Fly into Rome April 5th 2020 afternoon out of Rome April 15th in the Am, Itinerary help

For some reason another post is pasted into your question so I am a bit confused, but the top half makes sense.

Your trip looks fine--a bit rushed, but not crazily so (like the one you pasted). I would move one day from Cinque Terre to Venice--getting from CT to Venice eats up a good bit of a day. Book something at CT that you can cancel in case of rain, and have a backup plan.

See Trenitalia for train schedules, I think stopping en route at Pisa should work out fine.
Did you check open jaw flights?

valadelphia , Thank you, I saw that pasted message as well and removed it. Thank you for the idea about having a back up plan for CT, what would you suggest? Is it good to buy train tickets in advance? I read in one place that the prices don't change so buy when you are there in case things change but then I read another place that the earlier you buy the better the pricing. I didn't know about open jaw flights and we have already purchased our RT via Delta Airlines :( I wish I would have thought to do that...

You absolute have to use an open jaw (multi-city) flight schedule. Fly into Venice and come home from Rome. Probably cheaper and save at least a half a day or more of travel. Just reverse you schedule. It will difficult to do both Pompeii and Herculaneum as one day trip from Rome -- distance and time is against you.

The only ticket price that doesn't change is the Regionale train ticket -- no reservations. All of the other trains require a seat reservation and have three pricing levels -- Super Economy, Econ, and Base. The first two are discount tickets with restrictions as to change and refund, limited in number available, and sell out fairly quickly.

Yes, if you have a set plan, you do save money buying train tickets in advance. But if you want to keep flexibility, it is not like the train tickets are a huge expense.
If it was raining at CT, Florence or Lucca would make sense. I like smaller towns and find Pistoia or Sarzana interesting. There are lots of smaller towns in the vicinity. Or if you are already there, you could go on the train to Genoa. It is just an outdoors-nature kind of place and in rain you are stuck, so just knowing what you can do instead in spring is a good idea.

Agree, Frank brought up what I forgot--Herculaneum and Pompeii in one day would be a tall order. Pompeii is vast--that was the most surprising thing about it.

This schedule could work but if you plan a day trip to Pompeii, the way it is now you will actually only have arrival day (probably a very jet-lagged afternoon when you won't want to do much) plus one more other day in Rome. It is nigh impossible in one day to see the Colosseum (and the Forum?), the Pantheon (and the center of the city, including Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain?), AND also see the Vatican (St. Peter's? The Vatican Museums?) There just are not enough hours in the day. Have you already purchased your airline tickets? If not, I suggest that you really try to fly into Venice and home from Rome, or the other way around. (I've done both versions) and free up that last day of travel back to Rome to actually be IN Rome. If your airline tickets are already purchased, if you would like to get one more actual full day in Rome, you all could "bite the bullet" and upon arrival in Rome take a fast train to Venice. There are direct trains from Roma Termini (train station) to Venice train station (Venezia Santa Lucia) that take 3'45". Just buy lunch to go in Roma Termini train station (lots of options!), take it on the train with you, and relax. You'll be in Venice by mid or later afternoon, and start the adventures from there. Several days later, it would then be easy to stop in Pisa on your way to Cinque Terre. (Check on this forum for which of the Pisa train stations have a place to check luggage.) If you kept the same number of nights in Venice and the CT, you could add one more day and night in Rome, and have a bit more time to really enjoy the city, and see the sights on your bucket list.

Re. buying train tickets: I always go straight to the home website for the biggest Italian train company, trenitalia.com. Click on the British flag for English language. Always use the Italian spelling for your destinations: Roma Termini; Venezia SM; etc. Many on this forum suggest NOT purchasing the tickets for arrival day in case your plane gets delayed, if you are purchasing the tickets for "freccia" (fast) trains that require seat reservations and are ONLY good on THAT specific train, that day and time. (I tend to live dangerously and DO usually book those tickets on arrival day, and give myself a hefty time cushion. The cost savings when booking well ahead is quite substantial.) I suggest going ahead and booking your tickets Venezia SM - Pisa (don't know which station), then Pisa - [your destination in CT], and finally [your destination CT] to Roma once those tickets become available on-line (probably sometime February?), if getting them at a significant discount is important to you. Same goes for the tickets Roma - Naples - Roma for your day to Pompeii. (There are great instructions both on this forum and in the RS Italy guidebook about how to navigate the Roma - Pompeii train trips.

You're all adults, so you don't have to spend every minute of your sightsering time together.

What pops out at me first is that you are giving youself only two full, non-jetlagged, days in Rome. The arrival day shouldn't be counted on (don't pre-purchase any tickets for that day), because one or more of you may be severely sleep-deprived as well as jetlagged.

