First time to Italy- 17 day Itinerary advice

Hi Emily, how exciting! I would start with a good travel book (I Like Rick Steves) so you can plan your days around what is open/closed, the times of operation, what sites would require a reservation and how far out to reserve, the website to reserve and the cost. Read Trip reports, that is how I found out about the not to miss Bisteca in Florence (not to miss to us at least). From watching the Rick Steves travel shows (Hulu) I discovered that an ideal home base on the Amalfi coast is in Sorrento and I even got the name of a great hotel (Breakfast included) in our price range. I see you have some train travel, lots of good you-tube videos on how to book train tickets in Italy and the search function here will bring up some great advice regarding the names of the train stations (Rome has many many train stations), how far out to book etc. Your trip is literally just around the corner and lots of the popular sites are better seen with reservations so you don't spend your time in lines, which sell out quickly and can go on sale 90 days out. Look into Walks of Italy for some great tours to the major sites, and Eating Italy (Twilight Trastevere tour) which I think may be called Eating Europe, for a fun walking eating tour in Rome, cause your hubby likes to eat!

Thank you so much for the reply, Letizia! I should have mentioned that we have been through Rick's books and all of the shows on Italy many times over the last 5 years in planning this trip (I could likely recite them, and my kids groan when they hear the intro! haha) I had not thought of the Youtube videos, and will definitely check these out for ideas as well. I know that Rick suggests Sorrento as a home base in Amalfi, but did you find this to be true as well in your travels? I worry that by staying so far North, our day trips will be eaten up by travel time. Also, did you travel by bus or ferry in your experience on the coast? Thank you again for your reply!

Although you have 17 days I'd skip Florence/Tuscany this trip spending more nights in the other places on your list. Best advice I ever got was from one of the RS planners "Travel like you will return" no need to pack everything in and trust me you will return.

Are you sure you (or your husband) will be safe to drive from Rome to your Tuscan lodgings after a possibly-sleepless overnight flight? I definitely would not be.

I really recommend the restaurant “The Golden View” in Florence. Our daughter did a semester abroad in Florence and really liked it. We visited Florence several years later and tried it and really liked it as well. It has a great view of the Ponte Vecchio Bridge and the Arno River. The food was very good and the prices were very reasonable. They have a website where you can make reservations. We ate there without a reservation at 6:00 pm and got a great table next to the window but had to promise that we would be done by 8:30. They are open for lunch as well.

Thank you, Yosemite1. I will definitely put this on our itinerary in Florence!!

I have driven in Italy when we lived in Germany from 87-91, but today, I would not.

Read many posts on these board complaining about tickets for outrageous amounts for very minor infractions like 2KPH over the speed limit. Many towns have zones you cannot enter and lots of tourists get monstrous fines.

Trains go just about anywhere in Italy.

Also, spend more time in Rome, you nonly have3 full days there.

Florence, check out the Hotel Balesteri, on the Arno, a nice boutique hotel.

All great tips, geovagriffith. Thank you! I will definitely check out the hotel in Florence as well as I have not yet booked that location.

Looks like a fun time. I guess your decision needs to be whether you want to be on the go most of the time or have the ability to stop and really enjoy the area's you are visiting. I would advise against any one night stays. It's exhausting but maybe your ok with that. It does seem like you are trying to cover too much ground. But, it does sound like you have done your homework so it's how you want to pace yourselves.
As far as the Amalfi coast---Sorrento is not on the Amalfi coast. We stayed in Ravello first trip and Positano on our third trip. Both were fabulous. There's just something about those small towns.
Happy Anniversary! We actually got married in Rome 35 years ago in September. It's a lovely month to visit

This is great caugustine54. I would love to stay in Positano, but the appeal of a smaller town and the lower expense of such pushes my search a bit further. When traveling the coast, did you use the ferry, or bus? What would you think about renting scooters? (We are both motorcycle riders, but lack the death wish.)

All good advice here, but I would skip the car rental and use the trains instead. We spent 17 nights in Italy a few years back and stayed a minimum 2 nights at any one stop, and I highly recommend that. We also flew open jaw, flying into Venice then traveled south and flew home from Rome. That way we didn't backtrack. The large cities were great, but we loved the smaller towns too. Mix it up if possible to get a real flavor. We are now planning our 2nd visit and hoping to catch the wine harvest this September. Enjoy Italy!

I had 6 nights in Sorrento and was very happy with the decision. I was there over some national holidays in late April and found the crowds to be extremely oppressive in the small coastal towns and was happy to be able to escape back to Sorrento for a little more room. That said, the towns do empty out in the evenings so perhaps you'd have the same feeling I had in Sorrento in the evenings, but I found I preferred a slightly larger city than either Positano or Amalfi. To me, it felt like too much of a hassle to get to a hotel in either location and I hated the idea of being trapped on the one curvy road that leads into and out of the Amalfi Coast. I also found Sorrento to be an excellent base for day trips to everything - Capri, the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Naples, etc.

