First timer - 14-Day Lake Como, Venice, Florence, Amalfi Coast, Rome Italy Tour plan feedback

Way too much checking in and out and transit. Recommend you pick 3 places to stay, don't drive at all, and make sure you are in Rome the night before your flight.

Dec 24 - check out of hotel & go to Venice & spend the whole day,
drive to Como in the evening & check in at Como Dec 25 - Lake Como
Dec 26 - check out & half day at Como & drive to Milan to arrive
around 2 PM, drop off car Take a train to Florence & check in

The days are short in December so this bit makes no sense. Why drive? You'll be driving in the dark.
You can go to Como from Milan by train - no need for a car.
A half day in Venice is not worth the trouble.
There won't be much going on at Lake Como this time of year-

Dec 26 - check out & half day at Como & drive to Milan to arrive
around 2 PM, drop off car Take a train to Florence & check in Dec 27
- Pisa & around Florence and sleep in Dec 28 - half day Florence and around and in the evening travel to Rome, check in & sleep at Rome

This only gives you 2 half days in Florence

Go from Florence all the way to Naples then back to Rome so Rome is at end of trip. I would drop this whole part anyway- it's too much and there won't be much open on Amalfi coast

Jan 5 - early morning Naples to Rome to arrive at the airport by 10 AM

I would be IN Rome the night before departure flight. Unless you are willing to risk missing your flight and purchase 3 new flights to get home

I'd recommend focusing on Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome. There are plenty of "inside" things to do in larger cities in case it is too cold/rainy outside.

Milan 2
Venice 3
Florence 4- with day trip to Pisa
Rome 5- could day trip to Ostia Antica- if weather allows.

I agree completely with ChristineH. Cold, possibly wet, days when it's dark at 4:30 makes Como less than desirable. Ditto for the AC, where many places will be closed for the season and fhe AC ferries won't be running. That day trip to Venice makes no sense, and driving isn't necessary at all given the availability of trains.

Unless you are doing winter sports on the Dolomites, winter is better spent in cities like those mentioned by Christine, with outdoor activities planned at short notice on days when the weather is cooperating.

Too ambitious, hardly a vacation .

Focus on north or south, or do the more traditional Rome Florence Milan routing

First, visit northern Italy or southern Italy, not both.
Dec. 24 is shocking to me. You only give Venice, one of the most unique cities in the world, a day? But, you give the over touristed Amalfi Coast four days and those days are in the winter?? A beach resort?? No sense to this at all. I love Lake Como but would not go there in the winter either.
I suggest Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Siena( for more Tuscany) and Rome.

I agree with the others, but just in case you're wedded to the idea of including Lake Como: I've only spent one in-transit night in the town of Como and have nothing against it, but I don't think it has ever been recommended on this forum as a particularly good place to stay. The usual recommendations are Varenna or another mid-lake spot such as (more expensive) Bellagio.

Posters have said the best views on Lake Como are from the lake boats, not from the roads around the lake (which don't always have lake views). Therefore, there's really no reason to rent a car for the Venice-Como segment of the trip. Some of the Venice-Como train routings take about the same time as ViaMichelin's driving-time prediction (which could easily be blown out of the water due to traffic or weather issues). There's a train station at Varenna (Varenna-Esino).

You've listed 15 days in Italy. But the last day is the departure day so that's a "lost" day, The first day may very well be "lost" also due to possible late arrival, getting to the hotel, checking in, and jetlag. In addition, every time you change locations you will lose at least one half to three quarters of a day. It's not just the actual travel time, it's also packing up, checking out, getting to the train station, finding the new hotel, and checking in. Trying to cover all you have planned in only 13 days (at most - and probably less due to relocations) will be way more than we would ever attempt. Suggest you consider only three places with day trips from them. One possibility would be to fly into Venice, go to Florence later, and finish up in Rome and fly home from there. One of the RS tours does that, and you could examine that itenerary and use that as a guide to setting up your own. You'll certainly want good memorirs of people, place, food, and such. Not just a blur of train stations, hotels, and driving. Don't mean to be a wet blanket, just something to think about.

If air tickets are locked in for a departure from Rome, put all you Rome days at the end. "Commuting" to the airport from afar on the day of travel is an invitation to disaster.

Concur with the previous comments about too much moving and questionable wisdom of Amalfi coast in January.

