Planning first trip to Italy

Short answer: You don't have enough time to do all that. If you want to see all the places in your list, you need more days - actually, probably a lot more.

When you say "10 days" is that: your trip is 10 days long (including travel time) - that means you basically have one week in Italy - or that you have 10 days not including your arrival or departure days (no matter what time your flights are)?

The #1 mistake that inexperienced travelers make is not being realistic about how much they can accomplish in the time they really have. Actually, that's mistake #1, mistake #2 and mistake #3.

First - start by being honest with yourself about how many days and nights you really have in Europe.

Second - One does not instantly transport from one place to another in a flash. Every time you pick up and move, that consumes 1/2 to 3/4 of a day at best, if you're efficient.

Third - You need to realize that the basic, banal tasks of staying alive and comfortable require a significant bit of time every day, so that leaves you with less time to actually see and do things than you might first imagine.

Add those up and you have less time than you think you do for all the places on your list.

Best advice: first, try and find a way to make your trip longer - you will get more out of a trip that's at least 2 weeks long. Then, be careful about trying to include too many places.

With just a week, you will need to cut out the southern stuff - Amalfi coast, Sorrento, Capri. If you have two weeks, that becomes more reasonable.

Good luck.

Stay in Florence. A day trip to Sienna is great.

Why are you skipping Rome, that is the crown jewel of Italy. I would do Rome before the Naples area.

For 10 day Florence and Rome, I would go with 5-6 days in Rome and 4-5 days in Florence and Tuscany.

It will help us to know exactly how many nights you will spend in Italy (not counting the night on the train). We are all probably assuming that you will be flying to Italy from the US or Canada. Is that accurate?

Also, is "we" a pair of adults, or are there also children involved? If so, what are their ages?

The last time we were in Europe we overbooked ourselves with several one night stops which was a huge mistake. My advice would be do five days in Florence and five days in Rome. From Florence you can do day trips to the Tuscan region or a day trip where you can see Sienna and Pisa. If you go with the Rome option for the second week you can easily do a day trip (although a long one) to the Amalfi coast and the cities you would like to explore. If you are doing Italy you definitely want to add Rome to the itinerary and even with four-five days there you will barely scratch the surface of everything to see and experience.

We did 10 days (nights actually) in Italy last year (May/June). We did Rome (3), Cinque Terre (2), Florence (4) and only 1 in Naples (to see Pompeii) due to us missing our original flight out, it was supposed to be 2 nights. This was a lot of moving around even though I loved our trip, I wouldn't recommend it unless you are really efficient at packing and using trains etc. If I had to do it again, I'd add 2 nights to Rome (amazing, don't skip it!) and do Pompeii as a day trip. I used a travel agent and had not discovered Rick Steves, I know so much more now about how much time is involved in moving around. If I was recommending a first time trip to Italy, I'd say go with 4 or 5 in Rome, and 3 or 4 Florence and maybe do 2-3 in Venice, though we did not go there, I know it is very popular. We did a Tuscany day trip from Florence, it's very easy.I think the southern coast will be super hot in June...idk maybe you don't like big cities but Rome is one of my favorite places I've ever been. We did not have time for Amalfi coast but it does look beautiful. Good luck-you will love Italy!

Thanks for all of the feedback. My husband and I will be flying out of the U.S. and are planning to spend 8 nights in Italy. Not yet sure which airport we'll be flying into...probably Rome. Went to Ireland a few years ago and spent too much time on trains and buses so trying to avoid that this time. We want to see as much as possible but realize we're restricted with the length of the trip.

With 8 nights I would focus on two places to stay. Since you mentioned Florence and Tuscany as definite interests...stop there. A few nights in Florence and a few in a smaller town in Tuscany. Look into transit before picking a town - some are best with a car, but larger ones have train/bus connections. I haven't done that region of Italy in a long time so can't help with specifics.

