First time to Italy questioning my itinerary

Other than the normal dissonances that occur when 6 adults all have to do the same thing at the same time. I guess I am wondering about 3 nights in Milan on arrival. Nothing wrong with it, but maybe head to Florence right off the plane and stay there instead. Unless you have some hot-button items in Milan.

I haven't been to either place recently, but I'm wondering about 4 nights in Cinque Terre (especially given that half the low-level hiking trails are closed) vs. two in Sorrento (where I think there are more opportunities for day-trips). Also, that's back-to-back coastal locations subject to rather heavy crowds, though both are beautiful. I'd have scheduled some time in Rome instead.

Just four days in Sicily is a shame. Be sure you get to the cathedral at Monreale. The markets in Palermo are fun, and the city has many lovely churches and oratorios with varying opening hours, so you should be able to find something to visit if you have some free time.

bj,

I also probably wouldn't spend three nights in Milan but if you have specific sights you want to see there, that should be fine. You could also consider going directly to Varenna on Lake Como and recovering from jet lag there. It's a much nicer location but I'm not sure what accommodations will be available for six people. It's only an hour by train from Milan, so very easy to get to.

Which of the five Cinque Terre towns will you be staying in?

Are you planning to travel between locations by train? You may be aware of this, but there are some potentially expensive caveats to be aware of when using trains and other public transit in Italy. If you need more information on those, post another note here.

I'd suggest packing along at least one copy of the Rick Steves Italy 2017 guidebook for your group as it will be valuable for reference to plan sightseeing etc. "on the fly".

I would drop one night from Milano and add it to Sorrento. Drop Cinque Terre completely and move those nights to Sicilia.

What Zoe said, except even 3 nights is short for Sorrento. On the other hand, there is so much to see in Sicily that adding 4 nights there is excellent. If you don't want to explore more of Sicily, then add more time to Sorrento and use the rest of the time for somewhere else in Italy. Spend 3 nights at one of the lakes, or Bologna with day trips, or Siena.

It's all personal preference, of course, but I would shorten or eliminate the CT segment, and add the time to Sorrento. There is so much to do and see in the Naples/Sorrento/Capri/Amalfi area.

We were underwhelmed by Cinque Terre, ourselves, although we did enjoy wandering through a couple of the towns. But not for 4 nights.

Well why did you choose those places? It is hard to comment without knowing what you wish to do in Milan, and whether you are hiking aficionados (in which case 4 days in CT would be appropriate), and what you planned to do from Sorrento (which I consider more of a base than a destination). My impulse would be to move days from Milan and CT to Sorrento, but not knowing your goals I cannot say for sure. Palermo should be a great experience!

Thank you all for your remarks. Why did I choose these locations. There are 6 people in this party. One cousin wanted CT, Milan is where we fly into we thought we could enjoy the surrounding area. I understand we can get to Florence and or Pisa in an hour by rail. Would this be correct?
Next is our base location CT, yes I knew it would be too many days but my husband and I will take day trips to other locations. We had 5 days arranged in Sorrento until the cousin located family in Palermo, first time meeting them. We are all excited!
This trip is really my husband 50th birthday gift from me. He wants to please everyone so he opened it to what everyone wanted being its their first time also. We had 5 days in CT but decided to shorten it so we could have a full day to have a driver take us along the Amalfi Coast. Then on our way to Palermo.
I do have a question, I've not yet made arrangements for flight to Palermo should I do this before the trip or is it easy enough to buy from airport. What airline?

Hi Ken, we are staying in La Spezia. We have an apartment there. We have shorten our stay from 5 to 4 so we could have a full day in Sorrento. CT is a base location. Yes, could I get more info on train traveling. Thank you so much on the suggestion on Rick Steves book.

The fares on Europe's budget airlines tend to start low when tickets initially go on sale and then rise much higher. You could find yourself stuck with a rather painful one-way fare to Palermo if you wait until the last minute. The ticket you buy will probably be non-refundable and non-changeable, so you need to be sure of your preferred date and time before buying.

You can look at your flight options on Skyscanner. I see four non-stops on July 4, but one is extremely early in the morning and one is very late at night. As of this moment, all the fares are reasonable.

I suggest using the convenient Deutsche Bahn website to check the schedules from La Spezia to the places you're considering for day-trips to be sure the travel time will not be excessive.

Acraven thank you so much for the info.

Milan is where we fly into we thought we could enjoy the surrounding area. I understand we can get to Florence and or Pisa in an hour by rail. Would this be correct?

Milano Centrale to Florence is about 1 hour and 40 minutes, and it takes about 55 minutes to get from Malpensa airport to Milano Centrale on the train. But Florence is just a hop to Pisa then a skip to La Spezia.

Thank you Sam, Your info is greatly appreciated.