Planning an itinerary for 3 weeks in Italy

These destinations and proposed itineraries linking them are the subects of countless postings asking the very same question. While you await responses, the Search Archives mechanism that the Webmaster created (thank you Webmaster) harnesses the full power of Google Search to find previous postings on just Board that have already given the information that you are looking for now, as posted by folks who for whatever reason do not see your question. With that information in hand you will be much better positioned to ask follow on questions to the responses that are posted to this thread. Also the Trenitalia site will tell you how long it takes to travel from one of your destinations to the next in the general time frame that you intend. And it is pretty amazing how much YouTube video there is on seemingly every trip in Italy.

Linda: I assume you mean Orvieto as your first stop for 5 days. Will you have a car? Orvieto is lovely, and you can certainly get to many places in Umbria (and some in Tuscany) easily from there, but trains will not be efficient. If you want to start in Orvieto then perhaps a pattern like this. (I like to think in terms of nights, not days, plannign how many times I will lay my head down in one spot and then it is easy to calculate the full days I have in a place.) 9/8-11 Orvieto (4 nights) - train in from Rome, rent a car when needed, ditch it and train to Venice 9/12-15, Venice (4) 9/16-19, Florence or Siena (4)
9/20-23, Amalfi Coast (4) 9/24-29, Rome (5) You'll have some long-ish transfers (Orvieto to Venice; Florence/Siena to Sorrento), but you'll have enough time in each place to make those worthwhile. End with a good long stay in Rome. Even with what amounts to 4.5 days if you arrive early from Sorrento, you will find more to do than can be done. Next step: Outline what you might do day-by-day in each location. What sites? What are their hours and days of operation? Can you do everything that is a priority for you? Is there enough to interest you in each place? Balance museums and churches with outdoor activity, special interests, and plenty of time for wandering, sitting in a piazza, enjoying. Once you have outlined your plans on a location by location basis, you can adjust a day here and there. Maybe one less in Orvieto and one more in Florence or Siena, for example. Or switch around the order of Venice and Tuscany. You could keep your car from Orvieto, go to Siena, then on to Venice by train. But that makes for a long train trip to the Amalfi Coast. Lots of ways to arrange your trip. Read up under "Plan Your Trip" above for more help. Do you have Rick Steves' Italy Guide?

The only change I would make to Laurel's suggestions is to stay 2 nights in Florence and 2 in Siena. Both are worth more than a day trip to the other.

Linda, My suggestions are along the same lines as the ones that Laurel provided. As you've already got your flights arranged, it limits the options to some extent (open-jaw flights would have been a more efficient method). I'd highly recommend packing along a copy of the Italy Guidebook, as it contains a lot of good information on touring, transportation, hotels, restaurants, etc. This is available in E-book format if you have a Reader. Based on the fact that you want to "build" your Itinerary, I'm assuming you haven't got any Hotels booked at all? That could be problematic in September, as the fall shoulder season is often VERY busy in Italy. You may find that: a.) You'll be spending valuable travel time looking for a Hotel when you arrive in each new city (sometimes a LONG time). b.) You'll have to pay more than planned for accommodations. c.) You'll have to stay in a less-than-convenient area, which will involve extra transportation costs to reach the sights (or worse, you'll have to stay in a "dump"). Another significant concern is the fact that you plan to visit eight locations covering a large area from north to south, in a period of 21 days. If my math is correct, that's an average of 2.6 days per stop, with no allowances for travel times between them. In addition, you plan on spending five days in Orvieto at the beginning, which will further reduce the time available for the other locations. Bottom line - I think you need to seriously re-think your plans! In the same situation, I'd consider skipping Positano / Amalfi Coast and visit those on a future trip. Especially with Positano, the transportation times will be an issue, so that's the most logical place to skip. Good luck and happy travels!

To piggyback what Ken said, it took me three different trips to Italy (all between 14-21 nights in length) to see all of those places (and a few more). For cities like Florence and Rome, i've found myself returning to because I simply didnt even scratch the surface on my first visit (five nights in each!). also as Ken said, the most out of the way in terms of ease of arriving is Amalfi Coast. i think the idea of a slow pace to understand italy is fantastic, but I think you might want to carry that through your whole trip. Big cities in Italy (rome, primarily, but Florence and even Venice) are tiring because of how much there is to do and how much walking you do. I think it's really important to have some down time each day to rest the feet and also things like people-watch. To me personally, 4-5 days (for a first trip) is the minimum I would spend in the "big 3" (Venice, Florence, Rome), with the occasional daytrip thrown in. But, that's me. If it were my trip, I would consider paring it down to make sure you really have time to enjoy and savor and then save the rest for future trips - which you surely will have! But, everyone travels differently and if you're adamant about fitting in all of those places in 3 weeks then i'm sure there's a logistical way to do it. Just keep in mind you will be moving around a lot (aka unpacking and packing), as well as spending a lot of time on trains, rather than sight-seeing.

