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Rome, Naples ... Day Trips?

Posted by on

Thank you in advance for taking time to read my question. My husband and I are celebrating our First Anniversary by traveling to Italy for 11 nights in mid-May (I already subtracted our travel days). We have a general outline but would really value feedback. Some basic info about us might be helpful. We are about 60 y.o., in great health and fitness, seasoned international travelers, especially enjoy history, music, cooking, and learning about local culture and people. Using public transportation is very familiar to us. We want to strike a balance of touring and relaxing. This will be the third time I have visited Italy and my husband's first.

We fly into Florence and depart from Rome. We will spend the first 5 nights/4.5 days touring Florence and the surrounding Tuscany area including Cinque Terre, cooking class/dinner and vinyard tour. Additional options include Assisi, Sienna, etc.. We have reservations at a historical/restored farmhouse about 7 km west of Florence, and we will have a rental car for much of this. What gems do you think we may have overlooked?

Here is my primary question: How should we divide our remaining 6.5 days/6 nights between Rome and surrounding areas? So far we are most interested in Rome (minimum 3 days), Amalfi Coast (probably spend 1 night in Positano), and MAYBE Naples, Pompeii, Capri and ??? Perhaps we can get tickets to an Opera or Symphony Concert in Rome?

FIRST, do you believe it is wise to spend time in Naples during this period, or should we focus on the other places? IF we include Naples, does it make sense to TRAIN directly from Florence to Naples, take day-trip to Capri and possibly Sorrento and Pompeii, and then work our way up the coast to Rome for our final 3 days?

OR

SECOND, should we TRAIN directly to Rome, spend ~3 days touring Rome and then take a bus or private driver round-trip down the Amalfi Coast possibly stopping in Pompeii. We might spend a night in Positano or similar town. From there we could take a day-trip to Capri and possibly Sorrento and finally end up in Rome to fly out.

In summary, keeping in mind we do want to see the most important historical sites and have time to breathe in local culture, what are your thoughts about places we have included and excluded? What "hidden gems" are we missing? At this point, we are not locked into anything except our flights.

We are very excited for our Italy trip, and in advance are thankful for your replies.

Posted by
1005 posts

Italy is my favorite destination. Florence/Tuscany/Rome seems a doable trip in your time frame, but adding the Amalfi Coast may remove some of the relaxation from your journey. I would reconsider Capri for certain. On a beautiful day, it's a nice ferry ride from Sorrento, but it's largely geared to high end shopping, not high culture, and a day trip will take pretty much an entire day. A day in Naples is a much more interesting option for me. Great food and street culture, but avoid Tuesdays when the museums are closed. An Amalfi day with a private driver is worth it. We were based in Sorrento, and our daylong drive included an hour in both Amalfi town and Positano, and two in tiny Ravello for lunch, which worked well for us. But in 11 nights, I would sandwich some serious Tuscan and Umbrian hill towns between Florence and a longer stay in Rome. Enjoy!

Posted by
795 posts

you could do 3 nights in Campania (maybe Naples or Sorrento) and do a trip to Pompeii and then a private driver tour of the Amalfi Coast (3 nights gives you 2 full days).....or mainly just pick 2 main areas you want to do and assign each a day....

I would end in Rome, because getting to the airport from anywhere down there is more complicated than in Rome....I would end in Rome, just because it is very straightforward and well, you probably have better options for flights there....

Posted by
2456 posts

Well, vendor, certainly all the individual places and activities you mention are absolutely WONDERFUL, but you also mention the word "relaxing". I think you could easily enjoy all 11 of your nights near Florence and in Rome, or could spend 8 or 9 nights in those two, plus 2 or 3 nights in the Cinque Terre. But I think just a day trip to CT would be a very long and not very satisfying day, not including the less-crowded early morning and evening hours, and certainly not relaxing. In my opinion, adding Naples and the Amalfi Coast would call for a longer trip, or a very rushed trip, short on relaxing. All the places you mention in that area -- Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Capri -- are great but take some time to visit, plus getting around, and I can't see fitting them into your 11 nights, unless you both drop the CT and condense the Florence/Rome time frame down to probably 7 nights. Just my opinion.

Posted by
13 posts

Thank you very much for your thorough and prompt replies. After taking your words into serious consideration, we have assembled Draft #2 of our Italy Itinerary. The Ideas lists are simply possible activities. We will narrow these lists greatly. We still have many details to establish, but what do you think of this general plan? Honesty!!

