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Fall 10 day trip itinerary Tuscany and Amalfi Coast; help!

My new husband and I are planning a fall (Sept) 2016 trip to Italy. It is my first time there. I need to see the Amalfi Coast and Tuscany. We have only 10-12 days at best. Walking tours and small bus(van) travel would be ideal for us. Can anyone recommend a touring company or where to start? While I know that we will ultimately arrive and depart from Rome (coming from Canada), that is not a priority for me to see. We are more interested in the beauty of the landscape, the art and the food/wine.
Thank you for your help!

Posted by
3940 posts

I spent a few nights on the Amalfi Coast in 2014. For one of our days (me, my hubby and my mom) we used Sorrento Silver Star car services.

http://www.sorrentosilverstar.com/

Recommended in the Rick Steves books. You can line up different tours - and tailor them to suit you. They were very prompt with email replies and the driver (Lorenzo) was super. We were already staying in Atrani (a few minutes walk to Amalfi) so the tour we did was to Ravello, around the 'back way' past Naples, to Sorrento and Positano. We could have asked him to stop elsewhere (we 'had him' for 8-9 hours), but we were hot and tired from our day so went back to Atrani after 8 hours.

Of Rome, Venice and the Coast - my mom said that this was her favourite day from the trip! (I think she liked Lorenzo...lol).

Two cents worth - Ravello was my fav stop on the coast. Breathtaking. Make sure to spend time there. We did the hike down from Ravello to Atrani the day after our car tour. Strenuous but I loved it. Amalfi town itself didn't do a whole lot for me - you could spend a few hours walking around it. We did fall a little in love with the coast and I look forward to returning someday, hopefully for 5-6 nights (instead of 3) to really do it justice as our trip was rushed - more of a sampler of the coast.

Haven't been to Tuscany (yet), so can't comment on that.

Posted by
1829 posts

Ideally you could fly into Pisa or Florence and then fly out of Naples to eliminate backtracking on your trip, since you won't have time to see Rome and will be tempted to if going in and out multiple times.
If only Rome works you can still make it work.
Would do Tuscany first as better to see Amalfi Coast later in the month to lessen the crowds a little.
Fly into Rome, train into downtown Rome from airport. Train from their into Florence or other town for your Tuscany days.
When done, you would have to get back into Rome and then work your way south from Rome to Sorrento.
Look at current schedules so you see how much time is lost, you can plan on it taking a full day basically to get from Tuscany to the Amalfi Coast.
5 or 6 days for Tuscany and 4 or 5 days for Amalfi Coast would be a good mix. There is much more to see in Tuscany and a much larger area. You could never cover it in a month, let alone 5-6 days. Amalfi Coast most tourists are going to do the same thing and regardless of where you stay in the area, everything is close by.
That is not the case in Tuscany and having no idea why you want to see Tuscany, no way to suggest a plan.

Some would stay all 5 nights in Florence and never leave the city. Others would want to be based out of a large town/city like Florence or Siena and take day trips most days out to the other towns accessible by train or direct bus within an hour or two away. Others still go to see the countryside rather than the main cities and base themselves in the country or in a smaller walled city/town and explore by car while in the area.
If you do 6 days you could do both with a 3 day stay in the city and 3 to see the countryside but the country you really need a rental car for.
Amalfi Coast: you can do the same things if staying in Sorrento. Positano, Amalfi or really any of the smaller towns off the coast road. I agree Ravello is a beautiful town to visit or stay a night or two, a little secluded to use as a base town though so for you seeing it as a day trip works well. I think Positano is the best place to stay but also one of the most expensive.
All tourists go to the same towns and a simple to use Bus service connects the towns.
So if staying multiple days in the area, you need not worry about tours or transportation.
Plan a day trip to Capri (easy to catch a day ferry from either Sorrento or Positano) and a day trip to Pompeii would also be a great idea.
Of everything on your potential iternary I see no reason for any kind of organized tour or tour bus.
With the one possible exception being a day trip to Pompeii you may find easiest to see that way.
Even that you would not need to book until you are there and know the weather for that day.
Tuscany tours are usually rushed and meant for people with very limited time in the area, I would explore on your own the towns/areas that interest you. It will take time to research them all as there are so many different interesting places to visit.
Hotel wise I would book Amalfi area first, they will fill up faster and there are less options. September is a busy month.