Extending the stay?

We always do that when we book European cruises. We have an upcoming 16 day river cruise in the fall so will add at least three or four days prior and a week or so afterwards. Reason we are vague on the time is because we playing the frequent flyer business class ticket game and it will all depend on what becomes available. We are open two weeks prior and after so it just a matter of what opens and where. Look at using open jaw/multi-city tickets so you don't waste time and money returning to your original city.

Is that the trip from Rome to Naples? If so, I would fly into Milan and head to CT for three or four days, down to Florence for a couple more, and then to Rome for the tour. And home from Naples. If the tour ends in Naples it would be more difficult, time consuming, to get back to CT from the Naples area.

Will this be your first time to Europe?
If so, maybe add days to the end. By then the guide will have given you the info and confidence to travel on your own.

It is always advantageous to add time if you have it. Arriving a day or two beforehand means dealing with any extraordinary phenomenon that affects international travel (thing Iceland volcano ash fallout....or strikes). It also gives you some time to start the jet lag adjustments. More time on the back end means you have gotten your local travel chops and can possibly revisit places or sites you didn't get enough time with on the tour....and add new locations as well.
May is going to throw you into the deep end of cruise and land tours and day trippers to Cinque Terre. Do you think perhaps it has become over-rated? Ruined?
I second the multi-city flight plan.

If you have not been to Rome before I suggest you spend a few days there before the tour. That's what we did. There is an enormous amount to see in Rome and this tour really has only one day or so in Rome. Just look at the itinerary and pass by the things they visit (or visit them twice). The tour does NOT visit the Coliseum nor the Borghese Gallery just to mention a couple of highlights. I don't think they visit the Pantheon either. Just lots and lots to see there. Check RS guidebook and start making a list!

Logistics is easy if you are able to book the same hotel as the tour for a couple of days ahead. Do this as soon as you get the hotel listing. We actually rented an apartment for 5 days near Piazza Navona and just took a taxi to the tour hotel on the day the tour started. No problems.

The Cinque Terra is a bit of a logistics challenge. You end in Naples and would have to take the train with a train change in Rome. Getting from the Cinque terra to an international airport presents similar challenges. Navigating Italian trains is not hard but you need a degree of confidence and experience. You have to handle your own baggage and train changes can involve finding another platform in a matter of a few minutes as connections are often tight (and the signs are all in Italian!)

Good luck and enjoy, Robbie

You will love the South of Italy tour. We did it in May and, despite the abnormal rain and cold, it was fantastic. We spent four days in Rome before joining the tour. Afterwards, we drove from Naples to Calabria for a family history weekend. Then we took the train to Venice for a few days before flying home.

Rome was easy on our own. We booked one tour a day through Walks of Italy or Eating Italy. That gave us plenty of time to wander and enjoy the sights. I was really nervous about driving, but Tommaso our RS guide answered all my questions during bus time and that gave me confidence. Trenitalia was easy to book and travel from Naples to Venice. I can't wait to go back to Venice to see all that we missed; 2 1/2 days was too little time to see it all.

I don't know how much traveling you have done but I hadn't been to Europe in 27 years and it was my SIL's first trip out of the US. I tend to overplan, but that was what made me more comfortable being on our own.

Darlene, I think we're on the same tour. :-)

I sent you a PM.

It's easy to add days to the beginning and/or end of a tour. Many people arrive a few days before the tour begins and it's not unusual for people to add some independent travel time at the end. Traveling in Italy is pretty easy, so don't be shy about it.

Because the tour starts in Rome and ends in Naples, the logistics of adding Cinque Terre is tricky. You might consider flying into Pisa or Genoa and taking a train from there to Cinque Terre. There's a direct Freccia train from La Spezia that departs at 8:16am and arrives at Roma Termini at 12:03pm, allowing you to easily travel to Rome the day your tour begins. Then spend a few extra days in Rome at the end of the tour before flying home from FCO.

Another option would be to fly round trip to Rome and spend a few days in Rome before the tour begins. Then after the tour go to Florence and Cinque Terre for a few days each, returning to Rome the day before your flight home. Lots of good options.

OH yes! As everyone says this is very easy. I like to get in a few days before a tour to get over jet lag and travel tiredness before I hit the ground running with a tour. If you've go the time and $$ you can do back to back tours, lol!!

Definitely add time before and yes to time after as well.

None of the tours give you enough time in Rome - except the Best of Rome tour!

Pam, I hate to say you're wrong about anything, but the Best of Rome tour did not spend enough time in Rome. :-)

Hahaha...I’m sure you are right, Jane!! The more you see the more you find there is to see!!

darlene,

YES, most definitely add time before or after the tour (or both). That's been my usual travel method for many years.

You will of course have to pay separately for the extra nights. I normally try to arrange my pre-tour stay in the same hotel used by the tour. Sometimes I've had to change rooms when the tour starts, but often I can stay in the same room. I'm fairly comfortable getting about on my own, so that hasn't been a problem.

As your tour will end in Naples, it's relatively easy to get from there to the Cinque Terre, although it will take several hours. One of the easiest train solutions appears to be a departure from Napoli Centrale at 09:15, arriving Monterosso at 14:53 (time 5H:38M, 2 changes at Firenze SMN and Pisa Centrale). I used Monterosso as an example, so the time may vary if your destination is one of the other towns.

Depending on how much time you have available, you could also add a few days in Florence to do a bit of exploring in Bella Toscana.

If you plan to end your trip in the Cinque Terre, I'd suggest booking your inbound flight to Rome / FCO and the outbound flight from Milan / MXP.

We are indeed on this tour. We are planning to arrive in Rome about 4 days early, and stay on in Naples another 2 or 3 days after the tour ends. We've booked a Naples hotel already, and I'm getting ready to book a Rome hotel as soon as I post this. (The tour hotel will not be taking reservations for May until September, so I'm booking a backup.)

After Naples, we're hoping to add another week or 10 days in Central or North Central Italy. Bologna for sure, possibly Ravenna, Assisi, Siena... I'm going to have to stare at a calendar, as well as a map before we make final plans.

Ken, thanks for your train tips. Naples to Florence will get us close to where we need to go. I haven't started studying the train options yet, so thanks for the advance tips. And I had already decided that flying out of Milan would be better than returning to Rome. Although DH wants to go back to Leiden, which means flying out of Amsterdam...

What's the line? "If there were world enough, and time...." (I know; the poem is about something else entirely, but I find the meaning apposite.)