Amalfi vs. Cinque Terre

Personally 4 nights in Florence is a little too long for me. Cutting CT and heading farther south into Amalfi is definitely a good idea. I would also NOT spend nights in Naples, but would probably choose Sorrento assuming that Pompeii is your destination. But what about Venice? There's no other city in the world like Venice, and that's the number one place I recommend ALL Italy visitors to see.

Venice 3
Florence 2
Rome 4
Amalfi 3
Sorrento 1 (visit Pompeii last full day of sightseeing)
Naples 1 (eat pizza, wake up and fly home)

If you don't already have your plane tix you should fly INTO Venice and HOME from Naples if you can. Start in Venice and work your way south (or the opposite way).

Everybody's preferences are different. I have been to all your places with the exception of Florence. If it was me I would cut one night from Florence, Rome and Naples and have 3 nights for Sorrento as a base for Pompei, Amalfi Coast and Capri. I would not sacrifice hiking in Cinque Terre, that was one of my best experiences there.

You are really city heavy in your allocations. Of course you can take day trips to Tuscany from Florence, or to Orvieto from Rome, but generally I can't take visiting the city itself for more than 2 days, and that would include Rome or Florence, which both have a lot to offer. You need to select just a few spots you want to see in those cities and limit yourself to that. You can't go to a restaurant and order the whole menu and you can't see everything there is to see in Rome or Florence in one trip. I think if you reduce one night each in those two, you have more time for Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast (I would stay there rather than huge Naples).

I am the opposite of Roberto when it comes to cities. Love them, could stay in Rome forever. Your plan looks fine to me.

No reason not to stay in Naples, but it is not on the Amalfi Coast (neither is Sorrento, although it's conveniently located for Capri, Ercolano and Pompeii). Train from Naples to Sorrento is a little over an hour, bus from Sorrento to Amalfi also about an hour and a half if traffic is very good.

Two nights in Cinque Terre doesn't sound like too much time, but I would rather spend the time in the countryside around Florence or in the Naplesi/Sorrento/Amalfi Coast area.

IF you went to the island of Capri for a day when you made it down to Naples/Sorrento, there are some great hiking opportunities there, including on some paved paths, with great views out to the sea, and interesting arches and rock formations along the coast. You could also visit the Blue Grotto, if the water is calm enough that day.

As I have stated many times on this forum, I am not a fan of the Cinque Terre. Maybe, 25 years ago, they were quaint, undiscovered villages; but a couple of American travel writers, most notably RS, have put an end to that. Now they are ridiculously over-hyped, and crammed with tourists, though lacking in sufficient infrastructure to support the amount of tourism they get. I consider the scenery on the Amalfi Coast to be better; and, in any case, you can get in the sea-view hiking there. I recommend adding the two CT nights and three Naples nights together, but staying in Sorrento. You can do a day trip to Naples, if you want to visit the Archaeological Museum (imo the only pressing reason to do so). You would have easy transportation access to Pompeii and Herculaneum, Capri (some good hikes there), and to the AC towns. Five nights is not too much for Rome, especially as it's most likely to be where you begin your trip and get over your jet lag. If you find, for whatever reason, that you need a break, a daytrip to Orvieto would be easy. Your four nights in Florence could include a day trip to Siena and/or one to a Tuscan hill town. With this plan you'd have a good balance of big cities and smaller, scenic areas, and historic sites.
Buon viaggio!

I am like Roberto... when I am in Europe I spend more time in smaller cities and villages and less time in the cities. I would not give up CT... it really is beautiful and you can hike and find quiet spots. As far as Florence that would be the time I would take to stay in a village in Tuscany and a day trip to Florence... all personal preference. I have been to Naples, as I had a photographer friend there, but I would not choose to spend a lot of time there given the other choices. As far as I am concerned the main thing the Amalfi Coast and CT share is the water... the ambience is completely different. I love them both.

No mention of Venice??? With 16 days I would make time for 2 days there. Yes, you might come back, but then again you might not...

Shannon,

Your Itinerary looks good so far, but a few thoughts.....

• Florence - four nights is not "too long" (IMO), as it would allow you to take a day trip to Siena, Lucca or other places you might want to see.
• Cinque Terrre - two nights there is good (although three would be better, again IMO), and September should be a wonderful time to be there.
• Rome - five nights is fine, although you might consider dropping one night there and adding it either to the C.T. or to the Amalfi Coast / Naples part.
• Naples - you could stay there or perhaps consider staying in Sorrento and taking a day trip to Naples. Sorrento would be a more convenient home base for Pompeii, a day trip to Positano and a day trip to Capri.

I assume you'll be using open-jaw flights, inbound to Florence and outbound from Naples?

