Need help planning 13 days in Italy

The one detail I'd still like to know is when you are planning to go.

Day 3 - while it's about 2.5 hours on the train, you have to allow time to get to the station in Venice. That could easily be an hour. Then you'll need about 1/2 hour to get to your hotel in Florence and drop your luggage.

If you are "less about sightseeing" then Florence and Rome aren't your best choices. Instead rent a car and spend your time in Tuscany and Umbria.

I'm sure others will come in with information about beaches. I have heard that most of the Amalfi Coast beaches are pebbly, not sandy, also that in high season, the towns and beaches are pretty crowded.

Hopefully you have been to Venice before, since you won't be seeing much of it this trip. Your "Day 1" is actually a day spent on airplanes. You don't say where you're coming from, but if "Day 1" is your departure day from North America, you would actually arrive in Venice on what you're calling "day 2" (which I would call day zero, because it's not a usable day). Whatever you call it, on your arrival day in Europe you will very likely be wiped out due to lack of sleep, pre-trip stress, and jet lag. Your trip to Europe actually begins on the day after you arrive - and if you are not young, fit, and able to sleep on airplanes easily, the day after you arrive in Europe you will still not be feeling 100% like yourself, so plan an easy day. The day you arrive in Europe, and the day you depart are not usable days. They are days when you are in transit, and that's about all you can expect from them.

If you're coming from the USA, a "13 day trip including travel" generally gives you 10 full, usable days in Europe (and the first day you'll be half zonked-out). Given that you probably have 10 days there, I think you have too many stops - I'd suggest you cut one of the locations.

Better to count nights on the ground rather than days. Your day 1 is probably a night on the plane; even if you arrive in Venezia on day 1,it will probably be afternoon by the time you check in. So you have at best one day there, at worst a half day. You may want more time there.

Thanks for your inputs. We'll be traveling to Italy in May and I'll actually be going to Venice from Dublin, not the US, but still might need a day to relax once we arrive.

Based on your stated ideal trip I am not sure your choice of Florence vs. staying in a smaller hill town surrounded by Tuscany countryside would not be a better plan for you. Of course that is best visited with a car so would add the complication of a car rental for these days and you would not want the car anywhere else.
Montepulciano / Pienza / Montalcino / Greve in Chianti would be towns that come to mind.

Amalfi Coast probably my and my wife's favorite place in Italy if not the entire world but just to make sure you know what to expect the Beaches there are not that good. Positano is the best one, Sorrento where I think you are staying doesn't really have any beaches. It is all coastline and breathtakingly beautiful but not really a sandy beach destination.

In general your plan is doable but a bit rushed so immersing yourself in the culture could be hard with this plan. Venice is short on time, as is Rome and the others are definitely not excess time either. Your plan if you don't want to feel rushed probably needs 3 more days ; 1 each in venice, Rome and Amalfi Coast. It is hard when there is so much to see and do and you don't want to miss something while you are there and don't know if/when you can return.
Some are fine being rushed (I often am) ; only mentioning it since your ideal trip seems to imply otherwise.

Of course being in a foreign country for 13 days you will be immersed into the country's culture just making sure you know that Rome, Venice, Florence are always packed with tourists seeing the historic sites, swapping Florence for a more laid back hill town may split the vacation up a little more may appeal to your interests.

Considering what you're most interested in and the time you have available, honestly I'd skip Rome this time. Add a day to Venice and two days in the Tuscan countryside. Fly home from Naples.

Based on your ideal trip, I agree with Mreynolds and MsMaroonEsq above.

Replace Florence with Tuscany and remove Rome. Rome is not like the rest of Italy, that would be like judging the USA by only visiting New York City. I would only visit Rome, to catch a flight out the next day.

Add at least a day to Venice, visit Tuscany, then the Amalfi Coast and home from there.

May will have less tourists and cooler weather than June and July which will help.

May should be a good time to be in Tuscany. Before you plan on beach time, check whether the water will be warm enough for bathing. Early in May it would probably be too cold, but by the end of the month it may be okay.

I agree with much of what was said above. If you're looking for authentic Italy I would also skip Rome and I would move Florence to the Tuscan countryside, maybe someplace in the Chianti region. From there you will need a car to get around as there is obviously no rail system and limited bus service. But having a car will allow you to get to places like Florence, Sienna and Pisa.

As for getting to your hotel from Florence train station in a half hour, it took us 2 hours because there were well over 100 people in front of us at the taxi stand. This was September 16. Unless you go in a very low season you'll need a private transfer to avoid the taxi lines. Or you can walk if you're young and only have backpacks. We arrived on Friday around 2 pm and that was peak time for weekenders arriving into Florence. Probably morning arrival wouldn't be as bad.

