First time visiting Italy in Spring - HELP with destinations!

A good first time itinerary to Italy is Rome, Florence with time in the countryside of Tuscany too, Venice. Suggest renting a car as you leave Rome, drop it off in Florence after being in Tuscan countryside where a car is needed, finish in Venice. We didn’t go south of Rome until our 8th trip to Italy.
However, you seem more interested in Southern Italy, Amalfi etc.
Take train from Rome to Naples if you want to be that area. Others can advise you more about that area. We have spent time in Puglia and Sicily but only a short in Capri and Sorrento.

I sure wouldn't recommend the AC if you want no stress travel.

The Sorrento/Amalfi Coast is a victim of its Instagram success- it's very crowded three seasons of the year, and shoulder season is no longer less traveled. Compound that with poor infrastructure, narrow roads, traffic congestion, and poor public transportation. There is no quick and efficient mode of travel, it's very different from areas north of Naples. Cars are useless. The Circumvesuviana train doesn't always run on time, is pretty gritty, with no air conditioning. The Sika buses are extremely crowded and often skip stops if they have no space for additional passengers. The ferries are weather dependent.You need lots of patience- and time- to explore the AC.

I'd recommend northern Italy, perhaps Venice and Lake Como, which aren't as crowded as further south, and which are served better by public transportation.

Most seasoned travelers book accommodations 8-9 months out, so you may have issues finding lodging in your price range. That may determine where you go.

Review the Trip Reports posted here, do some targeted Searches, and read the posts under the Italy section here. Perhaps get a guidebook and watch the RS videos, to develop some background on the country and manage expectations.

Your first trip is certainly exciting, and with some research, it can be all that you expect. Good luck!
Safe travels!

To a first timer I would suggest COMBo of Lake Garda - Florence - Rome - Puglia.

2 days, 2 days, 3 days, 3 day.
Little bit of culture, little bit of Rome, some wine and some history.

Of course the other suggestions are terrific!!

Rome, Italy can be very intense for the first visit to Europe. We didn't hit Rome until our 4th trip. Spring of 24 is right around the corner and you need to do a lot of planning. Assume you have your passports in hand. Personally I would recommend one of Steve's Italy tours to get your oriented to European travel and go on your own for the next trip. Look on a map, not sure where you think are are going by boat. Most of Italy is easily accessible via train and encourage you use the train. Driving a car in Italy for first time visitors is not a recommendation for a no-stress vacation. You need to hit your local library and check out the travel DVDs especially the Steves' videos. With ten days, you should plan on visiting three or maybe four locations.

Plan on getting around by renting a small car or traveling by boat to anything 2-3 hours from the Amalfi vicinity to visit other parts of Italy. Day trips are great too (and tourist things but not too much). And hikes like "Path of the Gods (?)

Sounds like you plan to base yourself in the town of Amalfi, or somewhere on the 'Amalfi Coast'. Is this correct?

If so, a car is more a problem than a solution. Also being there really limits where you can go. The location and geography preclude going anywhere fast.

Do you already have your flights booked? If so where are you flying into? If you are focusing on the Amalfi, see if you can fly into Naples, if not then Rome and take the train to Naples. I would suggest you look at Sorrento for some of your time, as you can easily day trip out to Pompeii, Capri etc. I don't think you will want a car if you are staying on the Amalfi coast mostly.

You might also want to look at Paestum, and at Salerno if you want something not too touristy for part of the trip.

Personally for my first trip to Italy, I would consider Tuscany instead, you could rent a car, or you could do a few days in Florence, train to Lucca and Sienna.

”This is to be a no stress vacation. : )”

What you’re currently planning wouldn’t give you that type of vacation. My husband & I celebrated our 25th anniversary years ago with our first RS tour. We weren’t sure we wanted to be with a group of people when we had this milestone trip coming up and were wanting the feel of a second honeymoon. It was perfect! Absolutely no stress! Zero. Just show up and let the tour guide deliver you to spectacular locations & fun group activities like wine-tasting lunches, some beautiful museums, etc. - all with your choice to do them or opt out and do something by yourselves at that location.

