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Booked tickets for Sept... need itinerary advice

I am surprising my husband with a trip in mid Sept flying in and out of Rome over 12 days. We haven’t been in 15 years and it’s so hard to pick where to visit knowing that it will be a long time again before we return. Currently I have us arriving in Rome on the 14th for 3 nights. I would love to include Amalfi, maybe Venice, Cinque Terre, and either Florence (at the very least a day trip) or Tuscany countryside (Greve in Chianti?) So many places we love and so little time (and money). I feel like I should cut something but thought about doing an overnight train from Naples to Venice and then spend one night there before heading to our Tuscany/Florence/ Cinque Terre part. Is that too crazy? My favorite part of Venice is early and dusk and I feel it’s probably worth the one day trip. I also wonder about if I should pick just Amalfi or just Cinque Terre instead of both. A little background though is that I lived near Naples for awhile and absolutely adore that area. My husbands favorite is Cinque Terre. Current thought: Rome 3 nights
Amalfi 1 night and 1 full day then overnight train to Venice
Venice 1 night
Early train to Florence and either stay in Florence or Tuscany 3 nights
2 nights CT,
Florence 1 night with am train to Rome to fly back. Flight at 1pm, is a train from Florence in AM reasonable?

Posted by
15680 posts

Hi Kelly!
Whew. Honestly? I think 6 moves in 12 days is way too many. You are also spreading yourself over a large stretch of territory, and 1-night stays are almost never worth the packing up and moving. Having to fly both in and out of Rome will also eat more time than flying into one airport and out of another. Have you bought tickets yet?

If you could fly into Venice and out of Rome, you might be able to squeak Venice in, otherwise I'd cut Amalfi and Venice right off the bat. They're your outliers, and really hardly worth it for just one night. I'm not a fan of night trains so I'll let someone else weigh in there.

You also might want to consider just making Florence a base for day trips around Tuscany? I don't know about the feasibility of Greve but Siena and Lucca are both easily done from there via public transport. Reducing the amount of moves you make will not just save you valuable sightseeing time but some $ as well, if you're watching the budget.

So, just a sample itinerary for 12 nights 11.5 days on the ground (arrival day is a partial):

Night 1: Venice - (partial day)
Night 2: Venice
Night 3: Florence (transfer day)
Night 4: Florence (day trip)
Night 5: Florence
Night 6: Florence (day trip)
Night 7: CT (transfer day)
Night 8: CT
Night 9: Rome (transfer day)
Night 10: Rome
Night 11: Rome
Night 12: Rome

If you MUST fly in and out of Rome, I'd take a train directly to Florence from the airport on arrival day and cut Venice. You could use the two Venice nights in the itinerary above to stay in a smaller town in Tuscany or, say, Orvieto between the CT and Rome. You could also steal a night from Rome, if you've spent enough time there in the past, and add that to something else. Just a thought?

Posted by
18 posts

Option 2 leaving out Amalfi.... yes I do see it looks more manageable and relaxed. Grrr I really wish we could add extra days.
Option 2

14 Arrive Rome late afternoon
15 Rome
16 Rome (day trip?)
17 Leave Rome- Venice
18 Venice
19 Venice - Tuscany
20 Tuscany
21 Tuscany
22 Cinque Terre
23 Cinque Terre
23 Florence
24 Florence
25 Home Early afternoon flight

So is this still too much?

Posted by
18 posts

Hi Kathy I saw your reply after I posted my option 2. Thanks for your input. I do have tickets already but am still in the 24 hr cancellation period. I got an amazing deal on RT flights which included 3 nights hotel in Rome. Because the price was $600 less than the last time I looked I jumped on it. (Expedia) I called Delta today to verify it wasn’t some crazy weird super restrictive fare and they had all the info, acceptable seats and no additional surprise fees. Overall for the price I feel I could skip out on one of my Rome hotel nights to add somewhere else if necessary.

Posted by
15680 posts

It would be too much for me but we all travel differently (and we ALL wish we had more days!) :O)

(Edited out my question about flights: you'd added that info while I was typing)

Tuscany: are you intending on renting a car?

Posted by
18 posts

Likely will rent a car, I still need to research that part. 15 years ago we did rent one from Florence and then turned it in near La Spezia. I prefer to not do the tour bus type thing through Tuscany.

