Itinerary Help- Can we swing Lake Como AND Pompeii?

You don't have time for all these places. If you don't want to be away from the kids for more than 11 days, then you will only have 9 days on the ground in Italy, because the first and last days will be spent flying. Do you have your flights booked yet? If not, I'd recommend flying into Rome, then immediately take the train to Florence. Spend 3 nights (2 days) there. Then go to Siena for 2 nights and do your cooking class. 4 nights in Rome. This is still way too short a time to see everything, but you have to go with what you've got. Do Pompeii as a day trip from Rome. If seeing Naples and the archeoplogical museum is important, then steal a day from Rome and Florence and train to Naples for 2 nights for Naples and Pompeii. Fly home from Naples.

I don't see how you have any time for Lake Como or the Amalfi Coast.

I agree that 10 or 11 nights is not enough time to really do justice to all of your chosen sites, but it’s still possible. I’d fly into Milan, and head directly to Varenna, Lake Como by train. Depending on where you are flying from, you may be able to land in Milan fairly early in the day, and be at the lake by mid afternoon. Two nights in Varenna, then train to Florence. Stay in Florence for three nights, and take a day tour into Tuscany from there. If the budget allows, I’d recommend you hire a private driver to show the four of you around for the day- there’s lots of private guides out of Florence. From Florence, take a train to Naples for two nights, and visit the archeological museum and Pompei on successive days. Then to Rome for the last three or four nights, and fly home from there. If you really wanted to squeeze, it’s possible to get from Florence to Naples early enough to visit Pompei that same day, and spend only one night in Naples, but that’s really pushing it.

Ok, that is the general itinerary I was thinking. I had seen a few of the Naples in a day tours, and thought after Florence we would just head to Rome until the end of the trip, and do the Pompeii from Rome in a day thing. We have done England, Paris, Switzerland, and Germany in two weeks, and a tour all over Australia in 14 days so we are used to seeing a lot of places quickly. We are going with my parents and its just how my dad operates, and i have grown used to it. I will take the opportunity to return and relax with my husband at some point in the future.

To me, that is too much time on the train, traveling, than actually seeing a place. With only 9 nights, I would stay geographically closer.

Can we swing Lake Como AND Pompeii?

With the number of days you have and all the other places and activities you have planned the answer is 'no', assuming you want to do more than just drive by.

jayhale, if you use the Search box, top center, you can read many past discussions of Pompeii from Rome as a day trip, and determine whether it's your kind of Death March. People say they did it. I wouldn't.

September might be a little less crowded in all these high-traffic places. How did you pick Siena? I mean, why talk about going so far from Florence when you only have nine nights in Italy? Your mention of Vesuvius as an alternate (!) to Pompeii suggests that you don't have a very clear idea of what's important to you. (I mean, like you do about the David sculpture ... ) Your suggestion that the Archaeology Museum in Naples is a substitute for the massive, really massive excavated outdoor city of Pompeii is (sorry ... ) wrongheaded. It's like saying the American art pavillion of the Boston Museum of Art is a substitute for walking around Colonial Boston. Many posters here, especially regarding day-out-from-Rome recommend skipping Vesuvius. We spent FIVE nights in Sorrento and wouldn't consider Vesuvius for a moment. You can see it from everywhere; That's the point.

You might wish to use Google Maps (which is only qualitatively accurate) to get some surface distances and rough train times. But for accurate train times, you have to use the Italian rail company site. Note that advance discount tickets are often not changeable or cancellable.

I had read some blogs where they said that Pompeii as an archaeological sight had been pilfered so much, that you could go to the museum and see many more historical artifacts there, rather than at the site itself. I had not done much research as to travel times just trying to get a rough idea of if this was even possible...

Ok, this is crazy and I don't believe I'm posting this but...

1. Fly into Milan. Train 2hr54m to Varenna Lake Como.

2. Varenna.

3. Train. Varenna-Florence 3H23m.

4. Florence.

5. Day trip by bus to Siena.

6. Train Florence-Naples 2H52m.

7. Naples. Pompeii AM Museum after lunch.

8. Train Naples-Rome. 1H10m.

9. Rome.

10. Rome.

11. Travel home.

This gives you 1 full day Varenna.
1 1/2 in Florence, 1 Siena 1 Naples and 2 1/2 Rome.

