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Itinerary help

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We will be visiting Italy next September. Plane tickets purchased and hotel rooms booked. Now to figure out what we have time for and in some cases where to visit. To give you a glimpse of our travel style...we were in England for 7 days and have no regrets. In those 7 days saw.....London. Paris (Eurostar). Windsor, Bath, Lacock & Stonehenge. Liverpool. Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio. London Zoo, London Eye. And shopped slept and ate well. Keeping that in mind please read over my discombobulated thoughts for plans while we are at our destinations

Sorrento, Italy - September 1st, 2nd & 3rd / Plane lands around 10:30am in Naples. We'll have a private driver picking us up a the airport and driver us to our Sorrento hotel. Once in Sorrento I'm not sure if I should book our AC tour that day or the next. Maybe chill in Sorrento that day. September 2nd private driver to Positano, Ravello & Amalfi. September 3rd, Naples for "the best pizza in the world" and to visit the Naples National Archaeological Museum. HERE'S THE QUESTIONS...if we do the AC & Naples will there be zero time for a quick trip Capri, Blue Grotto? I'd like to get out on a boat at some point to get photos of the coast from the water. Also are there places where I can walk into the ocean? If so, do I need beach shoes for rocks?

September 2nd - This is up in the air either Day trip to Naples for pizza and to visit the National Archaeological Museum where I've read Pompeii comes alive. Is this true? And for pizza. Or we could do the AC tour.
September 3rd - If we do Naples on the 2nd and AC on this day is there time to do both AC and Capri? (Train leaves early next day for Florence)

Florence, Italy - September 4th, 5th & 6th. September 4th our train arrives mid day - We will most likely take in the sights and take it easy on the 4th. The 5th will be spending the day touring Florence up early to see The David we will pre-order tickets. 6th - Tuscany - I'm so confused about where to go what to see and how to do it. We don't want to be constricted on the tour, We don't want to pay the expensive prices for a private driver, I'd consider renting a car but that seems like a hassle. Maybe a group tour like what we did in England would be best. Thoughts, ideas, suggestions? I'm pretty sure I want to visit Siena but not 100%

Rome, Itlay - September 7th & 8th (flight leaves early on the 9th) From what I understand that the main sights in Rome are pretty close in proximity and can get through them if you plan right, buying in advance and getting an early start. So.....the 7th maybe heading to the Vatican for the rest of the day and then the 8th taking in Rome. Then crying on the 9th because we have to come back home and go to work. I asked for thoughts throughout but truly if you have anything to add about any of these places like a specific restaurant or even a restaurant that was in a movie, we love things like that, I would be most grateful.

Thanks so much

Posted by
11852 posts

Hi. I will address the Sorrento portion only for now.

On the 1st, you will not be able to do any more than walk around very pleasant Sorrento, trying to stay awake until at least 9:00PM so you can get a good nights sleep and get an early start on the 2nd.

You only have two full days and three *full *days worth of stuff to do: Naples/Pizza, Capri, Amalfi Coast tour including Positano and Ravello.

Sept 2: take the Amalfi Coast tour either on your own (see Rick Steves' book for how-to and self-guide) or with a private driver (several recommended in R.S.). This will take all day. Be sure you get the earliest bus if you do not use a private driver.

Sept 3: Go to Capri if you must (I am not a fan), again, an all day trip. Alternatively, you could go to Pompeii.

Sept 4: On your way to Firenze (Florence) stop in Naples. Leave Sorrento early, go to the Archeological Museum (opens at 10:00), have your pizza, and continue to Firenze. You will arrive a little later than midday, but you will have used your time to see Naples and get that pizza. You will also have fabulous (IMO better) pizza experiences in Roma.

In Roma for pizza, try La Pratolina (reservations mandatory), Da Remo or Dar Poeta. Each is completely different from the others.

Posted by
7175 posts

On Sep 1st maybe have your driver wait at the hotel in Sorrento while you checkin/dump luggage, then have him/her drop you in Positano. Have a swim to ward off the jet lag and catch a bus back to Sorrento later in the afternoon/early evening. Then you have the 2nd for Pompeii. 3rd for Capri and 4th for Naples whilst en route to Florence.

Posted by
1225 posts

You have an ambitious, yet workable itinerary, seems to me. I'll address the Florence/Tuscany portion of your plan. Yes, yes, you'll want to prebook tickets for "The David" - which is in the Accademia. You'll also want to prebook tickets for the Uffizi Gallery. Rick's "Italy" book will tell you how to do those, easily. For your Tuscany day, I strongly recommend Tours by Roberto. He is brilliant, fun, amazing, and a wonderful guide for private and small group tours in Tuscany. Roberto offers a number of one-day itineraries to villages, towns, countryside, and - added bonus - if you are the first to book a tour on a specific open date (look on his on-line calendar), then you can choose which of the possible day-tours he'll run that day. He will also "tweak" a tour's itinerary to fit your interests. My sister and I had a marvelous day with Roberto (and 6 others) a couple of years ago. We were picked up in the morning at our hotel in Florence, and dropped back there at the end of the day....the best day of our two-week Italy trip! (He was also willing to drop us off in Siena, if we had wanted to spend a few early evening hours there before returning via public transportation to Florence.)

Posted by
1246 posts

For day 6, if you want to see Siena, there is a bus which runs frequently from Florence to Siena. No need to pay for a private driver.

Posted by
30 posts

Thanks all for you your responses, I really appreciate the feedback. We have decided to cut Capri out of our plans and do AC one day and Naples the other. I've sent Roberto's company an email requesting a tour on September 5th so hopefully that will work. September 5th is a Monday so we figured that we be a good day to tour Tuscany b/c some of the museums in Florence are closed on Mondays.

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