Input on Itinerary while 9 days in Italy

If Venice is your arrival point from the US/Canada, you are allowing yourself essentially no time there, because you'll probably be sleep-deprived and jetlagged on Day 1. A lot of us find that we can't do more than wander aimlessly on arrival day, and we don't necessarily even remember what we saw. I'd want 3 nights in Venice or I would go there, and given that it's your arrival point and thus unavoidable, I'd drop one of your other destinations in order to give myself chance to see Venice.

Italy is likely to be quite hot in July. Keep that in mind as you determine how much time you want at each stop. You may be very, very glad to spend time in churches. Museums are iffier, since some of those are not air-conditioned. The same is true of many small shops, bars and cafes. It can be difficult to escape the heat.

I fully agree with Acraven. You will arrive in Venice jet lagged, and it will be noon before you get to your hotel, drop your bags and are ready to start sight seeing (the most crowded part of the day). And you've allotted very little time for Rome. I think you might need to consider dropping either Rome or Florence from this trip. All of these places are going to be hot and very crowded. Hoping to be able to cram a lot of sites into each day is unrealistic.

I join the chorus. You simply don't have enough time for all the places you want to see. Even if you are arriving after spending time in another European city and don't have to wait in line for passport control and even if you have only carry-on luggage and don't have to wait at the baggage carousel (be sure to check weight and size limits on European flights), things move slowly in Venice. You may have an hour or more to ride the vaporetto, or you may have a 15-20 minute wait for the bus or the vaporetto, and then it will take some time to get to your hotel to check in and drop your bags. It can easily take 30-45 minutes to get from anywhere in Venice to the train station. So July 5, again you'll spend the morning moving from hotel to hotel, so your only full day in Florence is the 6th. Again a morning wasted going to Rome. Then there's Sorrento. There's no fast way to Sorrento. You have to get through Rome's traffic to the train station, take the train to Naples, then take the Circumvesuviana commuter train to Sorrento. The Circumvesuviana only runs twice an hour and the ride is an hour to an hour and a quarter.

What time do you have to be at the airport for your flight out of Naples? There is now a bus line between the airport and Sorrento, but there are only a few buses a day. Your other options are a private driver or taking the Circumvesuviana back to Naples and then getting from the train station to the airport (not sure how to do that but I do know that traffic in Naples can slow you down a whole heck of a lot.)

So what I'd do is eliminate either Florence or Rome, and I'd probably recommend staying in Salerno instead of Sorrento, because it's as well placed for the Amalfi Coast and it's connected by fast train service to Naples, Rome, etc.

Totally agree to add more time in Venice and punt Florence. How can you go to Italy and bypass Rome (you can't). But do savor Venice as much as you can. 1 night in Venice (especially for a first timer) is a huge mistake.

Completely agree with others, too much in too little time. Stay the first 3 nights in Venice, skip Florence, and head down to Rome for 3 nights. Your last 3 nights can be Sorrento. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get to Naples airport.

I concur with extended time in Venice. We will be there for a week in a few months and hope we will experience the highlights in this time frame. Good recommdation to eliminate Florence this time and include Rome and a convenient base in Southern Italy.

It sounds like you already have booked your flight from Naples, so I will add to the suggestion to add time to Venice and skip Florence.

If you have not already purchased your flight from Naples, do Venice Florence Rome and skip Amalfi coast area this time.

Thank you all so much for the input! The feedback thus far is extremely helpful and confirms that I am definitely trying to cover too much ground, which is likely to backfire and be less productive/enjoyable. We will stay another night in Venice and forego Florence. Unfortunately we already booked our hotel in Sorrento during the 10th -12th and its non-refundable. Traveling to Sorrento looks like it will take a bit longer than I anticipated to arrive so perhaps we add another night there since the first day is likely to be consumed by traveling? Either that or 3 nights in Venice? Our flight from Naples to Lisbon departs at 2:30PM. If public transportation will not ensure our arrival to Naples airport in time, I've read that we can hire a driver, although pricey. Thanks again and I'm thankful for finding this forum. Just wish I searched for it prior to making some of my reservations.

I think you're OK. Mid-morning checkout of your Rome hotel, taxi to Termini, train to Naples (1 hr 10 min on the Freccia). From there, I don't advise people to splurge but given the time of year with throngs of tourists and heat, I would say you should ask the Sorrento hotel to set you up with private transport directly from where you get off the train at Napoli Centrale to your hotel, which we did in March of last year, so you should be in Sorrento by mid-afternoon. Might cost you 100 Euro, but the alternatives (with bags) are the ferry or the Circumvesuviana, either of which would be cheaper but may be character-builders, and not in a good way. Things could go awry pretty darn easy, trust me!

You're also OK using the Curreri Viaggi bus to catch your flight at Napoli Capodichino when you leave. Meet at the Sorrento bus/train station--cost 11 Euro apiece, takes about 90 minutes. You want to be at the airport at noon, no later than 12:30.

http://www.curreriviaggi.it/

You're probably fine taking the 10:30 bus out of Sorrento, but (again) given the time of year I'm taking the 9:00 and bringing a good book. Less stress too!

Enjoy your planning!