November trip- feeling overwhelmed.

Hello wanderlust29,

The single biggest question - "How Long?" How many nights and flying into and out of where if you know.

As for trains the fast trains between big cities come with reserved seats and should be booked in advance since the get more expensive the closer you get to "day of". Smaller local trains - often called regionale - like the train between Naples and Pompeii can just be purchased when you need it. Trenitalia has a phone app that lets you track trains, check schedules and buy tickets.

November is getting later so you may need to book fewer tourist things but if you have any "must sees" you should book ahead when you can.

Italian resturaunts menus have an extensive guide to what contains which allergens and ingredients. If you have actual allergies - rather than preferences - I'd create a card translated into Italian with explicit instructions and needs.

Have a great trip, don't get overwhelmed with planning,
=Tod

Thanks! That is good info! I am trying to just book the basic big sites and let the rest be spontaneous but wasn't sure about the trains. When you have to add on planning where to eat it can become a lot.

Yes, I have a true reason to eat GF, Celiac. Actually one of my number one reasons I want to visit, haha- Italy is a from what I've been told a Celiac's dream. :) Pizza here I come!

What needs to be pre booked? Obviously your hotels. If Venice is only a possibility, either wait a bit on it or book a room that you can cancel within a few days of arrival.

Trains between those cities are all high speed freccia trains, and with advance reservations can be gotten at a discount. But they are only good for the day and time booked. You could get tickets on the day of, but would pay the higher base fare. However if you already have hotels booked, then you know what days you need to travel on, so why not save a bit of money by booking train tickets in advance? Find schedules on the trenitalia website and/or download the app.

Naples to Pompeii (scavi station) is on the local Circumvesuviana commuter train from Garibaldi station, which is on the level below the Naples Centrale train station. Buy tickets there on the day of.

Do you have a day-by-day itinerary? If not, set that up NOW. Once the itinerary is set, you can arrange hotels, make reservations for trains, etc.

On our Italy trip in 2022, we used the tripit app. It allowed me to put all reservations and hotels into one place. The app recognizes emails from hotels and puts them into the saved location automatically.

Post your itinerary. You'll get better responses when folks see that.

I do have a day by day. The reason I'm up in the air about Venice is because it'd be only like 1 day. I have booked a hotel, but once I figure out must sees in Florence I may just decide to stay there longer. I'm working on all the details this week. :) I booked hotels a few weeks back. Now I'm working on tours, trains and food (due to an allergy).

Thanks for your replies. It has been helpful!

Venice deserves not to be rushed, so I think it's a great idea to postpone it until a future trip. People who spend only one day in Venice often seem not to like it.

If you want to see them, pre-book the Colosseum, Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel, Borghese Gallery and Domus Aurea in Rome.

Pre-book the Cappella Sansevero (The Veiled Christ) in Naples. This can happen after you do the Rome bookings, which sell out earlier.

I'm not sure about Florence; I trust someone else can help you there.

Florence:
The Uffizi Galleries
https://www.uffizi.it/en/the-uffizi
Accademia
https://www.galleriaaccademiafirenze.it/en/