Best location in Italy for 7 nights in one location (15-18 day total trip)

Roma seems to make the most sense for 7 nights as there is much to do in Roma itself and two Marriotts. (Try for the one on Via Veneto as transportation is much better from there.)

I would be concerned about trying to fit Firenze, Venezia, Amalfi and the Cinque Terre into a remaining 10-or-so-nights. You could day trip to Pompeii from Roma, but the AC is a bit much for a day trip. I'd suggest dropping the AC. Then you can do the Cinque Terre, Firenze, and Venezia in your 10 additional nights. If you only have the low end of your allotted time, i.e., 7 more nights, do only two locations in addition to your 7 nights in Roma.

Note it is helpful to lay out your trip in terms of nights instead of days. This helps frame not only how many nights you need lodging in a place, but how many full days you have for touring. 15 days may only be 13 nights on the ground if you are flying on days 1 and 15.

It is easy to underestimate how much time you will spend in transit when you change locations. It may be only 1.5 hours from Roma to Firenze, but it will take you 1/2 a day to pack, check-out, get to the station, take the train, find your lodging, check-in and get oriented again. We find even as local travelers that we are seldom ready to "do" something until after lunch (maybe 14:00) on that travel day.

Florence If you love Renaissance art and architecture, 3 days in Florence itself is barely enough. Then there are day trips . . . San Gimignano, Siena, Pisa, Lucca. . . and wine tours. But if the art doesn't particularly speak to you, a week in Florence is a long time.

Sorrento I could spend a week there, taking day trips to Naples, Pompeii, Positano, Ravello, Paestum. . . but is there a Marriott property there?

Rome That's the obvious choice, I guess. There are plenty of sights plus several good day trips.

If you can fly open-jaw, I recommend starting in Venice and ending in Rome. The logical itinerary would be Venice >Florence> Cinque Terre (CT) > Amalfi Coast (AC) > Rome. Unless you can fly home from Naples, then CT > Rome > AC. I will say that I think visiting both the CT and the AC is pushing it, since it sounds like you have a maximum of 16 days on the ground in Italy.

If you do

• 3 nights Venice
• 4 or 7 nights Florence
• 7 or 4 nights Rome

that leaves you 1-2 nights in the CT. If you only have 13-14 nights, you could shorten Florence for the CT. I really think the AC is too far for your trip. It may not look so far on the map, but it takes a long time to get there and back.

Florence would also be a good choice as a home base for 7 nights. There’s plenty to do and see in Florence, and it’s also a great transportation hub (train and bus) for several other interesting nearby cities like Siena, Pisa, Lucca, San Gimignano and Bologna.

The Marriott most central to Florence is located near the Porta al Prato gate. There’s a tram stop just a couple of minutes walk from the hotel, and the tram gets you to the SMN train station (and equally near the bus station) in under 5 minutes. I recently stopped to pick up information about the hotel for friends. While it’s very nice inside, it appeared very stark from the outside. There’s housing on one side and a small regional train station on the other side (not a busy station), so you’d have to leave the hotel area for any action. For free, I’d probably consider staying there. If paying, I’d prefer to be more central.

My vote would be for Roma because of its size, number of interesting sites, and the city's central location. There is plenty see without ever leaving the city.

However, if you want to leave the city for day trips it is very easy to accomplish by train. You could visit Orvieto, which is 75 minutes from Roma or Ostia Antica, also not far from Roma. Ostia Antica has everything Pompeii offers, minus the history. It does however, contain two essential items conspicuously missing from Pompeii; shady and a sea breeze blowing in from the water. Napoli is two hours away and contains very interesting sites. Ville di Este in Tivoli and Hadrian's Ville are also close by and reached by bus.

Florence is also a good choice as we spent 6 or 7 nights there in 2013 in a nice hotel called Hotel Albani Firenze on Via Fiume. It is located between the station and the Mercato San Lorenzo.

Visiting both the Costiera Amalfitano and Le Cinque Terre are similar destinations. My vote would be the Amalfi, or you could stay in Sorrento and do day trips down the Amalfi coast or even Capri.

In 1994 we visited three of the five towns in Le Cinque Terre. Back then the area was a sleepy, undiscovered place where we were the only Americans. We went back in 2013 on a day trip from Pisa and it was JAM, JAM PACKED with tourists, both American and Italian. The place is full of souvenir/t-shirt shops selling the usual junk.

Go and have fun.

Buon viaggio,

Here's an idea that may or may not work: since your lodging is free, you could spend an overnight on the Amalfi Coast during your seven nights in Rome. Get an early start and plan on returning late the next night.

Or, if you take 7 free nights in Florence, you could take the train to Venice for a day (or even a day and a night).

Zoe has a very creative approach! Brava!

I looked up the hotel locations and prices. The hotel in Rome typically costs almost $300 per night, so you would be getting a great deal from Marriott if you picked that one. Normally, I'd recommend Florence as a base location, but Rome would also be a good alternative for all the reasons cited by other commenters.

If you're looking to trim down the remainder of your vacation, I'd drop Cinque Terra due to tourist hoards and also consider dropping Venice for the same reason. I personally prefer towns that offer a more authentic Italian experience. So, I guess I'd take a free flight into Rome, and then go to the Amalfi Coast for a few nights, and then go to Florence and use that as a hub to take day trips to places like Sienna, Lucca, etc. This will be a more relaxed vacation without a lot of train trips and packing/unpacking.

April should be perfect. Have a great trip.

Seven nights in a place is actually just six full days in a place.
Below are locations with at least one Marriott facility. These are the most logical bases.

FLORENCE: 2 days at least for Florence + 4 day trips within Tuscany or even Bologna or Umbria (e.g. Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa+Lucca, Volterra, Arezzo+Cortona, Bologna, Chianti Wine country, Assisi, Perugia)

ROME: 3 days for Rome + 3 day trips (Orvieto+Civita, Colli Albani, Ostia)

NAPOLI: 1 or 2 days for Naples + 4 day trips (Capri, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Procida and/or Ischia, Ercolano+Vesuvio). I know many prefer Sorrento in this area, but no Marriott there.

Take your pick.

Oh wow!!! Thank you all so much for the great ideas!!! My mom and I are getting so excited, and all these ideas are fabulous!! My first plan was to stay 7 nights in the Renaissance Tuscany II Ciocco Resort and Spa, but we realized although it is a beautiful property, it is not ideal for sightseeing in the area...again, thank you all!!! The last trip we went on was in Belgium, Germany, and Austria, and the only thing we planned was our open jaw into Brussels and out of Vienna...lol..the rest was on the fly with a pieced together Rick Steves book collage..haha!!