You are not including transportation times, checking in and out of hotels, and acclimating to a new city.

I would never do something like this, but you needed to see the logistics involved.

Limit yourselves to at most 3 locations for the time you have. It will be a much nicer trip.

I had read some blogs where they said that Pompeii as an
archaeological sight had been pilfered so much, that you could go to
the museum and see many more historical artifacts there, rather than
at the site itself.

Hi jhale -
The problem with the above is that the artifacts don't have any context if you haven't seen where they came from. If you've experienced the scavi BEFORE the museum, the museum will have much more impact. The artifacts haven't been "pilfered", BTW: they're in a museum for their protection as they're obviously very old, valuable and fragile, and leaving them in place would have made them them vulnerable to theft and deterioration from the elements. Pompeii, as someone mentioned previously, is an enormous site that was an entire day's activity for us, and we were staying much closer to it than Rome.

Speaking of Rome, I get it that you like to be busy but there's enough to see in the Eternal City to fill many, many days. My most recent of 3 visits was for 6 days, and I still feel like I've just scratched the surface! Anyway, I figure the minimum for that one is 4 nights/3.5 days just to wrap one's head around it. If intent on a day trip to an excavation, Ostia Antica is a good choice as it's much, much closer and less time-consuming to cover. Still, I'd only do it with adequate time for the rest of Rome.

9 days on the ground, 3 locations: Rome, Florence and Siena. Save the outliers (Como and Naples/Pompeii) for another trip when you can give them more than a day and won't spend a big chunk of vacation time checking in and out of hotels and sitting on trains. Besides, Lake Como would be no fun in rain, and if it decided to pour buckets on your ONLY day there...

gerri, I don't believe you posted that itinerary either! :O)

Editing to add: most of us advise staying in the city of departure the night before the flight.

Ok still going to review travel times from city to city, but here is what i've come up with...
Fly into Milan, travel to Como, stay in Como for two nights.
Florence/Tuscany day trip for Four nights.
Rome for Three nights.

This should eliminate a lot of the packing/ unpacking and give us time to appreciate the town we are in and its "feel" Besides Como, which will be tight. I am treating that essentially as a nice place to relax and begin acclimating to the time change.

Thoughts? (i feel like I have upset so many people by asking my original question I am almost afraid to ask :-) )

That is a great improvement. Lake Como will be a great spot to get over jet lag. Sometimes, less is more.
Have a great trip.

I agree that it's a much better itinerary, and not spread so thinly. I think in the end you'll appreciate it more

Much better. 👍

MUCH BETTER

You will give yourself the opportunity to ENJOY your your trip, not simply survive it.

Your revised itinerary should work well and the fall in Italy is a wonderful time to visit. I don't think you will regret not including Naples and Pompeii on this trip. Varenna is a lovely place to get over any jet lag and only about an hour train ride from Milano Centrale. We spent our first 3 nights on an Italy trip in Varenna and it was perfect. One day we went to Bellagio, which we really enjoyed, and another day to Villa Carlotta. It was early Oct. and the weather was beautiful. The crowds in Rome and Florence will still be "big." We have visited Rome & Florence a number of times during the months of June, July, Sept. & Oct. The crowds in Sept. and Oct. were just as bad or worse than in the summer months but you won't have the heat to deal with. (or at least not as bad, had mid 80's in Florence in mid-Oct) Ostia Antica makes a nice daytrip from Rome, easily done by train. It is not the same as Pompeii but you can see ruins. We really enjoyed Ostia A. Directions to get here are all in the R.S. book although if you have not been to Rome before, I think you will find plenty to see and do in Rome. Re. the Appian Way, we did not make it here till our 5th visit to Rome. It does take a chunk of time getting there. We took a taxi to Tomb of Cecilia Metella where we followed the R.S. tour in his book. Also visited the Catacombs of San Sebastiano. Pick one of the two catacombs and Catacombs of San Callisto had more limited hrs/days. Took the bus back then. Have a great trip and don't forget to stop for an aperol or campari spritz and enjoy!