first time traveling to Italy need help planning itinerary for 15 days starting in Naples

We need more info to help you.
Where are you flying IN to and OUT of?
Who is in your party? How many people?
How will you travel within Italy- train or car?

I am counting 15 nights in Italy -arriving in Italy on 7/21- departing 8/5- is that correct?
15 nights is a decent amount of time but perhaps not enough for all the locations you have listed in Itlay- forget Greece..

Accommodations are well booked up- especially on Amalfi Coat so that may be an issue for you.

I am overwhelmed in planning it

That is no surprise. You are trying to put a size 8 foot in a size 6 shoe.

You need 4 weeks in Italy to do the places you listed; trying to do it in 10 days and add Greece is ill advised, to put it gently.

Have you read guidebook to help you get a sense of how many nights you might want to spend in each location? This process helps me figure out how much time in a place. Rome is huge and has much to see. You could easily spend 5 nights there on a first trip, but it depends on what YOU want to see.

With 15 nights, I would suggest you have time for no more than 4 to 5 stops and if you are starting in Naples, go no further north than Florence due to travel times.

As Christine asked, it would be helpful to know where you fly into and out of, how many people in your party.

For ease in finding lodging, you need a booking site. I like www.booking.com as it is an agency, not a reseller, and it will give you a good sense of what might still be available. It is late in the season to find much choice, so set your expectations accordingly.

Tell us your home airport.

hi so I am traveling from lax to Rome Italy but want to go to Naples since my son will be there for the weekend-he is doing a summer program whole month of Italy. me and my daughter want to join him in Italy. so its 2 adults flying to Rome--then we will meet with my son in Naples spend 4 nights I Amalfi or Sorrento then he will go back to Rome where he has another week of Summer program--in the meantime me and my daughter can explore Rome --he can meet us at Florence or Venice after--dates are July 20th fly out of lax to Rome and august 5th fly back to la--either from Rome or Venice...so its 3 adults basically..ages 55, 23 and 21--thank you for helping out

also fro lax I can fly straight to Naples but there is no non stop flights so I figured maybe I should fly from lax to Rome then take the train from the airport to the train station to Naples then get a private driver to go to Amalfi or Sorrento wherever I book a hotel.

If you haven't booked return flight yet it makes most sense to fly OUT of Venice if you can that way you won't have to backtrack to Rome.
Accommodations are very limited in Sorrento and Amalfi- you might do better just staying in Naples

Fly to Rome- go immediately to Naples by train
Naples 4 nights- or Sorrento if you find lodging
Train to Rome- 4 nights
Train to Florence 4 nights with 1 day trip to a hill town- Siena is easy
Train to Venice- 3 nights
Fly home from Venice

Book your trains here:
https://www.trenitalia.com/content/tcom/en.html
Must use Italian names:
Roma Termini
Napoli Centrale
Firenze SM Novella
Venezia S Lucia

When you book your flights book both flights together as a "multi-city" or open jaw. IN to Rome OUT of Venice- do not book 2 one way tickets.
I would start looking for accommodations ASAP.

thank you so much..if I stay in Florence 4 nights can I do Tuscany day trip as well? do I need 4 nights in Florence? is it wise to do 3 nights Florence 3 nights Venice and 2 nights in Milan in order to see Lake Como? or am I asking for too much lol.

Florence needs 3 nights but we don’t know what your interests are
The 4th night allows for a day trip

You can add Milan/Como if you want-makes for a lot of moving around
Every time you change location you lose a half a day

If you do add Milan you’ll be cutting time really short in Rome 4 nights there is bare minimum

If you add Milan then fly home from Milan

okay great thank you so much for your help. it will be cutting it really short if I go to Milan too--then I have to do 2 nights Florence 2 nights Venice and 3 nights Milan and fly out. I think I will follow your plan and skip Milan

Please don't ignore Christine's advice about lodging - note the "if"

At this point, I'd be really concerned about lodging anywhere along the Amalfi coast within your dates. IMHO you should start there, and make changes if you can't find something that works.

We just got back from Italy and the crowds were insane.

Best advice is to stay flexible, and be ready to pivot if you can't find lodging. Better pay particular attention to the location of anything available - i.e. how long is it going to take you to get from the train station to your lodging - how long from your lodging to the town where you want to stroll, dine, etc. and perhaps most importantly how long to get BACK from your lodging to your outbound transportation. If $ is no object you can probably navigate a lot of this via private driver, but you still have to have somewhere to sleep.

