Best 11 day itinerary

Mimi, Touring four locations in 11-days is a bit ambitious, IMHO. That's an average of 2.75 days per location, with no allowance for travel times. While it may be feasible, I suspect that "down time" won't be possible. You indicated that your Son "loves history". I was a bit surprised to see that Rome wasn't on the list? Cheers!

Actually Rome is on the list, I forgot to post it as our departure city. We are spending 3 nights in Rome. We are flying into London for 3 nights,then flying over to Venice for 2 nights. Siena is suppose to be our base for Florence and Assisi. I appreciate your input. It does seem pretty hectic. I was trying to fit Sorrento in as a base for Pompei. Hummmm. May need to re-think that one. I don't want a grouchy tired family..lol

Are you planning to drive or go by train? If you're using trains, you might want to skip Assisi and Siena and just do Florence. Maybe save Sorrento and Pompeii for another trip. You could visit the ruins in Ostia Antica near Rome as a day trip.

Thats an excellent idea about the ruins. I think Sorrento is just too far.

I agree that it would be better to leave off Sorrento and do Ostia instead - especially considering it will be the end of your trip.

Yes, I would say go to Venice, Florence, and Rome and take daytrips from these places. Save southern Italy for your next trip!

We need a section called "speed tourism," just to differentiate people that want to see it all in one trip and those that are doing Italy in sections. My wife and I have found that these two philosophies of travel are incompatible with each other. Italy begs you to slow down because every area has at least 2,000 years of history to it. Pick one area and plan all 11 days around that area. Then pick another area for your next trip. My eyes roll when ever someone says they can see Venice in three days. Yes, you can see it, but you can't experience it. You can't experience Siena in three days. No one can experience Florence in less than five days or Rome in less than ten. Sorrento, as an area, will take at least 11 days: Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi, Amalfi Hill Towns, Paestum and one day just swimming and sunning on the beach like a local. Heck, it takes two days to do Capri if you want to see both ends of it.

I went to Europe when I was in college for 3 months and can understand that slow is better and breaking trips up so one can enjoy each area is the perfect situation. However, some of us only have the opportunity to travel abroad once or only a few times in a lifetime, so an itinerary with more destinations makes more sense. Money and time really influence that situation. I am not sure when and if I will return to Europe, so seeing a few destinations in one trip is important to us. If I had my way, I would definately take my time and enjoy a simplier intinerary. Thanks for the feedback though.

Mimi, If I read your posts correctly, your plans are to: > Fly inbound to London for 3 nights > Fly to Venice for 2 nights > Train to Siena for 3 nights > Train to Rome for 3 nights If that's reasonably accurate, a few comments..... Does your 11-days include your two travel days? Be sure to allow for jet-lag in London as you likely won't be up to "touring speed" for a day or two! Your flight to Venice will likely take the better part of a day. While the flight is only 3-hours, by the time you add travel to and from the airports, check-in, security and waiting times, the actual travel time will probably be closer to 6-hours (or more!). Which airline were you planning to use? I haven't checked the times, but I'm wondering if Florence would be a better base for touring Tuscany than Siena. I suspect the travel times from Florence to the other locations may be shorter than from Siena? For example, Florence to Siena is about 2.5 hours each way, while Siena to Assisi is over 4 hours by train. With such a short trip, I definitely agree with the suggestions of the others in terms of leaving Sorrento for a future visit, and substituting Ostia Antica. Sorrento and area really deserves much more time to see it "properly", especially if planning to visit Pompeii, Vesuvius, Capri and other places in that area. With only 3-days in Rome, I'm not sure you'll even have time to visit Ostia? Good luck with your planning!

I am really glad I posted. I was wondering if I had too much on the itinerary for the number of days I have available. I didn't figure into the trip London-Venice taking a 1/2 day,but that makes sense. By the time you get to the airport, wait for flight,fly,and then get to hotel, the whole day will be shot. We may consider dropping London for another time and spending more time in the three Italian cities of Venice, Florence and Rome. Thanks for your input.
Mimi

Never been to London but we are going to Italy for the third time. I think you could say we LOVE Italy. We think Rome and Venice and Florence, with maybe a day trip to Sienna or the Tuscany area is a lot to do in 11 days. We personally spent two months traveling last year in Italy and the days we spent only two or three nights in a city took up a lot more time than we thought it would take because of travel time, finding the place we booked, etc.. We took trains and buses everywhere. Most places we tried to stay at least five days.
Travel time is important to be aware of when you are on the move.

Mimi, Based on your idea of focusing on Italy for this trip, I have another suggestion. Have a look at the "Daily Itinerary" for the RS Venice, Florence & Rome tour. It's almost exactly the same time frame and provides an excellent framework to structure your touring in each location. Of course if you have a generous travel budget, sign up for the tour as everyone will learn and experience far more than by going on your own (I've travelled both on RS tours and also on my own, so have a good idea of the differences). Cheers!