Reasonable itinerary and any suggestions?

Do you realize that 2 nights in a location means one full day there?

Personally, this is not an itinerary I would choose to do. It's too much moving around and not enough time seeing the wonderful sites that Italy has to offer.

With only 2 weeks, including travel days I would suggest no more than 3 cities. You can make a list of what you want to see and do in each city and pick the three that have the most listed but choosing more than 3 means you really don't have enough time to see the sites in those cities. Have you taken into consideration the amount of time it takes to get from one location to another? Not only do you have the actual travel time involved but you also have to add an hour before the trip and an hour after the trip in order to check in/ out, get to/from the train station, wait for the train and then the actual trip. It's a long day.

For example: the trip from Orvieto to Naples will take about 3 hours. If you time it perfectly you'll take another train for an hour to get to Sorrento. You may have to wait up to a half hour for that train so lets just say the entire train trip takes 4.5 hours. Add the hour before and after the trip and that's 6.5 hours of travel.

Donna

I am also a senior but making my fourth trip to Italy in October. Traveling so many places and staying such a short time is going to leave you so exhausted you will not be enjoying the trip after a few days. Staying only two nights any one place gives you one day to actually see the destination. After 10 trips to Europe, I never stay any less than 3 nights in one place and stay most places a week.

I might suggest cutting out the nights in Siena and Orvieto. Siena is an easy day trip from Florence. You could easily stop in Orvieto on your way to Rome. I would drop Sorrento because of the distance and devote the time to Rome. Splitting your nights between Venice, Florence and Rome would give you an actual taste of these places. You will actually see and experience more than spending so much time moving from place to place.

You have enough destinations! Just add in more time to where you can... Sorrento in particular should be 3-4 nights (speaking of which, you definitely don't need both Sorrento and CT in the same trip). I would choose either Orvieto or Siena, not both. Venice and Florence would also benefit having more time. Basically, take Rick Steve's suggestion for time needed in each place and add about 50% more time.

So with 14 "days", does that translate to 13 nights? How about 3 nights Venice, 3 nights Florence, 2 nights Siena or Orvieto, 3 nights Sorrento, and... 2 nights are left for Rome? Hmm... You need more time in Rome! 3 nights Venice, 4 nights Florence w/day trip to Siena, 3 nights Sorrento, and 3 nights Rome. Time flies when you're having fun.

I wouldn't "wing it" on hotels. Planned in advance you have a better choice of accommodations in various price ranges, and you have time to really research a place to suit your needs... Like if you want a place with an elevator, or in a particular neighborhood near historic sites and good restaurants. Also, check out hotel booking websites like booking.com to see how well the accommodations are rated by members, so you don't end up with a stinker.

Donna thank you for your feedback. Your example is exactly what we are needed to help us understand the logistics.

Kathryn, Your comments make so much more sense than our two nights and running from place to place. I was using Rick's tours as a guide and that is way to ambitious for us. We could travel like that when we were younger and come home exhausted, but not now. Thank you for your suggestions and we are reconsidering our destinations. Thank you

Angela,
Very good suggestions on the number of days in each city. However, based upon Donna's comments it sounds like we would give up almost two days traveling to get to and from Sorrento and the time may be better used staying longer in some of the other places. Thanks for the tip on the hotels. We will book ahead. I'm so glad I wrote in I hate to think what we would have planned. Yikes! Thank you

Since your husband doesn't want to go to the CT, don't stress over it. If you hit a rainy day, it would be a complete waste.

I'd do this:

• 2 full days in Venice - a great place to get over jetlag and longhaul flight aftermath while just soaking up the atmosphere.
• Florence or Siena for at least 2.5 days. Decide on one and then day trip to the other. Florence has a big-city vibe with the best of Renaissance art and architecture. Siena has the atmosphere of a small town and still several great sights.
• Rome for 3 full days

Allow 1/2 day (it won't take that long but it's a good rule for planning) to go from place to place. How many nights this uses depends on your flight times. By the way, your original math doesn't add up. You list 13 nights plus "an extra couple" on a 14-day trip. Is it 14 days in Italy on the ground or 14 days including flights? If you have more days than "my plan" - you could add to Rome, or go to Orvieto between Florence and Rome. There are other ways to add a day - for instance, leave Venice early in the morning, spend the day in Verona, then take an evening train to Florence. Going to Sorrento will use up at least 1/2 day in each direction. I don't think you can reasonably fit it into a 2-week trip.

I agree. RS' itineraries are good for routing but not for independent travel. His tours have guides and drivers, you need to add waiting time for transportation, and time for getting lost. On a first trip, this could mean 50-100% more time than a RS tour.

From the time we first started to travel we made it a point not to stay in more than two or three places each trip and to make day trips from them if we wanted to see something else close by. It is very tiring to have to pack and move on every couple of days and you end up not seeing nor enjoying much of anything; besides, this will give you an excuse to return. I would suggest Venice for a couple of days and then divide the rest of your time between Florence and Rome. Both cities have so much to see that it is impossible to enjoy it all, even in the time you have. Be sure to make reservations before leaving to visit any of the museums that interest you.

Chani, Thank you for your suggestions. Actual ground time is 15 days. Arriving in Venice on October 1st and leaving Rome on October 16th. Your suggestions sound much more reasonable and more like a vacation. Good idea to visit Verona on the way to Florence. We can spend five nights in Florence, three nights in Orvieto and four nights in Rome. We will save the trip to Sorrento for our dreams or another trip. Grazie!

Zoe this makes much more sense. When we started planning this trip we really didn’t have a clue how to do it. So used RS itineraires, but see now why I was having such a difficult time planning. Thank you for your comments.

Response: Chloe. Thank you for the reminder to make reservations for museums before leaving the states. I agree that it is very tiring to keep moving around. No wonder I always need a vacation from my vacation. Merci

We just got back from a week in Venice (large apartment), three nights in Orvieto (B&B), and four nights in Rome (small hotel). Perfect. You will love Orvieto. Venice is the city of my dreams, so we got to explore it fully, taking one side trip to Verona.
laurel

Laurel,
Sounds like you had a wonderful vacation. Also, sounds like what the others have recommended for us. However, we will only be staying three nights in Venice and also going to Florence. Would you recommend the place you stayed in Venice and is it reasonable? The hotel we reserved cannot accommodate an extra night so we have to find another place. Grazie, Brenda

Looks like you're on the right track.