At the risk of piling on, I'm so concerned about your overloaded itinerary making for a less-than-wonderful trip that I'll join others: It's too much moving around - especially over a holiday period - and some of your destinations aren't great choices for winter.

I'd scrap Lake Como and the Amalfi Coast for sure. The ferries don't operate along the coast in winter, and other than Naples, there are few inside attractions if the weather is wet, chilly and nasty. I like Christine's suggested itinerary:

Milan 2
Venice 3 (2.5 hours by rail from Milan)
Florence 4- with day trip to Pisa (Florence is a little over 2 hours from Venice by rail; Pisa is 1 hour from Florence)
Rome 5- could day trip to Ostia Antica- if weather allows. (Rome is 90 minutes by rail from Florence)

All of these locations will offer plenty of 'inside' things to do.

Yes, you definitely want to be in Rome the night before your flight home.
Yes, you definitely should scrap the rental car and use the trains.
No, a 1/2 day in Venice isn't worth the effort. You'd spend a chunk of that day to get there, only to turn around a few hours later and backtrack to Lake Como. Dark comes early in the winter....

You also want to have dinner reservations for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day when many restaurants will be very busy. Pretty much all the big attractions, such as museums, will also be closed on Christmas and New Year's Day.

Thank to all for incredibly helpful feedback and suggestions. I have made the changes to remove rental car to rely on trains between cities and removed Lake Como and Amalfi Coast due to winter closures. I have reduced too much of in and out and stick to 3 places for accommodation
Day 1 - December 22 - Arrive Milan

Day 2 - December 23 - Milan

Day 3 - December 24 - Milan

Day 4 - December 25 - Morning fast train to Venice, check-in

Day 5 - December 26 - Venice

Day 6 - December 27 - Venice

Day 7 - December 28 - Morning train to Florence, check-in

Day 8 - December 29 - Florence

Day 9 - December 30 - Day trip to Pisa

Day 10 - December 31 - Florence

Day 11 - January 1 - Morning fast train to Rome, check-in

Day 12 - January 2 - Rome

Day 13 - January 3 - Rome

Day 14 - January 4 - Rome

Day 15 - January 5 - Fly home from Rome

OP that looks so much more doable. If I might make a suggestion; try to make dinner reservations for Christmas Eve, Christmas day, plus New Years Eve and New Years day well in advance.

Thanks CJean. Will do that. How about reservations for Fast train. Is that ok to reserve the day before. I remember seeing a comment trains are limited of New year and Christmas and no ac coaches..

Hello samsam, your new schedule is much improved and I think you will enjoy it so much more.

The fast train prices rise as the day approaches and are most expensive "day of" with special offer lower tickets selling out first. They can also sell out completely so if you know you have a schedule to keep you should reserve as soon as you are sure of your dates. You sacrifice some flexibility for price but that's the deal with the fast trains.

Regoinale trains (like Florence to Pisa) are always the same price, no classes and can't sell out so there is no reason to buy those before you need them. Get the Trenitalia app to check schedules, buy tickets, track trains etc.

Have a great trip!
=Tod

There are bargains on rail tickets for express trains bought early. Early tomorrow, look at fares for same-day tickets on the trips you plan to take. Then look at fares for the real dates, if they are available. They may well not be, because there's a schedule change in early December. You may need to look at fares for the first week of December instead. See the difference? That's roughly the potential savings if you buy your tickets when they go on sale (assuming they are not available yet).

Sellouts are not common on Italian trains, but they might be possible around the holidays; I really don't know. I would certainly not wait until shortly before my travel date to buy tickets if I knew what days I wanted to take the trips.

For Milan, Venice, Florence, and Rome, do you recommend hotel or airbnb ? Are there advantages to booking accommodation near the train stations in each city for easy transit? Any specific Christmas or New Year event worth checking out in Venice , Florence and Rome ? We love scenic places - Any other recommendations near Rome, Venice, Florence since it seems Lake Como and Amalfi is not a good option for December and no ferry schedule to get good view ?

We've only really used hotels and BnBs, but many people post here that routinely use AirBnB and VRBO and are happy with that.
The only caveat I will mention is that having a hotel desk that's open 24 hours is really helpful when you can't guarantee your arrival time. Two trips ago we were delayed and missed our connection into Milan, were rescheduled for a flight 4 hours late which was also delayed so we arrived in Milan at 2:30am. I was happier to be arriving at a hotel desk rather than trying to find an AirBnB host or negotiate no host check-in at that moment.