Posted by
15680 posts

I'm not a fan of tour buses either, Kelly! It sounds as if you have prior experience with the region so have a leg up there. Just thought I'd throw out the idea of Florence as a base - to eliminate some hotel/location moves - as the easy day trips via train or public (not tour) bus from there appeal to a lot of folks who'd rather not rent a car. The bus specifically applies to Siena, although you can get there by train too. Anyway, as you're OK with a rental, done it before and so have an understanding of ZTLS and whatnot, then go for it.

Posted by
11037 posts

Have you peeked at hubbies passport to make sure it is current?

Florence to FCO for 1PM flight is way out of my comfort zone. I have not looked, but is there a train early enough to get you to FCO no later than 10AM?

Posted by
18 posts

That might be a good idea. It has been so long that I am sure much has changed. I love the peace and beauty of Tuscany and have fond memories of morning breakfast on the terraces and evening sunsets. I know my hubby enjoys the art in Florence, but I am trying to keep it a surprise until July for our anniversary so haven’t gotten his input yet. I was just looking at a bicycle tour of Tuscany that leaves from Florence which sounds like an awesome way to explore the countryside. Maybe if I swap and go to CT from Venice (but makes for long day traveling) it puts a lot more days together in Florence or Tuscany instead of splitting it.

Posted by
18 posts

Yes all passports where renewed in 2017 😊 We could also take a late train to Rome the night before, but i thought an early (7ish) train might work and give us our last night in Florence. Good to know it might be too tight.

Posted by
4105 posts

Kelly,

I agree with Kathy, your original was just too much. Try this path.

Arrive Rome train to CT. 3N.

As you leave CT, pick up car in La Spezia drive to Tuscany. 3N.

Drive to Florence, drop car. 2N.

Train, Florence-Rome. 3 N.

Fly home.

Info on driving in Italy. A lot has changed in the past 10 years.

https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/dont-mess-with-ztl-zones

Posted by
15680 posts

Ah. Good idea, Gerri, for a refresher on the traffic stuff. I like your itinerary arrangement too, and think they actually have 12 nights on the ground (confirm, Kelly?) so could add another night to Florence, Rome or Tuscany.

Florence is too far away from Fiumicino for me to be comfortable with an early afternoon flight either; a reason I put Rome on the end of my previous itinerary.

Posted by
18 posts

Yes it’s 12 nights and we depart the 13th early afternoon. A car might be much, but it seems without we would need to set up camp in Florence and then try to daytrip most of the time instead of experiencing the countryside/ vineyards. I started in Rome bc of the included hotel with airfare and getting over jet lag. I might investigate if the Rome hotel dates are flexible. I kinda jumped on the package quickly with the price drop and didn’t really plan out enough to think of other options. I might be stuck with Rome where it is.

Posted by
1 posts

Hi all - I am flying into Milan in October - 3 adults and my 18 mo old granddaughter. Here’s my questions - we’re heading to lake como for 3 days - train? Rent car drive? Hire a car? From there we’d like to stay in tuscany preferably at an agritusimo but not necessary. We want to take rent a car and take day trips to Lucca, CT, Florence, San G, and Siena and return to Milan by car? - too much traveling with baby? What would u cut out ? And where is the most centrally located town(s) - I’m thinking outside Lucca

Posted by
4105 posts

Kelly,

If you can't swap your Rome nites, head to CT, right after Rome, spending 2 N there. Do Tuscany and Florence. Then head back to Rome for your last nite.

Doing this will still minimize your transit time.

Posted by
18 posts

Thanks for the input, the car rental stuff is interesting to read and makes me a little more nervous to consider a car. Is Rome to La Spezia still through Florence?

Posted by
15680 posts

Is Rome to La Spezia still through Florence?

Kelly, if you mean by train, I just punched Roma Termini> La Spezia into the Trenitalia site (random day next week) and see some DIRECT trains taking just shy of 4 hours. There's one that's just shy of 3 hours but it doesn't leave Termini until 19:45.

Posted by
18 posts

I was looking through the train schedule and it appears to not have those dates yet, looks like it is released 3 months ahead? Does the schedule change a lot typically from now to Sept? I would expect if anything there might be more routes avail in Sept over Feb/ March.

Posted by
15680 posts

New schedules will be posted June 10th but they usually do not change much at all. I wouldn't expect that they'll add more routes.

