Italy 14 Day Itinerary/ Feedback Needed (Venice, Florence, Positano, Rome)

Hi I am a total novice too, but since you got no replies, I figured I'd give my 2 cents & bump it up so some seasoned travelers can add their 2 cents.

Since Positano is a big must do, I'd borrow one night from Florence & give it to Positano. It is a big travel day & you'd be losing most of the first day just getting there. One day you plan on spending in Capri. So give yourself two full days because it does look really beautiful!

Have fun planning!

That looks like a fun trip for you both! You might consider adding a travel day at either end of your 14 days. Otherwise you really only have 12 days 'on the ground.' If you can have all 14 days in Italy, you will experience a nice overview of your four cities. And flying into Venice and out of Rome is a smart idea, and typically the same price as flying in/out of the same city (if you plan ahead.)

Traveling from LAX you should find some great prices on flights as well as great times. My advice is start seriously looking for flights end of September/October. And be ready to pounce on the good flight when you see it! There are theories that purchasing on a Tuesday or Wednesday you will have cheaper fights. Not sure if that's really true but I do know that airlines release/change fares on Tuesdays (I have no idea why) and, in my experience, that is when we've found the best deals. It's also less expensive if you can avoid flying on Fridays, Sundays or Mondays--those are big travel days for business travelers.

Enjoy your trip!!

@Katie that's a great idea! I think two full days in Positano would be best. Then we can really relax. Thank you for the insight :)

@Keickerman How many months out is normal to purchase tickets? I was going to book in July or August this year but maybe that's too soon. We were planning on flying out of LAX on May 2nd and arriving in the morning or afternoon May 3rd and flying home May 17th. I think that gives us 14 days total on the ground. Do you think we could really see Tuscany/Florence with a 3 night stay instead of 4 nights?

From one "ocsurfergirl" to another (though it's been many years since I lived there), I think you've got a good plan. I agree with the previous advice to give more time to Positano since it's a top priority for you. I also agree it will be better if you can manage 2 more days. On a 2-week trip you're going to want a half day to do laundry and take care of other chores.

It looks like you are following the RS advice to avoid one-night stays. You always sleep better in a place that's halfway familiar, i.e. if you've already spent one night in the same room. And, you're young, you'll have future trips, so don't feel you have to see everything this first time!

Nice trip, yes you have enough time, but count NIGHTS not days it keeps things in perspective. Always sleep the night before in the city that you are flying from...don't try to get from Positano to Naples or Rome to fly home on the same day...

Go to Rome after Florence, it makes more sense, direct train....see Rome in middle of trip, personally, Florence does not need 3 nights, maybe see some Tuscan villages for 2 days before heading to Rome?

Fly into Venice out of Naples ( which means you will probably have to take a short hop flight to Rome to get overseas flight, but it is better than taking the train to Rome just to go to the airport) The only reason to back track is if you will do a lot of shopping in Rome and want to depart from here with more than just your one small carry on and day bag.

So Venice 3 nights

Florence 2 nights ( Tuscan towns 2 nights)

Rome 3 nights Big on Roman sites and want to dedicate a whole day in Vatican City ? stay 4 nights

Train from Rome to Salerno, head to Positano ( or train to Naples 1.5 hrs....go to Positano by ferry about 45 min - 1hr)

2 nights Positano add one more night here if you have it I was confused by how many nights you actually have

Day tripping to Capri from Positano doesn't make sense to me, and heading there from Capri for the day with your luggage is impossible, no where to lock it up..

Leave Positano EARLY... head to NAPLES, lock bags in train station or if hotel will hold them that could work ( stay in hotel near train station), head to port and take ferry to Capri for the day, return evening eat dinner, sleep and fly home from NAPLES

I like your itinerary and you clearly have done your research. And I agree with Katie about borrowing a night from Florence for Positano. If you get the fast train, the trip from Venice to Florence is only two hours so you could get in a decent amount of sightseeing that first day. From Florence to Positano is going to be a half day event. Getting to Naples is easy. But taking the Circumvesuviana and then the SITA bus could be a few hours if you factor in the waiting time.

