Overwhelmed planning 40th anniversary 17 nights Italy

There are always lessons to be learned. One is flying open jaw--into one city and out of another. Backtracking is expensive and not very efficient use of your time.
I would spend one more night in Rome and one less night down on the Amalfi Coast. Another consideration would be skipping the Cinque Terre (since you've been to Amalfi) and spend a couple of nights out in the Tuscan hilltowns. Rent a car and just drive town to town..

It sounds as if you are open to all sorts of locations but you are concerned about how to find something that also pleases your husband. As far as your itinerary, I myself prefer not to go to so many places in one vacation and would probably select 3 places
but to each his/her own. I mght choose either the Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre but not both simply to reduce the time checking in/checking out, getting my bearing in a new place, etc.

As far as your itinerary, what do you and your husband like to do on vacation? Do you like fine dining or hiking? Renaissance art? Shopping? Sleeping late and relaxing with a book or getting a bargain on a designer brand? Does your husband like historical sites and sight seeing? Or is he more interested in fine dining and relaxing on a sunny patio with an ocean view? If you love the outdoors and hiking and are not so keen on historic sites, you might take that into consideration. My husband and I could care less about shopping or food, instead we enjoy historic sites and architecture. There is so much to see and do in Rome that I would probably bump one day of the Amalfi Coast and put in the Rome segment. But if he is yearning to sit in the sun and look out on the ocean, relaxing and reading, and doesn't care about historical sites, then Amalfi would certainly be appealing.

Until you get there it can be difficult to realize what you like (ie what your husband realizes he likes). Can you corral your husband into watching a few short Rick Steve videos on Rome (you tube) and or Venice/Amalfi/Florence Cinque Tere so he gets a glimpse of the vibe and then he could contribute to your planning. If he shudders when he sees the Colosseum or St. Peter's because it is in the city and his eyes light up when he sees the Amalfi Coast, you will have your answer as to how to split up the time.

What an incredible trip! Enjoy!

SuzieeQQ

I would switch the Amalfi Coast days to rural Tuscany. Save the Amalfi Coast for another soutern Italy focused trip. A more relaxing trip. We did not venture south of Rome intil our 7th trip to Italy. There is so much to see in Northern Italy. Have you considered Lake Como instead of the Cinque Terre? Or Venice to Lake Como,stay, then to Florence, stay, then to Siena or other location in Tuscany,stay lastly to Rome, stay, back to Venice to fly home.. Get a rental car for Tuscany through Autoeurope.com. Disclaimer: we always rent cars for our whole trip to Italy except for city stays.
Next time, book flights into first city and out of last one, a multi city ticket. You are wasting precious time and money retracing your steps to fly home out of Venice. Flights out of Venice can be difficult, early hours, tides, getting to airport.

Your plan looks reasonable to me. If the two of you enjoy driving vacations you might try that in lieu of the Venice to Rome train. The views would be different and you could see some small towns along the way. Driving in Italian cities is definitely not for everyone though and probably should be limited to major routes. My experience of train travel in Italy is not entirely pleasant. Trains tend to be crowded and not always on time and the stations can be intimidating for those not used to European train travel. Another option that might appeal to your Husband with his limited travel experience would be to do a cruise for part of the time. For example, a cruise between Venice and the port of Rome (or vice versa) would give you several day trips to interesting places along the way. We have combined cruises with independent travel several times. If done last, the cruise can be a reward for the challenges of handling all the details for the first part of the trip. Enjoy, travel is a wonderful adventure and I suspect this will be just the start of many happy times.

I would cut either Amalfi Coast (most likely) or Cinque Terre. The most difficult part is getting to the Amalfi Coast and then back.

A few years ago, we took the fast train from Venice to Rome and it was wonderful. Extremely smooth riding, quiet, giant windows, clean, and a whole lot more leg room and a wider seat than on any plane I've been on. We had reservations ahead of time for a 2nd class car so there was no issue with it being crowded or not finding seats together.

We are returning in December and plan to take the fast train to/from Rome to Naples, and later from Rome to Florence. The only thing to realize is exiting the train is not for the slow and leisurely: get out of your seat with your luggage to be at the door of the train BEFORE your stop, stand by the train door, ready to de-train, so you can instantly get off the train with no hesitation. The doors open, you QUICKLY get out, the doors close, and the train moves on!

