I'm planning a trip to Italy to include the following places: Sorrento, Cinque Terre, Venice & one of the lakes (probably Maggiore). I plan to fly open jaw. In what order should I visit these places so that I minimize backtracking? Should I fly into Rome & then visit Sorrento, Venice, CT & then Lake Maggiore & fly out of Milan? I know it will be a long day of train travel between Sorrento & Venice...does anyone know how long it will take? I assume I'll have to connect through Florence. I could also end the trip in Venice & fly out of Venice though I think there will be a larger availability of flights out of Milan. Thanks in advance for your input.
Posted by
Marin, CA
532 posts
Our flights from San Francisco connect through Frankfurt or Munich as we fly United or Lufthansa. We flew from Naples after our Sorrento visit.
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
To minimize backtracking, I would recommend fly into Rome and back from Venice. Visit Sorrento, then Cinque Terre, then Lake Maggiore, and finally Venice. It will take at least 7 hours to get from Sorrento to either Cinque Terre or Venice, probably a bit longer. Circumvesuviana from Sorrento to Naples takes 70 minutes. You can check schedules from Naples to your other destinations at www.trenitalia.com. Be sure to use the Italian names of cities - e.g. Napoli and Venezia.
Posted by
Orlando, Florida
676 posts
Frank's right, but how long is your trip? You may be doing too much....
Posted by
OP
Alta Loma, CA, USA
1446 posts
I haven't ironed out the exact dates yet but I'm looking at 3 weeks (21 days).
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32353 posts
Sheron,
The route I'd choose for those destinations would probably be somewhat like this:
Flight to Venice
Train to Lago Maggiore (I'm assuming Stresa?) via Milan
Train to Cinque Terre via Milan and Genoa
Train to Naples (travel from La Spezia Centrale via Roma Termini - travel time is about 6 hours) - transfer to the Circumvesuviana for the trip to Sorrento
At the conclusion of your visit to Sorrento, return to Rome and to FCO via the Leonardo Express for the flight home
Happy travels!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32353 posts
Sheron,
I doubt that you'd save much / any time using a budget flight, and it would most definitely be more of a hassle (at least for me).
For example, using the EuroStar Italia / Alta Velocita from Venezia S. Lucia to Napoli Centrale, the shortest travel time I could find was 5H:43M (one change at Roma Termini). Add to that about 1H:10M for the Circumvesuviana and it puts the travel time at about 7 hours.
Using a budget airline you'd have to allow 4-hours or so for travel to the airport, along with the usual check-in, security and waiting times. I haven't checked but the flight is probably about 1.5 hours. When you reach Naples, it would take time to de-plane, collect your luggage and get from the airport to Napoli Centrale and again use the Circumvesuviana, which would add perhaps another 2-3 hours or so. Unless you pack extremely light, you could face overweight baggage charges as well as the cost of the flight.
I didn't check the route from Genoa, but suspect it would be about the same. My preference would still be the train, but hopefully this provides some information to help with your decision.
Cheers!
Posted by
OP
Alta Loma, CA, USA
1446 posts
Would a flight between Naples & Venice (or Genoa & Naples) make sense & save time over the train? I know flying is sometimes a hassle & takes longer than a train would but I'm wondering in this case if flying would save time. Any thoughts on this? Thanks for your thoughtful input.