First trip to Italy. Please critique our itinerary

Hi Dianne, from down south in Portland, OR! I would consider flying from Paris to Venice, based on trip reports and comments I have read regarding the night train. Any reason you are not staying in Florence? It is a lovely city that deserves more than part of a day, especially in the early morning and evening when the tour groups leave. DO NOT drive in Florence. Take the bus between Florence and Siena. I would take a day from Siena and add it to Venice. 6 days seems like a long time in Siena, even taking day trips into account. I would spend your additional nights in Positano. Since you are going to be in the area for a week, I would look into renting an apartment/villa. We rented a villa in Positano for a week which will save us a TON of $$. I would take at least one day away from Sorrento and add it to Rome. 2 nights is not nearly enough time. What month are you planning on going?

I would consider flying from Paris to Venice, based on trip reports and comments I have read regarding the night train. I'll research this further. I really dislike flying and we are train buffs. (Last year we took the train from Lanzhou to Lhasa (22 hrs) and really enjoyed it) Any reason you are not staying in Florence? It is a lovely city that deserves more than part of a day, especially in the early morning and evening when the tour groups leave. Our original plan was 3 nights Florence/3 nights Siena. But I was trying to limit the # of hotel check out/check ins and since we can visit Florence as a day trip it seemed like a good idea (I do plan to return and spend a lot more time in Florence) DO NOT drive in Florence. Take the bus between Florence and Siena. Noted - grazie! I would take a day from Siena and add it to Venice. 6 days seems like a long time in Siena, even taking day trips into account. I'll discuss this with the others. I would spend your additional nights in Positano. Since you are going to be in the area for a week, I would look into renting an apartment/villa. We rented a villa in Positano for a week which will save us a TON of $$. I'll check that possibility out. Thanks I would take at least one day away from Sorrento and add it to Rome. 2 nights is not nearly enough time. My typo - should have been 4 nights. Still not enough, I know... What month are you planning on going?
Next May. Thanks again.

Re Florence/Siena daytrips, personally I would rather divide my nights between the two. That's because if you daytrip (1) you don't get to experience the place in the late evening, which is often when Italian cities and villages are at their most enchanting and (2) you don't get to go back to your hotel/apartment mid-day to relax and recharge for the evening. The exception for me for a daytrip is when I can stop over someplace in between travel. For example, we did a daytrip into Padua on our way from staying in Verona to staying in Venice. P.S. I'm glad you're rethinking the night train. Everything I've read makes them sound pretty dreadful, with interruptions throughout the night. Given that airfare within Europe is pretty low cost, and given the amount of time you could save, I'd spend an extra night in Paris and fly to Venice.

In the Caution Category: http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/driving/parking_siena.htm http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/driving/traffic_cameras_speeding.htm

Everyone has their own preferences etc but here would be mine if it was my trip... I would get an extra night in Paris as I always am pretty gassed after making the trip from Seattle. I love the train also and might consider taking it to Venice but might lay over somewhere that appealed to me to get better rest depending on how the planning played out. My trip would also split the Sienna / Florence nights 3 each as I really like roaming Florence very early and also late. I would take one from Sorrento and move it to Rome. No matter how you finalize it... what a great trip with superb destinations.

I wouldn't even bother with Paris and fly to Venice. Two nights (3 days) is such a short amount of time considering this is the city you're flying in to.

I tend to agree about skipping Paris. If you haven't been before, it's too short. Either way, it's easier to fly straight to Venice, which is a great place to recover from long flights and jetlag. You can just soak up the atmosphere for a day or two, riding the water bus (vaporetto) along the Grand Canal, sitting at a cafe, eating a gelato. . . I also think Venice deserves at least 3 days, 4 if you fly staight in. If you don't enjoy Venice (there are some who don't), you can make a day trip to Verona. If you love art, architecture, sculpture, Michelangelo, you need 2 or 3 days in Florence. If not, a day trip will do. Siena, Florence and at least a couple other very scenic Tuscan towns have no-drive zones in the historic centers. Do read up on that before you go. The signage is easy to miss and the fines are huge. If you are more interested in the countryside, think about renting a villa instead of staying in a hotel in Siena.

