Italy Travel

a 10 day trip

How many nights in Italy?

if we want a trip that doesn’t feel rushed?

If that is the case stick with Rome and Florence.

If you have 10 nights in Italy you could do Florence-CT-Rome in that order to maximize your time and minimize the rush factor

Our first trip to Italy we did 10 nights. Venice, Rome, Positano, one night Naples before departure. It really wasn’t that bad moving around and we loved every place we loved it. (Except Naples, I wish we had taken the fast train back to Rome).

The Amalfi Coast is stunning. I would do Rome 3 nights, then fast train to Florence (3 nights), fast train to Amalfi Coast (3 nights), then back to Rome 1 night.

From Florence, take the fast train to Salerno, then take the ferry at Salerno to where you will be staying on the Amalfi Coast. The scenery from the sea is magnificent, landing at your destination by sea is special.

For the trip you are describing, a car would be inconvenient. You could consider driving from Rome to Florence, but only if you stopped somewhere in between and spent the night.

When do you arrive in Rome? How long is your flight? I don't recommend driving when jet lagged. One thought would be to start your trip in Rome. Then take the train to Orvieto. Either spend the night there and pick up a rental car in the morning or just pick up the rental and head to Florence. I don't know if there is a minimum rental duration on the car. Turn the car in when you get to Florence, then after visiting follow the suggestion and take the fast train to Salerno.

A "10 day trip" is ambiguous. Does that include travel of is it how many days after the day you arrive and before the day you leave? Write out a possible itinerary to get a feel of how much time you'll actually have. Include travel from one spot to another. Moving the distances you plan will eat up almost all of a day. There's the potential that 1/3 of your trip will be spent just moving from one place to the other.

Absolutely no need for a car, that would only give you a big headache, and probably some ZTL tickets arriving several months from now. You simply do not want to drive in Rome or Florence, and can't in much of the Cinque Terre, and only a crazy person would try to drive on the Amalfi Coast.

For ten days, I would opt for the Cinque Terre. It is reasonably close to Rome and Florence, and to get to Sorrento or Positano would require nearly a full day of travel each way, chewing up valuable time.

Maybe look at the first night in Rome to get your bearings, then off to Florence, maybe a couple nights in the Cinque Terre and then back to Rome. Easily done in 10 nights, to see the highlights, yes of course you could spend the whole time in Rome and not see everything, but what is the fun in that, plus you will be back...trust me.

As for other stops, small towns, either to visit or stay, right on the route would be Orvieto, a wonderful Umbrian town. Pisa might be worth a stop to see the tower (you will at least catch a glimpse from the train on the way to the CT). There are a number of other small towns on the Italian coast north of the CT that often get overlooked, but it is hard to beat the CT, especially if you can circumvent the crowds.

Yep, we need to know how many nights you'll have on the ground Italy. It can make a difference. It would also help to know what sorts of things you are MOST interested in as that can make a difference how long to stay in one place versus another.

Without that information, throwing out an itinerary probably isn't useful but off top of my. head, the CT requires less time to explore than the Amalfi Coast so I'm inclined to go with that one for a trip with somewhat limited time. If you have 10 nights/9.5 days on the ground, this is one idea:

Day 1: arrive at Rome FCO, transfer immediately by train to Florence: partial, jet-lagged day
(Where are you flying in from?)
Day 2: Florence
Day 3 Florence
Day 4 Florence - could take a day trip to Lucca (that's the smaller town I'd do)
Day 5 transfer by train from Florence to Cinque Terre; travel day
Day 6 - Cinque Terre
Day 7 - transfer by train from CT to Rome; travel day
Day 8- Rome
Day 9 - Rome
Day 10 - Rome
Day 11 - fly home from. FCO

3.5 days/4 nights is my personal minimum for Rome - lots of ground to cover there! - and I have spent the better part of a week in Florence without any day trips at all but your interests and mine may be different :O) CT: you planning on doing some hiking or just hanging out?

ALL of the your locations will be busy, and you are running a bit behind making reservations for hotel and attractions which mandate them for a trip that's just a few weeks away. Other than a day trip from Florence, I don't see you having time for small-town exploring, especially if you don't want to feel rushed. I also don't recommend a car for this itinerary. What are your travel dates?

Editing: I've just seen on a previous thread that you and your friend booked Greece for the 1st two weeks next month? You also mention that, "..we both don't drive" so I'm curious: is the Greek trip still on, and why the question about train versus car if driving isn't an option? Or are you going to Italy with someone else who does drive? Also, from the sounds of an additional post in the England forum, you might be traveling from the UK and not the US?

I cannot imagine going for short and moving around so much. I would just split time in Rome and Florence.

There is a direct train from Rome’s Fiumicino airport departing at 1:53p to Florence’s SM Novella station arriving at 4:11p. If you can make that connection that would be a time saver. I would sleep in Florence a minimum of four nights and include a day trip to Siena by direct bus (1h 15m).
There is no direct train from Florence to the Cinque Terre so you’ll have to connect. You’ll need two nights there unless you hike then you need to add a night per hike. You’ll also have to connect to get to Rome where you want to spend a minimum of four nights.