Hello,
Planning a 12-14 day trip. From Cleveland, OH. Starting in Florence, ending near Naples.
Is it best to fly round trip from Rome (then to Florence, and Naples to Rome when leaving), or are there more efficient routes without too many connections?
Thanks in advance for any guidance.
Nick
Do a search of your airport to all “multi-city” combos and then compare.
I’d first check open jaw (into Florence or Pisa, out of Naples), which I’d prefer even if it costs more because time is money. Others would prefer nonstop no matter what kind of ground transport it requires. Transport from Rome is not onerous if flying there round trip works better for you. You could hop on train on arrival to Florence, then down to Naples or Salerno, then back to Rome.
Personally? I would fly round trip to Rome. You are more likely to find cheaper, direct flights to Rome than either Naples or Florence from most US cities. Add to that, Both cities are less than 90 minutes from Rome by fast train.
I would either land and go directly to one city or the other, then plan time in Rome at the end...or split your time in Rome at beginning and end.
Hello nickkomp27, and welcome to the forum!
Flying from Cleveland it looks like your only direct flight to Europe is Dublin which isn't much help. Unless you have an alternative airport if looks like you're going to have to connect somewhere to get to any Italian airport. Since you're connecting I would definitely look into a multi-city flights into Florence (or Pisa or Bologna which may be better connected) and out of Naples.
If you end up flying into Rome anyway because the other airports didn't work the do Rome/Naples unless Rome is cheaper. All you would lose in that case is one night needing to be in Rome before your flight out. The Rome airport is well outside the city while the others are much closer in.
Have a great trip,
=Tod
The Cleveland to Dublin flight is with Aer Lingus.
They have connections at Dublin to Rome (all year) and to Pisa and Naples (both seasonally).
So it my should be possible to do a multi city with Aer Lingus via Dublin in both directions.
Florence FLR or Pisa PSA (50 miles from Florence) only have inter European flights. So from CLE you would likely need two layovers.
The only exception may be AirLingus, which flies directly from CLE to DUB in Ireland. AirLingus flies directly to PSA from DUB, but only in summer and I don’t think they have mor than a few flights weekly, so that option may or may not work for you.
Returning from Naples NAP, ha similar challenges. Naples has mostly European flights, except United which has non stop seasonal flights to Newark (EWR) and Delta, which has non stop seasonal flights to JFK, and ATL. Those seasonal options are available only in summer.
But if you chose Air Lingus going (to PSA), via DUB, then returning from NAP via Air Lingus would also be possible since Air Lingus also flies from NAP to DUB (in summer only, since it’s a seasonal flight).
So, to make a long story short, if you want to fly to Tuscany and return from Naples NAP, and minimize the number of layovers, then Air Lingus via DUB is the best option.
If you want to fly to Rome FCO and return from Naples NAP or return also from Rome FCO, then you have multiple options with one layover only (with Delta via JFK or ATL or with United via EWR). Obviously to return from Naples you need to fly in summer. To and from Rome, there are plenty of options all year around.
Flying to Rome (and from Rome) is not so bad, since Rome is well connected via high speed train to both Florence (90 min) and to Naples (70 min).
If you select a flight to return to/from Rome FCO make sure you leave your Rome days for last. So, if you arrive at Rome, go immediately by train to the next destination (Tuscany or Naples), then move from that destination to the next by passing Rome. The high speed train from Florence to Naples, for example, takes only 3 hours, downtown to downtown.
Leave Rome for the last few days of your visit before flying home. Always stay in the city where you return from, as the last place you visit in your itinerary.
American airlines uses Chicago ORD as a regional hub.
Offers direct flights to Rome or Florence.
From Cleveland United airlines and American airlines fly from Cleveland to Chicago about an hour and a half direct.
Bookings through an airlines regional hub is generally cheaper and with more available direct flights . For 2 weeks in June, for example, direct main cabin between $13500 and $2000 round trip. Suggest flying into Chicago from Cleveland, spend the night and departure on international direct flight the next morning . Another advantage is there's little chance of not making the direct flight .
American airlines uses Chicago ORD as a regional hub. Offers direct
flights to Rome or Florence.
No direct flights from Chicago to Florence
AA , UAL and Delta have multi city ( aka open jaw) routings with one stop : CLE-XXX-FCO and NAP-XXX-CLE.
Which airline you choose determines where the connection is ("XXX")
Starting in Florence, ending near Naples
Not knowing when the trip is and what your plans are for between Florence and 'near Naples' , have no other suggestion.
Depending upon the time of year you are traveling, you can fly Delta nonstop to Rome from Detroit.
We live in Bay Village…just west of Cleveland…and we make the 2 hour drive to the Detroit airport so that we can fly nonstop to Rome whenwe go to Italy.
