We are planning an Italy trip for April/May 2024 - there will be 4 adults total. Our planned itnerary is:
Fly into Rome airport - rent a car. Drive to Tuscany region.
Tuscany region: 3 days
Bologna/Modena area: 3 days
Bari: 3 days
Sorrento/Amalfi: 5 days
Drive Back to Rome for flight back to USA.
Does this itinerary make sense? Any suggestions of "can't miss" villages or sights along this route? Hotel/villa and restaurant suggestions also welcome!
Hi there. Just off top of my head?
Fly into Rome airport - rent a car. Drive to Tuscany region.
Most of us do not advise this right off an international flight; jet lag can be a dangerous thing if unfamiliar with driving in Italy to begin with. Be sure and do your homework regarding unfamiliar signage and where you are and are not (ZTLs) allowed to drive. Stay in Rome on arrival day. As well, leaving anything at all you don't want stolen from an unattended vehicle is not advised. There's a "Definitive Guide for Driving in Italy" on this website (way down near bottom of the main page) that will be helpful:
https://italybeyondtheobvious.com/about/travel-philosophy/
Tuscany region: 3 days
3 days or 3 nights? 3 nights, if including arrival day, only gives you two full days to explore a big region.
Bari: 3 days
From Bologna/Modena? You're going to kill the lion's share of a day just getting there. Again, it doesn't give you a lot of time for a sizable area. And 3 nights/2 full days or 4 nights/3 full days? Honestly, with so little time I'd save this region for a different trip and add those days to Tuscany/ Rome.
Sorrento/Amalfi: 5 days
I would unload the car before your stay in Sorrento. Traffic on the coast can be a mess and parking is scarce and can be expensive. IMHO, use ferries, buses, commuter train or even hire a private driver for a day, although you'll likely get a range of opinions on the car-on-the-coast subject. There have also been restrictions on the days rentals can drive the coastal road during holiday periods based on odd/even license plates. I haven't seen yet what they'll decide to do this year but May 1 (Labor Day) is a big national holiday so it's very possible they'll enact similar limits around that time in 2024 to try and manage gridlock.
Drive Back to Rome for flight back to USA
It's usually advisable to stay in Rome the night before your flight.
I agree that you seem not to be compensating adequately for driving time and potential related challenges. You can use ViaMichelin.com to get driving-time estimates, though a prudent traveler would bump those up a good bit since stuff (often) happens.
I, too, really question driving across Italy twice for a quick visit to Puglia. It's a very interesting region and very long from north to south. It has many, many interesting towns both small and large, and most folks heading to Puglia in a car want to see Matera as well, which would chew up a day. I'd postpone Puglia until a later trip when you can give it more time.
One of the Puglia nights could be added to Bologna to allow for a day trip to Ravenna. Ravenna has a beautiful historic center and many early religious buildings with stunning Byzantine mozaics.
At least one of the Bari nights could be useful in Tuscany. If you traveled from Tuscany down to the Amalfi area (possibly without the car, since it's of limited use in that area), you'd pass near a lot of interesting places worthy of your time, two of them being Orvieto and Viterbo (the less-touristy of the two).
