Is this 12 day itinerary too ambitious

Have you made a list of what you want to see/do in each location? 2 nights = 1 full day. Will 1 full day in Venice be enough? We spent 5 full days there which was right for us. When you mention Amalfi, do you mean the Amalfi Coast, Amalfi Town or the region which includes Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast? Whichever you mean, transportation in the region is slow, chaotic and unreliable. You'll waste a significant amount of time just getting there meaning you'll lose valuable site seeing time. We spent 2 weeks in Sorrento last year. One of those days was a small group tour along the Amalfi Coast. Of the 9 hour tour, 4.5 hours were spent in the vehicle.

Remember to figure out how much time will actually be spent moving from place so you can deduct that from your 12 days and the things you want to see. For example the train from Venice to Rome is about 4 hours plus the time spent packing up and getting to the train station and then getting to your hotel once you arrive in Rome. Same goes for the Amalfi Coast. I can't speak for Sicily but it's a big island and you'll spend a good chunk of one of your 12 days getting there as well. If you choose Palermo, flying out of there is a good idea, but it may require a connection through Rome anyway.

OK. On the face of it...yes, it's ambitious. Impossible, no.

We are doing a similar trip next April. Fly Boston/Zurich/Florence. 4 nights, train (90 min) to Rome. 4 nights, train (2+ hours) to Salerno. 3 nights, train (just under 6 hours) to Taormina, Sicily. 4 nights, then fly Catania/Munich/Boston. 15 nights in Italy.

I use Salerno instead of staying on the A.C. peninsula itself because it's a great jumping off point to the Amalfi Coast or Pompei or Naples or Paestum. And Salerno itself, especially the Old Town, is charming. Check out the logistics.

In Sicily, you don't have the time to see the whole island--no way, no how. We've done Taormina before and while it's kind of glitzy and not exactly rustic, it's very cool & picturesque and the cuisine is fabulous.

So, your only difference is 4 hours by train Venice to Rome instead of my 90 minutes from Florence. If possible, with 4 destinations I'd add 2-3 nights so you have 14-15 nights on the ground in Italy.

Enjoy your planning!

My thought process on Venice was that we would probably arrive on an overnight flight in the morning. We would then go to the hotel rest, clean up and then have that evening for dinner and just walking around. I did a Doges palace tour and I would like her to do it as well so we would do that the next morning and then have that afternoon and evening to walk and see the city. The next morning would probably just be breakfast and head to the train. I wont say that's enough because from my trip this year I could absolutely see spending 4-5 days there and feeling like there were things to do but for this trip I think that what I have planned would be worth doing and visiting even for only the 2 nights.

Unfortunately that's the end of my first hand knowledge so I am just guessing from there.

I know in Rome we want to do the big things. The Colosseum, Vatican, Spanish steps, Crypts. We also would love to do a food tour. We are still researching that though. I am hoping 4/5 nights is enough to get a good taste of Rome

Then we want to do a coastal/beach destination after being extremely busy in the city for several days. Something more casual and relaxed. My wife would love to see the beautiful Amalfi coast and so would I because it looks amazing. As far as actual towns. We were leaning towards Amalfi town but that is not set in stone. While I would love to see Pompeii, I have already figured that adding that would be too much for this trip.

Finally we would like to see some of the south. The culture and food and all that goes with that. We had considered Tropea but are now leaning more towards Sicily. As I mentioned earlier , we are still debating Palermo vs Taormina.

It honestly seems like if something has to be cut it would be either Amalfi or Sicily and stay in just one for longer but I was hoping that we could make it work logistically

The 2 nights in Venice plus 4-5 nights in Rome leaves you with only 5-6 remaining nights. That’s not enough time to justify going all the way to Sicily after 2-3 nights on the Amalfi Coastal as it takes 9 hours to get to Taormina from Sorrento.
You likely would need to fly home from Rome or Naples and that means adding a flight from Catania or Palermo back to Rome or Naples.
From the Amalfi Coast’s northern town of Sorrento, or southern gateway of Salerno you could reach the archaeological ruins at Pompeii in 40 minutes by train. There also are ferry/bus connections between Sorrento and Capri, and between Sorrento and Amalfi Town. Some like staying in Atrani, a small beachside town less than one-half mile from Amalfi Town. In fact, the two towns are so close that you simply walk between the two.
Staying in Atrani means you can use the bus/ferry connections between Amalfi Town and Capri/Sorrento/Salerno to see the Amalfi Coast.

I was afraid that was going to be the response. I was just hoping that there was a magic way to jump from Amalfi to Palermo that I wasn't aware of. Lol.

So I am aware that this is completely a personal preference question but if you were looking to find a good combination of local culture and food along with some nice beaches for a relaxing day would you go to Amalfi Coast or Sicily? Thanks

The "magic way" from the Amalfi coast to Sicily is to take the overnight train from Naples or Salerno - there are through cars both to Palermo and Siracusa.

