Is this itinerary reasonable? edited

I haven't been to Sorrento. It seems it's a fine place to base for a few days if you want to take day trips to both Capri and the Amalfi Coast. I don't believe Sorrento has much in the way of sights itself. You're burning a lot of travel time to be there for just one day, apparently with no plans to see anything else. I'd dump Sorrento and spend that time in Venice of half of it in Venice and half of it in Rome. You have a 10-day trip and are going to be relocating on 7 of those days.

You’re spending so much time traveling around switching hotels. It’s a lot of non-sightseeing wasted time imo. Pare down your trip to 3 destinations, maybe 4.

Make a list of what you want to see most i.e., Tuscan countryside, Rome, Amalfi Coast, etc. Once I know then I can recommend what needs to be removed.

Hello brenda.nickerson, and welcome to the forum,

I'm afraid I have to third the vote for fewer places for longer. You have 9 nights and you have 5 cities listed and heading back to Rome for one night. IMHO two or maybe three places is the better number of places for 9 nights.

Keep in mind that one night somewhere isn't even a single full day - you need two nights to ensure one day uninterrupted by packing, checking out, traveling with your bags, finding a new place and checking in again. You do not have a full day in either Venice or Florence in cities that will easily fill 3 or more days. You have one full day in Montepulciano , Rome, and Sorrento but otherwise every other day is a partial day somewhere with travel.

Choosing just a few places from a long list is hard but it is necessary to be realistic about what kind of trip you want as well as your list of things to see. I don't think this schedule will leave you relaxed, with great memories of Italy or with a sense of the country itself.

My $.02,
=Tod

Too much moving around

Drop Sorrento and the car rental to Montepulciano ( if you plan to drop in Orvieto then Hertz is your only option)

Venice 2 or 3 nights
Florence 3 or 4 nights with a day trip to Siena ( or do 2 Florence, 2 Siena-no need for car)
Rome 3 or 4 nights- you could day trip to Orvieto or stop on your way from Florence

No need to stay at airport hotel, taking a taxi from Rome center is easy early in am

I agree with other folks. This isn't a reasonable itinerary if you actually want to do/see anything in these locations. What are the sights you want to see in Venice? What about in Florence? What would you like to see and do in Rome? I recommend you determine your sightseeing priorities and then develop an itinerary based on that.

E.g., "In Venice, we would like to see: San Marco, Doge's Palace, Accademia, Frari/Scuola di San Rocco, San Giorgio Maggiore, the Jewish Ghetto, Peggy Guggenheim, Ca' Pesaro, Ca' Rezzonico, the Pinault Collection at Punta della Dogana. Burano. Murano. We want to take a gondola ride. We would like to do a food tour. We are interested in taking a rowing lesson."

As you can see, your lists could get very long but knowing what you are most interested in doing and seeing will help you determine how long you want to stay in a particular place and what you're willing to cut out, even given that you travel fast and won't have time for everything.

Per usual, acraven suggestion to tweak your trip is very good.

But if you opt for the trip you've outlined, I'm sure you'll have a grand time too! Italy is amazing. My changes would be add time to Venice and Florence by taking time from Sorrento/naples. Ah, tradeoffs! But either way you win!

When is this trip?
I agree, drop AC/Sorrento, as it's just so hard to move around the area , as the transportation infrastructure is so poor. Things just don't work very smoothly. It's a victim of its Instagram success, and is crowded/packed April thru October.

Not all train rides are scenic, so you won't be entertained with great vistas on all this moving around. Sometimes all you see are warehouses and parking lots.

You need to plan for flight delays and cancelations, and labor strikes, especially for your incoming flight . You always need an extra day at the beginning. For our last two flights over the pond, two were delayed, one by six hours and one 24 hours. This is life in the air post Covid.

Pick your favorite three locations, and have a wonderful trip!

These replies are helpful! We thought we'd scoot down to Naples/Sorrento while in Rome, but maybe its just too much. If we nix Sorrento and AC, then it seems too many days in Rome. We love countryside and culture as much as history and museums as well. Thoughts? Should we add time in Florence? We've heard mixed reviews about Florence.

To keep all your destinations, but make better use of the time, go to Sorrento from Tuscany and do all your nights in Rome at the end.

It's a busy schedule, but if that is how you like to travel, do so.

I'd focus either on the area between Venice to Rome or between Rome to Amalfi Coast, but not both.
I lived in Orvieto for 3 months and loved it! If you want a small medieval town feel, pick Montepulciano or Orvieto, no need to do both with a time crunch. I'm biased toward Orvieto, of course. And drop the car rental. You can rent e-bikes in Orvieto and visit wineries and Civita di Bagnoregio, the dying city. Rome is the kind of city you can spend a week in and not get bored. There is SO MUCH to see and do. Do not shortchange Rome.

My recommendation since you are flying into Venice:
Day 1: Arrive Venice
Day 2: Venice (visit the islands)
Day 3: Florence (Uffizi Gallery, Cathedral, market)
Day 4: Florence (day trip Sienna)
Day 5: Orvieto or Montepulciano
Day 6: Orvieto or Montepulciano (visit a winery)
Day 7: Rome
Day 8: Rome
Day 9: Rome
Day 10: Depart home

Sorrento is nice but it is just a base to visit the blockbuster sites in the region; namely Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. With only 1 full day scheduled it would be a wasted trip as transportation in the region is slow and chaotic and you won't have time to see much. You know your travel style better than me, but personally, with only 9 days I'd stick to Venice, Florence and Tuscany.