You propose to spend one of your two Rome days on a side-trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum. I have never been to either but have read comments on this forum to the effect that a side-trip to Pompeii from Rome makes for a very long, tiring day. It sounds like something you shouldn't attempt until April 7.

I don't know that it's practical to combine Pompeii and Herculaneum when you're staying in Rome. There may be bus tours, but keep in mind that tour companies are in business to make money. If people are willing to buy a tour, they will sell it even if the itinerary provides seriously inadequate time at each stop and basically makes no sense.

I am not sure how workable it is to plan to see all the Vatican City sights, the Colosseum and the Pantheon on the same day. You may need to take one of the early-access tours of the Vatican Museums to stretch that day.

You have only nine days; I think you're trying to do too much, as evident by the single day allocated to Rome. At the very least I'd move one of the Cinque Terre nights to Rome. There's no predicting April weather. It could be chilly and wet.

Alternatively, you could drop the Pompeii/Herculaneum side-trip.

The problem with compromise itineraries on short trips like this is that they may cause everyone misery rather than making everyone happy.

This is just my humor so take no offense, but I'd make anyone who wants to see the Leaning Tower take a quiz. I absolutely believe there is merit in visiting Pisa and there are those that appreciate it, but if it is just for the photo op, that would give you a day right there.

I think OP said they arrive in Rome on the 5th, so she has 2 days in Rome plus the 8th for Pompeii.

Are all the must-sees your daughter's?

Apparently not, cala. On April 8 they're traveling from Rome to Cinque Terre by way of Pisa.

I am loving all of this feed back, Pompeii is super important to all of us, Pisa is mostly important to the kiddo but its her number one (probably due to Instagram but that's her thing) and I originally wanted Amalfi and realize that I can't make that work so I learned about Cinque Terre.

It does seem like we don't have enough days in Rome, would it make sense to take a day from Venice and a day from CT to add to Rome and then Pompeii would make sense? Or is there another itinerary that makes better sense? I have read going straight to Venice and finishing in Rome is better but my flights are locked in, I could look into changing but I am afraid the change fee would make it too much to make sense. Please keep posting I really really love the ideas and commentary! Thank you!

I think you're getting a little spread out on your trip. Venice (a must see) is 150 miles northeast of Florence. Pisa is an hour by train west of Florence, and a secondary attraction for most travelers. To get to Cinque Terre from Pisa, you've got to go northwest to LaSpezia and then take a local train into the Cinque Terre. Rome is about 165 miles south of Florence.
One problem is the Cinque Terre is mostly a summer attraction, and you're going the first of April. Your time might be better spent in Florence.
As for Pompeii, it's a 150 mile train ride south of Rome to Naples where you changeover to a local train that stops at Pompeii on its way to Sorrento. To do that trip round trip from Rome would make for a long, long day.
For the time allotted, flying into Venice might be your best bet. Then visit Florence, a very important city. Then hit Rome and the suburbs of Rome for the rest of your trip.
It's very easy to make any trip to Italy a big blur. The place just overdoses travelers on history, art, architecture, culture and food. And as far as I can tell, it's Europe's #1 tourist country and a source of many posts on this forum every day.

Why don't you go ahead and look at some train schedules on trenitalia.com and see if the traveling days for your proposed itinerary will make sense. The schedules for April won't have loaded onto the website, yet. Just use some other dates, like in late November; just make sure that the days of the week that you put in are the same days of the week that you might be traveling. (Schedules are usually a bit different on Sundays, and some too on Saturdays.) And, again: Since your flights are locked in, flying in and out of Rome, consider taking a train on to Venice on your arrival day.

Re. Pisa: 15 years ago, I traveled from Rome to the CT with my then-20-year-old son. We stopped in Pisa for 3 hours, checked our bags in the train station, took a bus to the Field of Miracles, and he climbed the Tower while I explored the magnificent Baptistry and Church. I pre-booked his climbing time, coordinating it with the train schedule. After 3 hours, we reclaimed our bags and went on to the CT. He really wanted to see and climb the Tower, and it remains a great memory for both of us. So: Go for it!

So, it seems that we will be in the cities over Holy Week, flying in on Palm Sunday and out just 2 days after Easter Monday...I imagine this is going to dramatically effect my idea of an itinerary....any suggestions of what works best to see our list but also partake in some of the special things only Easter Brings?

I'd hate to see you chop a night off Venice. It's a long train ride (over 5 hours, then you have to get to your hotel in Venice and settle in) if you're coming from the Cinque Terre; if you have only 2 nights in Venice you'll end up with not much more than one full day and will probably join the legions of travelers who didn't much like Venice because they spent their one day there being elbowed by other visitors walking along the same narrow, crowded (pedestrian) streets from the Rialto Bridge to Piazza San Marco. Give yourself enough time to find your own Venice beyond the crowds.

