I'll be travelling alone with my adult (18 and 20) kids. Our first time to Italy. Following is my "loose" desired itinerary. Would love tips on timing, travel to/from, suggestions on order of visits, time in each spot, specific of hotels/restaurants/sites, etc. If you'd skip any of these for something else, I'm open to that too. I'm thinking 10-14 days if it's even possible to do all this.
Venice,
Siena/San Gimignano,
Salerno (Amalfi/Pompeii),
Sicily,
Rome
At first glance, Sicily is too much.
How many nights actually on the ground? Minimum of three nights in each place, more for the AC because of the poor infrastructure.
Spring or fall is better, but you will still have crowds.
There is so much info here already posted, pls review it and see what interests all four of you most . Your questions have already been answered here, just dig a little, as your current questions are a bit broad.
So happy for you to have this family trip.
Happy travels!
Planning Tips
-review the suggested routes in the RS Guide book
-review the itinerary on the RS Tour
-Watch, Read, Listen section here
-Watch RS videos
-read related posts under Italy here
-look for posted Trip Reports under that section here
-check Cameron's Blog here
-join the related area-specific Facebook Groups, which often include real-time, on-the-ground reporting
You're in luck, there are almost daily posts here regarding your plans. You have a wealth of info ready to access.
. I'm thinking 10-14 days
Even at 14 days, including Sicily is not feasible with the rest of your trip.
With just 10 days Venice-Siena-Rome would be a full schedule.
For 10 days see the "Itinerary" for this tour to get an idea of time management. (Substitute Siena for Florence)
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/venice-florence-rome-2024
This will give you an idea of what it takes to do Sicily.
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/sicily-2024
Keep in mind the Tours are more efficient than yo can be as it has a dedicated bus for door to door transportation and a guide who is not on his first trip to Italy.
At 14 days and all of your list, excluding Sicily, will be a "Italy in the hustle" kind of trip. You need to identify what is important to you to see/experience on the trip and be mindful that every move will eat up half a day on the moving process.
Ending in Rome is ideal as it gives you the best/most options for the flight home.
Agree with Joe, 14 days is not enough to do all you propose. Eliminate Sicily for sure.
You didn't mention Florence, why skip this fantastic city?
Two weeks and you can handle Venice, Florence, Rome and the Naples area, with perhaps a day trip to Siena from Florence.
Venice 3 days
Florence 3, one more if you do day trip to Siena.
Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Capri and Pompeii, 4 days
Rome 4 days.
Hello medgin, and welcome to the forum!
The first thing you need to lockdown is the amount of time. With 10 days I would recommend three places at most and organized in a way that minimizes travel time. With 14 days you can start to expand your options some but this list of places you have is literally from one end of Italy to the other and is too much for even 14 days because of the distance and Sicily will require a flight to and from which adds a lot of time and hassle. Also be aware that the Amalfi coast involves complicated travel logistics as well so you need to allow more time to get to and from there. If you visit it as day trips from Salerno it will prevent some of these delays.
When is comes to planning the most recommended way to this from these boards is to count the number of nights you're staying and not the number of days. This aids in planning where you will sleeping every night, rather than where you will be during that day, which helps with hotel planning as well. Keep in mind that 2 nights in a place allows only one full day there and then two partial days where you'll need to worry about baggage and transportation. Do not underestimate how much time it takes to get everyone packed, checked out of the hotel and then to check in and unpack on the other end. Limiting the number of times you transfer accommodations will cut down on this process. I would never recommend staying anywhere for only 1 night unless it is purely for travel logistics - like being in the city you are flying out of the night before. I also recommend allowing an extra day after landing to allow for jet lag, acclimation and travel logistics because you may not be up to a full day of packed itinerary just off the plane.
So I would recommend making a list of each night, where you're planning on staying and any time travelling between these locations on the day you will be transferring from one place to another. I personally use a spreadsheet but a simple list works just as well. After you have a number of nights laid out I would count the number of days (nights -1) and list what you want to see and do in that place and see whether you have enough time. Then look into travel time between locations and plan for those travel days.
A site like Rome2Rio.com is a good place to start investigating potential travel times and options as estimates. But always confirm what they are telling you on the actual modes, dates and times you are traveling. For instance there is no train access to San Gimignano so it takes a combination of train and bus or some other means to get there.
Time of year has a great deal to do with planning and crowds - especially places like the Amalfi coast that has definite seasons and much is shut down during the off season.
Look into "open jaw" or "multi-city" flights like flying into Venice and out of Rome to save time re-tracing your steps to get back to the city you flew into.
A great place for train information is the Man in Seat 61: https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-italy.htm
As previously recommended RS has a huge trove of how-to and what-if information for travellers. Many of us here have benefitted from Rick's lessons, books, videos and other information and return here to get and give advice. I highly recommend starting with a book or two and some of his videos and articles to refine your plans and pick up great general travel advice.
Good luck with your planning and come back for advice on your itinerary and questions about destinations,
=Tod
What month are you planning on going? I have taken 3 kids for their 21st birthday to Italy and month matters regarding where you go. I agree with all others two weeks is not enough time to move from north Italy to Sicily. Also I would never do Venice, Florence, Rome on the same trip it's just too many big cities in one trip for me. Love them all but not on the same trip. All the charm is in the small places, things you never thought you would be lucky enough to see mush less show your kids. One site per day, or two on the outside. Lots of time needs to saved for shared conversations, long meals and just plain old family fun and laughter. J
The reason everyone keeps telling you to eliminate Sicily is that it's a large island with wonderful sights widely scattered and no express trains. In fact, a lot of destinations involve using buses. Realistically, 14 nights is about the minimum for a fairly comprehensive visit to Sicily if you're willing to rent a car for part of the trip. Otherwise, more time is highly recommended. Folks who plan shorter trips to the island end up having to make painful cuts to their itineraries. Many end up limiting the trip to just a small part of the island.
