September/October Trip to Italy for Newlyweds

I was just in Naples. The Archaeological museum is wonderful to see before going to Pompeii. We had pizza at Da Michelle which is very basic and great. We rented a car from the ferry terminal which had the best rate and was convenient for heading south to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. Our car rental was Naples to Rome FCO airport (no drop fee). We spent our last night at the Barcelo Blu hotel in Ostia Lido. It was right on the beach and a wonderful sunset view. It was about 20 minutes drive to the airport. The car rental return was easy.

Thank you Becky! You say you rented a car from the ferry station in Naples before touring the coast. Where did you drive to and did you struggle with parking anywhere?

We actually drove to Pompeii and then onto Sorrento for the night. Parking was a challenge, but we purposely booked rooms that had parking available.

You do not mention how many nights you actually have..this might help others to offer advice. I have been to AC, Rome, and Islands many many times...often in end Sept. early Oct. very pleasant time to go...although this year it was cold and stormy on Capri and very cold in Rome in late Sept early Oct. if weather is good, add another day or so in AC, and little Tuscan towns. Not sure how Venice fits into this trip, but you may have more time that it seems..if going spend at least 3 nights and do it right before you return to Rome for your visit there and flight home.

All the areas you want to go to in AC area are well serviced by ferries ( in Sept anyway) and trains with the exception of the towns outside of Florence. You cannot bring a rental car on a ferry btw. If I were you I would honestly consider this: Rent the car for the Tuscan towns and possibly drive from Naples or Sorrento to whichever town that is in Tuscany...

Here is how I would consider approaching this trip. Everyone dreams of driving the Amalfi coast...until they do it and get stuck behind a bus for 2 hours...enjoy your honeymoon, don't rent a car on the AC. The poster BECKY did not actually drive on the AC it sounds like they were in Sorrento...not the same type of driving. :)

Night 1. .arrive in Rome and take a train to Naples 1.5 hours or have a driver take you...you should be there by 10 pm ish if all goes well.

...stay in the central train station area for one night, I recommend UNA Hotel Napoli for an oasis at a good price or for a budget place try Hotel Clarean ( RS pick) which I have not stayed at but did check it out last Sept, lobby, clientele, staff and used the restroom... they are both within 1/2 blk to the bus stop that takes you to the ferryport AND the Naples Central station is a 4 minute walk. Upon check out you can have hotel hold bags or for even better safety and convenience put them in the lock up at the train station.

Day 2 See Herculaneum or Pompeii then go the archeological museum, have a famous pizza lunch. I perfer Herculaneum as it is better preseved and more compact, but to each his own!

Day 2 late afternoon or Evening...head to Capri stay one night, it is amazing at night when day trippers leave. next day..take ferry from Capri to Positano, stay there or Amalfi, Ravello take your pick... easy transport by bus in Oct. ferry in Sept. Check all actual ferry schedules...as they change by season.

You can get a driver for a day if you want. Once done on AC, take public transport ( ferry stops at end of Sept) to Naples,but bus runs to Sorrento ( check cost of car rental in Sorrento or continue on to Naples by train to get cheaper rental) and drive to Florence area, stay in towns in region....visit Florence by train as you mentioned..drop off car immediately upon return to Rome, check into hotel for 2 nights ( 3) if you want to see Vatican City as you will need 1/2 day just for this...

Most compact rentals ( that will be much easier to park and better on gas) are hatch backs...no trunk, do not leave anything in your car...Italy is a poor country and unfortunately theft is very common.

Listen to RS....1 carry on plus a day pack, don't over pack...laundry can be done anywhere, but dragging bags is not fun! Enjoy, and best wishes on your up comming marriage!

We are going for 16 nights. Our must stop destinations are Rome, Amalfi Coast, Capri (Blue Grotto), Pompei, Florence and Venice. I also want to tour the countryside between Rome and Florence...possibly as far into Umbri as Assisi. I definitely want a car for this region. Leaving Venice I'd like to head towards the West coast and stop at Piombino and any other stops people can recommend.

Thanks for your suggestions!

