Preliminary Itinerary GB/Italy

Ooops---Judy and I were posting at the smae time about Salisbury.

Salisbury sounds wonderful. Thanks for the advice.

Debbie---when are you going? I'm sure you've looked into the stone circle access reservations, but I see they are getting pretty well booked up through June.

Staying in Salisbury would give you the most flexibility in terms of reserving your time slot, and if it's in the evening you won't have a long drive after.

You can even stay in a pub that's about 800 years old.

The pub in Salisbury sounds great. do you know the name? We are not planning to go until next year. We would both be flying on free air miles so I want to be able to book our flights as soon as they become available -- hence the reason to try to nail down a preliminary schedule early. The more research I do, the more places I would like to see and since last year I traveled with my sister I would like to make sure that this trip with my husband would be equally memorable for him.

It's the King's Arms Hotel, right across from the Cathedral Close.

Here is a great summary os Salisbury history, mainly about the cathedral (which was started in 1220), but it also mentinos the king's Arms Hostelry, where some "henchmen" used to meet:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A26151734

It says the exact date of the King's Arms building hasn't been established, but the fireplace uses the same stone that was used to start the cathedral.

The hotel itself claims "16th century" on the website, which would fit with the Tudor style of the place. It's a great place to stay, and the food was great.

http://www.thekingsarmshotelsalisbury.com/

You plan ahead like I do. We're leaving in June for Italy on FF tickets I got last July, as soon as they became available.

Thanks everyone -- Lola, I am definitely going to check out the King's Arms -- sounds awesome. Yes, I am planner and a little bit nervous about taking on a European trip without a tour. I am having fun trying to plan out the trip though. Have a great time on your trip.

Debbie,

It would help if you could clarify your plans a bit.

When you arrive in London, you'll need to get to Stonehenge. There's no lodging available there, so spending two nights in Bath would be a good idea. You might consider Mad Max Tours for the trip from Bath to Stonehenge (they have a half-day tour).

Where are you planning to store your luggage when you're visiting the Tower in Pisa?

Allow about half a day for the trip from Florence to Sorrento, using regular rail and the Circumvesuviana. Day trips to Capri and Pompeii are certainly possible, but where are you planning to go for your day trip of the "Amalfi Coast"?

For your visit to Pompeii, you might consider a local Guide as they make the visit so much more interesting. Gaetano Manfredi is outstanding, however he's usually booked well in advance. You'll most likely be approached by other local Guides when you approach the ticket office at Pompeii.

Happy travels!

Sounds awfully ambitious, but only you can decide if you are up to it. Keep in mind that you will use up a lot of your time traveling from point to point (you can easily use up half a day for travel and locating hotel/dropping luggage).

I would skip Naples and Sorrento for this trip and concentrate my time on Florence and Rome. They both have a lot to offer in the way of ruins and history.

For the GB part of your trip, I would arrive in London and do your 3 nights there and get acclimated to the time changes. You could then take the train to Salisbury and then the tour bus to Stonhenge and overnight in Salisbury. Beautiful cathedral there with a copy of the Magna Carta. Next day train to Bath and overnight.

Back to London for a lunch time flight to Pisa. Tower and train to Florence. You should only need about 3 hours in Pisa and the train back to Florence is about an hour or so if I recall. Not sure if there is a left luggage counter in Pisa where you could check your bags for your time in Pisa. Then either continue on with your current itinerary or revise to only Florence and Rome. Train time from Florence to Naples is around 3 hours....not sure on Naples to Sorrento. I highly recommend 4 nights in Florence and Rome. That would give you a day for just leisurely pursuits in Florence about half way through your trip.

However you decide to do it, have a great trip!

We were going to rent a car and drive to Stonehenge because would like to take the inner access tour. We would then drop off the car before going to our hotel in London. I was really looking forward to spending some time on the coast because I didn't get to do that last year. Would going to Cinque Terre instead be easier than the Naples area?

Ken has outlined a good plan. You might also consider spending your first night in Salisbury, which is a beautiful small city quite close (11 km) to Stonehenge. We rented bikes in Salisbury and rode to stonehenge on lovely back roads---it was great. If you're not inclined to bike, look into other ways to get there from Salisbury---even a taxi couldn't be too bad. The goal would be to get there early, before it gets crowded.

Salsibury also offers one of the most beautiful Gothic cathedrals in England, as well as Old Sarum, the original site of Salisbury, going back to the iron Age. There is not a lot left in the way of ruins, but it is still very interesting.

If you're going to have a car and go to Stonehenge it would be an absolute crime not to drive another half hour north so you husband can see Avebury.

You can walk all around the stones there and there a lots more of them. I wouldn't bother with the close access deal at Stonehenge -- there's nothing more to see -- and I've done both.

There's nothing to be nervous about---planning is half the fun. Get your FF tickets first, and have a bit of flexibility on the dates if you can. I called with a range of dates, but I wanted the flights over and bak exactly 17 days apart. We got our second choice so that wasn't bad.

Once you have your tickets, you can start on the rest of the planning. Some places in Italy won't take reservations way ahead (like before New Year's for the next summer) but others will, expecially the ones with web booking. Again, be flexible. I find I often change my itinerary from the original plans so that we can stay in special places I hear about during the planning process. But the first thing I look at when choosing places is location, location....

Thanks Ed, I was going to suggest Avebury to my husband also. I'm sure he would be very interested. I don't think I can get him to give up the inner access though.

There is so much to see in the Wiltshire area and nearby, inluding Avebury and the various chalk figures.

I wouldn't give up access to the stones at Stonehenge for anything, though. That is so much better than walking around outside the rope.

This heritage website is great for information about the various sites:

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.16308

It is set for Wiltshire, but you can change it to other areas. Next time we're there, I want to be sure to see the Westbury White Horse:

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.16348

Not as old as the Uffington Horse (which we already plan on seeing), but still impressive.

One thing concerning flyer miles is to check and see if you will be able to fly "open jaw" which is what you are planning to do. I have seen postings on this and other boards where the individuals could only fly in and out of the same location.

Also, we did Avebury and really liked it. You could walk through and actually touch the stones unlike Stonehenge. I do agree that you should try to get to Stonehenge early in the morning.

We really liked Salisbury. Our first time was just a quick walk about town and a jumping off place to get to Stonhenge. When we went back to England a couple of years later, we made it a point to have an overnight stay there. I don't think our bnb is there anymore, but we had a beautiful night view of the cathedral from our room window.

Salisbury will definitely be on our list -- thanks for all the suggestions. One more thing -- is it worth it to drive to Bath and spend a night if we will be in Rome for 3-4 nights on the last leg of our trip?