Supposed 2 week itinerary in Italy in summer 2017

First, I don't think you're nuts. And you are smart to come here and ask before you make any decisions ☺ If you don't already have it, get a copy of Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door which has lots of good advice for the first-time traveler that's not in the Italy book.

Food It's worth doing a little research on what goes into some of the staple foods in Italy (pizza, gelato, pasta). You may find that there are things you can indulge in. There are fresh produce markets in all the cities you've listed. Many are only open in the mornings and nearly all are closed on Sundays. You can also buy good quality fresh produce and other healthy foods in grocery stores and supermarkets everywhere. I've never had a problem checking bags with food in them at sights. I have often had "picnic" meals in public (and it's common on trains).

Itinerary Given the cities you want to visit, you might do better to fly Delta non-stop to/from Rome, though if you can save a lot on airfare, choose connecting flights. Florence is a small airport, so only little planes. You could fly into Rome and take the train to Florence, then train to Naples, and spend your last days in Rome itself. As a first-timer, Naples is not the place to get your feet wet, so to speak, especially when you'll be jetlagged (zonked) and not have your wits about you. It's good that you are starting by working out how much time you want to spend in each city and that you aren't trying to see too many places. Your budget depends a lot on how much you have to pay for flights.

Trains I don't know what site you are using for trains. Use trenitalia.com and italotreno.it. Look at trains for the coming week. There are lots of trains between Naples and Rome. Note that you have to put in a date and an hour.

Coming out of Detroit, you should fly Delta non-stop into Rome FCO. Since you're single, you can move fast and efficient from city to city.

Most people on their first trip to Italy would choose as priorities Rome-Florence-Venice. (We were in Naples last year, and it's simply not every travelers' favorite place.). I suggest heading to Florence via train from Rome Termini as soon as you arrive.
As far as your planned itinerary in each city, you may be looking to see too much. There's just not possible to catch every single travel sight in the time you'll be there. You absolutely need see the most important places and still leave time to improvise as you go.
I'd suggest working your way back south and flying home from Rome FCO. Remember that you'll be there in the hottest time of the year, and don't forget to stay in air conditioned accommodations.

Trains: as Chani said, remember to change the clock (24-hour format) to the time you wasn't; I usually use 7:00 (am).if you don't change the clock, and you are using the website at 10pm (22:00), it will only show departures after that time.

No place is everybody's favorite. I love Napoli, I spend a few nights there every time I visit Italy. Nearby is the city of Capua, with Roman ruins including a big amphitheatre.

Regarding food, if you stay with freshly prepared foods, you can say "Senza sale, per favore" (without salt, please). This won't work with prepared foods (baked pasta, for example).

Good for you, traveling solo! You'll do great, and you've obviously done your homework. I haven't been to Naples yet, but want to, particularly for the Archaeology Museum. One thing I'd suggest for accommodations is to check out monasterystays.com, for guest houses run by religious orders. Also wanted to mention that the produce in Italy is really excellent. I fondly remember a breakfast of a pear, a dinner of a beautiful bunch of grapes and a bag of roasted chestnuts, and another of a pomegranate and a couple of traditional Padova cookies.

Great plan.
I recommend a great four star hotel in Florence, great location, reasonable price. It is the Hotel Balesteri.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187895-d203902-Reviews-s1-Hotel_Balestri-Florence_Tuscany.html

Bravo for traveling by yourself! I have visited 31 countries solo. It can be a blast. My mom always freaked out when I left the country. Youth hostels can be a great resource for meeting people and talking about places to see and things to do. Not every hostel is the same, read the reviews, some are party places, some are nice and quiet. I like the idea of monastery stays. It will be quiet.

Why are you not visiting Venice? It is amazing marvel of engineering on the water. It is a car free city different from all the others. Several hostels. If you are able to be in Venice on July 15? If so you can see Festa del Redentore. It is an amazing firework display and a time when all Venetians come out and set up tables and have a dinner party on the water and then enjoy the fireworks.

Train schedules are normally posted around 120 to 90 days out. They don't change much. Check trains a month from now to get an idea of train schedules. Schedules may change on the weekend or Italian holiday.

With your list, be sure to list what days places are closed to help you when adjusting your itinerary. I agree that Naples may be a rough way to start your trip. I would put it later into your trip as suggested.

Try the food before refusing to eat it.

Thanks for your replies.

1. My interests in visiting Italy are ancient Roman civilization first and medieval/renaissance Italy second.

2. My original reason for going to Naples was to use it as and "home base" for seeing Pompeii. The Archaeology and Capodimonte Museum in Naples seem like something I would like.

