First time in Northern Italy and have 15 days touring after our cruise

There is no point in staying one night in Civit... There is very little to see there. You will off the ship no later than 9am so I would catch the train to Venice. With this plan a car is a problem - parking, TLZones, etc. If you were spending time in the country side then a car would make some sense, but this schedule doesn't.

If you follow Frank's advice and also skip Milan (my recommendation), you'll have three more days. There are lots of possibilities: Padova, Verona, Vicenza, one of the lakes, more of Tuscany, an agriturismo? . . . Those three days could also be a time for a visit to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. If you would indicate your interests, I'm sure you'll get more and better suggestions.

I see no reason for a car. It will only be an expensive headache in cities, and your entire route can easily be done by high-speed train. Also, I have a different take on Milan than the above comment. I've spent several days in Milan on a couple of trips and really enjoyed it. It depends on your interests. In addItion to the biggies, there are a couple of wonderful art museums and some amazing ancient churches,

Another vote for Milano but it does seem a bit out of your way. I might stop in Bologna for a couple of nights instead.

If you drop Civitavecchia and Milan from your itinerary, and possibly grab one more night from somewhere else in your trip, you'd have 3-4 nights for Sorrento/Amalfi Coast. There is a vast amount of things to do and see there! This could be placed either at the very start of your trip, or between Florence and Rome.

I agree with the others posters, you probably dont need a car unless you are staying in Tuscany outside of Florence. Everywhere else it will be an expensive pain in the patoot.

Thanks for the feedback. If I drop Milan would Naples be good as a base to explore Pompeii and Amalfi coast?

Sorrento would be more centrally located than Napoli, it's about an hour to the Amalfi Coast and about an hour in the opposite direction to Napoli. Less than an hour to Pompei.

Personally I prefer the Amalfi Coast but it will add time to your Napoli/Pompei travel.

When you visit the Amalfi Coast, save some time for Ravello.

First question;

Why do you rent a car from Venice to Milan and do not take the train? Train to Florence take a mere two hours from Milan with fast train.
Car is interesting in Italy if you visit countryside not if you visit cities and towns.

• Do not drive to Florence, cars are not allowed in thecentre of Florence and to discover Florence you should walk There are plenty of Taxi (easy train and bus connections to Pisa and Lucca).

Apart from that, your tour is ok, considering your tour for the coliseum has already been booked for 11/5

We were renting the car from Venice to Florence so we could see the countryside. We are using Florence as a base and planned to drive through Tuscany to do some day tours. We are turning the car in before we leave Florence.

We were renting the car from Venice to Florence so we could see the countryside. We are using Florence as a base and planned to drive through Tuscany to do some day tours. We are turning the car in before we leave Florence.

There's no point in renting a car in Venice. The countryside you want to see is around Florence. Get one in Florence after your time Florence. Best to stay in an agritourism with the car. The heart of Florence is off-limits to cars (as are the historic centers of many other towns in Italy). By the way, Siena, Lucca, Pisa, among others, are easy to get to by bus or train from Florence. Maybe easier than driving and looking for parking and then walking (or bus) to the center.

With what you have planned, forget the car rental. The few advantages (seeing country side, doing day trips) do not, imo, outweigh the pain in the anatomy that comes with the car. You should be able to do just about everything you listed using the train. Nothing in Civitavecchia to warrant staying overnight. TC

Hello everyone I'm back. After a review of all your great comments we decided to change our itinerary. We have eliminated the Milan stay, reduced our Florence stay to 4 nights, reduced our Rome stay to 2 nights. We will now take the train from Florence to Naples then the local train to Sorrento. By adjusting our schedule we picked up 3 nights to use in Sorrento as a base and were thinking of visiting Pompeii and Positano. Do you think using Sorrento as a base is worthwhile or should be use another town? Any suggestions on Hotels in the area? Any comments would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

We used Sorrento as our base & it was great. Easily to get to Positano, Pompeii, Capri, etc. plus we loved Sorrento itself.

Did you eliminate the one night in Civitavecchia? If not, you might still want to consider that as there really isn't a compelling reason to stay there, and it will give you an additional day to use somewhere else.