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Italy Itinerary Help

Wife and I are planning a 17-20 day trip to Italy beginning in mid September or first of October. This will be our first trip. Would appreciate comments suggestions on outline below such as drop a day here/ add a day there. Order of our stops. Is there much difference between starting in mid September or first week of October.

We are in our early sixties. I am an architect. We like art, wine, walking, history

Fly into Venice 2 nights
Florence 3 nights
Cinque Terra 2 nights
Tuscany (Orvieto?) 2 nights
Amlfi Coast 2 nights
Rome 4 nights Fly Home

Posted by
336 posts

Just a personal opinion, it's just a bit too much.
If you are to do Amalfi Coast, I think I'd skip Cinqueterre. Though not exactly similar, it's still villages sitting on the montains in front on the water.
I'd do one more day in Venice as your first one will be almost lost because of jet lag.
I would add an extra day either in Tuscany o Amalfi coast depending on what you like.
In Tuscany, Sienna would be first on my agenda, it will take 3/4 of a day let's say. You can add San Gimignano.
Volterra is a great hilltown, so is Pienza and Montepulciano. The drive in that region is fantastic.
While in Florence, if you feel you've seen what you wanted in 2 days, you can make a round trip not far, to Pisa and then Lucca. 2 musts.
On the Amalfi Coast, if you like history, I'm sure you will want to visit Pompei. Couple this with going on top of the Vesuvio and this will take your day.
There's a famous walk on the Amalfi coast and it's called path of gods. People say it's spectacular(I haven't done it and I regret)

Posted by
3124 posts

To me this looks like a reasonable itinerary, though my husband and I (in your age group) like to be a little less rushed so we would probably omit either the Tuscany or the Amalfi Coast -- choose one or the other. Also, Rome has an almost infinite amount of stuff to see, so you can't go wrong allowing plenty of nights there.

Between mid Sept and early Oct there's probably not much difference in weather, crowds, or other considerations, unless you're aiming to be in a certain place when a certain event is going on.

Posted by
3943 posts

I would cut either Cinque Terre (CT) or Amalfi - honestly, but the time you get from Tuscany to Amalfi, you are going to lose the better part of a day...two nights is really only one full day - so you will spend all day to get there, spend a night, have one day to see a few towns if you are lucky, then the next day go back to Rome. And getting to Amalfi requires a combination of trains and buses and/or ferry (unless you get a private driver once you get to Naples or Sorrento). We had three nights in Amalfi and still barely scratched the surface.

Amalfi is the outlier here, and I hate to recommend cutting one over the other. If you were to cut CT, I'd add both those nights to Amalfi. If you cut Amalfi, I'd add one night to Venice and one to the CT.

So I'd do either
Venice (2)
Florence (3)
Tuscany (2)
Amalfi (4)
Rome (4)

or
Venice (3)
CT (3)
Florence (3)
Tuscany (2)
Rome (4).

Really, and I've learned this the hard way - don't underestimate the length of time it takes to move from place to place. I've never done Tuscany, so I'm sure others can give you a better idea how to incorporate that with Florence.

Venice (

Posted by
124 posts

sounds like a good itinerary....I'm a bit partial to Florence after many visits (lived there for 4 months last year and I am also in my 60's) and if you like art & architecture...perhaps adding a few more days there would be good! There is so much to see in Florence. a bit more time would also allow a day trip or two to a few lovely towns close by (Lucca, Cortona, Fiesole)...all easy day trips by train from Florence. Actually, Fiesole is a short bus ride away and has lovely ruins to explore! While in Florence, Piazalle Michelangelo is a must for the view. it's a steep walk up so I would recommend the bus up and walk down...there is a lovely cafe for a drink overlooking all of Florence. Orvieto is a cute town and a good place to layover on the way to Rome. Don't rush...enjoy every moment....go to the markets (Marcato Central but also San Ambrogio in the Santa Croce neighborhood is more "local" and wonderful. Have a great time!

Posted by
1175 posts

When you count nights, realize that 2 nights equal 1 full day with several hours on either day before or after. You have a lot of travel, so your full days in each location are very limited !

Posted by
4105 posts

You're trying to see too many places. Add any extra days you can.

Venice 3 nites.

Skip Cinque Terre

Train to Florence 2H05min.
4 nites. Do a day trip or 2 to Tuscany.

Train to Naples. 3 hrs. Circumvesuvian to AC. 1H15min
5 nights.

Train to Rome. 1H 15m.
5 nights. Day trip to Orvieto.
1H17m.

If you appreciate Palladian arch.
Do a day trip to Vicenza by train.

You will see much more, and not spend your time on trains or checking in and out of hotels.

