Paris > Tuscany > Rome > Amalfi Coast

Welcome leanna-

Is this your husband?

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/paris-rome-amalfi-cost

We've seen the 3-week Italy itinerary posted, however, the thought of
sleeping in a new place almost every night sounds a bit overwhelming.
Is that a normal thing to do?

No- most here consider RS itineraries to be far too fast paced

the thought of sleeping in a new place almost every night sounds a bit overwhelming. Is that a normal thing to do?

Normal or not, it's not a smart thing to do. "One night stands" give you zero days in that location - they become just a place to sleep. And most of us go to Europe to see, experience, and enjoy places, not just to spend a night someplace.

If your plan includes all of the following:
Paris
Normandy
Rome
Tuscany
Amalfi Coast

That's probably too much to bite off for your first trip to Europe. Things to remember:

1. Be honest with yourself about how many days/nights you actually have. When you say you have "X days" in anyplace, that means you get "X-1" days there to enjoy it. Do NOT count your arrival day in Europe nor your departure day - those days are not usable. Don't speak in vague generalities about how many nights and days you have. Talk about specific dates, even if those are just proposed dates at this point (indeed, do not book your flights until you settle on a rough itinerary). Once you are staring at a calendar and specific dates, it forces you to be honest with yourself.

2. Do not underestimate the amount of time you burn every time you pick up and move to another place to sleep. That consumes at best half a day (if you're experienced and efficient, which you probably won't be on your first trip), usually it consumes 3/4 of a day. That means each relocation day is mostly lost. That's where "one night stands" kill you.

3. Careful with geographic labels. "Normandy" and "Amalfi Coast" and "Tuscany" are not single points, they are regions, with the best attractions inconveniently scattered. You don't do a day trip out to Normandy and back from Paris (at least it's not a satisfying way to do it). The Amalfi Coast has its own transport challenges and lots to see.

4. Sticking just to your list above, you would be blowing right past many of Europe's best attractions (plenty of other things in France and Italy). You probably have about 13 full, usable days in Europe. Subtract those days when you are moving, that leaves you just a handful. You need more than a day to enjoy Paris, Rome, and in fact everyplace on your list.

I think you need to either add more days (like, another week), or cut significantly. Others will be along to suggest a revised itinerary.

Do not book your flights yet. You have homework to do first.

Some people like traveling quickly and staying in a different place every night. It's their normal but not mine. If you travel like I do, 15 nights is going to be tough to fit in all that you have listed but it can be done. You'll probably be exhausted when you get home but some people like that. Just remember that the process of packing up, checking out and and actually traveling between cities usually eats up at least 1/2 of a day and things take longer than you expect, especially in Rome. At a minimum, I suggest 5 days in Paris, including the trip to Normandy and 4 days in Rome and then you have 6 days to play around with for transportation between cities and to divide between the Amalfi Coast and Montepulciano. You'll get about two days in each of those places. Is it worth it o you to deal with getting there if all you have is two days. Maybe you need to drop one of your destinations. I suggest flying into Rome or Paris and flying out of the other.

Ricks Tours are definitely fast paced, but you don't have to find your own transportation it's at your door with stops along the way to break up the bus rides. Guides wisk you from one place to the next giving great info along the way.

For the itinerary you're planning, I'd recommend
Dropping one location, but this is how yours would look.

Where are you flying in and out of? I'm assuming into Paris and out of Naples which would give you the easiest entry and exit plan.

Paris 5 nites. The first day you'll be walking around in a haze due to jet lag. You also need to fit in Normandy. It's a 4H40m R/T train ride from Paris Look at these tours and decide if you want the Full day, which I'd recommend, or the 1/2 day. Since you'll be in Bayeux do try and include the Unicorn Tapestries.

https://www.overlordtour.com/product-category/tour-from-paris/?cn-reloaded=1

Fly from Paris Orly airport to Florence. Curling edit (Vueling) has 2 flights a day that are very reasonable. Do check carefully their luggage restrictions.

From Florence Airport to Montepulciano is a 4H24m tram/train/bus trip. Staying in Florence or Siena would give you better options for day trips. 3 nights.

Bus/Train Montepulciano-Chiusi-Rome 2H10m.
Rome 3 nights

Train Rome-Naples 1H17m. Naples-Sorrento via Circumvesuvian 1H06m
Sorrento? 3 nights

If you're planning on flying from Naples, make sure your flight is between 11:00-1:00 otherwise it's recommend to stay in Naples your last night.

I suggest dropping Tuscany. Take a food tour in Paris and Rome-we loved Secret Food Tours in Paris.

If you do drop Tuscany per Cala's suggestion and you're flying home from Rome, fly from Paris Orly (Ory)to Naples (NAP). Easyjet has flights 2H10m. Then take the Curreri Viaggi bus to Sorrento. 1H15m.

https://www.curreriviaggi.it/airport-shuttle/times-download

Adding those nights to the Amalfi Coast and Rome. Making for a much more enjoyable trip.

David gave you excellent advice.