Let's put your plan in perspective. Venice to Palermo is roughly the same distance as Atlanta to New York or New York to Chicago or Chicago to Denver or Los Angeles to Portland. You can get from Venice to Palermo in 12 days, the question is if you would see anything on the way.

In the years my wife and I have been traveling, we've done whirlwind tours and trips where we spent two weeks in one location, staying in the same accommodation the entire time.

I think you and your wife need to sit down and have a discussion on what type of trip yo want this to be. Do you want to go wide or deep? In the discussion, be realistic about how much time and effort it takes to move from one location to another. Plan on burning a day for each move, between checking out, traveling and checking in. I also don't see a "down day" in your plans. When we take a trip longer than a week that involves moving from one place to another, we schedule in a day with nothing on the books to give ourselves a chance to decompress.

We watched a YouTube video last night on the top 10 over touristed destinations. Both Venice and Rome were on the list. I don't know about your previous visit to Venice, but for me trying to do Venice in a day would very frustrating, especially nowadays with all the cruise ship day trippers. We haven't done Disney World in decades because we don't like to spend 80% of the day standing in line for 3 minute experiences. For me Venice in a day would be the same type of experience.

For me your plans are too ambitious, but I know others get energized by busy schedules. I think the important thing is for you and your wife to be on the same page regarding expectations and the type of experience you'd like to have.

You have seen some of the places you now want your wife to see. Is she OK with being on the go with her first Europe trip chock full of sights and travel? Will she get her chance to savor some of the country without the deadline of a train, car or boats, or the next thing you want to take her too? Can you delight in seeing something when the next thing looms to fit in before such and such a time?
I would say it is overly ambitious. You asked.
Is there even time to sit over a spritzer and take a breath?

Well our plan was for the first half to be more "whirlwind" lots of scheduled tours/activities, etc. And the second half to be more relaxed. kind of just explore, eat whatever looks good, go into whatever shops look fun, hang out at the beach, etc.

I am the more go-go-go type and she wants to relax more. thats not to say she wont enjoy Doge's palace or the Colosseum because she will but she is also happy to spend the afternoon having aperol spritz's at a lido and shopping in local stores. so we were kind of looking for a balance.

As to Venice. It initially was not part of the itinerary. It was Rome and somewhere south/coastal. After I visited Venice this year though, I would like her to get at least a small sample of it because I loved it. Even with the crowds. The funny part was I enjoyed walking around the outlying less touristy areas like Dorsoduro more than i wanted to be around St. Marks square.

I think we are definitely going to have to drop either Amalfi or Sicily but I am not ready to give up Venice yet , even if its a short trip. We may have to see if we can add a day or 2 to the trip to make it work

Adding Sicily is where this kind of goes off the rails. Anytime you add an airport to the equation you’re basically losing the day. There’s a big difference in time/stress in going to FCO versus Termini train station.

We can talk about how big Sicily is, and how you won’t get to see enough to warrant the detour, and that’s all true. But personally, I think we’re sold an image of Sicily that is much more exotic than it is. I didn’t find it much different from mainland Italy, or at least the differences were far more subtle. If anything, that exotic image matches Naples more than anywhere else I’ve been in Italy. Does Sicily have amazing sights? Absolutely, but so does the mainland. What I’m saying is, you’re leaving a lot on the table on the mainland, while a dip to Sicily feels like checking a box. I’d tell anyone to fill their boots with mainland Italy before looking to Sicily.

You could spend a full week plus on and around the Amalfi Coast. I think you can definitely include it in your itinerary and get enough out of it. I’d go 5 nights there, 3 in Venice, and 4 in Rome. You’ll likely end up flying out of Rome, so will probably impact how you arrange those days. Where to stay around/on the Amalfi Coast is a whole other ball of wax, and what you want to do or see will be the biggest factor. It’s a topic much discussed here, and RS guidebook is always helpful in this regard. You’ve got plenty of time to plan that, and having narrowed down your itinerary a bit should be able to get a better sense of it.

In regard to your return flights have you looked at the price of one way tickets from 2 places rather than the cost of round trip from the same entry and exit. If you're in the USA I never see this being affordable.

Venice>Rome>Amalfi>Sicily>

Is quite ambitious, you can do it logistically but would you want to? I wouldn't. When I went to Sicily I spent 3 weeks there and didn't see enough.

When I go to Italy I try to stay in one geographic area. We are going in Sept for 5 weeks, Milan>Prosecco Region>Venice>Florence. It all depends on how you want to travel, but I would not do Sicily on your trip this time. Even Rome is a bit too much for me. 12 days could easily be spent in and around just Venice, plenty to see and do within 2 hours of Venice.

