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First pass itinerary, Mar 2025, Venice, Florence, another Tuscany base, maybe add on Amalfi coast

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I'm in charge of planning a trip in March for 2 couples (me, husband, neighbors who are good friends and we've traveled with domestically). My husband and I have been to Italy several times, including a great trip to Florence, Venice, Rome in March 2023. Our friends are first timers. All of us are in mid 60's - early 70's, relatively active with no mobility issues. Our friends are less interested in city touring and museums and more interested in villages, small towns, good food and wine, but are willing to do a few city sites. I speak some Italian, the others don't. I'm just beginning to put together the itinerary with an eye toward wanting to be able to book flights fairly soon, but we want to consider a possible extension to see the Amalfi Coast. Here's what I'm thinking:
Mar 3 overnight flight Boston-Venice, arrive mid day.
2 nights (Mar4-6) Venice (hotel close to the Santa Lucia train station) first day just walk around, possibly visit Doge's palace, but not must-see. 2nd day possibly go to Murano or Burano or both.

Train to Florence mid/late afternoon arrival
2 nights (Mar 6-8) Florence - the one full day will be for 1 or 2 museums, not trying to fit in a lot.

Rent car in Florence (if I rent within the ZTL zone B, and drop off to the same place, will the car rental agency handle ZTL permission?) morning of the 8th, then drive out of city.

4-5 nights (Mar 8-12 or 13) in one base town/city in Tuscany for day trips. Would love recommendations. The perfect place would have free parking, but walking distance to the city center or at least some restaurants. I will do the driving for day trips most days so I won't be drinking at lunch but would like the option of being able to enjoy a glass at dinner. A bonus would be if the base town had a train station for another day trip option.

Return car to either Florence airport (end of trip) or to Florence city office to take the train Naples and on to Sorrento. If we fly home from Florence (Mar 13), we likely will return the car the night before and stay near the airport. If we take the train, we have more flexibility on whether to move one more time and stay in Florence the night before or just drive straight back in the morning from our base.

Possible add-on Sorrento, Pompeii, Amalfi coast Mar 13-18, return to Rome via train and stay near the airport overnight for morning flight on Mar 19. Any insights on whether mid March is just too early to try to visit the Amalfi Coast? We're not looking for beach weather, just want to see the scenery when it's not too crowded, but don't want everything to be closed down. Any specific ideas for places to stay, things to do in the area?

Any ideas, suggestions much appreciated. Thank you.

Posted by
6259 posts

Re flying out if Florence. No need to stay out by the Airport the night before . From the city center it's only a 20 min taxi ride. And if it's an early morning flight, then traffic won't be an issue.

There are many threads on how to get out of Florence with a rental car. If you search the topic you should find them.This one contains driving instructions: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/picking-up-a-car-in-florence-to-drive-thru-tuscany

March is early for the AC. Of course everything in Naples, Pompeii, and Sorrento will be open. But the AC ferries won't have started up, and some places in the AC towns won't have reopened for the season yet.

Posted by
5878 posts

Sounds nice so just a couple thoughts:
For Tuscany, maybe spend some time looking at accommodation sites? There are probably a hundred villages you could stay in that are well positioned for day trips and also have plenty of restaurants in town. Finding some thread to pull for narrowing it down will be helpful (I use parks as I like to do nature things; others might hang it on vineyards or art). I have a hunch that staying in a town without a train station will make it more likely that you can easily find parking within an easy walking distance, but there are always exceptions.
I think Sorrento will be fine for sure but even an Amalfi coast village is probably fine in March. It is a great time to see Pompeii when it is not scorching hot. Naples is always an option if weather is bad, so I am not so hesitant about the AC in off season.

Posted by
302 posts

Thank you for the responses. I did find Roberto's directions and maps which are very helpful. If we stick to the beginning part of our itinerary, we'll have a couple of days in Florence so I can fully scope out the city rental office and car drop off points, so that shouldn't be a problem.
As for how to pick the town, I've started looking at possibilities but need to do more research. Volterra seems to be a possibility, also Pienza although that's near the southern extent of our day trip possibilities. I'll keep researching.

Posted by
18 posts

We are doing a very similar itinerary except in May. Curious where you end up staying in the Florence/Tuscany region

Posted by
5878 posts

FWIW, this is how I target the challenge of picking one base town in an area containing many attractive options (a very common occurrence!):
I read through travel guide descriptions and travel writing from blogs, newspapers, magazines, and any where else to get a sense of the regional variation, especially noting restaurants and proximity to natural areas since we prioritize nature. Then I start searching accommodations in the various places to see if one stands out--having a view is always my primary goal. Simultaneously, I plug the various destinations into Google Maps so I can visualize what is where and more important, what allows me to be in the car less than two hours per day (the max--we shoot for much less).
If you are looking for "classic Tuscany," then north or south of Siena is the general vicinity.

Posted by
302 posts

Thank you Valadelphia. Good advice. I've been going back and forth between searches on this and other forums, and google maps. I've seen Roberto's great instructions on picking up and returning rental cars from Florence, which should be relatively convenient for us, especially since driving will be several days after arrival, but I'm also looking at the possibility of taking the train from Florence to a base location where we could still rent a car, but maybe for fewer days and instead look for day trips/tours for wine tasting etc. Since the other couple is less interested in city stays it's a bit of a balancing act trying to find a good base, that offers views as well as convenience to restaurants and trains. Or maybe we take the train to one of the 'bigger cities' where we could do a little site seeing (yes, with our luggage, or maybe stored for the day) then rent a car, and head to a nice agriturismo to use as our base.
I'll certainly keep doing my research, but would love to hear of anyone's experience at a great stay.

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