Help needed with Italy/France itinerary

In my opinion you are trying to do way too much in a 2 week period with a lot of time in transit. You really can't count your arrival and departure days as days you can do anything. It's too bad you appear to have round trip tickets to/from Rome instead of into Rome and home from Paris, or visa versa. If you are spending 2 nights in a place it only gives you one full day. I would group the Rome time all together. You might consider something like this - Fly into Rome on 9/22, take the train to Venice. Spend 3 nights. On 9/25 take the train to Florence. Spend 4 nights (take day trips). On 9/29 take the train to the Amalfi Coast. Spend 3 nights. On 10/2 take the train to Rome. Spend the rest of your time there. Fly home. Forget Paris on this trip. It doesn't really work.

Thx Andrea. Tickets have already been purchased to Rome :-(. I never planned to visit Paris, but for some reason my wife wants to see Eiffel Tower and I am trying to accommodate her. May be I should just do a day trip to Paris from Rome just to see Eiffel Tower?

Sri, Flying in and out of Rome is fine. We agree with Andrea, cut out Paris if you can. That's one day travel, 1-2 nights there, one day back to Italy. That's 4 days minimum of your 2 week vacation. Plan to go back. You can see a lot of Rome in 4 nights. Hit the ground running. After you arrive, start your vacation, don't lounge in your hotel though. 5 nights Rome (1 day trip to Pompeii) 2 nights in Florence 2 nights in La Spezia (Cinque Terre) 2-3 hours in Pisa along the way. You don't need to spend a night in Pisa. We prefer the Cinque Terre over Amalfi coast. 2 nights in Venice Return to Rome for the rest of your vacation or catch Siena on the way back. I'm sorry to disagree with Andrea but we think 4 days in Florence to too long, 3 days, tops. If Amalfi Coast is a must then: 4 nights Rome 1 night Siena 2 nights Florence 2 nights Venice 2-3 nights Sorento (day trip to Pompeii)
return to Rome. All of this travel can be done by train, no car needed! Enjoy and travel safe.

Sir, You are already at the airport when you arrive Rome. Fly directly to Paris. 3 nites Paris Paris-Venice 2 nites Venice Train Venice-Florence 2 nites Florence Train Florence-Naples-Sorrento 3 nites Sorrento train Sorrento-Naples-Rome
4 nites Rome

You have to be very careful about flying straight to Paris after you land in Rome. Even if you are flying from the same airport (not at all a certainty), you'll have to go through passport control, then get your checked luggage, then check in for the flight to Paris. If there are any delays (I can think of 10 common reasons without trying), you could miss the flight, then pay dearly for another ticket and possibly lose a day. If your checked luggage is delayed or lost, you will probably be without it until you return to Rome to pick it up. And you still have to get a flight to Rome. Explain to your dear wife: Yes, it's only a 2-hour flight, but add an hour at each end to get from/to your hotel to/from the airport (possibly more if you choose a budget airline and/or if you check luggage), and another 2 hours at the airport before the flight. That's a minimum of 6 hours gone TWICE. Is it worth losing the better part of 2 days on such a short trip? If you need to take her to Paris to keep peace in the family, consider flying Florence-Paris-Naples You could also fly Venice-Paris-Florence, but getting to the airport in Venice isn't all that convenient. As for your itinerary, don't keep going back to Rome. Each hotel change takes time. Fly into Rome, then take the train on to Venice. From Florence, take a train to Naples (not one that stops in Rome for 1/2 hour), then the regional Circumvesuviani train to Sorrento. End up in Rome for the end of your trip.

Just a note about the train to Sorrento -- Rome or Florence to Naples is on a fast, elegant train with reserved seats, but the last leg (Naples to Sorrento) is on a possibly-crowded commuter train with limited baggage space. My husband stood up most of the trip so he could be next to our bags.

@Steven, if you noticed I recommended 4 nights in Florence with the ability to do day trips. Srinivas, have you decided on an itinerary? A day trip to Paris from Rome would be very expensive and you wouldn't have much time there. If someone was visiting you in San Diego and they wanted to see the Space Needle, would you suggest they fly to Seattle for the day to see it? Why not take her to Paris on another trip?

Either do Paris for a week and Rome for a week OR Italy only. Still spend the most time in Rome, at least 4 or five nights. Florence/ Tuscany- Venice and back to Rome. Don't try and do everything on you first trip, all you will see are train stations and airports.

Srinivas, As the others have said, your proposed Itinerary is FAR too ambitious for such a short time frame. While it may be feasible, it would be exhausting and if there's a hitch at one or more points in the process, it could turn out to be one of the most miserable holidays you've ever had! I'd need to spend some time working out details, but here are a few initial impressions and questions..... > If I'm reading correctly, you have a total of 16 days, with 14 for touring. You'll need two days for travel (you'll arrive in Europe the day AFTER you depart) and the final day will be for the flight home. > There's too much "jumping around" with this Itinerary. Each time you change locations, you'll use both time and money. I'd suggest a more efficient Itinerary. > Siena is worth a visit, but I'd skip Pisa on such a short trip. > I realize Paris is important to your wife, but keep in mind that travel to Paris and back will require the better part of a FULL travel day in each direction. The flight may be only two hours but you'll have to get to airports, check-in, security, waiting times, boarding & de-planing and then travel into the arrival city. You'll basically spend two days in travel and have about one day in Paris, which is hardly worth the effort. > The best way to make Paris work would be to change your flights to open-jaw and either fly inbound Rome and outbound Paris or vice-versa. Otherwise I'd suggest skipping Paris on this trip and focusing on Italy. > You don't need to "take bus/train to Sorrento" - you can reach Sorrento from Rome by using either the Freccia or Italo fast trains to Naples and then the Circumvesuviana commuter train. I'll add further comments later if I think of anything. Good luck with your planning!

Sri, Richard has good advice. @Andrea, I stand corrected. My misread.

Thx guys for all your replies. It helped me a lot in planning a better