9-night trip in late March: Where would YOU go?

Addendum: I'm certainly not looking for someone to develop an itinerary for us, I'd just appreciate some insight into suggested regions or areas to focus on based on experiences in late March. Thanks!

Melissa ~ depending on your interests; I would suggest Venice as it is very magical and Florence as the art is truely amazing. Croatia's coast line is absolutely beautiful, but save it for the summer months. The ruins in Sicily are stunning, but due to the time restraints I would personally suggest Venice & Florence.

I'd stay in Italy. Plenty to see and do there without leaving the country and losing time to travel.

Since you are flying in/out of Rome, I'd stay in that area and do a circle--either north through Orvieto, Florence, perhaps another Tuscan town like Cortona, and back down through Assisi then back to Rome.

Or circle south like you were thinking--Rome, Naples, AC, Sorrento.

9 nights is not all that many, and especially if you have many things to see and do in Rome, you could use up over half the nights there doing the museums, catacombs, Ostia Antica, etc.

Thanks for your thoughts, Liz. I agree there is so much to see in Italy that I could spend weeks (months!) there and I'd love it. I guess we just got a little concerned with the info we've been receiving about the weather in late March, and wondered it we'd be wiser to head south.

During one of our "head south" conversations, we started talking about Puglia (Apulia) as it looked lovely and largely un-touristy. We thought it might be a good contrast to spend half of our time in Rome and half in Puglia. If we do the northern circle you mention, there are more opportunities to do things inside if the weather tanks than if we do the southern route (our initial preference).

In an case, I really appreciate your feedback and suggestions. I've gotten some great help from the RS members!

Melissa

If it helps, I went to Rome in December and Rome, Orvieto and Florence in November, and generally we had wonderful weather. The temperatures were more in the 50s, but we layered up and it was fine. I would hope that March would be suitable regardless of which way you go.

I would visit Rome and Florence/Tuscany OR Rome and Venice. Normally I would suggest Rome and Amalfi Coast but I think your kids would love Venice even more. Traveling to another country or even Puglia does not seem to be a good use of time.
Do your sons have any thoughts on what would interest them?

Linda,

We had another trip discussion this evening and talked about various options beyond our original itinerary. The older son (21) talked about the fact that he wasn't sure when he'd ever get back to Italy, so he thought hitting the "Big 3" cities would be cool. The younger son (18) asked why we had chosen the original itinerary (time in Rome plus having them see Pompeii and Amalfi Coast; city time plus countryside time). I think he was interested in spending a little countryside time, but also seemed interested in seeing the various cities. I think we're leaning towards our original itinerary, though my husband was wondering if we could shave a day off of the southern portion and a day off of Rome so we could spend 2 days in Florence. That's a lot of traveling, but it could be doable. As you can see, we're still enjoying the "what-if" planning time, which is both fun and frustrating!

Thanks for your posting. You make some great points!

Melissa

Melissa,
We visited Rome, Florence and Venice last year with our teenagers 15 & 16 at the time. They both LOVED Rome..it was their favorite of the three cities. We stayed at a terific hotel (Albergo del Senato) right at the Pantheon and the location was unbelievable. We walked everywhere, day and night. However, we all agreed that the art in Florence is not to be missed (Uffizi and Accademia especially) and if you're brave you can rent scooters to cruise around the city...which your kids may enjoy. Have fun!