Help on Trip Itternary - 7 days in July

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By "Vatican", do you mean just St. Peters, or do you also want to see the Vatican Museums (of which the Sistine Chapel is a part)?

I'll be more comfortable if someone else confirms this, but my reading of the Vatican website indicates that June 30 is a free-entry day for the Vatican Museums, which will probably make them even more grotesquely over-crowded than usual. It also appears that the Museums will be closed on June 29. I think July 1 or July 2 might be better days to see the Vatican than June 30. But let's see what our Rome experts have to say.

If you just want to see St. Peters and the vatican museum in one day is fine. If you have the chance try to get tickets to the Scavi tour which need advance reservations for. it is a fantastic tour beneath the Vatican which is an acropolis that contains the tomb of St Peters. If you go to the Scavi tour you can go right into St. Peters after and skip the lines. If you don't go on the Scavi tour I would determine what you want in to see in the vatican museum to save time. Its a huge place and you may want to see just certain sections. We listened to Rick Steven advice and went to the Vatican Museum in the late afternoon. There were no lines. The tours mob it in the morning. We just wanted to see the sistine chapel and the Raphel painting so we were in an out in an hour.

If you just want to see St. Peters and the vatican museum in one day is fine. If you have the chance try to get tickets to the Scavi tour which need advance reservations for. it is a fantastic tour beneath the Vatican which is an acropolis that contains the tomb of St Peters. If you go to the Scavi tour you can go right into St. Peters after and skip the lines. If you don't go on the Scavi tour I would determine what you want in to see in the vatican museum to save time. Its a huge place and you may want to see just certain sections. We listened to Rick Steven advice and went to the Vatican Museum in the late afternoon. There were no lines. The tours mob it in the morning. We just wanted to see the sistine chapel and the Raphel painting so we were in an out in an hour.
Capri for one day is fine. Amalfi coast will be very crowded. Bus lines will be very long. If you drive it is tough in the summer and good luck with parking.

I’m curious about going to Ostia? I hear nice things about it, but mostly as an alternative if you can’t get to Pompeii or Herculaneum. You’re literally going by Pompeii and Herculaneum a day later. I would really recommend either of those over a completely separate day trip to Ostia.

Overall, it’s a tight trip. You don’t have much time down south, so you’ll have to choose your objectives carefully. If you want to focus on Pompeii and Capri, the Sorrento makes the best choice. If you’re more interested in the Amalfi Coast towns, then staying in Salerno might actually be your best option. Salerno is particularly easier to get to from Rome and back to Naples when you depart. Both are fine places to stay, though Salerno is more a city and Sorrento feels like a resort town. I recommend using the ferries to get around, very easy with spectacular views.

Thanks for the feedback everyone,

In Vatican given the number of days I will focus only on St. Peters and the vatican museum. I will check out the Scavi tours.

The Ostia plan was to replace Pompeii , will re-evaluate that if it makes sense to add an extra day to Sorrento and then do Pompeii

Thanks