Here’s two options that are both excellent!

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/village-italy
There’s only two dates in April and one in May left with room for two people. This is a great tour to avoid the heavily touristed locations and enjoy the amazing locations - a true, beautiful, relaxing plan of Italy.

The Best of Tuscany tour doesn’t get you to the coastline, so I’m not including it.

If you could stretch your time longer, this is the one to do!
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/best-italy
The Spring dates are all waitlisted now. Contact the RS office if you want to be on their waitlist.
Amazing hiking in the gorgeous Dolomites, magical Venice, the countryside & the cities. Each place is a “wow”!

Book MultCity Tickets. Not one way or round trip.
Don't deal with a car, too complicated with parking. The trains in Europe are so easy. Book early to save money.

Fly into Venice for 3 nights, train to Florence for 3 nights with a day trip into Tuscany with a company like WalkAbout Florence (we love their Best of Tuscany tour and The Chianti Wine and Food Safari tour), then take the train to Rome for the remainder and fly home from Rome. You can book group tours or private guides for places like St. Marks Basilica, Uffizi, the DAVID, the Vatican, the Pantheon, The Colosseum/Forum.

Since you've never been to Europe, have you considered maybe doing a RS tour like Venice, Florence, Rome? You learn and see so much and don't have the stress of booking and figuring things out. A NO-STRESS trip to Europe will not happen for you on your first time there (true). We go at least twice a year and there is always stress and learning involved

Def get the RS guidebooks for whatever area you visit.

I'd book hotels NOW. We've already booked for October.

Get the RS book EUROPE THROUGH THE BACK DOOR - it is sometimes cheaper on Amazon vs this website - read and study it. Also read ALL of the TRAVEL TIPS section here - esp the parts on Money, CC, ATMs, etc.

If you really want to go to Amalfi, consider the RS South of Italy tour. No stress since you don’t have to deal with planning and logistics. Day trips are included, e.g. Pompeii, Paestum. There is free time in most towns so you can go hiking or spend parts of days by yourselves. https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/south-italy

This was my first tour in Italy, after spending time in Rome and afterwards in Calabria and Venice. Do not drive in Amalfi. The road is horribly twisty and congested and on the tour or local bus Dramamine will be your best friend. Freeway to Calabria (ancestor trip) was very good but there are frequent speed cameras. We got lost in Naples trying to return the rental car to the airport and ended up at the shipyards; a little scary.

We have enjoyed many areas of Italy on our own--AFTER doing lots of research in travel forums, libraries, online travel blogs as well as talking with those who have "been there". For me, doing the research is part of the fun and excitement of travel but also necessary in my opinion, to get the most out of any trip. You are doing that, so good for you!

One of our fondest and most relaxed trips to Italy was the Italian Lake District, specifically the Lake Como area. We stayed in a rental home just outside of the lovely lakeside town of Varenna. Lots of restaurants of all price levels and cute shops --very relaxing place. Though we rented a car, if you stay right in Varenna, you would not need to rent a car. We kept ours parked most of the time. From Varenna you can take ferry boats across the lake to other wonderful towns such as Bellagio and Menaggio. Both with lots to see and do. Once there you can also hop on buses to see more of the sights. No car needed (which in itself makes for a more relaxed time in European towns with difficult parking situations). Plus the short ferry rides are quite pleasant and scenic. The lake towns have lots of shopping and restaurants and lovely scenery. If you are into gardens, there are some very beautiful ones where one can spend a very relaxing time wandering and taking lots of photos: Villa Carlotta; Melzi, and Hotel Villa Cipressi to name a few. One day we took the train from Varenna to Stresa at the Switzerland border. A ferry boat ride can take you from Stresa to Isola Bella (Lake Maggiore/Borromean Islands) to wander the beautiful garden grounds. We went in early to mid May which was good weather but chilly at night and ahead of tourist season, but barely. Very relaxing! I would add that while I loved the Amalfi coast, I would not call it relaxing--and we went in the off season. We usually prefer renting a car but for that trip we did not even consider doing so--and it was a good decision.

