Draft Itinerary Advice

With that amount of time in one country the Rail Pass would probably be a waste of money. If you have long multiple train trips in a single day it makes sense but the cost of individual tickets is probably less than the pass. Crunch the numbers and see for yourself.

You are fortunate to be able to plan a nice long trip but for me I don't think I'd want to spend that much time in some destinations like Venice for 10 days. Rome for that amount and I'd never run out of things to do but some smaller areas might get old. Any reason to not see more or other countries?

Point to point tickets are usually the better deal in Italy. Particularly if you buy the tickets in advance and can take advantage of the "mini fares".

I've not been to Genoa, but I can't say I've ever heard anything positive about the place. Near Venice you should check out Verona as a side trip. It has plenty of wonderful history aside from the "Romeo and Juliet" hype.

20 days seems a bit long for Sorrento. I'd probably be itching to check out some other new place after 5-7 days.

What time of year?

Fen, your Eurail pass will be a big waste of money. Most of your time will be on really inexpensive Regionale trains. Many runs under 10Euro. You could be on a fast Freccia train from Venice to Florence or to Rome. If you buy the tickets well in advance, they cost 19Euro. With a pass, Trenitalia will charge you 10Euro extra to ride these trains.

Next, there are no train stations in Volterra or San Gimignano. Next, your rail pass will not be accepted anywhere near Sorrento. This includes the private Circumvesuviana train from Naples to Sorrento, local SITA buses (Amalfi Coast) or the ferries to and from Capri.

Next, you will have some taxi fares while at the Agriturmismo Marciano. My wife was just there a couple of weeks ago. Low cost taxi rides between the Agriturismo and Siena. Works great. A bit more between the Agriturismo and the train station. The Agriturismo Marciano also has a great restaurant. About 35Euro per dinner according to my wife's hotel bill.

Is Italy your only destination or are you going anywhere else in Europe?

A 70 day trip? WOW!

I would suggest you just make reservations in your first destination, and wing it from there. You can easily get on AirBnB.com or Booking.com and make hotel arrangements as you ramble from place to place.

With a slight case of ADHD, I am a little bored staying in one place more than 4-5 days. I do like day trips from central locations, however. Many of the fantastic Tuscan hill towns are off the beaten path, like Volterra.

Many great tourist sights in Italy are just a little hard to get to via train. Dealing with buses can be inefficient, and I simply prefer to travel through Italy via car. I would shorten my trip in order to have a rental car when staying outside the big cities.

I would suggest you start in Rome, as it's an easy flight from the U.S. After a week there, go south to Naples-Pompeii-Amalfi Coast. Then come back through Rome and up to Florence. Spend 3-4 days there, and move 20-30 miles south to an agriturismo in Chianti. From there, you can do day trips. When you're ready, take the train up to Venice (2 hrs.) for 3 nights.

If you have time to spare, take a train up to Innsbruck and up to Munich. It's a great large city with so many things to see. From Munich, you could easily get to either Budapest or to Prague.

And with budget air carriers, you could afford to go to far away destinations, depending on the time of the year. For example, I especially want to go to Stockholm, Helsinki and Estonia.

Good luck to you on your big trip.

Hi All,

Thank you all so much for the advice on the trains. I will definitely keep that in mind and use that information!

If I need to cut days, I would cut them from days like Venice, you're right the 10 days does seem like a bit long now in hind site. Thank you, Richard.

Nigel, we were thinking of staying in Italy for that long just because we felt there was so much to see in Italy that we would focus on the one country. I have been once before from a cruise so I got just a taste of Italy and am itching for much more.

I have heard good things about Vernoa and was thinking I wanted to visit it, thanks Angela. We were going to visit Sorrento for that long so we could be leisurely and just enjoy the coast and perhaps make more day trips.

Michael, We are going to go from Mid May to End of July.

Larry, thank you for the advice about Agriturismo Marciano. It was from a previous post of yours that I even considered the town, you make it sound magical :)

David, I was considering just winging the trip as I go but the thought makes me a bit nervous as we do have a limited budget since it is such a long trip, I wouldn't want to get stuck without a plan. I do like your reformed itnerary plan though! Thank you!! Car does sound appealing and a lot of things I have read recommend it however neither of us drive stick and I think I would just be more comfortable less stressed if we did not use cars.

