Graduation 9 night Italy itinerary help

Are you going to be in IT for nine nights? Florence needs three nights and that includes a day trip to Siena. The Amalfi Coast, three nights and that includes a day trip to Capri (sleep in Sorrento). Rome needs a minimum of three nights and that does not include Vatican City.

Yes we would be in Italy for 9 nights. Arriving in Milan. We are planning 3 nights in Florence for sure. 3 nights in a coastal location. Rome will only get 2 nights (I realize this is a rush but we are not planning to go to Vatican City and are trying to get a slower pace at these other locations).

hey hey dianak
you are planning too much for 9 days. is day 1 and day 9 flying days which leaves you only 7 days. what time does your flight arrive in milan? you will need to get thru passport/immigration at airport then about an hour or so to milan centrale to florence will be at least 2+ hours coming off a long flight with jetlag (it's real)
like many other first time travelers they want to see too much in little time, cramming a square peg in a round hole. you are doing too much traveling wasting time instead of seeing the city. july will be so so busy everywhere, HOT HOT HOT!!! it's high high season with crowds everywhere, waiting in long lines, what ever activites/attractions you're planning reserve way ahead of time at direct website, book train tickets early for cheaper seats. have you looked at accomodations, many places are for 2 or 3, 4 can get crowded, no sofa beds (their feet will hang off and so uncomfortable (been there done that, never again) book ASAP since places maybe filling fast. the places you're hoping and wanting are the same places many others want to see for all the crowds and long lines. be prepared
split time between florence and rome. any side/day trips takes at least 1/2 to full day. check in to hotels/apts are 3-4pm and check-out 10-11am. where do you leave your luggage. you are over thinking and hoping to see more than you have time to. give your family time to enjoy and just roam around. so much to see and do in florence and rome. what do your 18 year old twins wanna do (i'm also a twin, 18 minutes older that mom had no idea she was having two until birth LOL, way back over 70 years ago), get them involved. what kinda of cooking (pizza, gelato, tiramisu, market/dinner menu) food tour. keep asking questions, forum will give you good bad and ugly and it's you & family decision. have a great time and enjoy the fun
aloha

What a great Graduation celebration!

Next question: are you flying out from Rome? This past November, we flew in to/out from Naples, connecting through London, so Naples is potentially worth considering as your exit airport. That’s if you haven’t already booked all your flights. This could reduce the travel time needed to get from Florence all the way to Naples on Day 5, then backtracking to Rome for your final stay. If you flew out of Naples, you’d only have to get to Rome on Day 5, and then could work your way south after your Rome stay.

As you’ve likely determined, Sorrento is closer to both Capri and Amalfi than is Naples, but Naples is closest to Pompeii. We stayed in Sorrento back in 2012, and reached Pompeii on New Year’s Day 2013, but we had a car. Staying in Naples in 2025, we visited Pompeii again (as well as Herculaneum in the afternoon), but without a car, and as the train timing was going to be difficult, got a private driver to get us to Pompeii. We met our private guide at the entrance before the site opened, which got us in ahead of bigger crowds.

Having a guide let us see more than we saw on our own the first time. I can’t recommend having a guide for the 4 of you highly enough - she’s recommended in the Rick Steves guidebook.

You can certainly see Pompeii, Capri, and/or Amalfi from either Naples or Sorrento. Naples presents a crazy/fun big city vibe, while Sorrento will be a more intimate coastal experience. Is one more or less important?

There’s another aspect - Naples has the National Archaeology Museum, which holds all the artifacts recovered from the excavations. How important would seeing the museum be?