We are spending 17 days in Italy; The first part of our trip (fly into Rome, 1 night there, 4 days Sorrento, 1 day Capri) is set; we figured we'd leave Capri for Naples, but after that, are looking for advice. We really want to hike in CT, see Venice, and spend a bit of time driving in Tuscany. Any advice on how best to do that? We are considering various train routes, etc. Our trip ends in Rome. Our trip is May 8-24, 2009. Thank you!
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Every place you mentioned can be reached efficiently by public transportation--except the "spend a bit of time driving in Tuscany" part, suggest you rent a car for that part only, you can pick it up in Orvieto and return it to Orvieto or Chiusi, before continuing on to Venice and/or the CT. Avoid driving in Florence. You can research train schedules here http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en
Posted by
OP
Honeoye Falls, NY, USA
2 posts
Yes - we are hoping more for assistance in planning what to do in what order? Venice is out of the way, of course - just trying to figure out where it should fit in our schedule.
Posted by
Newark, DE, USA
74 posts
Can you fly into Venice? That would certainly help in terms of fitting it in. Start there and work your way down...
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Venice and the CT are 8.0hrs apart by train. One suggestion is to take the train one hour north of Rome to Orvieto and rent your car there. Drive through Umbria and Tuscany and drop your car off in Siena or Florence airport. Do not drive in Florence. Then, it's 3hrs by train to the CT, 8.0hrs from the CT to Venice and about 4.5hrs from Venice back to Rome. Just put it all down on a spreadsheet and you will see that you can make it.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
251 posts
Are you looking to spend any time sightseeing Rome? To begin your trip I can see you are only spending 1 day there. Are you looking to spend a few more before you fly out?
Also, are you really wanting to drive around Tuscany to see some of the smaller inaccessible towns around the area or were you looking to see some of the highlights? I ask this just because many of the towns are well accessible by public transportation.
Also, are you leaving the States on May 8th and arriving on the 9th or arriving in Italy on the 8th?
Anyway, those questions aside (and assuming you arrive on the 8th, and the CT, Tuscany, and Venice [not Rome] are your priorities) here's what I would suggest. Leaving Capri (this would be the 14th?), you can stop by Naples for a few hours then train up to Cortona. You can use this as a base to train to other Tuscan towns including Orvieto and Assisi (even Florence) as daytrips. Then you can leave on the 17th to CT and spend a couple of days there; then head to Venice on the 20th. On the 23rd you can go back to Rome and stay the night for your flight out the next day.
You could use Orvieto as another possible base in Tuscany or even Florence if you wanted to stay there, daytripping to Siena. But, this is kind of a rough suggestion and you wouldn't be renting a car in Tuscany. Just trying to fit it all in ;) It's tough but doable!