Eliminate AC and go to Lake Como for your other waterfront location.

Going to AC and having to get back to Venice makes for a lot of backtracking.

Small town we can heartily recommend is Ravenna. Easy to walk as it’s level, it’s south of Venice and east of Bologna. We did a day trip there Feb 2016. We are going back for three nights next month. The mosaics are ancient, breathtaking, people are friendly.
Have a look as it’s worth the time.
Will post a link in a moment.
Edit for link>
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/788

I'll gently disagree with hwpenn on the cruise idea and that Italian trains "tend" to be crowded and somehow difficult to use. With a few exceptions - the regionales within the CT during high and shoulder season, for instance, or the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento during the same months - they're not sardine cans and are reasonably easy to figure out. Cruise ports are too often located considerable distance from where you want to spend your time - I'll mention Florence and Rome here - and you're usually given far too little of that time to get to know and love those places before having to be back on the ship.

So I applaud your effort at going the indie method! It is too bad that you have to backtrack to Venice as flying from Rome would have saved time, and flights out of Venice tend to be uncomfortably early.

Adding to the rest of the comments, yes, I'd scrap the Amalfi Coast and add a night to Rome. I consider 4 nights/3 FULL days to be the minimum for first-timers, and while it's a city, it's a fascinating one with a great deal to see. I'd consider adding the rest of the extra days to the Florence/Tuscany piece. There are a number of day trips by public transit that can be taken from Florence (which has a lovely, reasonably compact city center, BTW) or you could opt to spend a couple of the extra days in, say, Orvieto en route to Florence or the CT if wanting a bit more time in a smaller town. Depends on how much checking in and out of hotels and moving around with luggage you want to do?

In the end, SuzieeQQ has asked some great questions: what do you and your husband like to do on vacation? Do you like fine dining or hiking? Renaissance art? Ancient ruins? Shopping? Sleeping late and relaxing with a book on a patio with a view or wandering narrow Medieval streets? Do you like historical sites and museums or prefer landscapes? What you both want to DO in Italy is sort of key when deciding where to spend your time. :O)

Yes, thank you so much for all your input. We will probably drop the Amalfi coast (too far) and Cinque Terre (too crowded), and 1-2 more nights in Rome. And then 3-4 more nights in the Tuscany/Florence region--maybe a night at Lake Garda or Lake Como, Montepulciano or San Gimignano, or Santa Marguerita on the coast to the east of Florence.. All areas we could drive to- possibly rent a car out of Florence for that time. Any advice to these newbies? We will look again at our itinerary and throw something out there soon for more input. THANK YOU!

Highly recommend Lago Maggiore (recommended by Roberto). We stayed in Arona, but you could stay in Stresa and take the ferry out to the the Borromeo Islands. Jean from Washington recently posted the most marvelous place to stay on Isola Bella or Isola Superiore. Can't find the link, but if we ever went back we'd stay there. Especially for an anniversary trip!

Don't feel like you need to go everywhere. Three trips and we've yet to go to Venice, Pisa or the Amalfi Coast. We didn't go to Italy until we were in our early 60's. Been there three times now. May or may not make it back. It's okay as we've enjoyed everything we've done and have no regrets.

We were not trying to "tick off the list". Just wanted to see and do the things that were of interest to us, not to someone other's list, or guide book,etc. We are into wine (job related) and food (job related). History (big on husband's list - Latin student).

Take less time to travel and savor the places you visit.

Happy Anniversary! And have a great trip!

Like here??? It's sold out for every day of our trip!

-- https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/enchanting-hotel-on-isola-bella-near-stresa

Yes, that was it. Too bad it's booked as it looks wonderful.

Wise words from many here (especially Kathy) and it seems you heard them. In 17 nights I would sleep no more than 4 places. What do you think of going to Rome by train as soon as you land in Venice? It is an easy trip and going to your furthest destination first makes a lot of sense . Then put all of your Venice nights at the end. So

• Arrive Venice and train to Rome; 5 nights Rome. Take a day trip to Tivoli or Orvieto if you don’t think Rome offers enough to do, but after living there almost 5 years I never saw everything I wanted to.
• Train to Florence or Siena, 4 to 5 nights. One one day, take a tour with aTours by Roberto to get out into the countryside.
• Train to Lago di Como or Lago Maggiore, 3 to 4 nights
• Train to Venice for your last 4 nights.

