Drop CinqueTerre OR Siena? Tuscany, Pompeii, Paestum itinerary

Happy to try to help. I get your routing but I am wondering how many nights you plan in each location . Surely you are not sleeping in all of those locations in 2 weeks?

You depart Chicago Sept 6 or arrive Florence on Sept 6.?

I am lost on where you plan to sleep and how many nights at each place.

What reservations have you made that cannot be changed without penalty?

Thanks Laurel. Haha! Apparently, I don’t plan to sleep! Pun not intended but I’m losing sleep over skipping Cinque Terre… or Siena … I know the trains can get us from city to city quickly, but Cinque Terre is the furthest point from our Southern itinerary …

Thanks Joe32F. My mistake: Sep 6 is arrival in Florence. Nothing has been booked yet! But will book flights this week: Chicago-Florence; Rome-Chicago. I am just seeking input on the itinerary based on car in the wine region and train for the southern part and return to Rome. And Cinque Terre looks “tricky” either way.

IMO drop the CT, it’s at least a two night/ three day detour (Florence to CT, 2 overnights in CT to give you a day to visit the villages, CT to Naples) that you can’t really afford time wise. I like the Pompeii, Salerno, Paestum, Rome option mainly because Paestum happens to be one of my favourite sites in Italy! CT would be much better added on to your later trip to Milan area.

Lesley, thanks! That’s so exciting! :)

Since you’ll be visiting Salerno, you could go just a few miles further and be on the Amalfi Coast. Salerno is only 16 miles from the town of Amalfi. You could take the 35-minute ferry between the two and see the Amalfi Coast from the sea.

All the time saved by cutting out the Cinque Terre allows you a few hours to see Amalfi and be back in Salerno by dinner time.

Here’s one way to accomplish your itinerary: After seeing Florence, you can take a 75-minute Express bus from Florence to Siena. I would overnight in Siena after having a glass of chianti on the Campo— the place is just magical at night when it’s floodlit.
When I visit Florence, I usually stay in Siena and daytrip into Florence.

Then you could pick up your rental car in Siena — www.AutoEurope.com has car rental agencies in Siena that it brokers cars for at very good rates.
From Siena, drive one hour to Pienza and Val d’Orcia.
The hill/wine town of Montepulciano is only seven miles from Pienza which means it’s a must since you’re already there.
After Tuscany, return the rental car to Siena and then take the bus (2:50) from Siena to Rome.

After Rome, it’s a 70-minute high-speed train ride to Naples. From Naples it’s about one hour to Pompeii on the Circumvesuviana commuter train. Herculaneum is on the way to Pompeii and it offers luggage storage to visitors. Pompeii also has left luggage service at the Pompeii-Scavi train stop.— which also is an entrance to the archaeological park. Since you’re returning to Rome for your return flight, you might see Herculaneum on the way to Salerno and then see Pompeii on the way back to Naples/Rome.

From Pompeii-Scavi, Salerno is a 1:20 train ride.
Paestum is less than one hour by bus/train from Salerno.

Now the fun part— how to allocate the number of nights to your overnight locations! Since you’re dropping Cinque Terre, you actually have plenty of days to enjoy your other destinations at a relaxed pace so you can occasionally experience “La Dolce Far Niente.”

Have a great trip!

Cinque Terre and The Amalfi Coast have a lot in common. I preferred The Amalfi Coast. It is near the Naples area. Also, recommend visiting or staying in Sorrento. Also, visit Capri and Pompeii.

Siena is wonderful, also visit Lucca and San Giminanico(sp).

Ok I have not been to CT, but I have been a couple of times to Siena, including staying for a week earlier this year, and it's a very special place in itself with a very different feel to any of the other places that you are going. I think you've already decided to drop CT and go to Siena and I'm sure that you wont regret it. Enjoy!

wait, have you planned out the nights yet?

I don't know if you want to stay in the heart of Naples, but you can either do Herculaneum from Naples, or you can do it from Salerno (just a longer way, and it's probably easier to take the train to Naples and then turn back on the circumvesuviana).....but all that is at the end, you can do from Salerno (if you want a "not as chaotic" home base). My last 5 night visit included days to Paestum/Vietri, Amalfi Coast (and the path of the gods), Herculaneum, and Capri.

I would drop the Cinque Terre in a New York minute, especially considering that you are already planning to go in the Amalfi coast area.

Siena I would keep, since you are already planning to be in that area of Tuscany.

Hello Kenko and everyone, thanks so much for the responses and the additional tips, I really appreciate them! It helped make the final decision (keep Siena, drop CT, enjoy Amalfi coast) and I just booked our flights!!
We will fly O’Hare to Rome (round trip, for the best fare) and we’ll take the fast train to Florence (~1.5hrs!). I also appreciate the Europcar recommendation, thank you. So exciting! The planning continues …

Thanks for this thread! I'm going roundtrip Boston-Rome in mid Sept and really appreciate all the tips here. Anyone have a favorite hotel in Siena to recommend? Also debating one night or two, renting a car or not...

Welcome amyross26-

You'll get more specific replies if you post in your own thread- rather than tacking on to OPs.

Palazzo Ravizza in Siena- has parking if needed.
At this late date you should probably just get online at booking.com or wherever and see what is actually available.

Forum search for Siena hotels:
https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=1y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=Siena+hotels