Family trip to Italy

Do you think this is a reasonable plan?

Yes

When you decided on just what day trips you want to do, or what all you want to see at each base, it would not be a bad thing to consider adding one more day to Rome and one less at one of the other stops.

Excellent that you have planned a 'one-way' journey.

It's a reasonable itinerary.

My only feedback is to consider if your trip will be "long enough". The way I look at it, flying to/from Europe is not cheap. It makes sense to "get your money's worth" for that expensive flight by staying a while.

Remember that when you say you have "X" nights in a place before moving on, you really have "X-1" days to spend there. And when you move between locations, some of that day (often most of that day) is consumed in transit.

It looks like you will have about 10 days on the ground in Europe (not counting your arrival of departure days, which will be fully consumed by things other than enjoyable sightseeing). If it were me, I'd try and extend the trip a bit, and give yourself at a minimum 2 full weeks of usable days there (not counting the day you arrive or the day your depart).

The pace of your trip as originally proposed is not awful, but I think it would leave you wishing that you had a little more time to slow down and linger.

I agree that you could benefit by an extra couple of nights on the ground. But you may be constrained by the available vacation time that your children have? If so, your plan is certainly do able; just a bit short.

This is pretty much the trip I did with my daughters for their first trip to Europe. It was a wonderful trip. We were restrained by vacation time as you are likely. It is enough to give them a wonderful taste of Italy. Florence is one of my favorite cities and I have yet to have time for any day trips. We did spend less time in Rome as they were interested in the other two areas, and it was their trip. You'll have a great time.

Hi Jo -
More nights would certainly be nice but I do understand the constraints of work and budget! Yours, as it stands, is a reasonable plan, and trust me when I say that we've seen more abbreviated itineraries than this! :O)

Doing it by bus and train is absolutely advised, and we can help you with the details. This is a GREAT place to start collecting knowledge about Italian trains - which are not difficult - and please post your questions as they arise? Some nice price breaks can be snagged for long-distance trains (Naples to Rome, and Rome to Florence) if ordering tickets in advance, and I'm sure those would be welcome for a group the size of yours. Tickets for shorter hops on regionale trains can be purchased day of journey as their prices won't change.

https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

I imagine you'll be wanting to do some day-tripping from Sorrento to nearby popular locations, such as Pompeii and Amalfi Coast? Easily done, although transport on the coast will be very busy in June. Again, post your wish list and we can advise methods.

Rome: IMHO, 4 nights, 3.5 days - which is what you'll have - is the minimum just to begin to cover ground in that one so I wouldn't plan any day trips. There are a few attractions you'll want to order advance tickets for: post your wish list and sorts of things you're interested in, we'll help with best resources for ticketing and suggest additional attractions that fit your family's interests. Also, some time with a guidebook will be very helpful for making a must-do list!

Florence: we found enough to see there to spend 5 days without leaving the city but most folks aren't the art geeks I am, and day trips are numerous and easily done from there: you just have to narrow them down to the time you'll have (3.5 days). Possibilities are Siena (bus), Lucca and/or Pisa (train), Fiesole (local bus) and some others. Just don't cut Florence itself too short, and I wouldn't do more than 2 trips, max, out of the city. As with Rome, there are attractions you'll want to order advance tickets for and we can advise best resources.

No need to feel overwhelmed: much of Italy is not a complicated country to travel, and you won't have many, if any, language challenges in the locations you'll be traveling to. Also, enlist your family to help with the plan/duties. Your young people, especially, will benefit from a hands-on lesson in learning how to research and organize a trip that will help them with their solo adventures later on. Having a voice also helps eliminate any whining about being dragged around all day to attractions not of their choosing. Have them pick one or two in each location that appeals to them and have them do the reading up. Sharing the load will help take some of the stress off YOU.

Rome and Florence will also be very busy in June: adjust expectations to anticipate crowds. Leaving some unstructured time to explore away from the most-visited attractions or just to put feet up for awhile helps manage time unavoidably spent surrounded by the mob: a little breathing room now and again will be welcome!

A good place to start? You're going to have SO much fun!!!!!

I think your plan looks pretty good. You have gotten good advice from the previous posters. I would make sure that I had input from especially the grandchildren about what they are interested in seeing.

Also, if you have the time and budget, why don't you and hubby stay an extra 2 or 3 days to do something that you want to do and let the others head home. You deserve it.

Whatever you decide Have a Great Trip!
Mimi

Thanks so much to everyone for the helpful advice. You guessed it, we can't stay longer. We purchased the tickets already (maybe a mistake) but we're torn... would we be able to get 7 tickets if we found a cheaper price? We paid $900 per, who knows? Here's our plan. Naples airport to Sorrento by Curreri bus. Sorrento to Rome by Marozzi bus. I think we will take one of the faster trains from Rome to florence. I feel maybe it was a rash decision buying the tickets - I hate the stress but a good point is I haven't seen a lower price yet. Thanks again!

$900 sounds like a very reasonable price from NC. Those of us who live in more competitive air markets have a bit more flexibility in terms of watching and waiting. When you need to fly out of a higher-priced origin, you're never sure whether today's the last day you're going to be able to buy at a reasonable price, especially for a summer trip.

No matter how many days you had, we'd be telling you that you could use more. That's the reality of a trip to Italy. Just enjoy the time you have available and think of the fun you'll have as you plan a second trip for the future. You'll learn a lot about your European-travel style on this trip: Do you want to spend more, or less, time in large cities in the future? Did you like just wandering around almost as much as going inside expensive tourist attractions? What sorts of things kept both of the grandkids engaged?

I would add a day to Rome and take away a day from Sorrento.

I have been to Rome twice for a total of 10 days and I still haven't seen everything that I wanted to see.

From Sorrento you can take the ferry to Naples or Capri. Getting to the Amalfi Coast may take a driver or tour.
There is a train that runs from Naples to Pompeii.

Use the trains to go from Sorrento to Rome and then to Florence. Four days in Florence, you won't have much time to go elsewhere, but if you do, recommend Sienna.

Getting to the Amalfi Coast may take a driver or tour.

No tours or drivers necessary. There are SITA buses which travel to towns along the A.C as well as ferries, as long as it's the season for them. Ferries, however, are not especially inexpensive so I'd save use of them for a one-way trip to see the coast from the water, and take a bus back. Both will be very busy in June.