I visited the coast twice while in Sorrento - the first time, I booked a tour with Mondo and had a really enjoyable visit to Ravello, Amalfi, and Positano, though it was a holiday and traffic was horrendous. I used the bus system the second time (a non-holiday when traffic moved well) and found it easy to use and inexpensive. I wanted to take a ferry but they just didn't run often enough to match my schedule. I think trying to drive yourself in any type of vehicle is a mistake - you're distracted by the views and there's a ton of traffic and it's a very tight, winding road and while I love driving, I can't imagine it's enjoyable.

Extremely helpful, Katherine215. Thank you!

Sounds like a great trip, but stay longer in fewer places is my mantra for travel these days. Relax, enjoy, plus Italy runs on its schedule! Build in missed/delayed train time, and other hassles you will incur.

Please see the Borghese Gallery in Rome. One of the best personal experience with incredible art you can have. I used a third party ticket seller to guarantee tix due to the fact I had limited time and I was late to book. The surrounding gardens and grounds are beautiful.

In Florence, spend some time in the Altra Arno. We stayed at Hotel Torre Guelfa, near center of town. They have a tower bar to enjoy a spritz and watch the sunset. The lights of Florence will come alive!

Have fun whatever you do, enjoy your incredible journey!

I’ll repeat what has been said above as it seems to have been lost - driving after a transatlantic flight is dangerous.

Hi there, Emily, and welcome to the forums!

Day 1- Arrive Rome, rent car and drive into Tuscany.

I'll ditto the caution about driving to "Tuscany" right off an international flight. I'd take a train directly to Florence instead and switch your 2-4 and 4-5 days: nights 1 and 2 in Florence, then rent your car and spend nights 3, 4 and 5 exploring more of Tuscany. This only give you one full day in Florence but as you don't care for museums, maybe that's enough. Drop the car somewhere (?) and take a fast train to Salerno.

And to reduce quite so much moving around in the A.C - I can't see spending nights in Salerno, Amalfi, Capri AND Sorrento - I'd probably skip the overnight in Salerno and go directly to Amalfi. I'll question 1 night in Sorrento as well, although we enjoyed it, and opt for maybe a 2nd on Capri. Like the others, I'm not a fan of 1-night stays, and getting around the A.C. is sort of time consuming anyway.

Naples? One of the best attractions there is the Archeological Museum but without combining it with Pompeii or Herculaneum + not caring for museums, it's not the choice for you. I'd use the time for Tuscany and Florence instead and skip that one. Even Rome could use another night although, again, it sounds as if you've little interest in most of the attractions there so Tuscany, probably.

This will be over Labor Day weekend and I understand that there are
several harvest festivals this weekend. Best?

Labor Day in Italy is May 1st so I'm guessing you mean U.S. Labor Day weekend (August 31 - Sept 2)?

I'll start with responding with your request for a Tuscan agriturismo. We spent a week at Castillo di Verrazzano, which is just outside Greve. It was great for a home base to tour the Chianti region. We had a car, there's really no way to truly see the charms of Tuscany without one.

Like most first time visitors to Italy, you want to see it all. I agree with the concept of planning your trip like you will return. My rule of thumb is to visit from Rome north or Rome south, but even with 17 days, I wouldn't try to do both. I also firmly believe in not moving too often and we never stay for just one night anywhere. If I was planning for 17 days, I would not move more than three times (maybe four in a pinch, but no more).

I'll grudgingly agree with those who suggest not stepping off the plane and into a rental car. That's what we did, but we flew First Class (with the Skymiles we earned from our business travel) and slept like babies on the flight. I had no problems driving from Rome FCO to Greve, but I realize that may not be the best plan for most. Taking the train to Florence, staying three days, then driving down to an agriturismo late on the third day may be better.

I found driving in Tuscany a treat. If you husband is a careful, defensive driver and can obey the traffic laws, you should have no problems. Outside of Florence the ZTLs are clearly marked and easily avoided. We chose to take the bus into Florence, since as a rule we never drive in big cities, whether it's Italy, France, Germany, England or Scotland.

Finally, on your last night before flying back, if you have an early flight, I suggest staying at the Hilton at the airport. You'll have a free shuttle to your terminal and won't have to worry about getting from the city to the airport in time to make your flight.

