you could drive through the Val D'Orcia on the way. The best part of our Tuscan stay was just relaxing at our agriturismo, having lunch in some small villages, and just soaking up the scenery, food and wine. A vacation from our vacation, so to speak.

So maybe change to

Arrive Rome, head to Chianti for 4 nights with your day trips, find a wonderful spot in the countryside and chill
CT for 2 nights
Train to Venice for three nights

Just my 2 cents!

Great points thanks so much. One additional idea which would break up the train trip to Venice from CT would be rent a car in FCO, drive to Tuscany for 4 nights, drive to La Spezia and drop off car. Stay just one night in CT, train to Florence and stay the night in Florence, the following day train to Venice to 3 nights. That would take care of my day trip to Florence and train travel problem, but at the expense of one less night in CT and another night of packing/unpacking..?

If you're flying into Rome from the US or Cannada, it's really not a good idea to hop in a car and drive to Tuscany. You may well be sleep-deprived and jet-lagged. It would be far better to take the train north and pick up the car the following day. Florence itself is more than 180 miles from Fiumicino, and who knows how long you'd be at the rental-car counter.

It took us longer to get to La Spezia than we anticipated (from Montepulciano area), plus the Hertz drop off was no where near the train station and took forever to drop car, get a cab, etc. Two nights in CT give you a full day to explore which I highly recommend. Plus the nights are incredible after the hordes are gone. And especially since a coastal location is on your "must do" list. Don't shortchange it. I would avoid one nighters, which means you may need to just skip Florence (or just do a day trip in from Tuscany) if your heart is set on CT. Then you would have two nights in CT and two in Venice, which give you time to see some of both places.

Uhh, Venice is on the coast, just a different one.

I agree that Amalfi is the outlier and I'd skip it.

Our Village Italy tour took a boat from Porto Venere to Monterosso, then a very short train ride to Levanto. The boat stopped at the CT towns along the way. Every place we stopped, there were hoards of people waiting to get on the boat. That convinced me that I will never go to any of those towns.

On the other hand, both Porto Venere and Levanto were lovely. We only had time for lunch in the former, but it had a very good vibe. We stayed 2 nights in Levanto, and it was great. You might want to research those before you commit to a CT town.

As for transportation, have you considrred train or bus options? It looks like you can take the train from the airport to Florence in about 2.5 hours. Use TrenItalia to check on that and any other train needs you might have.

As others have said, driving in Italy is tricky at best, and jet-lagged is not a great idea. You need to research that in general and be very prepared for avoiding the dreaded ZTLs and parking problems. There are many resources online for advice on that. Just Google something like "driving in Italy." This is only one.

Where in the Chianti region were you planning to sleep? If you do have a car, make sure there is parking available.

Your "Option 2" in the original post is definitely not a pleasant vacation, but more a mad dash about Italy.

Working from the outline of 'option 1', suggest you limit yourself to staying in just 3 places.

Too bad your flights are not into Venice and out of Rome. Hopefully your departure from Venice is late morning or early afternoon.

Thanks all! Well, after all that we have decided on a modified version of option 2. To compensate, we added one additional night in Italy, so 10 nights total and agreed to eliminate Florence all together so only rural Tuscany. Do I wish it was more? Yes! :). Here goes, please let me know of any tips or recommendations. All hotels places have parking or will arrange it. The worst days will be the first and 3rd. If I don't feel like driving on the first day we will train to Naples or Salerno and get a driver. The 3rd day we'll break up with some stops.

Night
1 Arrive into FCO 9am, rent car, drive ~3.5 hrs to Sorrento (sleep in Sorrento)
2 Sorrento (sleep in Sorrento)
3 Sorrento (sleep in Sorrento)
4 Drive ~5 hrs from Amalfi to Montepulciano (sleep in Montepulciano)
5 Chianti (Sleep in Chianti)
6 Chianti (Sleep in Chianti)
7 Chianti (Sleep in Chianti)
8 Drive to Venice, return car at VCE (Sleep in Venice)
9 Venice (Sleep in Venice)
10 Venice (Sleep in Venice)
11 Leave 1:30pm

Another alternative for nights 1-3 would be to base in Capri and then I could Ferry from Naples and visit the AC from there. It'd save drive times, but would we go stir crazy? And ferries stop at about 16:30 from the AC to Capri. Thanks all!

Sounds like a nice trip for couple. Easy-going pace, more romantic and less tourist-crazy destinations, and if you enjoy driving together, even better.

I don't think you'll be stir crazy, assuming Chianti is your base from which you will enjoy Tuscany. Since Chianti region is a little east, I would focus on towns closer to Chianti - Cortona, for example, is a good half-day. If you want to break things up, I can't say enough about Siena. You can't go wrong staying a couple nights in Siena!