I also think it makes sense to end in Rome although you might get some differing opinions on this. The trip to the Rome airport is a pretty easy train ride (Leonardo express- predictable and reliable) or a 30-45 min taxi ride away that has a flat rate. If you leave out of Naples, getting to the Naples airport from Positano is definitely not as easy. You are either paying 150 euro for a taxi or private driver and dealing with the Amalfi coast traffic or taking two different types of public transportation, both of which are very prone to delays.

An alternative to Positano, if a seaside Italian village is what you are looking for, would be Cinque Terre. ( and no, CT is not settling for 2nd best)

It would simplify your travel logistics and you could end in Rome which probably has the largest choice of flights back to the US

If Positano is non-negotiable, then others have already covered the subject very well

Personally, I would cut out Positano. You've only given yourself a single full day there with another day being used for a day trip. Seems like an extremely long trip for a single day there. I would cut that out and add a day each to your other three locations. You really don't have a lot of time in any of them and will be rushing around to see some of the sites they have to offer.

Donna

OCSurfergirl - Here is a good article about purchasing airfare.
https://www.cheapair.com/blog/travel-tips/how-far-in-advance-should-you-book-an-international-flight/
In my experience, we've found the best deals 6 months out. For example, we purchased our tickets for Italy (going in July) in January and saved a couple hundred per ticket. The key is to keep looking--not just once a day, but many times throughout the day.

As for Florence, you can see the highlights in 3-4 days, even if you throw a day trip to Siena in (though you might consider dropping Siena this trip.) For our upcoming trip, we will only be doing two days in Florence (this will be my husband's second time and my third time there but our kids' first.) It might make sense for you to take an organized day tour so that you can get the most from your short time. A great place (and one that we are using in both Florence and Rome) is Walks of Italy (https://www.walksofitaly.com/) I'm sure there are other great day tour providers, too. And, you will need to be okay with the fact that you won't see everything. That just gives you a reason to go back! :-)

Happy to answer any other questions.

Positano got an all caps "I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO VISIT". Go go go!!! I think the itinerary is doable as is (although I think you could take a day from Florence and add to Positano) If you decide you want more time in Positano, you can always skip the day trip to Capri.

Thank you all so much for your input! I really appreciate the guidance from each of you.

@Keickerman I will def check out those links you provided. Thank you for that! I think I was going to book our tickets to early your not the first person to tell me 6 months out is the magic number and I've been looking at tours for Florence and Rome on darkroom.com but I'll check out your links too!

My husband and I really want to visit Positano so we decided to take a day from Florence. Some of you mentioned that we should have the full 14 days in Italy and that's what I've planned; I'm sorry if that was confusing/unclear in my first post. It was kind of late at night when I posted haha

This is the updated itinerary:
Day 1: Flight from LAX to Venice
Day 2: Land in Venice (land in the morning or afternoon) spend the night in Venice
Day 3: Day/Night in Venice
Day 4: Day/Night in Venice
Day 5: AM Train to Florence (fast train) Afternoon/Night in Florence
Day 6: Day/Night in Florence
Day 7: Day/Night in Florence
Day 8: Long Journey to Positano (train to Naples, possible splurge on shuttle or taxi to Positano) Night in Positano
Day 9: Day/Night in Positano
Day 10: Take Ferry for Day Trip to Capri/ Night in Positano
Day 11: Day/Night in Positano
Day 12: (Shuttle or Taxi from Positano to Naples, AM Train from Naples to Rome) Afternoon/Night in Rome
Day 13: Day/Night in Rome
Day 14: Day/Night in Rome
Day 15: Day/Night in Rome
Day 16: Leave for the airport in the AM (Rome to LAX)

We fly from LAX to Italy and I have used Air Canada and will be using Aer Lingus next week. Both had the best prices with layovers that were acceptable to us. Fares have been as low as $400.00 and as high as $1,000.00. There is a service you can subscribe to for free to get emails on flight deals, some of them are book in the next 24 hours and all are usually on major airlines, PM me if you want more info.

Your trip looks great! I like to move often also, usually 3-4 days in each place. Your last 12 days looks like our last 9 days but we will be staying in Sorrento as our home base for the area.

I like to do a combination of on our own and Organized Day trips and walking tours. I usually plan only one big walking tour a day and spend the rest of the day walking around, grabbing some eats, taking pictures etc. For Florence we used tour company Walk About Florence for an all day tour of the big three towns (Sienna, San G, and Pisa) plus we got to have lunch at an organic winery, long but fun 12 hour day. In Rome we used tour company Walks Of Italy, and did a food tour with Eating Italy. Both companies are very popular and do small group tours and sell out fast. Have fun!