ITALY ITINERARY AS OF 2/10/15:

W 5/13 Fly INDPLS to FIRENZA; ~7:00 p.m. departure

TH 5/14 FIRENZA ~ 3:00 p.m. arrival; Pick up rental car; drive to IMPRUNETA hotel
Check into VILLA SALADINI; casual eve; walk into IMPRUNETA for early dinner; zzz early

F 5/15 FIRENZA tour full day; chill eve in FIRENZA

S 5/16 CHIANTI/TUSCANY VINYARD tour, etc.

Ideas: Walk in Greve; Montefioralle; Mercatale; San Casciano Val di Pesa OR Volpaia; Badia a Coltibuono; Castleof Brolio; *Monteriggioni; Certaldo; San Gimignano; Mantacatini Terme

SN 5/17 Morn – Ideas: LUCCA, or more CHIANTI area above
Aftn/Eve – Cooking Lesson/Dinner

M 5/18 Ideas: Tour ASSISI, CINQUE TERRE, or 2nd day in FIRENZA if needed
Final night @ VILLA SALDINI, pack
Return rental car 5/18 night or early 5/19 before train, check schedule for feasibility

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

T 5/19 Train FIRENZA to NAPOLI approx 6:00-11:00 a.m. (~4.5 hrs)
Tour NAPOLI afternoon; Bus to SURRIENTO area; Check into hotel before dinner

Day Trip Ideas: AMALFI COAST; POSITANO; SURRIENTO; RAVELLO; POMPEII (no CAPRI)

W 5/20 Day Trip (see above)

TH 5/21 Day Trip (see above)
Final night in SURRIENTO area; pack

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

F 5/22 Train NAPOLI to ROMA a.m. (1hr 10 min); Bus to hotel, check-in or drop off luggage
Tour ROMA balance of day (see below); settle into hotel in eve

Ideas to Tour in Roma: Colosseum; Domus Aurea; Spanish Steps; Trevi Fountian; Pantheon; Roman Forum; Galleria Borghese; Museo Nazionale Romano; Piazza Venezia; Piazza Navona; Vatican City (whole day); OPERA or SYMPHONY one evening

S 5/23 Tour ROMA majority of day; start early, chill eve (see above)

SN 5/24 Tour ROMA majority of day; start early, chill eve (see above)
Final night in ROMA, pack

M 5/25 Fly ROMA to INDPLS

Posted by
32405 posts

vendor,

Your second draft looks much more reasonable. A few thoughts on what you have so far.....

  • When buying train tickets especially, you'll need to know the correct name for cities. I assume you're referring to Firenze in your Itinerary. Also, I believe "Surriento" is the Neapolitan dialect so you may get better results with Sorrento.
  • As you may know, most cities in Italy have more than station. You'll most likely be using Firenze Santa Maria Novella, Napoli Centrale and Roma Termini stations.
  • You didn't mention this but a couple of points about the rental car - each driver must have the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with the home D.L. IDP's can easily be obtained for a small fee at any AAA office. Also, do NOT drive into Florence as the city is just about saturated with ZTL (limited traffic area) cameras, and hefty fines will result for each violation, which you may not know about until several months after you return home. Your first clue that you've been ticketed will be unexplained charges on your credit card from the rental company, for providing renter information to the authorities. The actual tickets will follow later. You'll find ZTL areas in many other towns and cities as well.
  • Having a car in the Cinque Terre is not advisable, since you can't drive in the towns and parking is limited. If you plan on taking the car on that trip, your best bet would be to drive to La Spezia and park near the train station. Use the frequent local trains to get to each of the five towns.
  • For travel from Naples to Sorrento, I suppose the Bus is one option. You could also travel via the Circumvesuviana (train) or hire a private car service (depending on your budget) - details on car services in the guidebook. The Circumvesuviana is a commuter train, and the line to Sorrento also goes by Pompeii. It's a bit of a "graffiti laden clunker" but will get you there. It has a bit of a reputation for pickpockets and scammers so watch your valuables!
  • What means of transport were you planning to use for the day trip of the Amalfi Coast? I doubt that you'll be able to get to all of the places on your list.
  • Upon arrival in Rome on the 22nd, I'd suggest using a Taxi from Roma Termini, rather than a Bus (especially if the Bus you'll need is the #64, AKA the "Pickpocket Express").
  • Are you using a guidebook to plan your touring? I'd highly recommend that approach, as the books have an enormous amount of information, that will save you both time and money.
  • On your departure from Rome, I assume you'll be using the Leonardo Express to get from Rome to FCO. If so, BE SURE to validate your tickets prior to boarding the train on the day of travel, or you'll risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! The same is true when using Regionale trains and Buses, Metro or whatever!

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