Flying in and out of Rome. Given 10 nights, where else would you go?

What interests you the most about Italy? What prompted you to visit? Museums? Art? Food? History? It will be easier to offer suggestions, if you say a little about what you most want to see/do while you're there.

Thanks for responding so quickly. Of the four, history would be most important, art and museums next. Food will not be a problem, we are easy to please.

We do plan on going to Pompeii for a day trip. Would it be too rushed to visit Florence for the last five nights?

Why not fit in a few nights Napels? Interesting city in its own right. Excellent antiquities museum. Good base for a relaxed day trip to Pompei, and the wonderful palace and gardens in Caserta.

We do plan on going to Pompeii for a day trip. Would it be too rushed to visit Florence for the last five nights?

Whoa there. First, Pompei is a long way to go as a day trip. Not impossible, maybe not unreasonable, but a long one.

When (what month) are you planning this? In the full heat of summer, wandering around Pompei is debilitating. That would make for a tough day trip to me.

There's more great stuff near Pompei (Naples, Sorento, Amalfi Coast) , and it would be a shame to just race there and back in a day without exploring more nearby. That said, heading far to the south (anywhere near Pompei) from Rome means going north (Florence and beyond) becomes all the more difficult - you probably don't have time for both.

For most folks, the first trip to Italy usually includes dreams of Rome, Venice and Florence. That's actually a lot (maybe too much) for "10 nights" but it's understandable why people want to go there. Other than Rome (and perhaps Pompei), do you have any other destinations you're set on?

Finally, before anyone can give you good advice, stop speaking in vague generalities (which encourage you to engage in self-deception about how much usable time you really have), you should post your actual travel dates (or proposed specific dates) so you can do a reality-check on all the "10 nights" talk (which is how most folks talk themselves into committing to an unrealistic plan). What days would you fly in, and out? Without knowing that, many people plan too much.

It appears you are flying into/out of Rome, therefore I would suggest you go to your 'other' place 1st and do all your time in Rome at the end to make your departure logistics easier/simpler.

If Pompeii and Florence are important, you could consider the following: (assuming 10 nights in Italy excluding travel days):

Day 1: Overnight in Rome

Day 2: Take train to Sorrento (stay 2 nights)

Day 3: Visit Pompeii

Day 4 - 10: Rome

I'd be spending half the time in Rome and the other half in Florence taking day trips into the countryside to visit hilltowns, etc. Orvieto is another great city to stop in for a night or two--on the train line 70 minutes north of Rome Termini.

I vote with David - split your time between Rome and Florence.

Thanks for your responses. As I said in my original post, we are travelling a month from now. As far as being vague, for us this is a pretty spur of the moment trip and your general suggestions are useful.

As others have echoed, I would choose to go North or South of Rome but don't do both. That's a lot of wasted travel time. We spent 7 days in Rome without getting bored. Since you mention history, art, and museums as priorities, I would recommend giving Florence a look, given it's history as a powerful city-state, original seat of the Medici, and it's standing in history as the birthplace of the Renaissance. It certainly has spectacular art - Uffizi and Accademia are wonderful but it also has a lot of smaller things to see as well, that we loved. Florence is also a short fast train ride away, which would certainly reduce your hassle when returning to Rome.

I know it was mentioned earlier that the Pompeii as a day trip is hard. I'll echo that that can be a long day, but it is certainly doable, so I don't want you to totally dismiss it. My mom and I did it in July, so it was hot, and a bit tiring, but we managed and don't regret it. [Our trip went Rome x 8 nights with the trip to Pompeii in there around day 6, then on to Florence/Tuscany for the second half of an 18 day trip]. We even went into Naples for the afternoon on our day trip and saw the Antiquities Museum to "complete" the Pompeii experience, since most of the art was taken from there back to Naples when it was discovered. If you decide to just keep this as a day trip rather than going on to Sorrento/Almafi Coast and have any questions, PM me. RS spells out how to do it pretty well in his book too.

Based on your interest in art and history, I'm with the Rome/Florence crowd. You might enjoy the Science Museum in Florence-Galileo's finger! I have done Pompeii as a day trip from Rome twice. It's a long day-especially the bus tour one that also did the beautiful Amalfi Coast drive. The second time we took an Enjoy Rome bus to Pompeii. Both of those day trips were worth it to me. Without enough time to really enjoy the Naples/Amalfi area, I prefer to move just myself on a long trip to moving my luggage to a new hotel in that area.

