My husband and I are trying to plan a 10 day trip to Italy. We have skymiles and so we have some flexibility with airports. We can fly in and out of Venice, Milan or Rome. My thought was to fly into Milan or Venice and fly out of Rome. We have never been to Italy. I would like to do Venice, Cinque Terre, Amalfi coast (positano) and Rome. Any thoughts on how this would work for an itinerary? I think we would like to stick to trains and not have to rent a car. Any help would be appreciated!
Posted by
Kansas City, Kansas, USA
62 posts
With only ten days I would pick Venice, Rome, and then either Cinque Terre or Amalfi Coast. With that itinerary I would fly into Venice and out Rome or vice versa. I'd do 3 days in Venice, 3 in Amalfi Coast, and 4 in Rome. Unless you really like hiking, then I'd go to the Cinque Terre instead.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Lindy's advice is right on to pick only three of those. I would suggest Milan to CT (to recover from jet lag), then Venice, then Rome.
You say you have 10 days, but do you really? Have you subtracted the day you lose traveling to get there?
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32321 posts
Alexis,
I just replied to your other post (Cinque Terre or Amalfi Coast), but hadn't seen this one yet.
I have to agree with Michael in that you'll need to make some choices, as I don't think it will be possible to see everything with such a very short travel time. Keep in mind that you'll lose the first day in flight times and time zone changes, and you'll also have to allow for travel times between locations.
My suggestion would be to start in Rome, then the Cinque Terre and finally fly home from Venice. IMHO, that's all you're going to have time for. I feel Rome would be a better "start" as this is your first trip to Italy, and the transport from the airport is a bit easier than Venice. It will provide a few days to get over jet lag and get up to "touring speed".
You'll probably be in need of a rest after touring Rome, and I can't think of a better spot to do that than the C.T.! It's an easy 4-hour (or so) trip from Rome to La Spezia by train, and then a short trip on the local train to whichever village you choose to stay in. The train trip to Venice will be a bit longer, but using "fast" trains and with careful planning this is quite manageable.
I'd highly recommend packing a copy of the Italy 2009 Guidebook along, paying special attention to "rail skills". You might want to download the free PDF Rail Guide from this website. If you haven't travelled there before, you'll need to be "up to speed" on things like changing trains, compulsory reservations, etc.
You could buy all your tickets at Roma Termini before heading to the C.T. Note that you'll want to specify Venezia Santa Lucia as your destination in Venice (NOT Mestre). There are ticket machines, but I find it easier to deal with a "live" agent. Research your trips on the web and then provide the agent with a list of the trains and times that you want (makes things easier).
Happy travels!
Posted by
Chicago, Illinois, USA
586 posts
As an introduction to Italia trip, I'd focus on what you really want to see. One issue with your favored destinations, though, is that they are longer train rides (for instance, Venice to Florence, a great city, is an easy and pretty quick ride under 3 hrs, while Venice to Cinque Terre is much longer with a change in Milan). I think you'd have to fly into or out of Naples to really make this work, but it sounds like that's not an option, so I would suggest selecting EITHER the Amalfi Coast OR Cinque Terre. Perhaps something like this?
-Fly to Rome; 3 nights Rome
-Train to Florence; 1 or 2 nights Florence?
-Train to Cinque Terre; 3 nights Cinque Terre
-Train to Venice; 2 or 3 nights Venice?
-Fly out of Venice
OR
-Fly to Milan; train to Cinque Terre; 3 nights Cinque Terre
-Train to Florence; 1 or 2 nights Florence
-Train to Rome; 3 nights Rome
-Fly discount air from Rome to Venice; Venice 2 or 3 nights
-Fly home from Venice
OR
-Fly to Rome; train to Naples; ferry or car hire from Naples to Positano
-3 nights Positano
-Ferry or bus or car to Naples; train to Rome
-4 nights Rome
-Train to Venice; 3 nights Venice
-Fly home from Venice
Just some ideas. Buon Viaggio!
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
1449 posts
I like Lindy's itinerary; Venice, Amalfi, Rome. But the stretch Venice to Amalfi is a long one and is going to eat up most of your day. For example you could catch a train at 7:45am and you'd be in Naples at 2pm. Then another hour or more by ferry or Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento. Basically by 4pm you'd be checked into your next hotel, and the whole day would have been spent traveling. I'd check and see if there are cheap flights to Naples, or consider the night train. Have never taken one in Italy (did once Italy to Munich, it was fine) but the trenitalia schedule shows a train leaving Venice 11:30pm and arriving in Naples at 10am with no change of trains; if they have sleeper cars available that might work out.
My personal preference would be for the Amalfi coast over CT; the train journey is almost as long, and I think there's more to see/do in the Amalfi area.
BTW I saw you mentioned Positano but Sorrento would be at least an hour or more quicker to get to; I'm not sure if you can go further south and then backtrack by bus, but the only way I know by train would be to take the train to Naples, Circumvesuviana to Sorrento, then bus to Positano. A very long day!!