Help with Itinerary 7/8-7/16

Are the 8th and 16th set in stone?

Having the time with your daughter in the middle really makes it a challenge to do something on the edges.

Any possibility you can adjuster your days to have the time with your daughter at one end of your time there? Would make it a whole lot easier to plan for the 'somewhere else'

Unfortunately the dates are set. Practical thinking tells me we need to decide between visiting the areas south of Rome or traveling the alps by train on our way south into Italy. Just not enough time to do both. Neither of us has been south of Rome so I’m thinking that is what we should do. Now need to figure out what we should do with 3-4 days there and should we go there first before Rome, or later.

We loved the Amalfi Coast area as well as Sorrento. You could take a fast train from Rome to Naples and then take a ferry from Naples to Sorrento. Sorrento is wonderful and is a good transportation base to see Capri, Pompeii, or Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello. However you do not have a lot of time and it would be important to stay in Rome the night before your flight home.

Thanks for the suggestions Organizer8. Do you have any specific thoughts on what you would prioritize with 3-4 days in those spots you mentioned?

Do a quick perusal of a guide to the area so you can make a list of your priorities. Once we know what you want to see (Naples, Pompeii, just the coast?), we can suggest the best base.

Hi and welcome to the forum -
I'll have to agree with Joe that putting time with your daughter in the middle of the trip doesn't leave you much time for other destinations. For instance? You have, at most, 8 nights/7 full days to work with. The 8th doesn't count as it's only a partial day, and could be a jet-lagged partial at that.

If, as you'd stated, you'd spent the 11th, 12th and 13th in Rome with your daughter, that would leave you only the 14th to get down to the Amalfi Coast, and then you'd need to return to Rome the very next day (15th) as you will need to be in Rome the night before your flight (16th); it's too risky to be on the coast the same day of an international flight out of Fiumicino. It's also just not enough time to give to a region that deserves more than that.

The only meaningful way I see the South of Rome happening for you is to load it all on the front end: go directly there on the 8th (unless your flight into Rome is a late one; then spend it near Termini station in Rome), spend the 9th, 10th and 11th on the coast, return to Rome on the 12th, and spend the remainder of that day + the 13th, 14th and 15th with your daughter. Fly home on the 16th.

Just a thought?

Thanks Kathy. I've come to that conclusion as well. Now we just need to figure out what we want to do from the 9th or so to the 13th. We are also celebrating 25 years of marriage this July. Given that, thinking something romantic since I will be wanting to hit many museums and ancient sites while in Rome during the day due to the influence of 3 years of Latin in HS ha ha. Heard good things about the Isle of Ischia, but also know the Amalfi Coast is fantastic too. Got great advice on this site in '19 when visiting Norway too! Thanks all.

Take your Latin to the tunnel that connects the two Capitoline museum buildings in Rome --- it is lined with ancient Roman funerary inscriptions that are translated into both Italian and English. What the living have to say about the dead (carved into stone) is moving, funny, revealing, and incredibly detailed compared to what we put on tombstones. Also, same museum, the big balcony that looks out over the Forum allows you to make some sense of those crowded ruins. If I HAD to choose between that balcony and being down in the Forum, I'd choose the balcony.

Now we just need to figure out what we want to do from the 9th or so
to the 13th. We are also celebrating 25 years of marriage this July.
Given that, thinking something romantic since I will be wanting to hit
many museums and ancient sites while in Rome ....

My suggestion was to leave the coast on the 12th. The 13th would cut your time with your daughter too short.

But I'm unsure what you meant regarding figuring about what you want to do during your stay on the coast? Go to PompeiI. Take a ferry around to Amalfi and Positano. Spend a night on Capri. Take a sightseeing day in Naples. Romance? That's up to you and not the destination! :O)

Gratias tibi Nancy.
I will be sure to look for it, your suggestion adds to my excitement about visiting.
Looking forward also to visiting the archaeological museum in Naples and perhaps Pompeii as well. Rick describes a day visiting the two in his Rome guidebook that looks doable for me. I visited Ostia way back in '89 and that was fantastic.
Thank you again so much for taking the time to suggest!