Itinerary Advice

We did a day trip via the trains (following Rick's directions in his Rome book) to visit Pompeii. We were there for 5-7 hours. Then we went into Naples and had pizza. I loved the area around Naples and Pompeii and wished we had stayed there longer. The day trip was not bad though, just got up in the morning walked to the Termni station and got on the next train.

Hi Roccs,
While we did enjoy Spello, you would be going out of your way to the east when driving from Orvieto to Siena and we think a better choice would be to stop in Montepulciano and Pienza (which we enjoyed every bit as much as Spello) on your way north and add a night to Florence or Venice if you have only planned 1 full day in each. We have not been to Lucignano, but it looks like it is near Siena where you plan to return your car (be sure and check out the slow travel website for driving in Italy). Looks like a great itinerary for your first trip and you will LOVE Italy! Teri

First trip! How exciting! Itinerary suggestions: 1. There are several companies that offer day tours out of Rome to Pompeii. Consider this instead of the transportation to/from Naples and the change of hotels for only one night. Pompeii can be done in 2-3 hours so they will often combine it with another site or experience, and it is nice to have a guide who can relate all the anecdotes. Check Rick's or other guide books for suggested tour companies. 2. Consider increasing either Venice or Florence by 1 day and decreasing Vernazza by a day. Others will certainly post regarding the other areas of your itinerary. I don't know your age, but if this is your first trip, you will most likely go back. Think about tightening up your schedule so you have more 3 night stays so you don't spend so much time in transportation. That will leave the other places for you to return to see another time.

Thanks for the advice! The trip to Pompeii was weighing in on my head b/c all the posts I had read thus far discouraged doing the day trip. I will look into taking a tour. Would you suggest an extra night in Florence and Siena?

Hi Roccs,
On the question of the extra night in either Florence or Siena--I'd chose Siena but I know that there are others who will disagree.

I've not been to Spello so I can't comment on that but Orvieto (and Verona) are two of my favorite Italian cities.

You've got some great destinations for your first trip!

The distance between Florence and Siena is a mere 31 miles. I'd opt for another night in Siena, 1 night in Orvieto. WONDERFUL country. Great itinerary. Enjoy!

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Hi Roccs ~
I did an hour trip consultation w/ the RS folks. Best $70 I ever spent. My itin is similar to yours and they suggested Siena, Vernazza, Florence, Venice. The Vernazza-Venice is a long day of train travel.

Hope that helps.

Paula

Roccs, I hesitate to put my two cents in, because I don't want to make this more confusing. Instead of doing Pompeii as a day trip or staying in Naples, we took the train down to the town of Pompeii and stayed the night at Hotel Amleto. Pompeii is a nice, quiet little town, we enjoyed sitting at a cafe on the town square which is in front of the cathedral. The hotel was very nice, the restaurant they recommended was great, and we were able to spend as much time as we wanted going through the ruins. Next day we caught the train and went on our way. It's just another option, but I don't see many people here talking about staying in Pompeii. You don't have to go back to Naples for the night. Whatever you decide, have a great trip.

I'll piggyback on what Mimi said. Naples is the one place in Europe that I absolutely hated. Think dirty, chaotic, filled with gypsies and other beggars, for a start. IMO the only reason to go is to visit the archaeological museum. If you're not going to do that, why not stay in Pompeii? I wish we had. You might also consider Herculaneum. It's smaller than Pompeii, but more has been left there. Most of the good stuff from Pompeii was moved to Naples. While I'm at it, I suggest that you find a base for day-tripping, rather than doing all the moving between the Umbrian and Tuscan towns. We once stayed in the countryside near Chiusi and were easily able to get to Orvieto, Spello, Arezzo (near Lucignano), and Siena. You could add the agriturismo experience, which can be wonderful, to your trip; and you can decide to add or subtract days in a town as the spirit moves you.

It's me, again. I'm also piggy-backing on what Mimi and Rosalyn said, with another twist. If you really want to stay overnight somewhere else near Pompeii, you could also consider jumping back on the Circumvensuviana (I'm assuming that you would have taken the train from Rome) and just another 20-30 minutes farther is Sorrento. That would be a fun and romantic evening, too. Everything is in walking distance from the train station and there is a neat old village area to wander around and have dinner. You could sit at the Foreigners Club terrace, with it's spectacular views across the bay of Naples, sipping limocello. This would whet your appetite to return to visit the Amalfi Coast. You are already planning on Cinque Terre, also a wonderful coast, but very different from the Sorrentine penninsula. In the morning hop back on the train for connection in Naples to wherever you are headed next. Check the train schedules to see if this fits in with your plans to Orvieto. If this is too much train-hopping, then go with Mimi and Rosalyn's suggestions or do the day trip from Rome. Oh, also had another thought! In my first post I suggested you shave a day off of Vernazza. You could add it here and spend 2 nights in this region.

Check the weather for all your destinations before you go. End of April the coastal areas may be pretty chilly. Consider putting a cotton turtleneck in the bottom of your suitcase, just in case. I was glad of having one in both June and September for cloudy, cool days.

Also, jumping forward in your itinerary, if you catch the 8:18 train from Vernazza to La Spezia, you can change to trains routing through Piza - Firenze - Venizia that should get you to Venice around 3:25pm (check train schedules) which still leaves part of a day to explore.

You do have a great itinerary for your first trip, but I do have a couple of suggestions. I usually wouldn't suggest a daytrip to Pompeii, but if seeing this sight is the only reason you are traveling this far south, then I would recommend it in this case. If you go on the daytrip on your second or third day in Rome, you could be saving a night to use somewhere else (i.e. you wouldn't be staying in Naples, and you can use your last day in Rome to explore Rome during the day--which still gives you your 3 days in Rome overall--then train to nearby Orvieto in the late afternoon/early evening).

With this extra night, are you looking to explore Tuscan towns? If so, I would suggest adding the extra night to Lucignano. This way, you aren't staying there for simply one quick night. Also, you would have more options for daytrips to nearby Tuscan towns since you will have your car at this time. Your options I would recommend would be: From Orvieto--Civita di Bagnoregio and Todi; From Spello--Assisi, possibly Perugia, or, if you like wine, the small town of Torgiano; From Lucignano--Montepulciano, Pienza, and nearby Cortona across the valley; and From Siena--San Gimignano and Volterra.

You would be able to see an extra town or two with this extra night you would have in Lucignano. I would also recommend (as suggested before) that you go to Vernazza after Siena, then come back to Florence before going to Venice. This way, you won't be wasting nearly a full day traveling from Vernazza to Venice.

However, (starting over) if you are interested in the Amalfi coast, which I would also highly recommend, then I would take your two nights in Spello and add them to the Amalfi. This would give you 3 nights down there which would be perfect to base in Sorrento and see Pompeii, the Amalfi coast, Capri,etc. With this you wouldn't see as many Tuscan towns, but you would certainly still get a taste of Tuscany.

I hope this isn't too complex, but if you have any q's let me know.