hi guys. i am planning to traveling to italy in a few years but wanted to get some feed back for the itinerary that i am thinking of doing. i think i can only do 18days (difficult to get more time then that off at a time) and thinking about march/april to avoid the big summer crowds before or after easter day 1 arrive in Venice 2 Venice 3 travel to florence 4 Florence 5 Florence 6 to Pisa 7 Pisa 8 to Assisi 9 Assisi 10 to Naples 11 Naples 12 Naples or Pompeii 13 to Rome 14 Rome 15 Rome 16 Rome 17 Rome
18 fly home i am not planning on going until 2014 or 2015, i am thinking of doing Rome last so I can fly home from there. any thoughts? just hitting the majors that i really want to see on this trip. just in case i never get back. traveling via train and public transpirtation.
Posted by
roswell, ga, usa
1501 posts
I'd do it the opposite way, of course! Because you will be traveling early Spring and Naples and Rome will be warmer, I'd start there! Transportation direct to/from Naples is pretty scarce at this time, but who knows what will be in a year or two! Fly into Rome, and spend 4 nights. Go (by train) to Naples/Sorrento (sleep in Sorrento and visit Naples, Pompei, Amalfi w Go to Florence 4 nighs (day trip to Siena, wine tour, etc. Florence is a great transportation hub, and it's worth 3 nights
on its own, for sure. Go to Venice (also by train) 3 nights. Fly home from Venice. At this time you can connect Venice/JFK pretty easily. Again, who knows what next year will be. The only back tracking on this trip would be from Naples to Florence. I'd skip Asisi and Pisa. They each have one monument, and everyone I know who went out of their way to go to these sites wishes they'd added a day on to either Rome, Venice or Florence. I didn't add the days up, but more time in Rome is always a good thing to do.
Posted by
OP
Raleigh, NC
21 posts
i am concerned that Rome will be one giant mass of crazy confusion thats why i would prefer to keep it for last. and since i will be flying via Rome i would be easier to not have to back track after being in Rome for 5 days go to someplace else then go back to travel home.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Just my opinions: Save Rome for last, flying out of either Naples or Venice you will have to connect somewhere - probably in Rome or Milan or some other hub in Europe. Naples is a major city, you won't have a problem finding transportation to get there in March or April - in fact, check the trenitalia.com site for train schedules for this week. Naples is only 1.25 hours from Rome by fast train. As for your itinerary, add a day to Venice and skip the overnight in Pisa, it is an easy half-day from Florence - you can add an additional day to Florence and daytrip to Siena, too. Keep Assisi, it's a beautiful, spiritual place with lots to see (in addition to Saint Francis' Basilica, there are several important churches, Roman ruins, and a medieval fortress with amazing views of the valley).
Posted by
Truro, NS, Canada
3943 posts
Second the add a day to Venice...re going in Mar/Apr...I have a friend there now and it was pretty grey and cool in Venice...Florence looks to be about 20celcius (she was in shirtsleeves, that's about 72 F). I'd be more inclined to go in May (she had some pics from Amsterdam as well - cool, overcast, trees with no leaves yet...like Nova Scotia in April - kinda ugly, but then we've had practically no spring at all this year). But you will certainly miss the bulk of the crowds.