Bumping this up to get more replies.

I think what you might want to do is unrealistic for Italy.

Why have you chosen Italy? Most people go to Italy for the the history, museums, art, culture and food.

We've only done three trips but I don' t think any were no stress. There is always something.

When is "Spring" ?? Since Easter is very early this year, early to mid-April may be a good time to avoid most crowds. But weather may not be as good - April can be chilly or worse, rainy.

Driving in Italy is super-stressful for several reasons. Without detailing them, I just advise to forget it. You can much more easily and maybe not more expensively hire a guide with a car, or maybe just a car and driver.

The trick to avoiding large crowds is to go to less popular places. The Amalfi Coast is very time-consuming to reach, the only reasonable day trips are on the AC and maybe Capri by boat, so it's not to be included in a 10-day trip (which may sound like a lot to you but is a pretty short visit).

Here's a suggestion. Start in Bologna and take day trips by train to 1-3 other nearby towns. Then go to Orvieto for 3 nights. End with a couple nights in Rome.

Amalfi is anything but stress free, especially if you are not staying in the Amalfi Coast region. We totally agree with the advice above to do the Florence, Venice, Tuscany region. 10 days goes fast, especially if two of those days are travel days. Fly in to Venice, and spend a couple of days there. Then train over to Florence, which is our favorite place. Great food, history, and charming and very walkable. From Florence you can day trip to Siena, Lucca, or some of the other hill towns by train. I would book most of my nights in Florence. The train to Rome. A couple of nights in Rome, and call it done. It's going to be packed, and not stress free, but at least you can say you saw some of the sights!

Another option, after Florence, train over to Cortona for a couple of nights, then train down to Orvieto for a night before ending up in Rome. Lot of great options!

Forgot to add…I disagree about car rentals. Driving in Italy is fine. Just be careful about getting into small towns with narrow streets. Better to park outside the walls and walk.

No stress. 10 days (which is not very long). Never Been. Want to Experience Charming Towns & Beautiful Scenery. [Food and history will be abundant, everywhere.]

To me, and I have only been to Italy twice since 2000 (one more coming up this April; two trips in the 1960s don't really count), I would suggest you consider No BIG Cities. No Rome; No Milan or Naples. Not that the cities are necessarily stressful, but you will have lines and crowds to go to museums that you would want to see (Vatican Museum in particular). Somewhat similar for the museums in Florence, too. IF you choose Florence, be aware that it will be crowded. What might that leave?

From north to south
* Italian Lakes (Como, Garda, Lugano)
* Dolomites and Alps
* Some smaller cities in or near the Veneto, such as Verona and Padova
* Emilia-Romagna (including Parma, Bologna and Ravenna
* Cinque Terre
* Pisa, Lucca
* Tuscan hill towns
* Umbrian hill towns
* Puglia
* Sicily

Pick just two, three at most. Or, just pick one - if Sicily or Puglia. You could easily work in 1 or 2 nights in Venice, if you focused other travel in and around the Veneto and/or Emilio Romagna.

If you choose Pisa & Lucca, or Tuscan hill towns, you could grab a little time in Florence and concentrate on churches (without lines or tickets) where you will delight in frescoes by Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Michelangelo, and Ghirlandaio, sculptures by Ghiberti, Michelangelo and Donatello, and sculpted terra cotta by the della Robbia family. For history, Florence would be incredible.

One other responder, Pat, mentioned the stress that you might encounter in visiting the Amalfi Coast. I don't know, never been there. But I have ruled out the AC as part of a 30 day trip we are planning to the south of Italy this April, for just that reason. See
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/southern-italy-itinerary-assistance-request and https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/puglia-to-naples-itinerary-suggestions

Consider the weather; the south will be warmer (or hotter, if late spring). Mountains will still have snow in early spring. Does spring mean March/April? or May/June?

Read guide books. Consider a guided tour as others suggested, though you may find that those do not give you what you want - peaceful time in nature and peaceful explorations of charming towns.

Buon Viagge. Buono Anniversario.