Since we visited mostly main tourist cities we traveled by train only. I loved Sorrento as a home base we did not feel it was too far. We traveled from Rome to Sorrento, stopped in Napels, stored our luggage and took a taxi for some Pizza, returned to the train station and took the Campania Express to Sorrento. While in Sorrento we hired a private driver and did a day trip to Amailfi, Ravello and Positano and the drive was amazing. Really got just a taste of each town, but made notes on what to do/see for a longer stay on our next trip.
I know what you mean about that intro music on the RS Videos, annoying! LOL.

We are leaving in July for a 20 day trip, flying into Rome. We had to decide similarly; linger longer or move more. We are a group of 10, with 6 teenagers, so we decided on linger longer. Here is our plan:

July 12 arrive in Rome (Hotel Lancelot)
July 15 train to Naples, car taking us to Praiano (we have rented a cute house, Praiano was much less expensive)
July 15-20 exploring the Amalfi coast from that base (one day ferry to Capri, one day hiking the Path of the Gods, one day a boat trip to snorkel, one day to take the bus down the coast and back to see Ravello, Positano etc)
July 20 car taking us back to Naples, via a stop in Herc, to catch the overnight ferry to Palermo
July 21 we arrive in Palermo and pick up our 2 rental cars, driving away from the city right away
July 21-July 24 Agrigento Sicily
July 24-July 27 Siricusa Sicily
July 27 we fly to Munich from Catania (Munich was a cheaper route back to Houston so we are spending 2 days there on the way home)

Hope this helps with your planning!

Hi extrapatti and welcome to the forums -
Sounds like a nice trip. A comment just in case you weren't aware? There is no ferry service to/from Praiano so you'll need to travel to a different town to get to Capri. Yours is also a VERY different trip than what Emily will be doing (much larger group, 1/2 your time in Sicily, flying to Munich, etc).

I agree with most of the advice you've gotten but a few things especially.

Driving after an international flight is a bad idea, even if you don't think you suffer from jet lag.

You basically have 5 nights Tuscany (including Florence), 7 nights Amalfi Coast (including Naples) . 4 nights Rome.

For the Tuscany/Florence part - consider taking the bus from Rome airport to Siena which, while fairly large, IS a Tuscan hilltown. Spend the 5 nights there and do day trips to Florence (easy 1 hour by bus) and to other smaller hilltowns. Maybe just rent a car for one or two days (smaller hilltowns are hard to do by public transportation). Siena itself is wonderful, this would eliminate one hotel switch, and could eliminate the need for a car.

For the Amalfi Coast part I'd base in Sorrento the whole time. I've done several trips to the region and done that. Day trips to Amalfi, Positano, Ravello, Capri, Naples. I've done combos of ferry and bus (they are both great, try to at least one of each). I don't consider the ferry or the bus on the Amalfi Coast as 'transportation' but rather as a 'site' itself. To Naples is easy by train. Yes it's backtracking to do it as a day trip vs spending a night but it lets you mix it up with visiting the more rural coast and you don't have to bother with another hotel. Also if you do get a bad weather day you can do the Naples trip that day and not 'waste' a day. Here's one of my trip reports from an Amalfi trip where I based in Sorrento for 8 days. https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/amalfi-coast-rome-and-croatia-images-of-three-hot-but-wonderful-weeks-854867/

Photos have moved, now at: https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p266655284

Hi Kathy! Thanks for the welcome! 100% on the ferry from Prianao. Our lodging has a private boat option. We are weighing that vs the ferry from Positano. Soooo many choices!

Coming back to this after the weekend and I am so grateful for everyone's input and experienced advice. Thank you all for taking the time to reply!

I think you do not give enough time to Rome (5 days would be a minimum, Rome has a very big historic centre plus) and 3-4 days for Florence. Tuscany is wonderful but it is big so make sure you decide the places you want to see and whether they are convenient by car or not. You will find Siena, Florence and even Lucca, very difficult to park and to escape ZTL streets in the centre. Streets also are very narrow.
Positano, Amalfi, Ravello are very near to each other. I would go for a day to Capri but would prefer to stay in Ischia, not as crowded as Capri and more authentic.
Labour day

Hi Emily,
For days 2-4 in Tuscany, I would suggest Montepulciano. It is in the heart of wine country and one of Rick Steve's favorite places to have as a base to explore Tuscan wineries.

Montepulciano is a fantastic town, lots to do including tons of festivals, concerts, theater, etc... The main shopping street has wonderful boutiques and the town is full of amazing restaurants.

If you are looking to stay in town, I would suggest Charming Homes (https://www.charminghomemontepulciano.com). These are great apartments for rent that are very comfortable.

If you are looking for a B&B experience, check out Fonte Martino (https://www.fontemartino.com/). This is a great B&B located in the countryside just 5 minutes from town.

Let me know if you need any more info about Montepulciano.

Have a wonderful vacation! -TJ