Yes, I agree in Rome and Florence! I also agree that going to Florence when you land is the best. You can take the train right from tha airport and it’s only 90 minutes. If you stay in the Piazza Santa Maria Novella, you can just walk from the train to your hotel. We stayed at Hote l’Orgio and it was so beautiful. Perfect location! https://www.hotelorologioflorence.com/#home
You can take day trip from Florence out into the Tuscan country side. There are several that will pick you up in town and take you out for the day. The art, history and FOOD is amazing in Florence.

I personally would save Pompeii for another trip when you can spend time staying on the Amalfi Coast. I would wait for a little warmer weather to do that trip.

Enjoy!

As far as being vague, for us this is a pretty spur of the moment trip and your general suggestions are useful.

I think you missed my point. You can be vague if you want to, but this is a fact: many (most?) people who come here and speak in generalities about having "10 nights" are often being quite dishonest both with themselves and with those who are trying to offer advice.

Only later, after they have an itinerary all detailed out (and their hearts set on "doing it all"), do they share the actual travel dates, and often it turns out that they were simply counting wrong: they include the day of their flight as a sightseeing day (even worse, they include the day they leave their house on the other side of the world as a sightseeing day). Same with their return day. So when someone says "I will have 10 days" it often turns out they really only have 9, 8 or maybe just 7 full, usable days on the ground at their destination. On a 2 month trip, "counting wrong" like that is no big deal. On a "10 day" trip, it's critical you get this right before you make an itinerary.

You can save yourself a lot of headaches if you state specific travel dates, eg "we arrive in Rome at 10 am on April 1, we depart from Venice at 10 am on April 9". Doesn't have to be the actual dates you travel, but it should be specific dates (and times and locations). Otherwise, the advice you get on how to allocate your time may be completely unrealistic.

That's why I suggested you get specific, and avoid speaking in generalities about how many days or nights you have.

Good luck.

If want to go to Pompeii that is taking away from your days in Rome. I would combine that with staying in Naples or Sorrento. We did that on our recent trip. Or skip Pompeii this trip and go to Florence. But March is almost here I would get your rooms & advance museum tickets sorted quickly.

if your desire is another city, I'd say Florence. We generally try and stay 6 nights in Rome and I recommend something close to that for a first time visit. The main problem is that the airport doesn't have a direct train to anywhere, except the Termini in Rome. You'll need to think through the time frame of this trip (beginning or end).

Another vote for going directly to Florence once you land in Rome. There ARE two direct-to-Florence fast trains from the Rome Airport ("Fiumicino" in the trenitalia.com station list). They depart at 11:08 and 15:08. Other than that, there are trains from the airport to Roma Termini every 20 minutes or so. Total time from airport, changing at Termini, then a "freccia" (fast) train to Florence from Termini is just about 2'30". Doing this when you land will save you a hotel change, with the half day of moving around that that entails; get your 5 nights (or so) in Florence, then 5 nights (or so) in Rome, and then go straight to the airport on your last morning in Rome.

We really appreciate the wealth of advice! Given the time of year and our relative hardiness, we'll risk the demands of a day trip to Pompeii and then spend some time in Florence. Thank you for your contributions.

Start your trip in Florence. There's so much Renaissance painting, sculpture and architecture there, you'll have to plan ahead . It's a good idea to book Uffizi and Academia tickets in advance to avoid long lines. Allow at least 2 hours for the Uffizi, 1 for the Academia. Spend an hour or two browsing the market. You can get very good leather goods for reasonable prices - bargaining will make them better.

A day trip to Pompeii is definitely doable from Rome. Get an early fast train to Naples, then it's about an hour to Pompeii on the Circumvesuviana commuter train. You'll want 4-5 hours to see most of the site - I wouldn't bother to walk to the amphitheatre (long walk, little enjoyment), but it is worth the mostly interesting walk to the beautiful Villa dei Misteri. When you get back to Naples, take the metro to the National Archaeology Museum (it's a wow) for at least a couple of hours.

You may also want to spend a half day at Ostia Antica, by local train from Rome. A lot of folks find that it is a reasonable substitute for Pompeii rather than the long trip, but in March, when the heat and sun are not enervating in Pompeii, I wouldn't do it instead.

There's more "history" in Rome, and tons of art - though mostly the Roman/Greek stuff that inspired the Renaissance.