Itinerary Help

Christine, are those 8 days on the ground in Italy or is day 1 arrival and day 8 departure from Rome?

Denise brings up a good point. If that includes your arrival/departure dates, you have less time for traveling about.

I'm going to assume that you have 8 full days on the ground and suggest that you not venture too far from Rome, especially if you're planning on Florence. You could easily spend 8 days in Rome alone, let alone between Rome and Florence. I would suggest either staying in Rome for 4 days and Florence (or nearby) for 4 days and doing some day trips, or Rome 3-4 days, a smaller town such as Orvieto, Assisi, or Siena for 2 days, and Florence for 2-3 days. I would definitely not try to do more than 3 different cities for overnight stays and I would try to stay around the central part of Italy where you will already be.

We will arrive early in the morning on day 1 but will not be leaving until day 9. I did not count that day.

Christine,

In reading your post it sounds like scenery is more important to you than art and architecture. If so, you might consider splitting your time between Rome and Sorrento. Florence is beautiful but is definitely a treasure trove of art. You could spend days 1-3 seeing the "biggies" in Rome. Day 4 take the train to Naples and transfer to ferry or Circumvesuviana to get to Sorrento. From Sorrento, which is lovely in itself, you can go to Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, Capri, etc. Day 7 or 8 head back to Rome, do some final sightseeing and enjoy a memorable last dinner and gelato. You can arrange for a taxi to the airport from your hotel.

You don't say the time of year you will be in Italy. If it is a cold season, Florence might be the better choice. What ever you decide, it would be a shame to eat up the time on your short visit with transportation connections and checking in and out of lodging, so, as the previous poster advised, stay in one general area and stick to 2 or, at most, 3 places to stay.

I really like your idea. thank you for the help. We will be traveling the first week of April. While it won't be warm enough for water sports, will it be warm enough to enjoy walking and sitting by the water?

I would also definately consider an overnight trip to Orvieto. It is close to Rome and accessable by train, yet still has the feel of a secluded hill town. When my wife and I traveled to Rome for a long weekend, we fit it into our plans (it was Feb.) and we were completely glad we did! From exploring a local shop owner's private wine cellar to having the best hot chocolate ever, the town was well worth the trip!

Christine,

Take a look on weather.com for the first week of April in the towns you are considering for your trip to see what the average weather conditions have been. While they can't predict the actual weather this far ahead, you will get an idea of what to expect and can decide if it is tolerable. You are from Pittsburgh so you will be coming off of some serious winter weather and cool sea breezes will seem like summertime! Yes, the Amalfi Coast is great in the summer for water activities, but its beauty remains year round. And how much more enjoyable Pompeii would be in cool weather than in August heat. If it is rainy season, you may want to look at other locations. Check to see what is open at the time you would be there. The ferry boats may not be running yet, or at least not as often. Tourist traffic will be at a minimum any where you go so that will allow you to do much more each day than in high tourist season. You may get more detailed info on tripadvisor.com forums, and slowtrav.com/italy is also another good resource. Tripadvisor has local experts that can answer questions about what to expect and what is open in their area for the time you are traveling. We took our 1st trip to Italy in mid-December several years ago. Sure, it was cold and we had snow in Florence, but we felt like Venice was our own private place to explore, we waited in absolutely no lines, and the Italians we met were charming and had not yet become irritated by the summer mobs and heat. Italy is wonderful and anywhere you go will be a super experience!

Christine,

My last trip to Italy was 10 days and we went to Rome (about 3 days), Florence (about 3 days with day trips to Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano), Cinque Terre, and Venice with a short stop in Orvieto as well. Venice is likely too far to put into this trip as you'll lose a lot of time traveling back and forth, but definitely Florence, Cinque Terre, and you can easily do Siena and San Gimignano in the same day if you'd like.

I highly recommend the Roma Pass. You can get it at the main train station (tourism office) or airport. It is valid for 3 days from the time of “activation” and gets you into two museums for free, other museums at a discount, and unlimited trips on buses and metros. It's about $25 EU (about cost of two museum entrances) and you get the ease of being able to hop on and off a bus or metro anytime even for just one stop without having to buy a ticket every time. Keep in mind the metro part of the card and the museum part are completely separate systems and each have their own "clock" that starts at first use (valid for 72 hours). Additionally, the Roma Pass comes with a good map of Rome and a booklet that gives you a description of each museum, their hours, cost, and major sights. The best part is you could call the customer service number and ask the English-speaking attendant anything like "I'm trying to go from to . What's the best way to get there?" and they'll tell you exactly what bus/metro to take.

I put together some detailed notes from our last trip that I can send you if you'd like. Just email me (give me your email so I can send you the attachment).

No matter what you'll do, you'll have a great time!

Thanks so much for your advice. We will land in Rome on Saturday and stay until Tuesday morning. Our daughter has classes on Tuesday, Wed and Thursday so we will travel to Florence. She has already been there. When we return on Thursday she wants to go to Sorrento. I know it is a lot of time on a train but... We will return to Rome either late Sat or early Sun then fly home. I think we will be exhausted on Monday. Hopefully, this is doable.

Christine,

It sounds like you have a good plan. It is quite doable and you shouldn't be too exhausted :-) Check the train schedules. There should be an express train from Rome to Naples that would not take too long. Same for Rome to Florence. Your daughter should be able to help you with this, too. Once in Naples you can take the Circumvansuviana to Sorrento. It goes pretty quick and has interesting views. It is used by many locals as commuter transportation. Some people seem to feel uncomfortable on this train but it has never bothered us. Keep an eye on your belongings on all trains so your bags don't get off before you do. If you leave Rome in the morning you should be in Sorrento for lunch. Buon viaggio!