Last question for everyone does anyone know anything about this shuttle company http://www.positanoshuttle.com ?
Instead of taking the local train from Naples to Sorrento then the SITA bus I was thinking of taking this shuttle from Naples to Positano maybe that would save us some time?

@Letizia I'll PM you and get that site and info for the flights! WOW as low as $400?! All the ones I found were $2,000 total for my husband and I to get there and back. I def am looking at the wrong sites/airlines.

I have not used them but they have a lot of bad reviews on trip advisor. More than one person said they never showed.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187782-d3225744-Reviews-or10-Positano_Shuttle_Bus_Day_Tours-Sorrento_Province_of_Naples_Campania.html#REVIEWS

I have used Amalfi Coast Destinations for private transport and day tours multiple times and they are excellent. From the train station in Naples to Positano would be about 140 euro ish I am guessing. But it would just be the two of you and they would pick you up on the platform. And you pay in cash on the day, not in advance. Other people on the forums have recommended private drivers in the area as well. Try using the search function for "transporation amalfi coast" or "transportation positano"

@Kristin your post was super helpful! I will stay clear of them. Thats like $150 for one way from Naples to Positano Yikes! I'll have to figure out another way. I'll check out the search you mentioned.

Thank you!

Good luck in your search! Unfortunately, transport around the Amalfi coast is expensive. If you are trying to maximize your time, you may feel the price is worth it. Driving from Naples to Positano is probably between 1 hr and 1 hr and 20 minutes. The Circumvesuviana can take up to an hour in a half and then you still need to get from Sorrento to Positano.

If it helps, if you buy your train tickets in advance, you can probably get them from Florence to Naples for 40ish dollars. Then you may feel like the overall travel cost is not as bad....at least, that's how I justify it too myself when I do the private transport thing.

@kristin your right every option was around 140! But I did some research and on another RS form found http://www.transferelax.com/index.html

I emailed them and is 90.00 euros or $97.00 one way. That's the best price I've seen for a private car from Naples to Positano. They have a Trip Advisor seal of approval on their website so I'm hoping there good. Has anyone heard about this companies car service before?

Regarding travel to and from Positano, I would second the suggestion made up-thread that you take the train from Florence to Salerno and the ferry from Salerno to Positano. The ferries on the Amalfi coast are a really fun way to travel, and the cost is much more reasonable than a private driver. Since that day will be a long travel day in all events, you can afford to be more leisurely. The only downside is that if you arrive during rough weather the ferries may not be running, and you would have to take the bus (about a two hour trip, with a transfer in Amalfi town). I would suggest that you do splurge on a private driver from Positano to Naples on the travel day to Rome. You can leave early in the morning, avoiding heavy traffic, and be in Rome in the late morning to enjoy some sight-seeing there. I've lost the name of the driver we used for that trip - you could ask your hotel or the owner or manager of your rental for a recommendation. We found that driving services were more reliable when they had incentives to avoid jeopardizing their referral sources. Your trip looks really fun - have a great time!

@Mary Sue that's great advice to ask our air bnb host. A lot of the reviews say the hosts for the places we are interested in are very helpful and have recommendations on best way to get to Positano. I thought of taking the Ferry but was worried about its reliability if the waters are rough during our trip. I'm leaning toward airing on the side of caution and just saving up a little more for the $97 each way.

We are still debating the drive for both in and out of Positano but we will for sure be using a driver during our trip back to Rome. We would love to get one of the first trains out of Naples so we can spend the late morning/afternoon sight seeing and people watching in Rome.

We are also headed to Italy in 2018 and just finished a 9-day trip up your PCH which has changed our Italy plans. Started in San Diego and overnighted in Santa Barbara, Carmel and Napa. Then flew out of San Francisco. Yes the scenery and experiences were awesome, but the travelling was wearing. We're planning a trip similar to yours and decided to save Venice for our next trip to Northern Italy. Will focus on Florence, Rome and Amalfi Coast with day trips. Spent two weeks based in Paris last year and very much appreciated being "residents" while taking day trips. Anything can be accomplished. Assume you will return and truly enjoy the areas you most want to visit. Too much traveling between cities becomes less enjoyable. Do enjoy!