Thank you all again!!! This community is the best ! =)

Your times seem decent, although 20 days in Sorrento seems quite a long time.

Just make sure that your 60 or 70 days doesn't stretch to 90 or you will be in trouble with Schengen visa waiver requirements.

Just a clarification for the information Larry provided about Agriturismo Marciano. They do not have a restaurant. They do cook optional dinners (not every night) that are available for guests only. The price of each dinner varies, depending on what is served. The food is fantastic. We had a car when we stayed there. Are you considering staying there for 20 days as a home base in Tuscany?

I was (am) one of those who had to have every night booked in advance...until we just went to California in Sept and had two nights on the coast where I had no idea even the week before where we'd be because I didn't know how long we'd ramble. I had my ipad mini with me, and the night before, we'd look at the map and figured we'd be 'here' - then I'd hit Expedia (or your preferred booking site) and look at accoms and reviews and book. Easy peasy. So if you have a phone or tablet with you (and hopefully wifi at the place you are staying)...no prob to book for the next night. I may even be open now to being a little more lenient in our travels.

God, what I wouldn't give for 60-70 days in Italy. I'd love to do some of those off the beaten path places, like Bari, Pescara, Lecce, places on the east coast that don't seem to be as busy...I'm sure someone else mentioned...no Lake Como area?

..and it's not to far if you wanted to spread a little vacation love and hit the Cote D'Azur in France - Nice, Villefranche, Monaco....sigh...lovely...

Nigel, thank you! That (and cost) was why we limited to 70 days if anything happened we wanted time to figure it out before the 90 day visa expiry.

Andrea, we hadn't thought of a home base for Tuscany yet. Somewhere slightly cheaper (so we assumed not Florence) with moderate access to transit for day trips. Tuscany was meant to be the more leaisurely part of the trip. Any suggestions are greatly welcomed!! :)

Nicole, I'm glad you had a good experience without booking in advance, maybe I will be brave and give it a try :) I'll check out those other locations, thanks for the suggestion! We liked the look of Lake Como but it looked too far North and off our path. Another trip hopefully!

Agriturismo Marciano is in Siena. It is a place to stay in Tuscany, not a destination as a day trip or a meal. You can only eat there if you are staying there. You have it listed as a side trip or possible home base. That's why I asked.

What a great opportunity! I disagree that 10 days in Venice may be too long. There are great day trips... Ravenna, Verona, Padua, Lake Garda, the mountains, islands of the Lagoon, etc... depending on your interests. And I've happily spent a week exploring venice itself on multiple trips.

The time in Sorrento seems a little long. I'd give some of those days to Rome and day trips from there, such as Orvieto.

Unless there's nothing in Florence that appeals to you (art, architecture, shopping, food, wandering, etc), I'd suggest giving it more than a day trip. I far prefer Florence to Siena.

Sounds like a great trip. I go to Italy every summer for 89 days, staying for 70 sounds good to me.

Day trips are fine, but a couple of overnights near Venice (Verona, Vicenza and Ravenna, for example) will save you lots of money over staying in Venice for ten days. Definitely get the vaporetto pass for Venice.

I aleays enjoy spending several days in Florence, but if you aren't too interested in art, a daytrip may be sufficient.

I would also spend less time in Sorrento itself, although it's a great base for daytrips. You might consider a couple of nights in Paestum, there's a great beach and your hotel will pick you up at the train station (be sure to get a roundtrip ticket, last year the station was unstaffed).

You would only need a rental car if you stay at agriturismi; it is convenient to have one in Tuscany but you can visit a lot of beautiful hill towns by train/bus.

Booking.com often has last-minute deals (you can sign up for alerts), so you can combine a planned itinerary with some flexibility.

Enjoy Italy!

Ah, thank you Andrea, I clearly got a bit confused!

Thanks for the input Sherry! I was a bit worried about having Rome as a home base for too long as I figured living expenses would be a bit more expensive. Florence also looked like it had a lot to offer and would love to spend more time in Florence if I can find an affordable Hostel.

Do you think it would make a good home base for the Tuscany leg??

Thank you!!!