Keep in mind every day you travel to a new accommodation involves timing your check in with your day plans. Check ins are usually around 3pm. If you leave early morning and get to your new destination around noon you've got to deal with your bags and check in and how it will interrupt your sight seeing.

Ok so let me ask a different question. the consensus seems to be that Sicily is too much/ too big/ too far for this trip. if I were to say that we were doing 3 nights in Venice and 4/5 nights Rome and i had 4/5 nights left. I want a more relaxed destination with beach access/ great food and an authentic local feel (not all tourist shops) where would you recommend? We already mentioned the Amalfi coast but any other suggestions that would fit that criteria?

And by the way, the responses thus far have been great. Very much appreciated

Also as to the flight questions. i believe that as long as we have access to an airport its not going to be a problem to do separate flights if necessary. We have tons of miles that should cover most if not all of our flights

The funny part was I enjoyed walking around the outlying less touristy areas like Dorsoduro more than i wanted to be around St. Marks square.

That's why I think you need to spend more than a day in Venice. There's also Cannaregio, Burano and Murano to explore. I'm seeing three days just in those three areas. You can visit them while the day trippers are in the St. Marks area and enjoy the heart of Venice in the late afternoon and evening.

I don't mean to pile on, but...never mind, yes I do.

I think including Sicily is a step too far when you only have 12 nights on the ground. Too much time will be taken up just getting from place to place. It would be a different story if your trip was a week or 2 longer. And I think you may be discounting the effects of jet lag on how much you can get out of your arrival day.

Regardless, you would want to look at multicity flight tickets, and not 2 one way tickets as Mike suggested. Likely into Venice and home from your final city (which may or may not involve connecting flights). If you omit Sicily, then you could add those days to your other sites. For starters 3 nights in Venice, 4 nights in Rome (with perhaps a day trip to Orvieto), and 4 nights on the AC ( possible day trips to Capri, Paestum, the other AC towns). That leaves your last night, which would have to be spent in either Naples or Rome, depending on your flight. You wouldn't want to spend your last night on the AC unless your flight home was an evening flight.

You mentioned relaxing on the beach on the AC. I hope you are both aware that sand beaches are not the norm there - they are mostly pebbled. Where to stay on the AC depends on just how active you want to be and what you want to do. Positano and Amalfi get lots of attention because of their names. But the other, smaller towns are lovely in their own right. The downside is that their transportation options are limited. Sorrento has all the transportation options,but not much in the way of beaches, and isn't actually on the AC. And Salerno, often overlooked, has all the options, but is the furthest south of the AC towns, even though it has fast rail access to Naples.

Having done much of Italy, although not Sicily, I would still caution you to avoid picking too many places for a 12 day trip.

2 nights in Venice may mean 1 full day, so you might need another day. Rome is amazing and I recommend 5 nights. That leaves you with four nights, which if you do the Sorrento/Capri/Amalfi Coast area then you are done.

Do open jaw, fly into Venice and out of Rome.

I don't want you to give up on Sicily just yet...

Hypothetically--if you can't see the whole island, does that mean you can't get any value out of it? I think the answer is no. Sicily is so different in architecture, cuisine & feel than any other part of Italy that in my opinion it's worth trying to work in, for however many days. And also, you get your beach and can chill out to end your vacation in Sicily.

Obviously, you can lop it off your itinerary, slow down and do that, add more days to Venice & Rome--easy enough to do. But we first went in 2010 for our 30th anniversary and are thrilled we're finally returning again next April, after two other trips where we discarded Sicily because it didn't work into our itinerary. Each time we said...dammit, should've gone back to Taormina. Take that for what it's worth...

So...for 12 nights on the ground:

Venice--3 nights, train 4 hours to Rome
Rome--4 nights, train 2+ hours to Salerno
Salerno--2 nights, fly from Naples 2 hours to Catania, Sicily. transport 45 minutes to Taormina
Taormina--3 nights, fly home from Catania

In regard to your return flights have you looked at the price of one way tickets from 2 places rather than the cost of round trip from the same entry and exit. If you're in the USA I never see this being affordable.

In reference to this comment, I want to be sure the OP knows that you do not want to look for one way tickets from two places. You want to search "multi city" (also known as open jaw tickets) which allow you to travel into one city and return from another. One way tickets are more expensive.

