Add a day or two to itinerary

Days 8 and 9 seen overly crowded to me. To do justice to the Amalfi coast by car will take a fair amount of time. You say May? In April there was a fair amount of traffic. Not so bad to be impossible but very slow in bits. And we parked the car a few times for photos and views and leg stretching, even without visiting, as I expect you will want to, the small towns along the way. See if you can find the shrine filled with dolls and icons of the whole coast. If you do, you may laugh as I did.

You are then going some distance south to Paestum (I did it as a day trip from Sorrento, using the inland route) where you will have a stop of at least 2 or 3 hours, and drive all the way up the A1 to the GRA in late afternoon? I would prefer to avoid at all costs the GRA in late afternoon or early evening.

Villa d'Este took us a long half day, I haven't yet visited Hadrian's Villa but I haven't because I haven't had the 3 hours I would expect to stay there. And the you will be back on the GRA at rush hour again for the push to Orvieto?

Somewhere in there could do with an extra day or two.

Nigel,

If my map is correct, I would not be going on the GRA. The E45/A1 goes north/south east of the GRA and that is where Tivoli is located.

That is a part of the trip I had not considered for an additional day. I easily could spend the whole day on the AC and spend the night in Paestum (photograph the temples when they are lit at night). See Paestum the next morning and then drive to Tivoli.

I agree you have a lot of places. I would not add more.

Days 8 & 9 - Driving the AC can be madness. Drive to Paestum (if you must) and stay there, or in Salerno, for the night. Tivoli is near Rome.... Less than an hour from Rome. It's a long drive at the end of a day of touring to go there from Paestum.

Why not go directly to Sorrento when you arrive on Day 2? So the start of your trip would look like this:
Day 2 - Train to Sorrento, try to stay awake until 21:00. 3 nights Sorrento
Day 3 - Daytrip to Naples for Museum. See Rick Steves' guide to a day in Naples. It's pretty good.
Day 4 - Daytrip to Pompeii
Day 5 - Bus to Paestum, back to Salerno to sleep, 1 night (this is an outlier to me; I'd skip it but it's your trip...)
Day 6 - Train to Rome, 4 nights (high speed out of Salerno only 2 hours. takes much longer to drive)
Days 7-8-9 - Rome
Day 10 - To Tivoli for 1 night. You don't really need a car... You could rent one in Orvieto
Day 11 - To Orvieto and so on for your trip.

Happy planning!

I like the idea of an overnight in Paestum, there's a hotel that overlooks the archeological zone, and another further away but closer to the beach, which is a good place to wind down. Don't skip the museum.

Ravenna is one of my favorite cities, be sure to go to Classe (less than ten minutes away) to see the church's mosaics.

Staying a night at Paestum seems to be a common theme. We will consider that idea.

Taking the local buses to see Amalfi and Paestum is not an option especially with having to carry our luggage. Yes, we are going "light" but that is still a carry on for each of us (a backpack for me and a roller bag for my wife). Rick Steves does not even recommend the buses for this trip on his TV show. He uses a private car and driver which is way out of our budget. Now, if we had another couple to split the costs, it might be reasonable.

Bob, RS has developed a relationship with a tour company to solve the problem you mention, concerning how to tour the Amalfi Coast. This involves RS travelers signing up to share a guide, at a reasonable per person cost, and involves tours in Naples, Pompeii or the Amalfi Coast. See pages 1006-1007 in the 2014 RS Italy book.

Ceteris paribus (all other things staying the same), I would stay one extra night in Sorrento and use that extra day to visit the Amalfi coast (Positano, Ravello, Amalfi) even without a car. Then the next day I'd rent the car and proceed as planned. You might even consider adding a night between Tivoli and Orvieto.

For what I can see your day 8 and 9 are the busiest and most challenging to achieve what you have set out to see.

Larry,

I had already seen that tour in the Italy 2014 book. My main concern is that the Amalfi Coast tour from Sorrento does not include Paestum which is a must for us. A secondary problem is that they need at least 8 people and you may not sure until the day before if it is or is not going to run. I would not know what nights to make hotel reservations for and when to reserve a car.

Roberto,

Your idea of an extra day in Sorrento may work. I could do the AC tour Larry mentioned above (the not knowing ahead is still a problem) or another group tour. It just goes against every bone in my body to go back to Sorrento only to turn around the next morning and drive by where I had just came from. I know I would really have to twist my wife's arm hard to get her to agree to stay in Sorrento another night.

I do not see Day 9 (Day 10 if changed as discussed) as a problem. If I stay within an hour of Tivoli I should have no problem being at Hadrian's Villa at 09:00 when it opens and still have sufficient time to see Villa d'Este and drive to Orvieto which is only about 1 1/2 hours from Tivoli.

