Italy 2024

Welcome Debra. Your questions are pretty broad and doing some research with a good guidebook would be very helpful if you have not yet done so. I can make a couple of suggestions:
To explore the area between Amalfi and Naples, I would suggest Sorento as a home base. From there you can travel by bus or boat up and down the Amalfi coast - definitely do not drive this section. By train you can easily reach Pompeii/Herculaneum/Naples.
Given your destinations in Italy, you can use the train as your primary mode of travel. From Rome, south to Naples-Sorrento then north to Florence and Milan. My husband and I spend 2 to 3 months in Italy each year and rely almost entirely on trains and buses as a means of transportation.

My most important suggestion to you is that you pack lightly. Schlepping luggage on and off trains and buses and up and down the stairs you will inevitably encounter becomes difficult. You may be tired of wearing the same few clothes by the end of your trip, but you will not wish that you had packed more. We met a travel agent on this trip who said that the enjoyment of travel is directly related to how lightly you pack.

Hello Debra, and welcome to the boards,

You have a lot to cover here so I'll give my opinions on what you should consider.
I'd recommend a day in Rome just to get your bearings and take care of practical issues and then at least a few days to see some of the highlights of Rome. There is more to see than you possible can so make a list and see as many as you can.

From Rome you'll probably want to head to Naples [~1.25 hours by train] as a base for Herculaneum and Vesuvius tours. Naples is a gritty, big city so plan accordingly and don't miss the Archeological Museum.
From Naples there is a small local train called the Circumvesuviana that passes Pompeii and ends in Sorrento [~1.25 hrs].
Sorrento will be a charming break from the big cities and is a good base for Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. Allow an entire day for Pompeii and you will probably still not be able to see it all. Your ferry options to Almafi will be limited in February but you can always take one of the buses that travels the exciting coastal road.

Here's where I might make an alternate suggestion from this pretty typical schedule. The city of Salerno has good ferry service to the Amalfi coast. If you were to do Pompeii from Naples [~30min train] you could then train to Salerno [~1.25 hours] and use that as base for the Amalfi coast but is also was the main landing point for the Allies in WW2 in western Italy.
https://destinationwwii.com/operation-avalanche-salerno-italy/

Another suggestion is to travel from Salerno to Montecassino (Cassino train station) which you can do by train on the way to Florence. There are several tours you can take that revolve around the Battle of Montecassino and tours of the Abbey of Montecassino can be scheduled.
The train from Montecassino to Florence is about 3 hours and you will change in Rome to the fast train to Florence if you are going all the way through.

So far you haven't listed anything that can't be done by public transportation - mostly train, and then bus or ferry/boat. If you have some specific battle site or memorial then you may need to rent a car or hire someone to take you there. If you lay out the specific sites you're interested in I'm sure you'll get advice on the best way to connect them all together.

Hint: You really do not want a car in any large city like Florence if you can avoid it so I would plan as much driving into one section as possible and then rent a car and return it as soon as you don't need it and then resume large city visiting.

Hope that helps, have a great trip,
=Tod

Since you're interested in WW2, consider staying in Salerno as your base for the Amalfi Coast. The Operation Avalanche landings took place at the Salerno and Paestum beaches. The owner of our B&B took us to a German bunker on the beach just a few minutes from the Greek ruins at Paestum. The bunker is close to a Norman watchtower that was "repurposed" by the Germans.

The Operation Avalanche museum at Eboli - a short drive from Salerno - is worth a visit. Robert Capa also landed with the Allied troops at Paestum, and the museum features a number of his photographs. We also had the best meal of our trip at a restaurant in Eboli.

http://www.moamuseum.it/en/

Montecassino is beautiful. But when we were there in September 2019 and found no mention of WW2.

Just south of Florence is the Florence American Cemetery, where over 4,000 US soldiers and others are buried, covering the invasion path from Rome to the Alps. Your husband's WWII interest may be focused on Australia's role, but the cemetery has exhibits and a large display about the whole campaign. It's educational and of course moving. There's bus service there from Florence, or you could drive.

Thank you soooo much for your advice and information. There is so much that I can apply to our itinerary. We are starting blind at the moment but all your information has helped to tighten up our travel plans.
It looks like we will divide our expedition into 2 parts, first from Rome (and surrounds) south to Sorento/Salerno etc. Spend some time there and then go North.
Does anyone know if there are different classes on the trains? Or any "tourist" trains that take a more leisurely journey through the alps?

Debra

There are Alps in quite a few countries- which Alps?

You asked about train classes. On our last trip, I bought our train tickets really early and was able to buy Executive Class tickets for some of our routes. It's incredibly fun - only 9 people in the entire car, massive leather recliners for each person, and a dedicated waiter for the car. All the food/drinks you want to order are included for the fee.

Was it pricey? Not that bad. We paid about $100 for each ticket - vs. about $50 for the regular cars. Add in the food costs and it's really a pretty good deal.

Here's someone's review and pictures of Executive Class. https://travel-dealz.com/blog/review-trenitalia-executive-class/

Se how novice I am !!! We were thinking Milan to Munich.