In reference to this comment, I want to be sure the OP knows that you do not want to look for one way tickets from two places. You want to search "multi city" (also known as open jaw tickets) which allow you to travel into one city and return from another. One way tickets are more expensive

I appreciate this. Yes this is how I will do the search if we use 2 different cities in Italy. thank you

A couple less famous but just-as-beautiful beach destinations with turquoise water where you are far more likely to enjoy some “relaxed and casual” beach time than on the Amalfi Coast: SANTA MARGHERITA LIGURE which is just south of Genoa and just north of the Cinque Terre. Santa Margherita Ligure—whose more famous neighbor is Portofino— is six train hours from Venice and 4.5 hours from Rome. It fits well between Venice and Rome and transforms transit days into days at the beach. The neighboring beach town of RAPALLO is also impressive.
You also could fly from Venice to Bari in 90 minutes and hop between relaxing beach towns south of Bari such as MONOPOLI, OTRANTO and GALLIPOLI in the region of APULIA ( “Puglia”) for some R&R between Venice and Rome There are 4-hour high-speed trains that run between Bari and Rome.
Google these places up and click “ Images” or “Videos” to see just how stunning their beaches are.

We have tons of miles that should cover most if not all of our flights

I have found that when using miles, a round trip or 2 one way tickets cost the same. Using cash that is usually not the case.

A couple less famous but just-as-beautiful beach destinations with turquoise water where you are far more likely to enjoy some “relaxed and casual” beach time than on the Amalfi Coast: SANTA MARGHERITA LIGURE which is just south of Genoa and just north of the Cinque Terre. Santa Margherita Ligure—whose more famous neighbor is Portofino— is six train hours from Venice and 4.5 hours from Rome. It fits well between Venice and Rome and transforms transit days into days at the beach. The neighboring beach town of RAPALLO is also impressive.
You also could fly from Venice to Bari in 90 minutes and hop between relaxing beach towns south of Bari such as MONOPOLI, OTRANTO and GALLIPOLI in the region of APULIA ( “Puglia”) for some R&R between Venice and Rome There are 4-hour high-speed trains that run between Bari and Rome.
Google these places up and click “ Images” or “Videos” to see just how stunning these beaches are.

Wow. those are beautiful. That seems to be the biggest problem I am having planning this trip. Too many amazing choices.

Taormina--3 nights, fly home from Catania

But is Taormina going to give you a true "Sicilian" experience? Isn't it a glitzy resort town?

I would wait and do Sicily as a separate trip.

Taormina--3 nights, fly home from Catania

But is Taormina going to give you a true "Sicilian" experience? Isn't it a glitzy resort town?

I would wait and do Sicily as a separate trip.

This was my concern with Taormina. It looks beautiful but I want an authentic experience and not just a beautiful tourist spot. But in all honestly that is also my concern with Amalfi. I was personally leaning towards Palermo when it felt like we could squeeze Sicily into this trip. That may not be possible now unless I am able to add a little more time but that's how i was leaning

This was my concern with Taormina. It looks beautiful but I want an
authentic experience and not just a beautiful tourist spot. But in all
honestly that is also my concern with Amalfi.

Brett--

I've got news for you. In 12 days, in September which is now considered 'high season' as well, you aren't going to get 'an authentic experience' with anything in Italy unless you want to spend the entire time in one place, assimilating, talking to locals in their native tongue, not ex-pats.

Our last trip, in 2017, we rented an apartment for a week looking over the Campo de' Fiori market in Rome. In February. Few tourists. We could get in anyplace to eat, to see, to observe. Brisk walk to the Tiber every morning, doubled around for a caffe, the barrister (or whatever the Italian translation is) had my order waiting for me by the third morning, shopped at the same vendor at the market. By the 3rd day she was slipping me fruit gratis. I spoke fractured Italiano best I could. And it was only towards the end of the week that I kinda/sorta felt like a local.

That feeling was so exhilarating & intriguing that within the next 2-3- years I want to spend 2 months in the winter in Rome and have time to do anything I want, including side day trips here & there to Orvieto, Naples, Florence out of Termini. But mostly we'll stay in central Rome, exploring the neighborhoods. So much to see. And I'm convinced I can accomplish it very economically, cheaper than that amount of time in Florida or Arizona.

So you can either do the Cliff's Notes version of Italy, and get great enjoyment out of that, or focus on one chapter, and do your deep dive there. Or try to do a little of both. Your trip is 13 months away, plenty of time to research.

Good luck to you!

OP, at your most recent comments: I’m an official superfan of Palermo, and I’d still suggest Amalfi over Palermo. I understand the dilemma. You don’t necessarily want to do the super touristy thing, and have a different experience than the millions of other tourists. Are all these places touristy? Absolutely, it’s Italy. It’s also that these destinations are full of tourists for a reason: they’re spectacular! The Amalfi Coast remains one of my favorite places, tourists and all. Going to touristy places doesn’t mean you have to have the same experience. Plan around the crowds on the coast and there’s many times it feels like undiscovered country. I stayed in Atrani, and in the evening it was all locals hanging on the square.

I’ll reiterate too, that if you want some “authentic Italy” then Naples is the place. You could give yourself a night there on the way down from Venice. And yeah, Italy is all about choices, with a lot of tough ones. The good news is, it can be hard to “get it wrong” exactly because there are so many great places there.