I know I would really have to twist my wife's arm hard to get her to agree to stay in Sorrento another night.

My wife heard that and started rolling on the floor laughing. All she said was, "not after she'd seen Sorrento!"

I know I had the devil of a time getting my wife out of Sorrento. We both loved the place. Limoncello for those who drink, fresh lemons and other citrus right off the trees - absolutely huge lemons -, fantastic views, amazing food, super cute lanes and shopping. Until you have seen it you won't believe it.

I'm one who has driven the Amalfi Coast - not in May but earlier - and I actually liked it quite a lot. The pace is slow, the views are fabulous, there are places to stop along the way with great photo ops so I like the idea of driving. I used my own car as I drive to Italy each year, and yes I was super careful. Several times I did have to fold in the wing mirrors, a couple of times had to back up. But my car is huge by Italian standards - a 5 seater Honda Accord - and I just took it steady. I'd go again tomorrow if I could.

That's why I suggested above that 8 and 9 are too crowded. To do justice to the Amalfi Coast you have to stop and smell the flowers. There is the inland route too, from Sorrento to Salerno and onwards down to Paestum which is unaffected by the coast and moves pretty quickly. Just remember that if you get onto the secondary roads south of Naples that the locals find the traffic lights optional, everybody piles into the middle of the intersections and the one with the biggest &^%^& goes first. If everybody knows it is your turn and you don't take it you lose out. Everybody knows who is next but that doesn't mean that they cut slack. Until you have driven there you won't know what I mean. When I drive I try to get into the mindset of the locals. That's how I survive in Rome, and how I survived Naples and south.

It's fun. Sit back and enjoy the experience.

Bob,
Day 8 is 5 1/2 hours of driving, and I think that is optimistic. I suppose you could stay near Frosinone and save an hour on Day 8, but that seems like "settling." Personally, I like to make sure every night is somewhere great, not just a roadside motel. Tivoli itself is darling and worth a night in a cute B&B.

Nigel,

When I said "I know I would really have to twist my wife's arm hard to get her to agree to stay in Sorrento another night." that was completely in jest. We both know that is a place she would gladly stay a week in.

Glad to hear from someone that agrees with driving the AC. I have previously driven in Europe (this will be our first trip using trains) and have driven every kind of mountain road in the US in a motorhome towing a car.

On Day 8 I was thinking of staying at Cassino (Montecassino Abbey).

Well, Bob, if you do stay at Montecassino thank my Dad. He was involved in the assault of that intractable mountain, before some bright bulb decided to bomb it.

I think that Laurel and I are saying similar things about the Amalfi Coast, just that I may prefer the drive (driving) more than some others. Just don't come back here and say it was a walk in the woods.

I think I have a solution to Day 8 and my wife will not get her extra night in Sorrento.

We will take a leisurely drive down the Amalfi Coast without any pressure to get to Paestum. I may add Ravello to the drive. We will stay the night in Paestum. Rick Steves lists a couple of nice hotels there. We can see the ruins the afternoon we arrive or the next morning. In any case, I get to photograph them at night.

The next day, either after seeing the ruins or immediately, we can head north and either see Montecassino or Hadrian's Villa. Maybe both depending on when we leave Paestum. Stay the night in Tivoli. The next day see Hadrian's Villa (if we didn't the day before) and Villa d'Este. That will leave an easy drive to Orvieto. Day 8's driving is now cut in half.

Nigel, as far as driving the AC being a "walk in the woods" you have not seen some of the woods I have walked in the Rocky Mountains. I hope driving the AC is not that difficult.

Thanks bob for highlighting Paestum. I knew nothing about that site, did a little research, and it does sound like a unique and very interesting area to visit. Some of what I have read indicates that the easiest way to visit is with a trip of a half-day or more by train from Naples. Three hours or more at the site and museum, and about an hour each way on the train. Context Travel even has a 5-hour group tour led by an archeologist or classical historian, although is quite pricey at 110 euros per person and also requires that they have enough people signed up for a given day. I have heard only positive things about the quality of their tours in general. But in any event you can do this on your own. I just may build this visit into my own trip to Naples and Sorrento in May, so thanks!

Larry,

I found out about Paestum watching a Rick Steves TV show. From Naples it is 1 1/2 hours to Paestum by train with a 10 minute walk in Paestum to the ruins. This is all in Rick's 2014 Italy Guide Book.

Bob, I for one feel better about your plan to stay the night in Paestum then Tivoli. :-) Well-rested you can do anything!