In Florence, it depends on how much luggage and where your hotel is. There are lots of central places within a 10-15 minute walk of the station, and it's level. If you have wheelies or spinners or backpacks, it should be easy. Caveat - some of the side streets are cobbled and/or have potholes.

Immersion is a funny concept. Do you want true immersion, being in a non-touristy town with locals that speak little if any English? In high season that might be almost impossible to find. We did that last year in early March while doing geneological research in Sant' Arsenio, a little mountain village SE of Salerno that rarely if ever sees tourists. We really grooved on it, trying to make way around town with my very broken Italian, but it was jarring at the same time in that they stared at us like we were from the moon. Only spent a few hours there, and in hindsight I would have liked to spend a couple nights, get better with my language skills and envelop the vibe of the town. I definitely want to go back.

Then there's the 'urban' immersion, such as waking up early in Florence and walking the streets, grabbing an espresso while the town is just coming to life. Or conversely, very late at night, walking by the now-deserted Duomo and really admiring the detail of the facade, to the point of touching the relief myself.

I for one like your plan, including a little bit o'Rome. We'll be there in February for almost a week, and we'll be doing our share of shopping immersion at the markets as we'll have an apartment.

May is not beach weather. In fact we have been in Italy several times when it was cold and rainy in May. It has never when we were there been warm enough to swim in a pool much less the ocean.

If it were me (when it was me) I would rent a place in a small Tuscan hill town and have a car and spend the time visiting other towns, gardens and monasteries in Tuscany. Here are a few examples from when we last did this although it was September not May. https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/tuscany/ In earlier years when I was still working we always visited Europe and mostly Italy the last 3 weeks of May. We like traveling in cooler weather but it is definitely not beach weather; when we rented a place that had a pool it was not really usable that time of year.

There is no point visiting Venice for one day or Rome for two days. Not much point of that much time in Amalfi that time of year unless sitting and looking at the view is what you want to do. (not a bad occupation) When we did this last, we flew into Rome, spent 3 nights to see a few things we had missed on earlier trips, and then drove to Montepulciano for two weeks. On an earlier trip, we flew to Rome, picked up a car at the airport and drove 50 miles around Rome to the Villa Adriana in Tivoli, stayed at the hotel at the gates of this site, and spent 'jet lag day' wandering around the fabulous ruins in the sun. After a good nights sleep with drove north to a rental place near Lucignano for a week's stay.

If you want to see Venice and Rome and Florence in such a short time, then drop Amalfi -- it would be pretty tight even without that. We spent 5 nights in Venice in early May 35 years ago and the weather was perfect and it was lovely -- but May is always dicey -- sometimes pleasant and sunny but often rainy and cold.

Remember that travel days are complete shot and you lose a full day on the first day of travel i.e. day 1 is travel arriving on day two and the last day is all travel. It takes two nights to get one full day on the ground and every time you make a major city change you chew up most of that day. for 13 days total, I'd choose two locations at most and focus on maximizing time on the ground. Certainly no more than 3.

I like your itinerary. Often I forego the sights, but I like a city to stroll, nibble, watch and the smaller towns do not have as much to entertain me. Florence is one of my favorite cities. I'm not an Amalfi Coast fan, but if you like views, or want to use Sorrento as a base for Naples and Pompeii and the like, then it works. My step daughter, when 30, thought Florence was the most romantic city she'd ever been to so Florence might be perfect for you. I have yet to make it out of Florence to the rest of Tuscany...but again I like energy. Florence is in Tuscany, as some posts might lead you to believe Tuscany was different. I need to return to Venice when it is not January to have a fair view of it, but my favorite church is there nonetheless. In Rome, find the more intimate places, and unless you are catholic, avoid the interior of St Peters and the Vatican museum, again IMO.

Boxer,

Actually your Itinerary looks quite reasonable, and my suggestion would be to stick with that and build on the day trips from each location. A few thoughts and questions.....

• Day 1: Which airline are you using to get to Venice? What time of day is your flight?
• Day 2: Plan your touring carefully so that you don't waste any time. I'd suggest packing along a copy of the RS Italy guidebook, as that has lots of good information and will allow you to prioritize your sightseeing.
• Day 3: The trip from Venezia Santa Lucia to Firenze S.M. Novella is 2H:05M, so depending on the time of departure you could either do a bit more sightseeing in Venice or get an early start on sightseeing in Florence. Note that most towns have more than one rail station, so you MUST know which station you'll need for all trips.
• Days 4 & 5: Florence makes a great home base for sightseeing in Tuscany, and the advantage is that you won't have to change hotels. I would not rent a car as it's not needed and it's NOT a good idea to drive in Florence (and other towns) due to the ZTL (limited traffic) areas, which comes with hefty fines.
• Day 6: The trip from Florence to Sorrento will not take a full day (unless of course you want to spend the day travelling). The high speed train from Firenze SMN to Napoli Centrale is as short as 2H:29M. From Napoli Centrale you can either take the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento (~1 hour, cheapest option, comes with pickpockets & scammers for entertainment during the trip), hire a private driver or take the Campania Express (more expensive than Circumvesuviana but much nicer, about €15 PP return but prices may change in 2017). Note that with the two train options, you'll have to go downstairs from Napoli Centrale to the Napoli Garibaldi station.
• Days 7 / 8 / 9: Where on the Amalfi Coast are you planning on touring? Transportation is more of an issue so you may want to budget for a private driver on at least one of those days.
• Day 10: Travel from Napoli Centrale to Roma Termini is 1H:10M on the high speed train (add about an hour plus waiting time from Sorrento).
• Days 11 & 12: Again use the guidebook to plan sightseeing carefully so that you don't waste any time.