I'm not against having a car in Italy, since I have always had one, when I lived in Floremce, and whenever I visit. However you should consider when and where to rent one, because in some cases having a car in Italy is a hindrance rather than a useful tool.

A car is an awful thing to have in (from South to North) Naples, Rome, Florence, Venice.
It is not particularly useful on the Amalfi Coast, because parking is an issue there. Capri is off limits to non residents' cars.
In your place I would probably wait to rent one when you are ready to go from Sorrento to Tuscany/Umbria. You can rent cars in Sorrento.
If you intend to stay in Florence, you should return the car in Florence upon arrival after your Tuscany roaming. From Florence you can take a high speed train to Venice, then go back to Rome from there by train.

So I would do:
Rome: 3 nights
Naples/Sorrento area:4 nights
Rent car in Sorrento drive to Tuscany
Tuscany 4 nights
Return car in Florence
Florence 2 nights
Venice 2 nights
Rome 1 last night before flying home

Last year my bf and I did 16 days end of September/beginning of October as well, and word to the wise - the Tuscan countryside was chilly and Capri was stormy. Prepare for the weather accordingly!

Since it's your honeymoon - I found Florence/Tuscany (specifically Pienza and Montalcino), Sorrento, and the small lagoon islands of Venice to be the most romantic :) Enjoy!!

Thank you Roberto. I found your post very helpful...perhaps because it resonated with my current thinking. I certainly don't want a car in Rome, Naples, Florence or Venice.

I like the idea of being able to go wherever I want whenever I want when on the Amalfi Coast...and am only looking at places to stay with parking. That being said, do you think a car would still be a hinderance on the coast?

My next question for everyone is: if we do spend 3 or 4 nights exploring Tuscany where should we go? The places I'm currently considering are St. Gimigniano, Arezzo, Montalino, Civita, Sienna, Piombino and Porto Santo Stefano. I would love feedback in pairing this down. I love wine, ocean/beaches, food, architecture and art. He loves food, ocean/beaches, old traditional cobbled towns and relaxing.

Thank you!!!

Do you think you would like to be in a town ? Close to restaurants and evening strolls ? Frances Lodge is a lovely B&B above Siena and you can easily walk down the hill into the town after you watch the sunset from their terrace. Montepulciano is also a great town to stay in.

Do you want a wonderful agriturismo ? Cretaiole, outside of Pienza, and Borgo Argenina, outside of Greve, are delightful. Isabella and Elena cook with their guests one evening and then everyone sits down to a sumptious feast. Eating breakfast on the terrace overlooking the vineyards makes for a perfect morning.

You can't go wrong with either idea. Just find lodging that you love !

MsMaroon- Thank you for your weather warning. I'm planning on sweaters and light wraps being worn with black pants and boots. I'm going to take a close look at the towns you've mentioned.

Carla- what is a agriturismo? Does that mean natural environment? If so, yes! I will take a look at the towns you've mentioned and post if I have questions. Thank you!

I would skip the car for the Amalfi portion. The bus system is great there plus there are ferries between many of the locations you want to go. Parking is a serious problem in that region, each town you may want to visit may not have available parking, the towns are very close by bus or car but too long to walk.

Personally I would skip the thought of Pizza in Naples, it sounds great but not super practical when with luggage and in the midst of changing locations between Rome and some town in the Amalfi area. That journey can take a good part of the day just to check out / get there / check in ; before considering any stops.
If you do have a car leaving luggage parked in a car in Naples or Pompeii is not a great plan so be careful.

Rent the car for the area outside of Florence sure that makes sense, just make sure you now about any potential ZTL areas in any towns you plan to visit. Even tiny towns have ZTL areas ; where the cobbled streets maybe so that means parking outside of the towns walled area and walking in. Since Florence itself needs some time to see, you really don't have a ton of time in the region to explore a bunch of other towns.

For Venice just drop off the rental, you don't want to pay to park it and no benefit over the train on getting back to Rome, only negatives actually will cost more and be slower.

Look at agriturismo.it to see some of these working farms. You can stay on a vineyard or olive grove. And hearty homemade breakfasts are popular !