Posted by
18 posts

Playing around with changing up our itinerary and leaving out Tuscany and Cinque Terre (except a daytrip to Sienna because we’ve never been) and then adding the rest of our time to Naples/ Sorrento/ Amalfi area. With it just being the two of us with little luggage, it seems maybe manageable... especially with a longer hopefully more relaxing end of the trip. I am having a hard time deciding between north and south. Here is my option 3 that is southern focused. I am not planning to reveal our trip until our anniversary, but it’s hard to decide where to go on my own. I might try to reserve a B&B in Tuscany/ CT and Sorrento or Amalfi if they both have at least 60 day no penalty cancellations available. Is that feasible? Will I likely find good options in July if I wait to book? I may just end up caving and revealing my plans much earlier than I thought. The last thought is to leave out Venice for more Florence time, but we’ve both talked about returning often because it was so magical when we went once before. Decisions are hard, but at least it’s Italy. No matter what it will be awesome right? 😊

14 Arrive Rome
15 Rome (Ancient Rome)
16 Rome (daytrip to Orvieto?)
17 Leave Rome Arrive Venice
18 Venice
19 Leave Venice, Arrive Florence
20 Florence (daytrip to Sienna?)
21 Leave Florence midaday, arrive Sorrento or Amalfi Coast
22 S or A
23 S or A (daytrip to Capri or Ischia?)
24 S or A morning to Rome (Vatican)
25 Rome, early afternoon fly home

Posted by
15680 posts

Decisions are hard, but at least it’s Italy. No matter what it will be
awesome right?

It will (!!!!) but you have decisions to make and, unfortunately, those can't be made for you. I think you are going to need to decide on one favorite for each of you and then work around those. You can't do it ALL, and may end tired, stressed and seeing more of transport than fun stuff if you try. Granted, some travelers can manage just fine with itineraries that would put others of us into a coma but you know your style better than we do? :O)

Also count your time accurately: do you have 12 nights on the ground or 11?

I wouldn't wait until July for reservations in the CT: accommodations start booking up far in advance of high season (and Sept. falls into that category). I won't say it's impossible but it's not a risk I'd take with that one. I might say the same for Sorrento/Amalfi Coast but will have others weigh in there. If you book anything, anywhere at all in the country, that you think you will likely cancel, just read the cancellation policies carefully.

Posted by
2119 posts

I really like your latest itinerary.

And I agree that you should start booking immediately. Just be careful to choose rooms that you can cancel in case you adjust your itinerary as you fine-tune your trip.

Have you ever used booking.com? It's very simple, and the reviews are reliable since only people who have actually booked through booking.com can leave a review. Be very careful when making reservations. Often the hotel will have the same room available at a lower price that is not cancellable, and a higher price with free cancellation. I always pick the free cancellation option, as the slight extra cost is worth the flexibility for me. Just double check everything before clicking that button.

Posted by
18 posts

I have noticed the free cancellation option cost more, but agree it’s worth the money for the flexibility. I have looked on Orbitz, Expedia, and will check out booking.com. I also found some on AirBNB. I just got the 2018 guide and will reacquaint myself with some of Ricks suggestions/ itineraries and maybe watch some YouTube vacation videos to hopefully get a clearer idea of what we should fit in. Orvieto is a definite maybe for a daytrip, I haven’t researched enough to decide on the feasibility. I was hoping the quick Florence stop would actually help break up a long travel day into two shorter train trips.

The Siena daytrip I am looking into the bike tour instead of bus since my husband is an avid biker and I am a part time fitness instructor so hopefully can survive 20km. I think you ride to Siena then they drive you back to Florence late in the day. Anyone done such a thing? Amazing and beautiful or time wasted you could explore something else?

Posted by
4105 posts

Let's try this one more time.

14 Arrive Rome.

15 Rome. Train Orvieto 1H17min

16 Rome.

17 Rome-Florence. Train 90min.

18 Siena. Bus 1:11 min.

19 Florence-Venice. Train 2H05m.

20 Venice.

21 Fly, easyjet. VCE-NAP 1:10m $49.
Stay as close to the station to catch
An early bus to the airport.

Curreri Viaggi bus to Sorrento €10.

22 Amalfi Coast. Ferry to, bus back
The ferry will save you time.

23 Capri. Ferry 20-30min.

24 Sorrento-Rome. Train(s) 2H39m.

25 travel.

Posted by
18 posts

Interesting, I hadn’t considered flying. That is a great idea. Now I definitely have some researching to do. Do you have to arrive way before your flight like in the US? Thanks for the input.

Posted by
4105 posts

You should probably be at the airport 1 1/2-2 hours ahead. The bus to the airport takes 30 min.

With easy jet, their carry on luggage is less than US carriers. Make sure you are within their parameters or check your bags on line. If you check it at the gate, they ding you good $$$