Dianne - you are going to get lots of differing opinions so I'll offer mine: I like the first part of your trip as you will spend the first two in Paris getting over the flight. Two full days/3 nights in Venice is great. We loved it - yes, you could spend more, but I think you have other priorities. My main suggestion is to make the Tuscany part be at least 1 full week and stay in some sort of a self-catering apt., agriturismo, etc. - preferably outside a big city. We did this for one of our trips and from there we visited Florence twice (once driving in and parking in the lot outside the city, once taking the train from the small nearby town) and Siena and Assisi for 1 daytrip each (again, we drove and just parked outside - it wasn't hard). That left 3 days to drive around the smaller towns, visit a winery, etc. Since you already plan to have a car then see if you can stay just outside Siena - our friends did this and had no trouble driving around and visiting Siena a few times. Having a car and driving in Tuscany is such a benefit - really allows you to see the beautiful countryside. You could easily take the extra days from the 7 you have on the Amalfi coast. While it is very pretty and Pompeii is a must, I'd much rather spend more time in Tuscany - there is nothing like it. We did stay once in Positano and twice in Ravello - liked them both very much, but again, only stayed for a few days and did not regret leaving. In general, and I realize I may be in the minority here - we liked Rome and Venice much more than Florence and Tuscany better than anywhere else we've been in Italy. But the good news is you can't go wrong - you will have a great time in Italy!

I really appreciate all of the responses. And it's great to get a cross section of opinions. We've been to Paris (did the sightseeing thing) but it's been 20 years and my best memories were simply walking along the river. I looked into flying from Seattle to Venice, but it would take a minimum of 3 flights and we really dislike flying, so the idea of taking a direct flight to Paris then spending a couple of nights there relaxing appeals to us. And we ARE train fans. Having taken the 4-berth compartment train in China for 22 hours (sharing with 2 non English-speaking gentlemen) we feel that we would enjoy the night train. I'm still torn between allocating most of our time in the Tuscany area vs the Almalfi coast area. We do enjoy being on or near the water, so are leaning towards the latter, but we simply don't have enough time to do both. I'm looking at renting an apartment in Sorrento - quite a money saver, but I must then alllocate a Sat-Sat stay... I'm also re-thinking the whole car rental idea as well. Again, I really appreciate all of the input from those of you have have been there.

Dianne - just chiming in again to say that I'm like you on the flying. I've never done a connecting flight in Europe right away, choosing to stay at least one night in our arrival city. For our upcoming trip I was unable to get us into Paris so we are arriving a few days early into Frankfurt and will just have to "sacrifice" by having two days along the Mosel before we drive into Paris! Just one more thing about the Amalfi Coast - I know you said you like being near water - me too, but for me, the AC has a very resorty-type feel. So while I'm really glad we went, we found it more expensive, more "fancy" than the little places we visited in Tuscany. Now that may be exactly what you are looking for - I know MANY who honeymoon there because it is romantic and beautiful. But for us Tuscany is what Italy is all about. Anyway - I'm envious as Italy is our favorite country, no matter where we are!

Since you asked - here is my two cents worth. Overall - your itinerary is doable as is and will make for a great trip. Two days in Paris will let you recover and see some of the city. Any time in that city is better than no time. I once spent an unbelievably tiring day in Paris on a layover to England and am glad I did it. Night trains are miserable, but you only have one on your trip. Since you like trains stick with that plan, but factor in a nap on the afternoon of your first day. Two days will let you see the main sites in Venice. Another day would be better, but two days will be enough. I think Siena will work well as a base in Tuscany. It is one of my favorite cities in Italy. You may however want to visit Florence on two days to see more of that city. There are regular buses between the two, so you do not need to drive. Make sure you have a rental car reserved in advance for the other days. I like Sorrento as a base over Positano. It is on a train route which would allow you to visit Pompeii and Naples fairly easily. To get to Positano you will need to take a bus. One caveat - if a beach is important go with Positano instead. If you have not been to Rome before, you might want to add another day (maybe taken from the Siena days). In my opinion, it will take three very full days to see the main sites in that city - so it is doable as is, just hectic. Have fun!

One more opinion... I would not take time away from Sorrento/AC. It is my favorite place in Italy and we liked it much better than Tuscany. It does not feel like a resort to me. It's charming, beautiful, incredible views with lots of places to visit and explore. It is very, very fun and relaxing.
We've been there three times for a week each time and still never feel like it's long enough.

Susan,
Thanks so much your post. I've discovered that if we stay a week in Sorrento, we can rent an apartment for much less than a hotel room. The location really appeals to me for it's convenience as a base to explore the area as well as the pleasure of spending some relaxing time on the coast. Would you be willing to share where you stayed and whether you'd recommend it? I've almost decided to skip the idea of Siena altogether and spend 4 nights in Florence. If our friends want to separate for a few days and meet up with us in Sorrento, that'd be fine. I don't want to feel that we are joined at the hip.... I've made an appointment for a 1/2 hour consultation with ETBD next week to help with the itinerary and some train questions..... And I'm going to talk with my husband tonight about giving Florence some priority.....

Hi Dianne, I'm so glad to hear that! We didn't rent an apt in Sorrento, we stayed in the same hotel, La Tonnarella, each time b/c we liked it so much.
When I was 7 yrs old my family rented a house (villa) in a small village almost next to Sorrento and that was wonderful. I think your idea to rent an apt is a really good one.