I personally am not big on a ton of day trips - I find a lot of places best in morning or evening, the exact hours you miss when day tripping. If you are going for a specific sight (church, museum, etc) then a day trip is great, but IMO you want those later hours to get the feel of a place. This doesn't apply to towns that are dead at night, but to places with local street life, restaurants and a lively square/pedestrian area.

Remember that if you are flying home from Rome it is likely you will need to spend your last night there. It is unlikely and unwise to try to get to FCO from Florence on the same day as your flight, unless your flight is very late in the day. Given this you are looking at 3-4 nights Florence, 2-3 nights Tuscan town, and 1 night Rome. If you leave Florence or Tuscany in the morning the day BEFORE your flight home, you get to Rome in late morning - early afternoon and can see a bit of Rome, too. I wouldn't plan on a whirlwind tour of Rome, but one sight and an evening walk to see things lit up would be possible. Or you could plan to arrive in Rome in the evening and sleep near the airport.
Or just try to fly home from Florence (maybe not as easy as it sounds).

I would recommend splitting your time between Florence and Amalfi. I just did a 12 day trip, including travel days, this past summer and we flew into Florence for 2 nights, did Tuscany for 4 nights and Amalfi for 4 nights. Took the train up to Rome just for one evening to catch a morning flight. I could not find anything other than a morning flight leaving, so staying that last night in Rome was necessary. You are really only a few nights short of us, so I think you can easily do Florence/Tuscany for 4 nights and then Amalfi. I would also recommend day trips from Florence to Tuscany and staying in Florence the whole time. We didn't do that, but we also had a little more time than you. Either way you are traveling a lot when in Tuscany because everything is spread out. I didn't love that part, but it is necessary if you want to see specific spots. I would probably stay in Florence and do a day trip to Siena (and possibly Siena in the evening because it's beautiful), a day trip to Volterra, and possibly Luca/Pisa. In Amalfi, we stayed in the town of Amalfi and took the train from Florence to Salerno which was a breeze. Then we took the ferry over to Amalfi. We also took the ferry a couple times to Positano. We also rented a boat one day and did a day trip to Capri. It was our favorite part of our trip. So, I do think it depends on what is more interesting to you to visit. If you want to clarify what your interests are I'm happy to give you some more tailored recommendations. I don't think it's impossible for you to stay in 3 different areas though in 8 days. It's not that hard to pack up and move.... I wouldn't recommend moving every 2 nights though.

Another option would be to fly into Naples, 3 nights. Focus on the AC, train (2hrs51 min) to Florence, 5 nights. Do day trips to Tuscany, changing locations would consume valuable time, and fly out of Florence.

Both flights would involve a transfer, but in the long run make this doable.

8 nights on the ground means 7 days. Your first day will be consumed with getting through the airport (passport, baggage), traveling to the hotel, checking in, getting oriented to the new currency, language, signage, grabbing lunch and staying awake in a sleep-deprived, jetlagged haze till it's late enough to fall into bed. Your last day will be packing and going to the airport.

With 7 days, I'd recommend staying in only 2 places. First figure out where you can fly into and out of. While places like Florence have airports, they aren't big enough for the large planes that fly long distances. You may find it best to fly to or from Milan or Rome (Florence is about the same distance or travel time from both), especially if you don't live in a major airline hub city.

If you can fly into Naples, you could conceivably spend 3 days in the south and then 3 in Tuscany. Neither Sorrento nor Capri is on the Amalfi Coast. Both are nice. Getting around the area takes a lot of time because there are no fast trains.

About Florence, Rome, Venice, Naples, and a few other cities in Italy --- the amazing, amazing thing about these places is that each one is so full of things to see and do (and eat and drink) that you can actually "see as much as possible" by staying in one place. Or two that have quick, easy transport between them.

Which place(s)? It depends on your own interests. And because it will be June, also on what your tolerance for heat in crowded places is (mine is pretty much zero). With 8 nights, if you like medieval and Renaissance art and architecture, I'd think about staying 5 in Florence and 3 in Siena (in June, Siena will be much nicer in the morning and evening, i.e. NOT when the daytrippers are there). And I would fly into and out of Florence.