3. I don't have a rational reason for skipping Venice. Perhaps it is outside my supposed interests and I won't have time for it, or perhaps I will be sorry I saw the two museums in Naples and didn't make time to see Venice.

Is one of the following options better in any way?:

Start in Florence, side trip to Pisa, then see Rome, then see Naples and Pompeii last?

Start in Florence, side trip to Pisa, then see Rome, then see Pompeii as a day trip from Rome, acquiescing to skipping the two museums in Naples?

Stay in Sorento or some other place near Naples or Pompeii, to avoid spending too much time in Naples in case it is too crowded or has too much risk of getting robbed or attacked, and so on?

Venice is Renaissance and truly unique. But with non-stop flights only to Rome, it's an outlier for your trip.

Sorrento is expensive and, frankly, too far for what you really want to see and do. You may find you could stay in modern Pompeii or one of the smaller towns along the Circumvesuviana line. I wasn't so much concerned about your safety in Naples as the general vibe there which could well be daunting as your first city in Europe.

Napoli and surrounding areas have lots of Roman/Greek ruins.

Follow tips for safety (money belts, etc.). Don't sign any petitions.

If seeing Pompeii and the Archaeology and Capodimonte Museum in Naples is something you would really like then do it!! It has been said that it is ok to regret doing something you think you will like, but it is not ok to regret not doing something you think you will like. Don't know about you, but that makes a lot of sense to me. You should be able to see Pompeii and Herculaneum in one day and the Museum another day without any undue rushing about.

Should I, perhaps try to see both Naples Archaeological museum and the Capodimonte in the same day and then leave Naples one day sooner than my supposed ininery above?

Are there any reasons you know of not to start my trip in Naples or not to see any parts of it? Is it a lot more crowded than Rome?

As far as starting in Naples, it is a very intense city. It makes Rome, where I lived for over 4 years, seem (almost) calm. Fly into Rome, go immediately to Florence on the train and enjoy your time in Tuscany, getting used to Italy and to traveling alone. Then go to Naples and follow your plans, ending up in Rome, flying out of Rome. You can day trip to Pisa from Florence very easily.

The food in Italy is among the most healthy on the planet. Don't miss the experience of dining in a real Italian ristorante at least a few times in your trip. Perhaps one splurge dinner in each town, at least?

Florence is easy. Much of the historic center is traffic free and you can walk everywhere. That also makes it relatively easy to find your way around, especially if you make a wrong turn and lose your way.

A couple more recommendations for Florence: the Museo San Marco (close to the Accademia), where Fra Angelico lived and worked; and the Brancacci Chapel.

At a leisurely pace Pompeii and Herculaneum together will take the most of a day. Same with the two museums in the same day. We don't like to be rushed so you might be able to do the museums in half a day.

I looked up airplane flights and found that from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, the only direct flights to Italy go to Rome Fiumicino airport. It looks like Laurel and Chani and others are right in thinking that I should arrive in Rome first. The airplane journey would be more expensive and complex if I arrived at any other airport. So it is the airplane flights that are available and not how crowded Naples is versus Rome or Florence that will matter to me.

How do others here buy airplain tickets? From a website like Kayak.com, without regard for which airline, or do you pick which airline? Which airline?

It looks like it is common for people visiting Italy to go to Rome, Florence, and Venice; so I am thinking of seeing Naples instead of Venice; my only possible way to rationalize this is that I think I want to see Pompeii and the two museums in Naples, and then I can worry about visiting Venice on a future trip.

How do I rationalize or justify traveling alone instead of with A Rick Steves tour or other organized tour?

You don't need to rationalize or justify traveling solo. It's just a fine thing to do. You want to see Naples, so you get to see Naples, and that's totally your prerogative. You're going to have a great time.

You'll be absolutely fine traveling alone. Tours are especially helpful for fast-paced trips visiting a lot of smaller cities not linked by fast trains--which is not your situation--because the logistical details are taken care of for you. The trade-off is that folks on tours don't get to decide how much time to spend at each site, when to eat, etc. You seem to have an unusual interest in history, and I think you'll want to spend more than the average amount of time at many of the sights you visit. Much harder to manage when you're on a tour.

I also wouldn't be surprised if you save money, since you are willing to stay in relatively simple hotels or hostels. You must choose air conditioned lodgings, however, or else you risk being miserable.