A long time ago (1966!) my future wife and I did a tour of Europe that was very aggressive, "sleeping in a new place almost every night". We've had the opportunity to take several trips to Europe in the intervening years. With each trip we move less and less. Our two week trip in May had just one move.

There's always a big temptation to "see it all". The irony is that in the attempt, you run the risk of really seeing nothing. Personally, I think if you dropped one leg (for instance Tuscany or Amalfi) you'd have a more enjoyable trip.

Leanna-

If Paris, Normandy, Rome and another location in Italy are your must dos - it is doable
I have nothing against multiple countries in a 2 week trip.
I flew to Vienna 4 nights>>train to Budapest 3 nights>> flew to Berlin 4 nights>>flew to Amsterdam 3 nights with my daughter a few years back. More moving/flying then I'd do with my husband but it was on her dime and it was a great trip.

Divide your time almost equally between France and Italy. Keep your transits as simple as possible, this is your first trip.

Normandy as a day trip from Paris is an extremely long day - if you really want to see the beaches and get the most out of that area then plan to spend 2 nights there. Highly recommend taking an all day tour of the Normandy beaches- you will get so much more out of it, very hard to do on your own and almost impossible without a car.
We used Bayeux Shuttle and were very pleased.
(We spent 4 night in the area- 2nd trip to France and had a car but still did the guided tour)

Pick Tuscany OR Amalfi. I’d lean towards Tuscany just because it’s a bit easier to get to and from. Amalfi is fantastic with so many sights to see- really needs more than the 3 nights you have to give it, especially when you add in the time it takes to get there. (We spent 9 nights in the area but that was a 2nd trip to Italy)

Something like this:

Fly into Paris- train to Bayeux 2 nights
(You’ll be jet lagged first day anyway might as well get moving.
Visit Bayeux town, don’t miss the Tapestry! next day do your WW2 tour.
Train to Paris 4 or 5 nights
Fly to Florence 3 or 4 nights-with a day trip or 2 to Tuscany hill town of choice

I’m guessing there are cheap flights to Florence. We did love Montepulciano but it doesn't have train service- you could do Florence 2 then get a car for 2 nights but that is just more to figure out and not sure how comfortable you'd be driving in Italy as first timers, there are lots of other hill towns that are easier to visit by train- Siena, Lucca, etc.
Or you have the option of bus from Florence to Montepulciano- then bus or bus/train to Rome

Train to Rome for your last 4 or 5 nights.
Fly home from Rome

I like to use www.rome2rio.com to check out transportation options

Do not book your flights yet. You have homework to do first.

Excellent advice from David

I know not everyone can afford to make multiple trips to Europe. But my wife and I had no idea at age 25 how much or little money we would have at 55. But on our first trip to Europe, we did a week in London and a week in Paris. On our first trip to Italy, we did Rome/Florence/Reggio Emilia (a previous business stop for me)/Venice.

I consider Normandy D-Day Beaches (which is not "Normandy", the province) and the Amalfi Coast to be spots for a second, third, or fourth trip to the country involved. (I know that many Americans think the only important thing that ever happened in France was the Normandy invasion.)

Especially since you are from the East Coast USA, you have seen better beaches and better swimming than anything they have anywhere in Italy. The Amalfi Coast has some charm, but not as much as Venice or Tuscany.

The Amalfi Coast is not a good final sleep, unless you KNOW you are flying home from Naples, which I have never been able to do. (We did fly there once from London, which was easy to do.) Sorrento (which is not on the Amalfi Coast) is less glamorous, is a little more accessible, but it is impossible to sleep in Sorrento and fly home from Rome the next morning. MAYBE, with non-zero risk, a flight out at 5PM.

It is very important that you said this is your first trip to Europe. I suggest that if you don't want to pay for our host's Paris or Italy books, you go to the library and read them. He specializes in advice for first-timers, and you will learn an immense amount, that will serve you well in everything you do to plan this trip. His free website tips (blue menu top left) will give you an idea of his approach, and might even be enough to get you started. But there is no substitute for his experience!

Rick's itinerary at https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/itinerary is a considered plan that has been done successfully by many thousands of people. On this route and in general, Rick does not recommend "sleeping in a new place almost every night" but on average it's probably every second night, outside of the top cities (This one is Milan 1N, Varenna 2N, Dolomites 2N, Venice 2N, Cinque Terre 2N, Florence 2N, Siena 2N, Assisi 1N, Orvieto 1N, Sorrento 3N, Rome 3N.) It's doable partly because the distances between are relatively short, and assumes you'll get an early start each day. The guidebooks flesh out more of what he thinks you can actually see in that amount of time. It pretty much is the fastest schedule I'd attempt, so a shorter trip means cutting destinations. A couple of those are meant to be relative rest days, a "vacation from your vacation," though you might not know it by the amount of hiking discussed!

Of course, you should plan your trip to balance your interests and add extra days if you want to see more than just the highlights of a destination. For instance, 3 nights in Sorrento could allow you to stroll around Sorrento, bus/boat along the Amalfi coast, and spend a day to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum, but probably would not fit in Capri or Naples unless you're quite determined. Slice and rearrange as you see fit.