This plan uses 19 days. Remember you arrive Europe the day after you leave, the last day is spent packing and arriving at the airport.

Hope this helps.

Posted by
1081 posts

I would add a night to Venice. Two nights in Venice is not enough if you will be arriving in Venice from a location outside of Europe. You will need an extra day to recover from your jet lag. Venice is an amazing city. Don't sell it short. I also would choose either the Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre. Don't try and do both.

Posted by
368 posts

Drop Amalfi. You'd be wasting 2 long days of travelling to spend 1 day there.

Posted by
10 posts

Appreciate your replies. Great suggestions. I think we will drop either CT or Amalfi and spread the time out with the remaining. I am sure all have an opinion of which to drop (CTor AM) but any insights into one over the other is appreciated. Looks like a hard choice

Posted by
11613 posts

Note that Orvieto is in Umbria, not Tuscany. Worth two nights.

Posted by
678 posts

Hi rmboaz,

I would agree. I think dropping either CT or Amalfi is a good idea. We visited CT in April 5 years ago and really had a good time. You can hike between the villages but we only did the easier walking trail, the "lovers pathway" as we were on our honeymoon and trying to relax. I believe that some of the paths are more strenuous but I'm sure others know more about that. We found the area to be very picturesque and lovely; it is also most definitely on the tourist radar - we heard tons of English here. It is charming and we enjoyed it. I have yet to make it to the AC so I can't speak to its personality or flavor.

I agree with Zoe - Orvieto is worth two nights. We loved it there and would highly recommend it.

With your interests, I would recommend considering something like this:

  • 3 nights Venice
  • 3 nights Cinque Terre
  • 3 nights Florence
  • 4 nights Tuscan countryside (maybe stay in Siena or close-by so you can visit both northern Tuscany and southern Tuscany? Do you want to rent a car?)
  • 5 nights Rome

That's 18 nights, landing you in the middle of your 17-20 day allocation. For a first trip, I think Rome is EASILY worth 5 nights. You could look into adding another night or two if you want. Lots of day trip options from Rome and so much to see within the city itself. We really enjoyed Villa d'Este our first trip; we're visiting Ostia Antica this upcoming trip. With two visits to Rome, we still won't see everything we're interested in.

Posted by
336 posts

Looking at your interest I would drop CT and keep AC. Go to Pompei, see Almalfi, Ravello, Sorrento, walk the path of the gods.
@Julie
2times in Rome as well, you will love Ostia Antica.
I will be visiting Villa d'Este and Hadriana this summer. Looking forward to it.

Posted by
10 posts

Thanks everyone for the great feedback/suggestions and advice. We are going to drop CT and add a day to Venice and AC. So we are looking like this

Venice 3 nights
Florence 3 nights
Tuscany (Sienna, Montepulciano or Orvieto, somewhere in the countryside) 2 nights
Amalfi Coast (Positano) 3 nights
Rome 4 nights
(Maybe able to add a night to either Tuscany or AC)

Looking at starting trip in 3rd week of September so we will end up in Rome the first week of October. Looks like we have a good basis to build trip around.

Posted by
336 posts

With this agenda, you will much more enjoy.
Have a great trip.

Posted by
15800 posts

Venice (3n), Florence (3n), Tuscany...somewhere in the countryside (2 n), Amalfi Coast/Positano (3 n), Rome (4 n)

Tuscany - I'm unclear what you are looking for because you say "countryside". 2 nights only leaves you one day to see the town you're staying in. Orvieto is a town (and I highly recommend it) with views of the surrounding hills. I don't remember any views in Siena except from the tower. By the way, Siena is an easy day-trip by bus from Florence. I haven't been to Montepulciano. It sounds lovely (what doesn't in Italy?) but it seems to be a hassle to get there. Consider that you want to go from your Tuscan/Umbrian town to the Amalfi Coast, a long journey with transfers. Just for that reason, I would choose Orvieto because it has good train connections to both Florence and Rome.

I haven't hiked on the Amalfi Coast, but I've read that much of the Path of the Gods is for serious hiking, not leisurely walking. There are no trains to the Amalfi Coast towns. If you want to see Pompeii, Herculaneum and/or Capri, Sorrento is the best base. It has direct ferries to Capri, a local train to the ancient excavations and Naples (the Archaeology Museum is a wow), and buses/ferries to the A/C. If you want to spend your time exploring the A/C towns and enjoying the beautiful coastline, I suggest Salerno as a base. It is on the main Trenitalia train line, making it much easier to get to than Sorrento, and has bus and ferry service to the A/C towns. You can also visit Paestum by bus or train.

If you can extend your trip, I'd add one night to the A/C and one to Rome.