The idea to go straight to Venice on the same day you land in Rome is a very good one. That arrival day is usually a rough one, because your body is still on US time. One way to use that time effectively is to travel to one of your other destinations. That means later in the trip you won't have to cut into your sightseeing time to take that train trip. The trip from Rome to Venice takes 3 hr. 45 min. because it's on a Freccia (express) train. The tricky part is the timing. The ticket will be a lot cheaper if you make the purchase soon after your date goes on sale and buy a Super Economy ticket. But those are non-refundable and non-changeable; if you miss the train, you'll have to buy new (probably full-price) tickets. So a prudent person will allow a lot of time between scheduled flight arrival and departure time for a Super Economy ticket. Unfortunately, no amount of padding there is 100% safe; your transatlantic flight could be massively delayed or even canceled.

I am not an expert on Italian rail fares, but this is what I see on trenitalia.com for the Rome-Venice trip:

Base 92 euros (changeable and refundable)
Economy 64.90 euros (changeable for a fee; goes higher as travel date approaches)
Super Economy from 42.90 euros (not changeable or refundable; goes higher)

I don't know what Holy Week means in Italy, but I can tell you what it means in southern Spain, where I spent most of April this year: A need for more time at most destinations because:

• You want to take advantage of being there to see one or more processions.
• Regular attractions on your hit list may be closed or have limited hours during Holy Week, so you'll have to fiddle with you sightseeing schedule and perhaps make two trips to the same part of town.
• If the processions are frequent and/or large, they will slow your progress as you walk around the city.

You should check the websites of the attractions you especially want to visit to see what they say about Holy Week operating hours. Unfortunately, in Spain I found the websites pretty good about announcing days of total closure but not so good about revealing plans to close early.

I imagine a lot of Italians are on the move that week, traveling to visit their families. That will put a premium on train tickets, so you'll want to get your plans nailed down before tickets go on sale.

Are you locked into flying in/out of Rome?

If you could do an 'open jaw' aka multi city flight schedule, you could save some of your precious limited time being wasted on back tracking.

If Rome is the locked in entry/exit, point then I will join the others who suggest going to Venice on your arrival day and working your way back to Rome and do all your time there in a single stay ( saving yourself 'a moving day')

Our flights are booked already but I am going to see what it would cost to change it.
It looks like many agree to go to Venice First, this would put us back to Rome smack dab in the middle of easter Celebrations.

How does this look:

Venice- April 5,6,7, on the 8th take overnight Train maybe to Cinque Terre?
April 9,10, 11 out on the 11th take train to Pisa for 1/2 day and then to Rome
April 11 Rome the Saturday before Easter Sunday ...Stay 11, 12, 13, 14 and fly home 15th
(Day Trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum on the 14th)

on the 8th take overnight Train maybe to Cinque Terre?

I do not believe there is an 'overnight' train. You probably can schedule a trip that gives you time to stop in Pisa while traveling Venice to CT. Then when you leave CT, you can get to Rome more quickly

Day Trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum on the 14th)

Both in one day is not practical, especially coming from Rome. Pick one

We took a similar trip last year with friends and our two college-aged girls. Flying into Venice and out of Rome will maximize your times. A couple of things to consider:

• Since this is your first international trip, you should consider your first day in Venice an orientation day. You will likely be tired from the flight and I would avoid major site seeing on your first day. You have allocated adequate time for Venice.
• Venice to Cinque Terre will take you a good part of the day (option of 1 to 2 transfers), the average journey is over 6 hours. We did this trip and I would recommend you leave early in the morning and I opted just for the 1 transfer even though it took a little longer, just easier for the newbies in my group. Your time in Cinque Terre is fine. April can be rainy and a little chilly. The girls loved the Cinque Terre and wished we could have spent longer. We originally planned on Pisa, but the girls opted for us to stay longer in the Cinque Terre and we skipped it.
• Train from Cinque Terre to Rome is around 3 hours+. Rome will be busy during the Easter season, so it may impact your travel plans. A day trip to Pompeii or Herculaneum is possible, but it will be difficult to do both.

Have a great trip with your girls.

Sandy

Quick question here, are you flying out on the 5th or arriving Rome on the 5th.

What is your arrival time and is it on the 6th?
If this is correct, you have one less day.

I know decisions are hard, but to really enjoy your trip and not be exhausted for the whole time pick either Venice or the Cinque Terre.
Personally, after a 3 trips to the Cinque Terre one in April, I'd choose Venice.

I'm going to be brutal here, but having traveled extensively with 17 & 18 year olds, both here and in Europe. When they rule, others usually suffer.
Giving your daughter control because she wants to see the Leaning Tower, at the expense of the rest of the trip, makes no sense.

Do Venice, Rome (add a night) and spend 2 nights in the Naples area if you really want to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum.