Please look over this itinerary and see if it looks good! We are 2 couples, our second trip, their first. (14 days)
Rome (2 nights)
Sorrento (2 nights)
Umbria region (2 nights) Where should we stay???
Siena (3 nights)
Cinque Terre (3 nights)
Venice (2 nights)
We will most likely use the train and a car. Also, any suggestions on the car/train usage would be helpful! Thanks!
Rome south use trains. When you get north to Siena get a car (except Venice). I would also substitute Umbria with the Como Lake area.
possible itinerary:
Rome
Sorrento
Siena
Cinque Terra
Lake Como (Varenna or Bellagio)
Venice
Are you flying into Rome and out of Venice? It may not cost much more to do that.
If you really want to see some of the Umbria area, I woujld suggest Assisi, Perugia and Cortona. Very scenic and beautiful.
I would suggest turning in any car you might have in Siena. From Siena, you can take a very nice SITA bus to Florence. From the SITA bus terminal, you walk on long block to the main Florence train station and take the train to the CT (2.5hrs and 1-2 train changes). With rare exceptions, no tourist cars are allowed in the 5 CT towns.
The train from the CT to Venice will take about 6.5hrs. If you catch the 7:52am train out of La Spezia, you will change trains once in Bologna. No need for car in Venice either.
2 days in Rome is barely scratching the surface for first time visitors, I would at least tack on another day there. Otherwise, looks good. We had 12 days and did: Venice (2), Florence (2), Siena (2), Rome (4). There were 2 days of travel in there as well.
Six hotel stays in 14 days is an exhausting schedule. You will be spending most of your trip in a car or a train. Skip Sorrento and either Umbria or the CT. Great cities but you can't see everything in one trip.
We have 13 full days. I've now changed it to Rome (3), Umbria (1)-this is a maybe, just enjoyed this area last trip, Siena (3), Cinque Terre (3), Lake Como (2)-still don't know which town to stay in!, and Venice (2). The numbers are overnight stays.
Thanks to everyone for all of your kind observations!
Debbie
Also, can we train from Cinque Terre to Lake Como? Then from Lake Como to Venice?
If you would like to contact me by e-mail I will send you our intinerary. WE just returned yesterday March 14th. Two couples, 14 days our forth time there first. I found a great places to stay.
I do think with your Itinerary you are stretching yourself a bit. My first itinerary was a bit like yours and I pared it down and it really worked well. I have all the places we stayed also. My e-mail is [email protected].