Spend two nights in Venice and allow time to find your hotel when arriving on foot. On day one follow the crowd so you don’t miss seeing the main sights. In St. Mark’s Square go inside the basilica. The next day get lost and when you’re ready to get back on track look for the people.
On one of those nights take a vaporetto (waterbus) from one end of the canal to the opposite at dusk. This way you’ll see the palaces illuminated foyers by giant crystal chandeliers and won’t see the decay on the exterior of the buildings. The experience made me day dream about what life was like in the 17th century.
From Venice take a direct train to Florence’s SM Novella station. Buy tickets for the Uffizi Gallery two months out to guarantee a reservation. Florence deserves three nights.
From Florence’s SM Novella station take a direct train to Rome’s Termini station. You need three nights for Rome and if you add Vatican City make it four. Orvieto is a good day trip from Rome’s Termini station but you need to add an additional night.
This itinerary is easier than renting a car and one-night stays. Finding a recommended place to eat takes time to locate if you’re walking which you do a lot of in Europe. Furthermore, there’s no such things as hurrying the wait staff.
Renting a car is much easier said than done. Are you familiar with ITs ZTL zone laws? Instead, take advantage of ITs excellent train system.

I agree with the other posters. You see a lot more when you do less. I only threw in Siena as a day trip since you said you like to see and do a lot. But there is a lot to enjoy in each city all on its own.

I prefer Rome to Florence. To me, Rome is a must do on every Italian visit. I’ve been to Florence twice and don’t feel a strong urge to go back, unless you are really really into renaissance art.

Day 8 - Day trip to Naples or Sorrento?

No

With as busy as you already are I think using that day to do Ostia Antica would be a better use of your time.

I can't tell you what type of trip you should do. I don't know you. I've traveled enough to understand that for me, hopscotching all over the place is frustrating and exhausting. I've come to realize that logistics on travel days rob me of that already precious vacation time. I'm more focused on... wolfing down breakfast, packing suitcases and finding a place to store my luggage, making sure I can retrieve my luggage and make the train, finding the new hotel, etc, etc, etc... than actually experiencing the place that I have spent thousands of dollars to get to. And I've come to realize that all of those things take way more time than you anticipate. That 2 hour train ride is really 4-5 "wasted" hours moving your base to the new city.

So I look at this (even revised) itinerary and I feel like it is doable but you're gonna be frustrated that you don't have time to see a lot of things on your bucket list in those destination cities. And I feel like although it's not quite "OK kids, that's the Grand Canyon, time to go!!" a couple of places are so short that they entirely miss out of the point of visiting them in the first place.

So, if you're the kind of person that really wants to blaze across Italy and not slow down - go for it.
If, OTOH, you want to occasionally stop and smell the roses - I'd either add days or eliminate places. Venice is the most obvious because it's the city with the most "inefficiency" getting in and out and you're really only spending a few jet lagged hours sightseeing. If you fly directly into Florence, you can add a day to the Tuscany part of your trip. You're actually adding more than a day because you've eliminated 5+ hours of hotel transfers.

You ask if your itinerary is reasonable in your title. My answer is no. Agree with all other posters. Do Venice and Florence and maybe a day trip.

I like zenaster's itinerary. Do Siena as an easy day trip by bus from Florence so you don't waste time checking in and out of hotels. I love Renaissance art, so on each of my 4 trips to Italy, I have increased the time I spent in Florence. One of the things I love about Florence is that it is a very walkable city.

Day 1-2 Venice
Day 3 - Siena or Florence
Day 4-5 Montepulciano for 2 nights
Day 6-9. Travel to Rome. Return your car in Chiusi! Train the rest of the way to Rome.
Day 10 - Travel back home to Boston from Rome

The reason I added the extra day to Venice is because people tend to hate Venice if they have been there only a short time. We absolutely love it and have been there multiple times! Less than a day will have you walking the crowded tourist routes because you’re pressed for time. : (

There’s a lot of options for day trips from Rome. Orvieto, Tivoli (check out the gardens on-line), Caserta (Versailles type palace).

If you must go to the Amalfi Coast, I would fly into Rome and do a Tuscany countryside loop and Salerno/Amalfi loop. You would miss Venice & Florence. No wrong choices; it’s your vacation. : )

Thank you everyone! I have noted all inputs here and we are changing this itinerary to slow down and enjoy ..now it's Venice, Florence and Rome (day trip to Siena)

If you want to mix in a different type of city, you could trade Florence as a base for Siena (or Lucca) and day trip into Florence. Or bag Florence entirely this visit and trade it for “hill town/tuscan agraturismo.

Florence is amazing and very much a bucket list city… but there is value in experiencing a bit of a different vibe compared to Venice and Rome

(You’re never gonna see all of Florence anyway so my alternative expects you will make a return visit in the future)

Thank you everyone! I have noted all inputs here and we are changing this itinerary to slow down and enjoy ..now it's Venice, Florence and Rome (day trip to Siena)

That being the case you might want to peruse this itinerary to give you some ideas

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/venice-florence-rome