Sorrento, Florence, Rome

First I have to say that you're trying to cram too much into 10 short days. I would never consider visiting Pompeii on the day I flew in from the States. You're gonna be tired from the flight, then you have the train ride to the termini, the train ride to Naples and the train ride out to the ruins. All of this travel will leave you exhausted. I wouldn't stop in Pompeii but continue straight through to Sorrento. You can visit Pompeii on your trip to Florence. Just leave Sorrento early and plan to be in Florence late. I would also cut out the day trip to the CT. You won't have much time to see any of the CT and you can spend the time visiting Florence or add that day to Rome, which you don't have nearly enough time allocated for. Here's what I would do Arrive Rome go immediately to Sorrento. Day 2- Spend the next day in Sorrento. Day 3- head to Florence, stopping in Pompeii. Day 4- spend day in Florence. Day 5- day trip to Sienna Day 6- Explore Florence
Day 7-10 Rome This will keep the hotel changes down to a minimum and give you time to visit these cities you have listed. Donna

I just read another thread, same as yours, where you're only giving Sorrento 3 nights yet you're planning many other places to see while there. When will you have time to explore and experience Sorrento itself? It's our favorite town/place in Italy and deserves a full day at least.

Add a night to Sorrento/Amalfi area, remove one from Florence and ditch the Cinque Terre. If you see those towns in the Costiera Amalfitana (Positano, Praiano, Amalfi etc.), that is a similar alternative to the Cinque Terre. They are all former fishing villages on a cliff.
From Florence to the Cinque Terre and back by train is a 6 hour round trip. Do Pompeii on the way back, when you leave Sorrento. The day of arrival in Italy you'll be too tired. Also what time do you arrive in Rome? Even if you fly US Airways from Charlotte, which arrives before 10am, you won't be in Pompeii before 2pm.

Great responses. Thank you. Donna's suggested itenerary sounds really good. Arrive Rome go immediately to Sorrento. Day 2- Spend the next day in Sorrento. Day 3- head to Florence, stopping in Pompeii. Day 4- spend day in Florence. Day 5- day trip to Sienna Day 6- Explore Florence
Day 7-10 Rome I will discuss this with my wife and see if she would rather add 1 day to Sorrento and one less day in Rome. Seems to be a decison between relaxing coastal tours vs. big city historical touring.

Include a visit to the Amalfi coast on day 2 (Positano, Amalfi), it's beautiful. Positano is only 40 min. by bus from Sorrento. If you stay an extra day in Sorrento, use it for a day excursion to the islands (Capri or Procida). You can do most of Rome in two full days (3 nights), if you want. You don't have to see it all in one trip. You will fall in love with Italy anyhow, therefore you'll have the opportunity to see Rome again, since you'll likely have to fly from there.

My itinerary suggestion (in parenthesis where you spend the night) Day 1 - Arrive Rome, go to Sorrento and spend PM/evening in Sorrento (Sorrento). Day 2 - Day trip to Positano and Amalfi by bus (Sorrento) Day 3 - Boat excursion to Capri or Procida (Sorrento) Day 4 - Go to Florence. Visit Pompeii along the way (Florence) Day 5 - Visit Florence (Florence) Day 6 - Day trip to Siena by bus (Florence) Day 7 - More of Florence or another half/day trip somewhere in Tuscany (Florence) Day 8 - Train to Rome. Afternoon in Rome (Rome) Day 9 - Visit Rome (Rome)
Day 10 - More Rome (Rome) Day 11 - Fly back to USA.

Train Schedule (Roma Termini-Napoli C., Napoli C.-Firenze SMN, Firenze SMN-Roma Termini): http://www.trenitalia.com/ Use the above also if you intend to do a day trip from Florence to Pisa or from Florence to Lucca. Circumvesuviana Train schedule (Napoli C.-Sorrento) http://www.vesuviana.it/ SITA bus schedule (Sorrento-Amalfi via Positano) http://www.sitasudtrasporti.it/public/tpl/campania/5070.pdf SITA bus schedule (Florence-Siena): http://www.sitabus.it/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Firenze-Siena.pdf Boats from Sorrento to Capri (or you could also do an excursion with one of the many boat tour companies, which would include food and visit to the blue grotto):
http://www.capri.net/en/ferry-schedule?path_id=14

Fantastic information. Thank you very much. I can't wait to share it with my wife.

Oh! You are taking your wife with you? I think you'll have more fun without her. Just kidding. Have a nice trip :).

Yes I am afraid so. She has put up with me for long time. A trip to Italy is her consolation prize.

These plans sound great. We actually enjoyed staying In Siena and day tripping to Florence. Siena is a great place to stroll after dark. I do have a question as we're planning on staying in Sorrento and day-tripping to Naples, Amalfi, and Positano. Seems that the general consensus is to stop in Pompeii on the way back to Rome. But in that case you would have all of your luggage with you. Is there a place to store it while you tour Pompeii?

If you do go to Positano by bus, sit on side opposite from driver for best view. Get off at second Positano stop or will have to take local bus to town. Roberto on this site is very astute on travel so he will probably help you more. We ate at Bruno's restaurant just down the hill from the bus stop, great view and we thought great food. We ate outside on sidewalk and really enjoyed. Saw some reviews on trip advisor that were not as great experience as we had. Good decision to not see Pompeii first day, by the time we even got to Naples, I was so done. Enjoy trip!

Pompeii excavation site has a luggage storage service at the entrance.

Lois, I read somewhere that there is luggage storage in Pompeii. Maybe someone else can confirm and speak to the safety of it. We have decided to go with a daily schedule much like Roberto suggested above. Our next big task is booking hotels in Florence and Rome. Hotel La Scaletta in Florence is being considered. Still looking though.