Itinerary for Italy

There are a number of great day trips in the Rome suburbs, a short distance to the south. Places like Zagarolo and Palestrina (after hiking down ancient foot trails from Castel San Pietro di Romano.) The Lazio region is also home to several volcanic lakes offering dramatic views. Villa d’Este at Tivoli has extensive gardens and gorgeous fountains. Castel Gandolfo on Lake Albano was the Pope’s summer residence with no tourists and beautiful scenery. And don't forget Ostia Antica, the ancient port city to the west (south of FCO).
Naples and Pompeii would be a little difficult as a day trip, as it's a 150 mile train ride to begin with before transferring to a second train to get out to the excavation site..
Flying out of Rome to Toronto is just so much easier than having to make connecting flights if you flew out of Venice.

If you're flying into Rome, on arrival take the 1H10 m train ride to Naples. This first day is basically wasted, so use it to your advantage.
On day 2, visit Pompeii and either spend another night in Naples or rent a car and travel to Anzano/Montaleone in Puglia. An hour and 1/2 drive. From there train or drive back to Rome.

You can use the website https://www.rome2rio.com/ to estimate travel times and see which trips you are willing to make as day trips. IMO, Pisa is too far and slow to get to, but I would do Pompeii, in theory, but it will be hot hot hot! BTW, Pisa is a bit of a bore. Florence from Rome is a feasible day trip.

There a number of towns named Anzano and a number named Montaleone. Which one are you visiting?

Your idea of staying in Rome sounds excellent to me. You only have a few days of being tourists, especially once you subtract the days spent visiting relatives. Rome has endless things to see and do right there in the city, and beyond that there are lots of nice day trips. Here are a few:

Tarquinia, about an hour north on the coast, famed for Etruscan archaeological sites. It has a very pleasant beach with changing rooms, umbrella rentals and everything.

Sulmona, about 1.5 hours east of Rome in the Abruzzi, a small and quiet traditional town that historically was known for silversmithing.

Castel Gandolfo, about 45 min from Rome at the southern end of the Appian Way, is where the Pope has his summer residence. I remember eating pizza on a terrace overlooking the lake where people were windsurfing.

Hope this helps!

Updated itinerary:

Turns out I didn't factor in that we were flying out at night, arriving the next day, so it is in fact 9 days (8 on the ground) After a quick check at flights, looks like it might be cheaper to fly into Venice and out of Rome instead of Rome for both. So thinking the itinerary will look something like this:

Day 1: arrive Venice
Day 2: Venice
Day 3: day trip to Pisa (rent a car? train then rent a car?)
Day 4: Venice to Anzano/Monteleone (to see the relatives) (rent a car? train to somewhere then rent a car?)
Day 5: Anzano/Monteleone (travel to Rome late afternoon) (by car? train to somewhere then car?)
Day 6; Rome (Vatican, St Petes...)
Day 7 Rome (colosseum.....)
Day 8 Rome (possibly day trip to Pompeii/Vesuvius)
Day 9 fly home

I suggest a lengthy session with google maps. There could be more than one, but I am seeing Anzano/Montaleone as in Puglia.

You should also be checking in/out flights to Naples and Bari if Anzano/Montaleone is a must. A car is also going to be required.
I think it would be amazing to visit Italian relatives were I to have some, but you need to do some more research into realistic logistics.

Day trip from Venice to Pisa?? It is over 3 hours, one way. So that is 6 + hours traveling, plus getting to and from the train stations. It seems like a waste of a day, to me.
Spend your time in Venice, skip Pisa, take train to Rome. See Rome, see relatives in Anzano/Montaleone. If you need another side trip, Orvieto is just over an hour away. Kids might like the Etruscan undergound.

Sounds like the OP's relatives live in Anzano, Province of Treviso, north of Venice.

If Pisa is a MUST stop for the kids on this trip, keep the car and detour to Pisa on the drive from Anzano to Rome, keeping in mind that it adds a long detour to an already long drive. You would want to plan the entire day for the drive and the stop in Pisa. That said, I think it would be wiser to skip Pisa. Pick up and drop off the rental car in Mestre and take the train straight to Rome.

I should probably just look this up, but I'm right here, so I'll ask, is Pisa closer to Rome in terms of getting there, rather than from Venice?

The problem is that we need to put in an appearance at hubby's cousins (or mom in law will be pissed!). That side trip messes things up since we only have 8 days to play with this time around.