Warning on Venice: It's not like it was 10 years ago. Highly recommend finding accommodation outside city center, away from cruise-crazy San Marco.

We were in Venice last month and our hotel was very close to St. Mark's, although tucked away from the crowds. Early mornings and evenings were delightful, as all the day trippers and cruisers either haven't arrived or have left. So I would recommend staying in the city, or otherwise you'll be on the same schedule as the day trippers.

Your modified version of option 2 sounds much better with one exception. Are you positive you are capable of driving immediately upon arrival? Jet lag, lack of sleep, and not being familiar with the local road system around Rome may be a problem. Some people are not bothered by any of those things. Some think they are ok but are really driving somewhat impaired. And some are complete zombies and should never drive the first day. Suggest you stay overnight in Rome and rent the car the next day, or take the train to your first stop and then rent the car. Hate to sound like Debbie Downer, but it is something to consider.

I agree with TC. At the time of year you're going, a car will be a hindrance on the Amalfi Coast. Take either the Leonardo Express or a taxi to Roma Termini, train from there to Naples Centrale. Then take the Circumvesuvian to Sorrento. The time will be the same as the car rental and you don't run the risk of driving while jet lagged.

The same goes for Sorrento>
Montepulciano. Take the train.
Use the Circumvesuvian to Napoli Centrale then train to Chiusi Chianciano and pick up your car there. It's a half hour to Montepulciano.

Where are you planning on staying in the Chianti wine region? Or which towns do you plan to visit? If you stay centrally located, I don't see any reason to change lodgings.

Thanks All! I've actually changed the itinerary slightly since posting last. This is the final, and now mostly booked itinerary!

Aug 25 Leave
Aug 26 Rome - Relax and explore
Aug 27 Positano - Drive 3.5 hrs to Positano, arrive 1 pm
Aug 28 Positano - Capri day trip and explore towns
Aug 29 Positano - explore towns
Aug 30 Tuscany - Arrive 3-4pm, relax by pool and vineyards
Aug 31 Tuscany - Siena and cooking class
Sept 1 Tuscany - day trip to Florence and area
Sept 2 Tuscany - Maybe Pisa and cinque ?
Sept 3 Venice - Drive 3.5 hrs to Venice
Sept 4 Venice & Burano
Sept 5 Home

We are staying in Rome the first day, I agree it’s smarter! Regarding the car, I definitely want the car, even for the Amalfi coast. My friend was just there a couple weeks ago and said it was so nice to have a car there. The tricky day will be in Rome. I had to look at ZTL maps and choose a hotel outside them that offered private parking. For Florence, I’ll park outside and cab in probably.

On Sept 2 we have a “flex day” that I haven’t decided where to spend it. Relaxing in Tuscany, or day tripping to CT, spending the night in CT, or another in Venice. Opinions?

Thanks!

I thimk you're being a little optimistic about travel times and are not going to have as much actual sightseeimg time as you expect. One day to see Venice and Burano is really inadequate. The vaporetto to Burano takes about 45 minutes each way, and that doesn't count the time it takes you to get to the vaporetto stop in Venice. By the time you've seen the island, close to half the day will be gone.

Although Pisa doesn't take a great deal of time, I can't imagine trying to squeeze it into the same day as the Cinque Terre (which are, after all, five towns). And a day-trip to Capri would normally consume uour entire day; many people spend multiple nights there so they can see the less touristy parts of the island. Florence is surely a full-day destination.

Thanks, I appreciate it. We will have from noon on the 3rd and all day the 4th in Venice, with one of those days also seeing Burano. But I could also take that flex day and give it to Venice, or at least splitting it with Tuscany so it's not as rushed?

Well, I mapped out all the places I want to go, and I'll be in the car the whole time haha.

Was curious on your thoughts regarding Tuscany. Ideally, I'd like to see:

• Val d Orcia and do the heart of Tuscany drive.
• Chianti and SR222
• Siena (half day)
• Florence (full day trip)

I'll be coming from Positano, which will be a 5-6 hour drive (I know, I know, but it's already booked). My options are to:

1) stay one night in Val d Orcia, then 3 nights in Chianti
2) drive through Val d Orcia on the way to Chianti from Positano (adding 2 hours onto an already long drive)
3) stay 4 nights in Chianti and take a day trip to Siena and Val d Orcia
4) stay 2 nights near Siena, and 2 nights just south of Florence near the highway
5) skip Val d Orcia

Thanks!
Shawn

Stay 4 nights in Chianti.

For what you want to see, these three towns are the most central. Panzano in Chianti, Radda in Chianti and Castellina in Chianti. All will put you midway between the Val d'Orcia and Florence. The farthest from Siena is Radda, 35 min. The other two under 15 min.