If you haven't travelled in Italy before, you'll need to familiarize yourself with use of the public transit networks, as there are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of.

Good luck with your planning!

After further consideration, we have updated our itinerary to the following. Hoping this allows us more time to enjoy each city.
Day 1: Arrive in Venice (we are flying Ryanair and arrive around 5pm)
Day 2: Venice
Day 3: Venice
Day 4: Train to Florence/Tuscany
Day 5: Florence/Tuscany
Day 6: Florence/Tuscany
Day 7: Florence/Tuscany
Day 8: Train to Positano
Day 9: Positano
Day 10: Positano
Day 11: Positano
Day 12: Fly out of Naples

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do in Venice for the non-touristy sightsee-er? I'm thinking of just walking around the city and finding things on our own, but if anyone knows of any hidden gems that are not the popular museums or churches I'd love to hear about them. Also, what are your thoughts on taking a gondola ride? I've been hearing mixed reviews and that the vaporetto is just as good.

Still also struggling on whether to make Florence our home base in Tuscany or stay out in the countryside. I'd rather not rent a car so I'm leaning toward Florence, but love the idea of renting a villa in the country, taking cooking and wine classes. Do you get the same experience with just a day trip? Which day trips or regions are recommended?

And we have decided to stay in Positano instead of Sorrento.

Thanks for being a useful and informative forum group!

If you want food, wine and countryside I would take your original itinerary and switch Tuscany for Amalfi. Much less back and forth and you'd mix in some small hill towns to go with all the cities. Even with a rental car Tuscany is less expensive than the cities because food and accommodations can be much less expensive. Save the beach for summertime.

Boxer,

A few comments on your revised Itinerary......

• RyanAir? Not the easiest choice. You'll actually be arriving at Treviso Airport which is somewhat distant from Venice so you're looking at an additional bus trip of over an hour. Where are you flying from?
• I'd suggest using Florence as your "home base" for Tuscany (it's the capital) as you'll have better access to transportation and things like cooking classes.
• I would not suggest renting a car, as there are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of. Driving in Florence is especially problematic due to the numerous ZTL (limited traffic) areas, and those come with hefty fines.
• You won't be able to take a train to Positano, as there's no rail service there (you'll see the reason for that when you arrive). Your best bet is to travel by fast train from Florence to Naples, and then either use the Campania Express or Circumvesuviana to Sorrento. From there to Positano will be via Taxi, Bus or private car service. Positano is not an especially good choice if you're planning on taking many day trips as transportation is challenging. Sorrento is a more convenient location if transportation is an issue.
• In order to connect with your outbound flight from Naples, if you travel from Positano to Sorrento, you can use the Curreri Viaggi Coach directly to the airport (about an hour, and fare is about €10 PP as I recall).

Again, May isn't beach weather in Italy. Even if it's warm enough for sunbathing, the water will be icy. The views will be great, I'm sure. I assume you've looked at the room prices in Positano - said to be the highest on the Amalfi Coast. As Ken has detailed, it's a long somewhat arduous journey to Positano. You'll have a pleasant train ride as far as Naples, but then you'll make your way through the station to the Circumvesuviana train which is like a New York subway train for the long journey to Sorrento. Then you'll have the long, winding, scenic (if you are on the right side of the bus) ride to Positano. A taxi will be much more comfortable and possibly a little faster, and will take you to the doorstep. Maybe someone who's been there in May will chime in about crowds then - probably not yet "the season."

Your question regarding vaporetto vs gondola is, of course, completely subjective. When my husband and I went several years ago, I was firmly in the "vaporetto is good enough and SO much cheaper" camp. And it was fun. :) Then on the spur of the moment in the twilight, my husband decided he was fine with spending the extra for a gondola ride and I have to say it was really a memorable experience. Maybe because it WAS spur of the moment. Venice is wonderful without it, but I would say just keep an open mind and see how you feel when you get there.