Thanks for all of the good advice. I like Laurel's suggested itinerary, do you know what the travel time would be by train for each of the train destinations? Would anyone suggest going yo Cinque Terre instead of the Amalfi Coast, or another place similar to either one that would fit better in our plans? In answer to Laurel's questions, yes we will be renting a car, and yes we have Rick Steve's Florence & Tuscany, Rome, & Italy books. Ken, you are correct I do not have an itinerary yet, but i plan to book all places to stay before leaving for the trip.

Linda, "yes we will be renting a car" Renting a car is only useful for reaching "out-of-the-way" locations, such as some of the hill towns in Tuscany. For travel between any of the larger centres, travel by train is usually the quickest and most efficient method. These are my usual comments regarding driving in Italy.... One important point to note is that for driving in Italy, each driver must have the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. These are valid for one year, and easily obtained at any AAA office (two Passport-sized photos required, which in some case is offered at the issuing office). Failure to produce an IDP if requested can result in fines on the spot! Have a look at This Website for more detailed information. You may also want to have a look at some of the other posts here concerning the dreaded Zona Traffico Limitato areas that are becoming increasingly prevalent in many Italian towns & cities ( especially Florence!). EACH PASS through one of the automated Cameras will result in a €100+ ticket! A GPS along with a good Map would also be a good idea. Be sure to also give some thought to the question of CDW. If you accept the CDW offered by the rental firm, it will be expensive but will provide "peace of mind". Some "premium" credit cards provide rental vehicle insurance, however I've found this to be somewhat complicated so I just accept that offered by the rental firm. Check the Car Rental section in Europe Through The Back Door for further information. Cheers!

Linda,
You can research train schedules at http://www.trenitalia.com. Look for the "English" button at top of the page. Only use a car for Orvieto/Umbria and Tuscany portions. You won't need it elsewhere, in fact it will be an expensive liability. You can easily substitute the Cinque Terre for the AC. I wouldn't try to do both in this one trip, though.

Start booking now. You may find that you have to change your itinerary to get the hotels/prices you want. Booking less than 2 months ahead is pushing it, especially in September, a very popular month.

I have taken everyone's advice and have planned my itinerary is as follows: 9/8 - 9/11/11 Orvieto - staying at Agritursmo Santa Maria 9/12/ - 9/15/11 Venice - staying at B&B Villa Ca' d Oro (Mestre-Venezia) 9/16 - 9/19/11 Florence - staying at Agriturismo Le Macine 9/20 - 9/23 Positano - Bacio del Sole (Nicolle)
9/24/- 9/28 Rome - Casale Dell' Ara delle Rose My husband and I are flying into Rome Fumicino and were going to rent a car and drive to Orvieto for our first stay. Should we then take a train to Venice (Mestre- Venezia), or should we drive. There seems to be a few places of interest besides Venice- but we are trying to be practical, please advise. From Venice we are going to Florence and plan to visit Siena, we should have a car for this part of the trip. I guess we will drop the car off in Florence and then catch the train to go to Positano, via train from Florence, to Rome to Naples, Circumvesuviana, and then a bus to Positano. My guess is that this should take a good 4-5 hours-not looking forward to this but we really wanted to go to Positano. Does anyone have a better way to go to Positano? After Positano, we then head to Rome for the end of our stay. Please help with any advice that will make this trip easier? Thanks Linda

Good itinerary Linda. My husband and I are flying into Rome Fumicino and were going to rent a car and drive to Orvieto for our first stay. Should we then take a train to Venice (Mestre- Venezia), or should we drive. Drop the car in Orvieto. Take the train. It's relaxing, affordable and convenient. From Venice we are going to Florence and plan to visit Siena, we should have a car for this part of the trip. Take the train to Florence. Again, efficient and affordable. You can take a bus to Siena. I'd only get a car if you are planning to go to smaller hill towns. I guess we will drop the car off in Florence and then catch the train to go to Positano, via train from Florence, to Rome to Naples, Circumvesuviana, and then a bus to Positano. Yes, long day but this is the way to do it. Happy travels!

We spent 21 days in Italy in June. Spent 5 days in Florence, which was about 3 days too many. Really, in Florence you see the Ufizzi and Accademia and look at the duomo and you're done. All the touristy stuff is in one place and everyone is tripping over each other. On our last trip we spent 8 days in Rome and it was great. Rome is much larger and spread out than Florence. Great vistas, piazzas, statues and fountains. Consider Bagni di Lucca, Castelnuovo or Barga. These are near Lucca and we really enjoyed this area after escaping Florence. Our trip was Milan-CT-Tuscany (Arezzo)-Florence-Bagni Di Lucca-Milan. Good Luck