Italy Itinerary Help for a First Timer

For a first Italian itinerary right out of the box, Tess, I'm impressed. Perfect time to travel, good pacing, excellent logistics. Possibly a tad skinny for your time in Rome--too few days in the Eternal City and you don't think it's much, but...that extra day might make you not want to leave...ever. It's that great. I'd take one day off Praiano but maybe not, if you really want to explore the Amalfi peninsula and everything it has to offer.

Great job, enjoy your planning!

If you want, the town of Paestum is about one hour further than Salerno and has the most beautiful Greek temples on the mainland in Italy.

Your itinerary looks great. With the amount of time you’ve alotted around, you have good flexibility. You may find that you are less interested in day-trips but you can decide then and there.

I’m glad you’re planning a day for Naples. You won’t regret it. It’s awesomely crazy, and finishing your day in gentle Sorrento is a solid decision. I would not skip Capri. It was a true surprise, and I’m glad I worked it in. It works great as a mid-point travel day-trip between Sorrento and Priano (though not sure about that ferry schedule.) Anywhere, but especially in Amalfi region it will be important to get an early start. Enjoy!

Tess,

Is this also your first time in Europe, as well as first time in Italy? If so I would highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. It would also be prudent to have a copy of the RS Italy 2018 guidebook as that will be an excellent resource not only during planning but also while on the trip.

A few initial thoughts......

• it's often better to plan on the basis of the number of nights in a location rather than the number of days. I can provide an example of the format I use when planning if you're interested.
• you won't really have 2 full days in Venice. You'll usually arrive in Italy the day after you depart and the first day will probably be lost to jet lag so you won't get much touring done.
• have you calculated transportation times between the locations you'll be visiting? Some trips will be fairly short (ie: Venice to Florence) but others will take the better part of a day (5-6 hours) when all is considered *(ie: Florence to Sorrento). I believe Praiano is only accessible by Bus.
• for your trip from Naples to Sorrento, I'm not sure the Campania Express will be operating at that time of year so you may have to use the Circumvesuviana, which has somewhat of a "reputation" for pickpockets. Be sure you're wearing Money Belts!
• rather than a day trip to Pisa, you could also consider Siena.
• one thought that comes to mind is that you might skip Praiano this time and add the time to one of your other stops. You can easily visit Positano or Capri from Sorrento as day trips.

As this is your first time in Italy, you'll need to be aware of some potentially expensive "caveats" when using trains and other public transit. If you need more information on those, post another note here.

It's great to see that you're using open-jaw flights.

Good luck with your planning!

Thank you Jay, Zoe, Awrzesinski, and Ken for your replies. Much appreciated!

I will definitely consider throwing Paestum and Capri into the mix, in addition to adding a couple more days of my stay in Rome.

Ken, could you please tell more about "some potentially expensive "caveats" when using trains and other public transit."

Thanks once again!

Ken can verify, but with Trenitalia--where you'll be buying your tickets Venice/Florence, Florence/Naples then Naples/Rome (or Salerno/Rome?), you can probably save 50%--didn't check but you can do it--by purchasing online in advance, I believe up to 120 days beforehand. Only 'caveat' with that is you have to take that specific train--if you miss it you have to buy another full fare ticket. If you're organized enough--which you seem to be--I don't consider that a problem. Many folks keep their tickets on their smartphones but I always print out hard copies--just my preference.

What Ken may be talking about are the little daytrips. If you take regional trains--no advance reservations--they're cheap and run fairly often. Same for the buses. But for private guides, etc., the cost rises exponentially. Not to say they're bad, and you might want to splurge on one of them, maybe to San Gimignano, and splitting the cost 3 ways might not be horrendous.

I think another "caveat" Ken is referring to, is to be sure to validate your train ticket (if not purchased in advance) at the station before you get on the train. If the conductor comes by and it is not validated, you will be fined on the spot. And have to pay on the spot.

I agree you should definitely read Europe Through The Back Door.

Also agree that planning should be number of nights in each place. With that in mind, it looks like you have three nights (and two full days) in Sorrento and Praiano. Do you really want to spend those days taking day trips to other places? Personally, I like to have my first day in a new place entirely dedicated to exploring that town. Some towns, like Florence, you could spend two whole days exploring before getting into a car or train and traveling elsewhere.

But that is only my opinion. Only you know what activity level you and your friends will feel comfortable with. But traveling almost every single day can be exhausting, and you can miss the best moments of staying in the town where you're sleeping. Like idling away an afternoon in a cafe, or picnicking in a square and people watching...