You'll never be able to compare Cinque Terre and Amalfi unless you see them both yourself. Neither one is without crowds but both are very worthwhile. Last year, I visited Portofino, S. Margherita Ligure, and Rapallo for the first time, in addition to a repeat visit to the Cinque Terre. I enjoyed each stop but it reinforced for me that other substitutes are note the same as the Cinque Terre.

I've done CT twice (2008 and 2012) and last year went to the Amalfi Coast for the first time. For me there were a lot of similarities (we only had 3 nights on the AC - 2 full days - and did a private tour on day 1 that took us to Ravello/Sorrento/Positano, spent the next day mostly in Ravello, explored Amalfi)...both with charming villages, beautiful scenery, hiking (we did the hike from Ravello to Atrani - where we were staying).

I guess the biggest difference is transportation - of course you have the trains getting you to CT, whereas in AC, you either do the bus (we did) or a ferry (or chance renting a car - the road was INSANE!). It is much easier (if using public transport) to get between the villages of CT. I'm not much of a bus user, I much prefer trains.

It would be very hard for me to choose between the two as they were both similar. We loved our 1st visit to CT, but found the 2nd trip very crowded (both visits were 3rd week of Sept - first trip was thru the week, second on a weekend which I know contributed to the crowds). AC (early Sept) was crowded as well tho, but didn't seem as bad. I can't say I liked one better. With only two nights in CT tho, you really only get one full day which doesn't give you much time - may be better to add those nights and spend more time in AC.

Whichever you choose - it'll be awesome - hard to go wrong with either spot.

It all comes down to personal preference, but I'm another one of a mind that four nights in Florence is not enough. Five years ago we spent four nights there, in between Sicily & Rome (I know, geographical bad planning!) but Florence was just starting to get into my bones after four nights, and then we had leave. Broke my heart, but alas, we're spending five nights at an apartment near the SMN station in a few weeks. And we are leaving plans very loose in case we just want to hang out, almost pretend that we're residents. To me, Florence is a perfect combination of historical reverence & small-town feel, where time stands still. You don't want to know what time it is because you don't really care, unless it's for a dinner reservation! Enjoy!

just a quick reply, (we did this same trip last year- so same 'issue' of were to pick)

my suggestion, much less time in Florence, more time on the amalfi. base yourself in sorrento and trip from there. we loved this area. Naples is not somewhere I would stay, compared to sorrento.
CT is overrated, it would have been good years ago, but has been let go and while everywhere in Italy has tourists, CT is overrun and transport only via train can have its problems.
rather than race around in 16 days, maybe less places and enjoy them more.

I am quite amazed that none of you to discover the CT or the Amalfi coast do not rent a sailing boat and discover it by sea. Ferries are too big boats to catch the magic. There are plenty of places around Sorento or in Liguria to rent a sailing boat.

Hi Shannon -
I'm not surprised that you're seeing all sorts of different responses to your question as we all have our favorites in Italy for all sorts of different reasons! There's no "wrong" answer except for any of our own personal interests not matching your own. At first glance I thought your itinerary looked just fine but I'm an art-lover who couldn't get enough of Florence in 5 days, and Rome is one of my very favorite cities for history, architecture, art and, well, I can't think of a reason NOT to like it. Florence is also excellently situated for any number of very nice day trips to smaller towns.

So, the only change I might make is choosing Sorrento instead of Naples - with the understanding that it's not the Amalfi coast (neither is Naples): it's the Sorrentine Peninsula/Coast. It provides some lovely views across the Bay of Naples, though, and unless the sea is very rough, ferries/jet boats may be easily hopped to Amalfi and Positano.

Transportation to Pompeii and archeological museum in Naples by train is very easy from Sorrento as well, and it's clean and very safe - although it can also be very busy. The C.T. will be busy as well but if you're up to climbing some steep hills to churches and cemeteries in the upper reaches of the villages it's not too difficult to leave the worst of the masses behind. Early mornings are also an excellent time to get out and about before a lot of tourists are out of bed.

We found the same to be true in Capri. The farther away you can get from the piazza in Capri and the earlier you can get up to Anacapri for a wander about town, the thinner the crowds. You'll also enjoy some scenery and glimpses at pretty local residences, little shrines, some very old ruins and whatnot that many people don't venture far enough to.

Thank you everyone for the responses, I really appreciate it!

Luckily I have a little while to think things over before I make a final decision. I am reassured though that whatever i choose it will be a fantastic trip. Right now I am pretty sure that I will fly into Florence and Fly out of Naples.

For those of you talking about more/less time in Florence- I was planning on taking a day trip to Siena/Chianti wine country.