Italy itinerary & train questions

Jane: Yes, Sorrento is different from the CT is different from Tuscany. Each of the three is distinct from the others.

With your destinations I would highly recommend seeing both the Cinque Terre and Sorrento (with nearby spots like Pompeii, Capri, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, etc.). Both are unique in their own way. But if you were to choose to eliminate one of those two, it might have to be Sorrento just because it has so many places to see nearby (as listed above) that you don't want to miss. Yet, with a short stay like yours you would have to miss at least a few. At the same time it is the furthest out of the way (on its own) from your other destinations. So, if you would be returning eventually to be able to see all of the destinations around Sorrento eventually, then you can just save it for that next trip.

Then again, if you just had a couple more nights to add to Sorrento's stay, I would still definitely recommend going to that area, even if it is the furthest out of the way.

Hope this helps-

I actually like your itinerary. I would switch out one night in Florence for an extra night in Venice, but I am rather partial to Venice.

I am a big fan of the overview tour, so long as you are planning on coming back!

Jane, I actually just saw that the overnight from Caserta goes all the way up to La Spezia, just south of the Cinque Terre. From there it's only about a 10 minute train ride to get to the Cinque Terre.

Anyway, FYI, just in case-

Your plan is a bit ambitious given 15 days but your number of nights in each location will provide you with enough time to see quite a bit.

Venice-Florence-Rome is easy. These are the most highly-traveled train routes in Italy. 2hrs-40min to Florence from Venice on the Eurostar. 1hr-40min to Rome from Florence on the Eurostar. Rome to Sorrento via Naples will take you about 3hrs.

From Sorrento to Tuscany, you will need to return to Rome. To get to Montalcino, there is no train service there. You have to get there by bus. First, you can take the R or IC train from Rome to Chiusi. Most of the Eurostars going north out of Rome are non-stops to Florence. From Chiusi, you will need to take the bus to Montalcino. You might have to change buses to get there.

CLICK HERE to see a map of the bus system in that area. www.trainspa.it is the website.

You can bus from Montalcino to Siena and also on to Florence where you can catch your 3.5hr. ride to the CT. Milan is 3.5hrs from the CT by train.

Stuart is absolutely correct - good find! But that train does not run every day and you will only have 6.5 hours on the train in total, which you might find to be a bit too short to get a proper night of sleep.

Hi Jane,

Night trains only travel long distances between very large destinations, like Venice and Paris. There would not be any night trains to the Cinque Terre.

You are right that Tuscany and the Cinque Terre are similar in terms of being somewhat laid-back elements of the trip, but Tuscany is based on its hills while the CT is based on the sea. Both laid-back and hilly, yes, but two completely different types of atmospheres.

Thank you! That helps a lot! I would imagine that there's plenty of exploring to do in each of those areas, so I can't imagine that we'd get bored...

If it's not too late to change your flights, consider changing your flight to what's called an "open jaw" itinerary where you fly into Venice and out of Rome. That will eliminate the travel time and cost of going all the way back to Milan from Sorrento, half the length of Italy.If it's too late for that, just be advised that you have significant travel time to get back from Sorrento to Milan. To answer your train questions, go here to see schedules with travel times http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/enGetting familiar with the train schedules will help you avoid the mistake many first timers make, which is under-estimating the travel time it takes you to get from one destination to another, including packing up, checking out, getting to the train station, waiting for the train, etc--every time you change locations.You should definitely use trains for all of your destinations except Tuscany. To explore the Tuscany hill towns, a car is needed. But driving a rental car for first-timers in Italy can get complicated. Perhaps, for that reason, you'll decide to eliminate Tuscany from this trip and go to the Cinque Terre instead (as you suggested in your original post doing since you're concerned that the CT and Tuscany will be too much down time).However, to answer your other question, I don't think very many people are going to tell you that Tuscany and the CT are pretty much the same. They are very different experiences.

Tuscany and CT are entirely different. You should see both of them. You can avoid down time in the CT National Park by hiking the scenic trails.

Go expecting to be on the move every day. The atmosphere encourages it. Be sure to get a hiking trail map or print one off the web before you go.

You can print one here:http://goeurope.about.com/od/cinqueterrehiking/ss/cinque_hiking.htm

Again, thank you. We looked into the "open-jaw" approach, after we had already booked in/out of Milan. It's just to costly to switch now... One last question (I think). We'll be in Italy for 15 days; we are just hoping we're not being overly-ambitious with the itinerary, as you suggested. So far it's Venice (2 nights), Florence (3 nights), Rome (3 nights), Sorrento (2 nights), Montalcino (2 nights), Cinque Terre (2 nights) and overnight in Milan as we fly out the final morning. We're pretty good at quickly packing up and don't mind the switching - but factoring in the actual travel time, we just want to make sure we have plenty of free time to explore each place (not counting tours in Rome & Florence) and time to enjoy leisurely meals. What do you think?

I think that your trip will give you a nice overview, but you probably will find that you do not have enough time in each place to fully experience it. So the question is for you then, are you happy with an overview-of-Italy trip - where you can decide what you want to come back to see later - or do you want your trip to be something where you get to completely experience the places that you see?

For a first trip, I have a preference towards an overview so that you can focus on what you prefer later, but that is my opinion.

This is more overwhelming that I had anticipated! You make a good point about overview vs. complete experience...I'm very tempted to eliminate one of our destinations, and right now, I'm thinking it's between Sorrento (with day trips to Pompeii and Capri) and CT. I get it now that CT and Tuscany are different, but my sense it that Sorrento is also different than CT - and I'm feeling that we shouldn't miss Sorrento. Any thoughts?

I agree with Steven that your trip is a good overview for most of Italy. Is the order you listed the towns in going to be the order of your trip?

As mentioned before, there isn't an overnight from Sorrento to Cinque Terre, but rather to and from larger destinations. However, to get back to the main railway from Sorrento you will have to go back to Naples (nearby). From there, it's about a half an hour train ride north to the city of Caserta. I mention this just because I think there is an overnight train from Caserta to Pisa (which is about an hour and a half from the Cinque Terre). If you were looking to make the most of your day, this could be an option. You'd have to check the Trenitalia schedule to see if it would fit your schedule, but it could help out. I've never done an Italian overnight train, but for overnights in general I would probably recommend at least having enough in your party to fill your own cabin. There could be some pretty sketchy characters, but you never know.

Anyway, I just mention this as a possible option for you. You'll get to go from a place near Sorrento to a place near Cinque Terre, still arriving there early in the morning. I don't know if it still fits your schedule or not, but good luck with your travels!

I personally would remove 1 stop. Sorrento is the fartest out of the way and really deserves more time then you are giving it. So I would either remove Sorrento and add time to Rome and probably Venice. Or I would remove something else and add a day to Sorrento and Rome.

Just ideas, you'll have a great time no matter what you choose! Also don't forget your first day will be spent jetlagged.

I agree with the other comments about removing at least one stop. That is so much transit time in there. I spent 3 days in the Sorrento/Capri/Amalfi area last month and it really was not enough. I'd save that one for another trip, and save yourself several hours on a train.

Thanks, everyone! You've been really helpful!!

Jane