They are a great alternative to the usual B&B in a Tuscan village.

You can drive around the villages, enjoy a lunch and dinner in different towns, and come home for wine on your terrace. We have found them enchanting.

Since you mentioned Arezzo: I enjoyed a day-trip there in 2015, but it wouldn't necessarily be my choice for a multi-night stay. Siena probably has more to offer, or with a car an agriturismo could be a good choice if you don't mind probably having to drive to get dinner (take into consideration how much wine you'd like to consume!).

Arezzo has a big-deal monthly antique fair that was fun to browse. I think it falls early in the month. You can find info by Googling.

San Gimignano is a cute but very touristy small hill town. Definitely not where I'd base myself for multiple days.

Okay! Thanks for the input! We have booked our tickets! We fly into Rome on September 25th at 8pm and fly out on the 11th. We've decided to not take a car on the Amalfi Coast. We will pick it up outside of Naples and then use it to explore Tuscany for 2-3 nights before dropping the car off as we arrive in Florence. From Florence we will take the train to Venice.

*Now I have a couple questions about the Tuscany countryside/coastal regions, amount of time needed to explore Florence and amount of time for Venice.*

In Tuscany I know I want to go to the Saturnia Mineral Springs...I'm a huge fan of hot springs! I'm wondering, should stay in one town while we explore Tuscany? Should we book those night ahead? Should we try to get to the coast? I'm looking at the town of Pienza for lodging. Feedback would be great! We will want to explore during the day and walk into town center for dinner. Needs to be somewhere that has a true bar for my non-wine drinking honey.

Also, how many nights to explore Florence? How many nights to explore Venice? I've dreamed of going to Venice since I was 7 years old...but I've been told it's changed a lot in the last 25 years. Plus, we will be there the 2nd week of October and it might be raining.

For touring Tuscany I think one town other than Florence makes the most sense, if you were staying for longer than 1 week in the region it might make sense to move your base but in your case with only a few days I would not want to move again.

Have not been to the mineral springs you mention. Don't think it is on the top list of sites to see for most tourists on a tight schedule.
Looks to be a 90 minute or more drive from Pienza so doable but think other places are probably more worth that drive.
The coast is not very close and would not recommend that unless you were staying for a long time.

We stayed in Pienza and loved the town, we stayed at Relais Il Chiostro di Pienza, it was not very luxurious ; more on the basic side overall but we had a suite with a good view from the room, pricing was very reasonable and the grounds are lovely with outstanding views of the countryside for breakfast.
The on-site restaurant is also very good, though believe for dinner operated by a company separate from the hotel.

Let me try to explain the town so you can understand. Approaching the town is beautiful countryside and residential houses mostly farmland. The town itself is up on a hill and surrounded by a wall you cannot drive through, ZTL zone.
The town is basically one main road that goes for about a half mile with a few small side roads and alleyways off it but the whole town is tiny. Like a town square rather a town.
It is beautiful and incredibly maintained. Views are everywhere.
There are probably 6 places to stay in town ; I doubt there are any places to stay just outside of town that is walkable.
there are at least 20 places to eat/drink in town so they surround and outnumber the places to stay ; same true with shops they are numerous and for the most part varied.
The business in town is centered around tourism though there are locals living live as well.

So to answer your question, the town of Pienza is lovely, it takes only a couple of hours to explore every inch of it by foot.
To explore outside of the walled town you would want/need a car and then all of the other towns can be driven to from there.
So exploring by day likely means driving in your car to different towns / parts of the countryside, when you return to the town parking lot, you can walk back to your room which will likely be a 5 minute walk from your car and there will be places to eat, drink most anything within a very short walking distance from your room.

You could spend a week in Pienza and never see a quarter of the sites in Tuscany. Pick a few towns you want to see and try to see 2-3 a day unless they are larger towns like Siena. Siena is incredible and deserving of a full day.

For Florence the city itself, assuming 3 nights is 2 full days you would want 3 nights to see the sites.

If you can squeeze extra hours on both ends and make 2 nights equal 2 days ; than 2 nights is good.

Venice: 3 nights is good

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