Getting from north to south

If your trip is in the spring, start in the south and work north. In the fall, start north and go south. If your trip is in the fall, you could fly into Milan, take the train from Milan's central station to Varenna on Lake Como. Return to Milan and take a train to Rome, staying there for a few days. From Rome it's a quick train ride to Naples, then an hour or so on the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento. Stay in Sorrento and take day trips from there to Capri and the Amalfi Coast. Or travel on from Sorrento and stay in Amalfi or Positano. You can fly back home from Naples or Rome. The reason I would stay in Sorrento is that it is easier and faster to get to an airport from there. Pompeii and Herculaneum are great daytrips from Sorrento. Three main destinations in two weeks sounds just about right to me. Of course, all the details are in the RS books. Any extended stay in Rome deserves to be served by the RS book on ROME.

Here's one possibility: Start in Milan and go to Lake Como (Bellagio or Varenna) for 3 nights to get over the jet lag. Then train to Bologna for 2 nights and amazing food. Then Rome for 4-5 nights, then Sorrento for 3-4. Fly out of Naples. (P.S. Where the heck is "Topsfield"?)

Christine, My suggestion would be along the same lines as Swan mentioned. Fly inbound to Milan and go right to Varenna for a few days to get over jet lag. It will be a bit of an effort on the first day to take the Malpensa Shuttle from MXP, wait for perhaps an hour or more at Milano Centrale and then stay awake on the one hour trip to Varenna. However, once you get there you can relax and enjoy! Following that, use the EuroStar Italia/Alta Velocita train to Rome (about 3H:30M). If you leave Milan at about 10:00, you'll arrive in Rome at about the right time to check into your Hotel and do a bit of exploring before dinner. For the last part of the trip, again use the ES/AV to Milan and then transfer to the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento (which would be a good "home base" for touring the Amalfi Coast). While there, you could take trips to Capri (plan to spend a full day), Pompeii, Positano or other points along the coast. If you wanted to try something a bit "off the beaten track", you could also consider visits to Ischia or Procida. At the end of your trip, retrace your steps to Rome and return home from FCO. Happy travels!

Thank you for all the great suggestions. We'll be meeting, soon, with the several other couples with whom we are traveling and will present your ideas. If you have any other suggestions, feel free.

I forgot to mention that we are flying from Boston in September.