First time travel to Italy

It would help to know the airports you will use.

Arrive in Rome and Leave from Milan
If Sorrento is in the Agenda
Then it would be arrival in Venice
Venince - 2 nights
Florence - 2 nights
Sorrento - 2 nights
Rome - 3 nights - depart from Rome

P.S : hows the weather in May. we are coming from India

Sorrento is a long way to go from the other locations when you don’t have much time.Save Sorrento for a trip to Southern Italy.

Remember when you are planning that 2 nights = 1 full day of touring. You'll also lose about 1/2 a day of touring time with each location change.

To me for a first visit you are moving too fast.

I also find Venice slightly awkward with a steeper learning curve than other cities. The vaporetto transportation and the small streets need some exploring. I'd probably want to stay there at least 3 nights to make it worthwhile.

It's true that on my first visits to Italy I stayed about that many nights in places BUT I was on a RS tour and the guides have transportation/hotels/walking tours down pat so you don't have to do any thinking.

With just 9 nights I'd do Venice/Florence/Rome for 3 nights each. If I, personally, were doing 9 nights I'd probably divide it up with 5 nights Rome and 4 nights Venice or Florence for 4 full tour days in Rome and 3 full tour days in your other city but my way of travel is probably not your way of travel, lol!

With a total of eight days on the ground, it might be more enjoyable to limit yourself to two or three cities. Remember that you lose sight-seeing time with every change of hotel and transport between cities. Flying into Venice is a great way to start a trip to Italy. You'll arrive in a smaller airport with easy transit by boat to the islands, including Venice. With jet lag, your first day will be made safer with traffic-free Venice. I'd plan on two or three nights in Venice. The train station in Venice is also relatively easy to navigate. Personally, I'd recommend spending the rest of the trip in Rome, but if you want a third city, Florence would be an easy train connection from Venice. End in Rome because it has a large airport with more flight options and is easily accessed by train from the center of Rome.

I agree with the poster above that you have too many destinations. Not only would you not do justice to Rome and Florence, but you would lose too much of your time to travel. If you haven’t done it before, it’s hard to imagine how much time is used up packing, checking out of a hotel, getting to a train station, the ride, and reversing everything at the other end. My recommendation is that you eliminate Milan (or Sorrento). Add one of those days to Rome; the other, to Florence.

I'll just pile on and agree with the others -- two full days in Rome, one each in Florence, Venice, and Milan or Sorrento, three of your eight days spent (partly) changing cities and hotels -- not a recipe for a good trip unless you really like trains and taxis and front desks and such.

I did an RS tour the same length that "covered" Venice, Florence, and Rome in that order, but I added extra days in Venice and Rome, and felt rushed in Florence. And logistics were pretty much covered by the tour, so I could focus on the sights. On my own with eight days on the ground I'd probably have stuck to Rome and Florence, or Rome and Venice.

And, not to pile on, but...

We are planning on the 10 day trip. 8 days on ground.

It doesn't matter how long you call your trip. I'd question what you're calling "8 days on ground."

What's crucial is to be clear (and honest with yourself) about how many full days you have in Europe, not inlcuding your arrival nor your departure days, no matter what time the flights are scheduled for.

It sounds like you will be coming from India (or someplace else far away). When you arrive in Europe from a long (usually overnight) flight, even if your flight arrives in the morning, you should not count on that day as one that's usable for sightseeing or much else, because you and/or other members of your group will be exhausted and not in the mood for anything (but you should try to stay awake until after dinner, and then sleep - that will allow your body to start adjusting to the local time zone). Likewise, on your departure day, your time will be consumed with all the necessary tasks for getting to and on your flight home.

So, maybe you really do have 8 full, usable days in Italy, or maybe you have something less. Even if the "8" figure is true, that's a painfully short time to go all the way to Italy for.

Rather than just listing cities and how many hours you will spend in each, better to post actual dates and times of your scheduled flight arrival and departure.

But the best advice I can give you of all is this: your trip is too short. Find some way to extend it if you possibly can.

Someone listed on here once a rule of thumb that I happen to agree with......every time you change cities/hotels, you lose a half a day or more depending on the distance between cities. In your post your 8 days becomes 6.5 days to see 4 cities. You may want to keep that in mind before loading up your itinerary.

If you're going to these cities just to say you were there then fine, who am I to say you are wrong to do so. But, if you want to see and enjoy some of Italy's wonders in the time you have, you need to slow down and savor the experience. Personally with only 8 days on the ground (9 nights) I would give Rome 5 nights and Florence 4 nights - with day trips to Sienna or maybe one or two of the hill towns of Tuscany. If you must do 3 cities then Rome 4 nights, Florence 3 nights, Milan 2 nights - fly into Rome and out of Milan or vice versa. Skip Venice and definitely skip Sorrento, save them for another time.

I agree with threadbare and all the above advice. We visited Venice, Florence and Rome for 10 days before a Med cruise in May 2016; Venice 2 nights, Florence 4 nights and Rome 4 nights. We are going back again in September 2019 but doing 3 nights in Venice as 2 wasn't long enough, 4 nights Florence and 3 nights Rome. You don't realize on your first trip how much time you really need and taking the train between cities takes up half a day of each city.

Take all the advice and increase days or remove one city.

Enjoy Italy!!

The weather in May should be very pleasant; not as hot and humid as in India. It is a good time to be in Italy.

You might start by looking at flight possibilities to find the best combination. I was surprised to see that flights between India ( using Delhi) and airports in Italy are both shorter ( just over 8 hours if direct) and less expensive ($650-$700 in Economy class) than what we have from much of North America.

There are direct flights between either Rome or Milan and Delhi, but not between Venice and Delhi. However, making a stop (generally in Rome or Munich) only adds 3-4 hours to the overall time, making it 12-13 hours which is not bad. But watch out for that direct flight from Delhi to Rome that departs at 3 am. I would not want to start a trip that way.

Also avoid if you can a flight with a very early departure time from Venice. It is difficult to get to the airport in time for a 7am or earlier flight without using an expensive water taxi ( over €110) or staying at N airport hotel, which is a waste of a night in Venice in my view.

The total is only 9 nights.
I would do the classic first timer trio:
Land in Venice
3 nights in Venice
3 nights in Florence
3 nights in Rome (if you could add a night here even better)
Fly out of Rome.

Your plan is a bit of “drive by” traveling with too many locations for the time available.
Even if you get bored easily and you think that two days in any given place is too long, there are plenty of day trips opportunities from any of the above mentioned locations.

May generally has the best weather of the year. Warm but not hot or humid. Rain is possible.

Thank you all for your replies. have considered and removed Milan/Sorrento from the Itinerary. currently it will be
Rome -4 nights
Florence - 3 nights
Venice -2 nights

Excellent choice of itinerary.