Just FYI WhatsApp seems to be the universal communication app for places and people that host guests so it's worth getting for just this use if you don't have it. It also works on WiFi so you don't need cellular signal to use it.

I wouldn't determine your stay based just on proximity to the train station unless you're staying one night and moving on the next day - like the night before your flight. Otherwise I would stay close to the things you want to see or the neighborhood you want to experience.

Siena as a day trip from Florence is certainly scenic as a hill town and if you climb one of the monuments or get to the edges you get Tuscan landscape scenery as well. Getting up out of the core of Florence - check out the high points of Bobili Gardens and the famous Piazzale Michelangelo for some of those views as well.
Most big cities have a Christmas market/village going on Florence has one in Piazza Santa Croce as well as other celebrations.
https://www.visitflorence.com/what-to-do-in-florence/christmas-in-florence.html
Arezzo (~1 hour from Florence by train) is famous for their Christmas decorations lighting up the main piazza and displays around town. (People reported last year the light displays was much lower key but that was during the uncertainty about power at the start of the Ukraine conflict.)
https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ideas/christmas-markets-in-tuscany/
https://tuscany.tips/christmas-in-arezzo/
https://www.firenzemadeintuscany.com/en/article/the-worth-seeing-christmas-markets-in-tuscany/

I haven't done Xmas in Italy but I have in France and it does add a special feeling to what's going on around you.
Have a great trip!
=Tod

I might have missed this but why not fly into Venice?
For a first trip to an new place I tend to stay in hotels rather than "airbnb" since the staff at the hotel will be a great resource.
I'd skip Pisa but your latest itinerary looks ok

Hotels with a 24 hour reception desk can be wonderful if you experience travel delays. They can also provide a lot of information about things at your destination that will not be available with a B&B. With regard to Venice, you have a short amount of time. IF you can work it into your schedule, consider a trip to Murano and Burano. If you get an early start, you can probably be back in Venice by mid afternoon.

hey hey samsam
ypur first about all the places you had hoped to see was crazy, your first time during christmas/new year holidays, a very busy time with residents and tourists. like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
no need to drive, trains are your friend (seat61.com train travel in italy has lots of info)
do you have hotels booked already? (hotels better for you & family with front desk service, some 24 hours, to ask questions. no airbnb's your first trip) remember that check in is 3-4pm and check out is 10-11am, if early make sure they have luggage storage until you can check in. weather will cause some issues (rain, cold, wind, gets darker earlier, lakes & the coast may have many places closed.
book thing early since places/activities may close early on dec 24th, close dec 25th and some may close dec 26th also. book a restaurant early, check train schedules, cut your time from milan and spend another day in venice. what other things are you interested in and what does your teen want, have him do some research.
this is your vacation to do as you like, only here to give options. good luck
aloha

GREAT you've revised your trip so you have time to see the places you're staying & relax a bit! Well done.
For Milan, Venice, Florence, and Rome, do you recommend hotel or airbnb ? There are pros & cons to both, but we stay at hotels for the services they offer, you just have to plan & think ahead about meals. And taking snacks / pizza back to eat in the room was never a problem!

Are there advantages to booking accommodation near the train stations in each city for easy transit? I personally would not stay near a train station versus in the heart of old town, you've paid to come see the places you're going. Take a taxi to the hotel. Transport is more complicated getting into Venice, there are lots of threads on how to get into Venice on the Forum.

Any specific Christmas or New Year event worth checking out in Venice , Florence and Rome ? We love scenic places - Any other recommendations near Rome, Venice, Florence. As another poster mentioned, make reservations for Dec 24, 25, & 31st if you want to eat dinner out, or plan where to get pizza, usually opens at 5PM in the big cities. You're spending quite a bit of time in Milan, I would spend a night & day there, traveling on Day 2 to Venice, which is just SO much more interesting. Or extend in Florence, you've really only got one full day there. IMO, I would rather go to Siena than Pisa from Florence, have a look at RS videos for more gems. Everywhere you're going except Milan is very scenic! If you'd like to add an ancient ruin, you could spend a day in Ostia Antica near Rome or take the train to Orvieto, which has a beautiful cathedral. Churches will be open on the holidays, but most shops close mid day Dec 24, closed Dec 25 & Dec 26, when you're in Venice. Same in Rome for evening Dec 31 & Jan 1. Bon voyage!