You might find that it's best to save Sorrento and beyond for another trip and focus on the larger places where your chance of finding a place to sleep increases, and the infrastructure isn't another challenge you're combatting. Just my two cents.

okay great thank you so much for your help. I think we will do south of Italy and Rome and Florence only this time--15 days is enough to cover all these places. I will look for accommodations now and book flights tonight.

is it okay to fly into Naples --is Naples airport safe.? or should I fly into Rome then take train to Naples

Fly into Naples
It is as safe as any other airport

Why add all that extra travel if you don’t have to?

okay thank you. I am booking now --flying into Naples and return from Venice to la

4 nights Amalfi Positano area
4 nights Rome
3 nights florence
3 nights Venice

I would make sure you have a hotel in the Amafi/Positano area before you book the flights. We just returned from there and the crowds were as other described "insane". Our hotel said they were booked solid. Hotel prices in the area are a "shocker" compared to other places where we stayed so make sure you have a hotel. We stayed at the Villa Pietra Santa which I highly recommend. It is not in the main part of Positano but I have that as a positive. We could walk into the main part of Positano or restaurants sent a car to get us. It is right above the Arienzo Beach Club with private stairs to the beach. Splurge and get a reservation at that beach club. It is much nicer than the Positano beach. Plus you can take the beach club's boat and be dropped off in the center of Positano. We used that transportation to explore Positano (which is all uphill).

We hired Aldolimos to pick us up at the Naples airport and take us to our hotel in Sorrento and to do a tour of Ravello and Amalfi plus the countryside which I highly recommend. The Naples airport is very safe and just like other airports in Italy so I wouldn't be worried.

thank you so much for your recommendation. I will look now to see if I can book it right away

also do you book hotels through Expedia or another site?

I like booking.com

Set your filters # people # beds ac location budget etc
I always book refundable rates

You posted this on your other thread:

...preferably no steps since I have knee issues

I'd book in Naples or Sorrento and not Positano, given that one is essentially vertical and involves lots of stairs. I'll double the advice to look for available hotels in all of your cities on booking.com, and be cautious to choose accommodations with some ground-floor rooms or elevators. Elevators are not a given in Italian hotels depending on age the building. As well, look for lodgings in the historic centers and not on the fringes. :O)

As someone mentioned in your other thread, Venice is going to involve managing steps over its many bridges, and restaurant restrooms in other cities may be located in the basements, down a flight of stairs.

Agree with others that 4 stops is the max you should aim for. We just returned from 2 weeks in Bellagio-Florence-Rome-Sorrento and everything was packed. Amalfi coast was insane so glad we had hotel in Sorrento vs one of the other coastal cities. . Even the “skip the line” tours in Rome and Florence are super crowded. We could have easily spend another week at just those locations.

Couple tips:
- prioritize the sights you want to see. Chances are that tickets are sold out and you will need a 3rd party tour. (Also bring a pair of cheap headphones/earbuds with old connecter not lightning. Can make tour guide audio much better. )
- If you can swing it, reserve drivers for transfer between train and hotel. Before the trip it felt unnecessary since we’re good on metros etc. BUT due to crowds it saves so much time and anxiety. Example, train arrived in Rome during downpour and station was chaos. Taxi line and metro line super long.
- As Rick Steves says “embrace the chaos”. Crowds, delays, lines, etc are a given so know that going in.
- Be good to yourself. We originally planned to see Pompeii at end of our trip but family was wiped out after Flo/Rome so we skipped it. Probably saved our sanity.
- Be aware of potential strikes. We flew out of Naples during strike and many flights were cancelled/delayed. Google Italy strikes and you can find dates.

Enjoy!

thank you all so much for your replies. i will take everything into consideration when booking--ciao

Hi and good luck with your itinerary. I'm planing something similar, but for 10 nights. Still some stuff to add but hope this helps:

Fly into Naples
3 Nights Amalfi Coast:
From airport drive or train to Meta (near Sorrento) - stay 3 nights airbnb
Visit Pompeii from Sorrento
Hydrofoil from Sorrento to Capri for the day

Take high speed train to Rome
4 Nights Rome - stay four nights airbnb in front of Pantheon (walking distance to everything)
Vatican 7:30 am Prime Experience Tour - booked on Vatican Website
Colosseum Tour - via WalksofItaly
Pantheon - No reservation needed weekdays

Take high speed train to Florence
3 Nights Florence at airbnb (walking distance to everything)
Cooking Class and lunch at Tuscan farmhouse via Viator
Academia and Uffizi Gallery Tour booked via their website

Fly out of Florence