There's nothing wrong with visiting Naples rather than Venice. There are far more worthwhile destinations than any traveler has time for. We each get to choose our inclusions and omissions. I included Kyiv but skipped Rome on my first trip to Europe, and I still haven't been to the Colosseum or the Eiffel Tower after a dozen trips.

If you don't want to do this entirely solo, you could book one or two brief tours that suit your interests - 'Walks of Italy' comes very highly recommended. Also, there should be wifi wherever you stay, so you could bring a tablet and keep in touch with anxious people back home.

"How do others here buy airplain tickets?" You will get many different ideas about this question. Some people swear by flight consolidators and others swear at them. It usually depends on how smoothly thing do or do not go. The only advice I'll offer is that we prefer to deal directly with the airline, or in certain cases a good travel agent we have who deals directly with the airline. In some instances having a really good travel agent handle things eliminates a lot of headaches and stress and they can really help if something goes awry. In the case of some European airlines one must deal directly with the airline. We prefer to do our own flight research and use the ita flight matrix site to do so. Not sure about the site url so just google them.

My personal "philosophy" is to take a tour only if the logistics make it much better. An example is Ireland, where there are almost no trains, few buses, many great but remote sights and they drive on the wrong side of the road. I like to go at my own pace and make my own discoveries. I often take walking tours, which are usually interesting, short (2-3 hours) and give me a chance to meet and talk with others.

After my first trip to Italy, I learned that it is much easier to plan my on-the-ground itinerary and then buy plane tickets. If you have a finite number of days, then it doesn't matter. But if you are a little flexible, as you are, don't box yourself in and then realize that you really need one more day to fit something in or it's better to land/depart on Sunday instead of Tuesday, for example.

If you want to fly non-stop, which most of us think is best, you're stuck with Delta. Check their website for schedules and prices and then check the consolidators. You may get a better deal. It's a simple ticket so you probably won't be at risk.

My mother thinks I am totally nuts or worse for traveling to a foreign
country, alone instead of with an organized tour.

Rubbish. :O)
I know women a lot older (and probably smaller in size) than you are who travel solo to many corners of the world. You have chosen one of the safest, easiest countries for your maiden voyage. Do your research (you've gotten a great start!) and you'll be fine.

I'll skip the must-see list for now; best to get the logistics down first. Just leave yourself some flexibility - don't plan your days too rigidly - and be aware of days and/or hours attractions are closed, things like free first-of-the-month Sundays at national museums (bad day to try and do the biggies), etc.

Don't worry about food; Italian generally eat healthier than we do, and you'll easily find lots of yummy to fill your tummy. If purchasing from markets, observe how Italians do it? You're not always allowed to handle, say, fruits and vegetables yourself bare-handed or at all. Some market vendors - especially the open-air variety - will have signs which state “Non Toccare” (Don’t Touch). Just ask for what you want and bring a re-usable bag.

Budget: booking accommodations ahead is definitely the way to go as you'll be traveling at a very busy time in Italy. Nailing down your rooms in advance will allow you to choose the best for your preferences and wallet while they're still available, and save you a lot of running-around time once you're there.

Trains; you can often save a decent amount of $$ booking journeys on the fastest trains in advance. Do be aware, though, that the lowest prices (super economy fares) are for specific trains at specific days and times so if you miss them, you'll probably have to purchase a new ticket at full price as those cheap tickets are limited and usually sell out in advance. Journeys on regionale trains - slower and make a lot of stops - are very inexpensive, great for short journeys, and tickets can (and should) be bought on the day of the trip. The workings of trains in Italy is probably an entirely separate conversion so maybe post your questions about that in a new thread? We love the trains and they're easy to use once you get a handle on them.

Tours: we've done a great deal of what you're planning to do on our own with just a good guidebook and /or audioguides but tours also can offer advantages worth paying for. For instance, you don't need an escorted tour to skip the queue at the Vatican Museums - an advance, timed-entry ticket will do - but I might recommend booking the 3-hour combo tour of the Museums and Basilica available through the website. It's reasonably priced, and accesses the church directly from the museums via an inside route only for tours. That'll save you standing in a 2nd security line at the exterior entrance to St Peters. It'll also hit the highlights in the museums so its very efficient when there's 4 miles of treasures in the thing!

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/musei-e-collezioni/musei-vaticani-e-basilica-di-san-pietro/visita-guidata-musei-e-basilica-s--pietro-per-singoli-e-gruppi-.html

Some of the attractions offer rental audioguides for very reasonable prices, and Rick even has some audioguides which can be downloaded for free if taking a mobile device! What a bargain, eh?

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy

You're going to have a great trip. :O)