Pisa is closer to Rome but still a good distance from Rome. If you are going to see Pisa, do not backtrack back towards Venice. Check out of Venice, head to the relatives, then hit Pisa on the way (it would be in a southwest direction), then due south to Rome. That would give you 3 places for lodging. No need to spend night in Pisa, can see it in a few hours. But, if you are getting there in the afternoon, spend it in Lucca. Lucca is about 30 k north of Pisa and kids would love the walls. Do day trips from Rome. Instead of Pompei, try Ostia Antica nearby.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Anzano,+Province+of+Treviso,+Italy/71020+Anzano+di+Puglia,+Province+of+Foggia,+Italy/Monteleone+di+Puglia,+Province+of+Foggia,+Italy/@45.0945422,10.3247417,8z/data=!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x477912604e6b042f:0xffc5595035ce0a7c!2m2!1d12.3325021!2d45.987588!1m5!1m1!1s0x1339916861f12923:0xfecc625079561980!2m2!1d15.2915009!2d41.1188151!1m5!1m1!1s0x13399251c7f7bed3:0xab407649e50a5eb6!2m2!1d15.25677!2d41.1652682!3e0

Better figure out where the relatives are.

1)-Anzano Province of Treviso ( North of Venice)

2) Anzano di Puglia / Moneleone di Puglia (East of Naples)

If the relatives are in #1, then Naples etc is out for this trip, as you have too few days to do everything that spread out.

If the relatives are in #2 then Venice is out and quite likely Pisa as well

Better figure out where the relatives are.

Definitely. There is a BIG difference between Anzano, Province of Treviso and Anzano di Pugila. As you stated "Anzano/Montaleone", my guess would be Pugila. Venice/Pisa are out of the picture if you need to reach a location that far south.

Yes, it's Anzano di Puglia.

Ugh, this is getting so frustrating. We're finally able to make a trip to Italy, though it's a short one, we want to see Venice, Pisa, Rome (Florence, Pompeii will have to wait), but now we have to get side tracked by a relatives visit which will eat up 1-2 days of our limited number of days.

I get that Pisa is only a day trip (or even a few hours) but it's one that the kids are really interested in checking out. Venice is starting to become a must since it's slightly cheaper to fly into than Rome. And Rome is an obvious must, I think, for us, first timers with all there is to see there.

So is it doable to do Venice, Anzano, Pisa, Rome. Is it physically, geographically, vehicularly (!) doable. Do we train from Venice to ?? then rent a car to Anzano. Or rent the car in Venice?

Too many options, too little time.

I think you have to assign some priorities. If you were an Italian resident planning a trip to the U.S., it would not be convenient to see Boston, Miami, Grand Rapids, and Disneyland in Anaheim on a very short trip such as the one you are planning.

Likewise, you are planning a trip that takes you across long distances in Italy. If you rented a car in Venice, you would probably spend 8 to 10 hours traveling from Venice to Anzano, and would be in the middle of rolling hills in an area not known for its tourism or services for tourists.

Some distance checks: Pisa is at least 2 1/2 hours from Rome by train. If you rented a car in Rome, after factoring in the time to rent and return the vehicle, you are probably looking 5 1/2 to 6 hours, each way. From Rome to Agnano by car is at least 3 1/2 hours each way. Train would probably be easier, but the trains are not frequent to the area of Puglia, so the waiting times would be killer. Venice to Pisa is 5 1/2 hours by car and almost 4 hours by train.

You will be in transit for agonizingly long periods of time, a surefire recipe for having the kids view this as punishment, rather than a vacation. Your original plan is the most feasible, and it takes into account the kids' enjoyment at seeing a tower that leans, and still gives you two great destinations to visit with numerous sights and experiences to enjoy.

I recommend having your husband inform his relatives that he will see them next trip because this one will be too short to make that leg of the trip.

Here's what I would do.

Fly in and out of Rome. Skip Venice. The savings are not worth it. Hugely increases the hassle. Return to Venice some other time and give it the time it deserves.

Either immediately take the train from Rome to Benevento (one hour and 46 minutes from Termini, the main Rome train station) and rent a car to drive to Anzano (53 minutes). Or fly from the Rome airport to Naples and rent a car. I hope one of you can drive when jet-lagged, perhaps someone who sleeps well on the plane or train.

See the relatives and let them take care of your weary, jet-lagged selves. They will feed you. Travel back to Rome.

Do the 2 to 2.5 hour day trip to Pisa from Rome. Do not do any other day trips. Enjoy Rome.

I'd go to Puglia--it is fabulous and has so many kid-friendly attractions--trulli, caves, beaches. You can always go back!
There is no way you could do Venice-Pisa-Rome in your allotted time anyway--at least not without wasting a ton of time in transit.
Either tell the relatives they will have to wait, or make the best of it.

