First trip to Italy Planning

First, I'd arrive a day earlier, in the event the flight chaos continues, and you your flight gets delayed 24 hours. Our last two post- COVID international flights were delayed significantly, one by 24 hours, and one by 4+ hours, which resulted in missed connections.

I'm assuming you are flying open jaw, which would mean flying into Venice or Milan, and out of Rome?

The VFR is a great tour, but it is high on the activity level and pace. I would give yourself the day the tour ends as a rest day, and if you have energy that day, there's more to do in Rome. However, we all were exhausted after that tour. In fact, for us, coming in a few days before the tour began worked better, as we were fresher. You could explore more of the Venice area, Milan, Cinque Terre, or go to Lake Como.

However, if you choose Amalfi Coast, IMHO, Sorrento is a great base.

You will get an immense amount of useful info here, and good luck with filtering it all to suit your interests. You will have many choices to make, and no matter which options you choose , you will have a memorable trip.

Safe travels!

Hello Kaitlyn
I agree with the previous poster that arriving in Venice even earlier than one day is a wise decision. LA to Venice is a long journey, and extra time to relax will be to your advantage.

If you do decide to head to the Amalfi area, indeed Sorrento is a very nice, medium sized town to base yourself. We stayed there for a week, and were able to visit Pompeii, Napoli, and Capri as day trips. Other days, we swam in the sea, and enjoyed roaming around Sorrento. It's a relaxed town, not hectic like Rome. You could also visit the islands of Ischia and Procida from there as well. I wish we had!

However, if you were to decide to spend all your remaining time in Rome, there is more than enough to keep you busy for an extra 3 days.

BTW....if visiting Pompeii, bring a hat and sunscreen. Even in April it could be very warm, and there is no shade. Our last time in Rome, in 2014, was in April and it was hot!

You will have a wonderful time!

Very excited for you! I’d say if your instinct and your impulse says Naples/Pompeii/Amalfi then you should do that. Three days isn’t really enough to explore the area, but I still think it would be worthwhile for you and whet your appetite for your next trip.

What this area has is options. You could spend a day in Naples, explore Pompeii/Herculaneum, visit Capri or the Amalfi Coast for a day, or just chill out. Sorrento is pretty ideal, though Salerno would also serve you well enough. Salerno has direct train connections to Rome, which may factor into your consideration. They’re both relaxed, safe places compared to Naples. I loved Naples, but under your circumstances I’d sleep somewhere less intense. You’ll be there fairly early in the season, so there’s not going to be tons of nightlife but it’s Italy and there will always be people out and about at seemingly all hours.

It’s worth examining the “end of tour” day/time and your departure back to the states carefully. Assuming you’re flying back out of FCO, I would make you extra night in Rome the night before departure, and instead head straight to Sorrento/Salerno when the tour ends. That’s worth asking about too. Idk about the RS tours, but many mainstream companies host a “farewell” dinner/breakfast with the group. Imho, this is something you could totally bail on. For example, if the last day ends with everyone meeting up for a large dinner, you could skip it and be in Naples before the tour group gets their coffee.