I think you will be charmed and planning another trip before you complete this one!

Thanks Laurel! I love your comments! Unfortunately we don't arrive at the Venice Airport until 4:30 pm, so guessing we will maybe stay in the airport area or go straight to Venice for the next 4 nights. I know we will be very tired! We will look into the train to Rome though- if they had an overnight train that would be awesome, but I am guessing it's not a long jaunt there.

First off, you trip absolutely screams open jaw ticket into Venice and home from Rome - for several good reason. 1. Cheaper. 2. Much more convenient. The options to depart Venice are limited. Generally at 5, 6 am departure to another European city to catch your flight home. Most international out of Rome - there are many direct flights - leave around noon to early PM. Finally you save a half a day of travel. Just more convenient.

Looks at a map. Exchanging the A coast for Florence is a better use of time and funds.

Frank--- you idea of open jaw is great, except Barb notes in the OP that the Venice in/out tickets are bought and non refundable (see line 2)

Hi Barb. With a 4:30 pm arrival, I would start in Venice for 3 nights, then make your last night there as well. it is 3.5 hours from Venice to Rome by train.

Consider taking the bus to Venice as soon as you are out of the airport, check in to a hotel close to the station, enjoy as much of the evening you can keep awake for, sleep, take the train (reasonably) early next morning to Rome, and go on from there. End back in Venice to be close to your return flight.

Buy your train tickets in advance to save money.

HI there everyone- so there seems to be two camps- one says go straight to Rome after first night (maybe at the train station; we arrive at 4:30 p.m.) then spend 4 nights in Venice at the end. The other camp says just stay in Venice the first 4 nights and then go to Rome, spend the bulk of the remaining time in Florence area, then off to Lake Como-- train to Venice then fly out, Bottom line is- yes, we did NOT get a multi city ticket- but we did get RT tickets from Tucson, AZ to Venice and back for $728, and with a great itinerary!! And, we are HAPPY with that!!!! What I would greatly appreciate is productive counsel on which camp, as listed above, would be easiest in regards to not only saving time traveling but also with the goal of enjoying Italy!!!! We have never been there before and are excited to spend our 40th anniversary there! Thank you Laurel btw for your kindness, as exhibited by your words.

Starting in Venice is so nice. It is less frantic, an easy place to get over jet lag. I would stay there 3 (or 4 of you can) nights and get used to Italy.

Hi Barb,

I am certain you will get recommendations for both options. Here are some considerations to help you make the decision:

• How we do you sleep on the plane? How well do you deal with jet lag? If you can rest and you do well with jet lag, then going to Rome first, staying there and then ending the trip in Venice makes sense. If not, it is easier for you to stay in Venice for a few days and adjust to the new time zone. Venice is a great place to start your vacation and recover from jet lag.
• How do you want to kick off your trip? I love Rome (I could live there), but it is a big city. Do you want to start in a big city or ease into it by starting in Venice and then going to Rome? If you start in Rome, then I would recommend that you pace yourself. Do something light on the first day, take a food tour, get acclimated, then dive into the major tourist sites.

It is your 40th anniversary, I am sure you will have a lovely time whichever option you choose. Congratulation and enjoy your trip.

Sandy

Hi Barb! From one Barb to another, I also suggest landing and staying in Venice to begin your wonderful adventure. Coming from Arizona, you are going to be on a plane for a long time! You may not be able to snooze on it due to excitement. (First trips to Italy can do that to you!) I agree that Venice is a perfect slower pace to adjust to the time change. Floating up or down the Grand Canal on a vaporetto early morning or at sunset is a perfect introduction to Italy. By the time you get to Rome, you will be ready to experience what this larger city provides---- which is a lot!! If you go to Lake Como, you will also experience a slower pace, but it is amazing! We were in Varenna in May for 4 days and were blown away by the beauty of the mid lake region. We reached Lake Como from Milan, so I'm unsure about the Rome to Lake Como connection. We have been to the Amalfi and Cinque Terre (prefer the Amalfi over the CT), but you can experience southern Italy on another trip because you WILL want to return to Italy!!! Have a wonderful 40th anniversary and make some memories.