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Opinions/input on itinerary please (September/October trip)

Posted by (San Francisco) on

Hello,

Husband and I are making our first trip to Italy in September and I'd like to run it by seasoned travelers here. We're both in our early 30s and don't mind lots of walking/a quicker pace. I'm mainly unsure of the Tuscan portion of the trip, I can't decide if we should stay in Florence or a picturesque/smaller town and make day trips from there. Should I take a day off from Rome and add to Tuscany? If only we had more time.

Any other suggestions/tweaks are appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Day 0 - San Francisco to Naples (September 27, 2019 - Friday)

  • Leave SFO

Day 0 - Naples to Sorrento (September 28, 2019 - Saturday)

  • Arrival in Naples 7:15PM
  • Transfer to Sorrento
  • Sleep in Sorrento

Day 1 - Sorrento (September 29, 2019 - Sunday)

  • Explore Sorrento
  • Boat to Capri or Anacapri?
  • Sleep in Sorrento

Day 2 - Sorrento (September 30, 2019 - Monday)

  • Pompeii
  • Mt. Vesuvius
  • Sleep in Sorrento

Day 3 - Sorrento (October 1, 2019 - Tuesday)

  • Day trip to Amalfi Coast
  • Positano
  • Path of the Gods (3.5h hike)
  • Sleep in Sorrento

Day 4 - Sorrento to Rome (October 2, 2019 - Wednesday)

  • Arrive in Rome
  • Explore Rome
  • Sleep in Rome

Day 5 - Rome (October 3, 2019 - Thursday)

  • Explore Rome
  • Sleep in Rome

Day 6 - Rome (October 4, 2019 - Friday)

  • Explore Rome
  • Sleep in Rome

Day 7 - Rome (October 5, 2019 - Saturday)

  • Explore Rome
  • Sleep in Rome

Day 8 - Rome (October 6, 2019 - Sunday)

  • Day trip outside Rome?
  • Tivoli, Lazio?
  • Hadrian’s Villa?
  • Castelli Romani - Alban Hills?
  • Orvieto?
  • Castel Gandolfo
  • Sleep in Rome

Day 9 - Rome to Tuscany (October 7, 2019 - Monday)

  • Rome to Tuscany
  • Explore Tuscany
  • Sleep in Tuscany

Day 10 - Tuscany (October 8, 2019 - Tuesday)

  • Explore Tuscany (Pisa? Val d'Orcia? Montepulciano?)
  • Sleep in Tuscany

Day 11 - Tuscany (October 9, 2019 - Wednesday)

  • Explore Florence (The Accademia, The Uffizi)
  • Sleep in Tuscany

Day 12 - Tuscany October 10, 2019 - Thursday)

  • Explore Tuscany
  • Lucca?
  • Greve/Chianti?
  • Sleep in Florence

Day 13 - Tuscany to Venice (October 11, 2019 - Friday)

  • Tuscany to Venice
  • Explore Venice
  • TBD
  • Sleep in Venice

Day 14 - Venice (October 12, 2019 - Saturday)

  • Explore Venice
  • Sleep in Venice

Day 15 - Venice to SFO (October 13, 2019 - Sunday)

  • Depart
Posted by
1297 posts

I think you might do well to add another night or two to Venice.

Posted by
907 posts

It looks pretty good in terms of time. You can easily train from Florence to Venice. And you can't easily drive around in Florence, no cars in Florence please. Not needed.

Day 8 - Take a look at Ostia Antica for a day trip. Hadrian's Villa and Tivoli are a good choice too.

Let's talk Tuscany. The best way to see it is driving a car, although you can do trains to some cities. Rent a car and head north, perhaps a stay in Orvieto one night, then on up to Tuscany. Find a central location and stay your entire three nights (Day 10 - 11).

I suggest somewhere around San Gimignano/Siena. You can drive to Montepulciano on the way from Orvieto, and then to San Gimignano/Siena. If you want to see Pisa/Lucca you might have to move. You can drive through Chianti from San Gimi/Siena and see Greve, consider Panzano as well.

It is a long day but you could drive to Lucca and Pisa from there as well. I have done that but it takes awhile as you are going all the way to the coast.

You don't have a lot of time here. Florence will take a day at least and then you will only hit a few things. I agree that you have shortchanged Venice as well. You might think about cutting something to benefit the other. Perhaps cut Tuscany and add to Florence (which is Tuscany's capital) and Venice. I know it seems like a lousy idea but your time is short. Another though, and many do this, is don't go south of Rome. Forget the Amalfi Coast, etc and use the time up north. It might be that you have this locked in given your air to Naples, which is too bad.

It will be a great time regardless and what you have isn't all bad.

Posted by
2864 posts

Day 2-people do go to Pompeii and Vesuvius the same day but I would not recommend. We spent most of the day at Pompeii and went to Vesuvius the day before. We were pretty tired by the time we left Pompeii. Obviously, Pompeii should have precedence, although we enjoyed Vesuvius as well.

Day 3. Not sure how you are going to manage a tour of Amalfi coast and hiking the Path of the Gods the same day. We did the Path of the Gods but it can be a challenge logistically.

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