Too many options, too little time.

Since your time is finite and inflexible, one (or 2) of the options will have to saved for a later trip. My suggestion is fly into Venice, spend time there, visit relatives, go to Rome and fly home from there. It is amazing the amount of time lost just getting from one place to another. Not just the actual travel time, but there is also checking out of the hotel, getting to the train station or car rental place, finding the new hotel, checking in, and getting reoriented. If you try to do more than that I'm afraid you'll end up with just memories of the time spent in transit rather than memories of Italy itself. Hate to sound like Debbie Downer, and I really don't mean to be cruel, but, to quote my great grandmother, you just can't put five gallons in a three gallon bucket. This, in my opinion, is one of the times when less is more.

Thanks again, everyone for your help and advice.

As much as I would love to say no to hubby's cousins, whom I've never met and can't communicate with, my mom in law is the one I would have to deal with and I see her every Sunday. And she communicates in perfectly good Guilt English!!

So i'm taking Venice back off the plate, but putting Pompeii back on. Would this make sense?

Day 1: land in Rome-train to Naples (getting there mid afternoon?)
Day 2: day trip from Naples to Pompeii
Day 3: leave from Naples to Anzano (getting there late morning?)
Day 4: Anzano-leave for Rome (mid-late afternoon)

Day 5 Rome
Day 6 Rome
Day 7 Rome
Day 8 Rome (with maybe a day trip to Pisa if we're willing to put in the travel time)
Day 9; fly home from Rome

Means slightly higher airfare but only two hotel bases (Naples and Rome)

That makes great sense. The drive from Naples to Anzano looks less than two hours. I would rent from the airport because driving in Naples would be crazy. The drive from Anzano to Rome looks to be over three hours though, so plan accordingly.

quote: "The drive from Anzano to Rome looks to be over three hours though, so plan accordingly."

If the drive will take us 3 hrs anyway, is there anything to stop and see between Anzano and Rome? Or is it 3 hours of highway driving with nothing to see.

I just wanted to say that visiting the relatives could end up being really special. We visited my grandfatherr’s nephew some years ago in Germany. My husband speaks a little German but they spoke no English. But it turned out that their daughter’s boyfriend did. And I was taught to make German food using only hand signals!

Visiting a family gives you a totally different experience in Europe. In our case, the daughter learned more English and she and her boyfriend actually visited us twice in US!

So enjoy all of it. And I agree rent car from Naples airport. You really do not want to drive in Naples. We took a taxi to airport at 5:30 am. Turns out stopping for red lights is optional at that hour.

is there anything to stop and see between Anzano and Rome?

If you drove Anzano-Rome, you would be passing by Cassino ( Montecassino), which looks about midway.
Another choice is go back to Naples and take the train to Rome

Wondering which of these two itineraries is the better way to go (they are essentially the reverse of each other)

Itinerary 1

Day 1: land in Rome-train to Naples (or Sorrento?)
Day 2: day trip from Naples to Pompeii
Day 3: leave from Naples to Anzano (getting there late morning)
Day 4: Anzano-leave for Rome (mid-late afternoon)
Day 5 Rome
Day 6 Rome
Day 7 Rome (possibly Ostia Antica)
Day 8 Rome (with maybe a day trip to Pisa if we're willing to put in the travel time)
Day 9; fly home from Rome

Itinerary 2

Day 1: land in Rome
Day 2: Rome
Day 3: Rome
Day 4: Rome
Day 5: Rome (possibly Pisa) (possibly Ostia Antica)
Day 6: Rome to Anzano
Day 7: Anzano to Naples (Sorrento? somewhere else? )
Day 8: Day trip to Pompeii
Day 9: Naples train to Rome-fly home from Rome (if we fly out at 1pm, is this too tight to do? Do we bump everything up by a day and head from Naples to Rome on Day 8 and spend the night there and head to the airport directly on day 9)

I vote #1--- If I read it correctly, choice #2 has you traveling from Naples on the day you fly out of Rome. Few here would find that a good plan.

Yes, I edited it to say that we would bump things up a day, travel Naples to Rome the day before we fly out. I was just hoping to avoid another hotel stay but it would be too tight.

If we want to do Pompeii where can we stay other than Naples? Sorrento? Positano?

Pompeii is mid way between Naples and Sorrento, so either is as good as the other for access to Pompeii.

Positano has logistical challenges, that make it ill advised to do a visit to Pompeii from there.

Thank you!