Three Months in Italy

What a wonderful opportunity. It sounds like you are probably aware of the Schengen zone requirement for no more than a 90-day stay, since you have 85 days on your list. If it were me, I'd trim down once again, eliminating some of the possible short stays at the end of your trip. Stays of just 2-3 nights wear me down (of course I'm undoubtedly way older than you are).

Just a hint to offer: in Puglia, you'll want to search for a masseria rather than an agriturismo. Happy planning!

What a wonderful trip! In Umbria, look at Spello for your base, less touristed than Orvieto. We were there for two weeks and found it perfect for exploring the area. It is pretty, filled with flowers and a very good selection of dining options.
We also spent a week in Panzano. Entering Dario’s shop was the first time I have been given wine and snacks at a butcher’s! We loved the town. Have a meal at Enoteca Baldi on the main town square too. Chef Mimmo prepared a meal in our villa for our group. Fabulous.

No Florence? As a Florentine, I am shocked.
See if you can borrow a week from Rome.

The biggest problem I see in your plans, is that you will never want to go back and work 80 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, in a law firm again.

@Janet thanks for the tip re masserie! are there any in particular that you recommend? short stays are tiring for us too, but there are some places that are can't miss for us (matera, panzano) that don't seem like great bases for the region.

@Suki thanks for the tips on Spella and Enoteca Baldi!

@Roberto I’ve spent a month in florence years back and also spent a week there on a recent trip. While I loved it, I want to explore other places. And Rome appeals to me more for a longer stay. That said, I think we will take the train up to florence for a night or two during our Rome stay.

And I think you’re absolutely right regarding the law firm.

Daniel,

As you're planning to use a rental car, I assume you're aware that you'll need the compulsory International Driver's Permit for driving in Italy. These are used in conjunction with your home D.L. and are valid for one year. You'll also need to be vigilant to avoid the ZTL (limited traffic) areas which exist in many cities. There are hefty fines for infractions in Italy, and some are payable on the spot!

I'd split the time between Naples and the AC more evenly, visit Herculaneum, Pompeii, maybe Capri or Ischia from Naples, then more time either in Salerno or one of the "AC towns."

I'd also try to fit some "rural" time in between Rome and Naples, maybe Umbria. Have you looked into leasing a car rather than renting? The collective wisdom here is that it's a lot cheaper if you want a car for more than 30 days.

Lastly I don't think any visit to Italy would be complete without a few days in Venice. If you don't have air tickets yet, consider spending 4-5 nights in Venice as your first stop. It's the best place to relax and soak up the atmosphere as you get over jetlag and acclimate to your new country :-)

For Tuscany, don't miss Pisa, Lucca and Siena.
For Umbria, don't miss Assisi, Spoleto, Perugia and Orvieto.
Wasn't that impressed with Bologna, but loved Ravenna.
Amalfi Coast is nice, but suggest staying in Sorrento. Visit Capri, Naples, Amalfi Coast and Pompeii.

We preferred Amalfi over Sorrento. We stayed in both. Amalfi is actually on the Amalfi coast while Sorrento is not. From Sorrento, you would just be taking day trips to the Amalfi coast. There are other towns to stay in on the coast but Amalfi has advantage of being transportation hub.

I would probably take a day or two off Naples and add to coast. We enjoyed Naples but the Amalfi coast is beautiful and time consuming with travel.

Daniel--

How fantastic to have an opportunity to do this!

I am in agreement with the 5 weeks--almost 50% of your time--in Rome. I haven't been there nearly enough (just a couple weeks' worth over my trips), but in communicating with folks like board veteran Laurel who lived there for years, that's the place in my opinion that it's easiest to assimilate and 'live like a local', as they say. Why? Because Rome locals see tourists & ex-pats all the time, and probably aren't as insular & cliquish as a small town would be if you arrived with pointy shoes and a scarf around your neck, giving off the vibe like '...accept me! I'm Italian now!' Or react--as happened to me on a geneological trip to the mountain village of Sant' Arsenio, SE of Salerno--by a long, silent stare, as if I were an alien or had an extra eye in the middle of my forehead! They eventually warmed up to us after a fashion, but that initial 'greeting' was mighty disconcerting...

So, if that's your purpose, I believe Roma's the place, not to mention the cool vibe the locals have, between passing off thousands of years of history at their fingertips with a shrug & a smile. They're willing to talk to you, oft times in English, and it's just plain fun. Hope to do 6 weeks some winter in the future--gettheheckoutta Chicago--and do 2 weeks Rome, 2 weeks travel by train around the country, then finish off with 2 final weeks back in Rome. A place to call home...

We did three 3 mos trips -- one when my husband took 3 mos off from his business and I, who taught, took the summer off. And we did one for each retirement. It was fabulous. Now that we are retired we usually do 6-8 week trips as my husband has a medical treatment he has to do every 7 weeks or so. do note that your limit for Schengen is 90 days not 3 mos so don't overstay. The consequence of overstaying the visa free period is no re-entry for 5 years. When we flew into Italy on our last 3 mos trip, the lazy immigration agent didn't stamp our passports but just waived us through. When we went to leave from Amsterdam 89 days later, we were pulled aside with someone else who didn't have passport evidence of entry and it took over an hour for us to prove our entry (I did have airline ticket receipts and hotel receipts) and then have our passports retroactively stamped. The guy pulled with us missed the plane and we only made it because I had actually added an extra hour for the airport since I had read on TA about the possibility of this happening. Unfortunately that was after we were already in the Schengen zone and not before. I had made sure I had the paperwork to prove our entry with me. so yeah , they are increasingly rigorous about checking the length of time you are in Europe and enforcing the limit.

It appears that you are a young couple. As such for Rome I suggest the following districts:
If you like some local feeling while staying very close to the historical center: Trastevere. This area has become very trendy and touristy in the past 20-30 years, but not as overwhelmed by tourists as the historical center (Campo dei fiori to Spagna area) which is basically a Disneyland.
If you want fewer tourists but plenty of vibrant life and activities, due to the high University students’ presence, look at the University districts of Pigneto or also San Lorenzo (a bit further out from Pigneto).
Of the family friendly places I like Monteverde and also the area called Ostiense. But for two young people, I would choose between Trastevere or Pigneto (which also has a metro station.

We rented an apartment in the Vomero neighborhood in Naples and loved it. It was nice to stay in a quieter area of Naples, yet be able to get easily into downtown Naples. Also, we took a cooking class from Mama Agata in Ravello on the Amalfi Coast. It is a fun, wonderful class and we still make several of the recipes.

@Ken yes, on our long to-do list.

@Chani my general feeling is that I always crave more time in cities and am usually content to leave a more resort place after a couple days. Daytrips for Roman/Greek ruins sounds great though! And ideally Umbria would have come next after Rome, but we are trying to avoid backtracking and want to go south to north to avoid the heat. I know we are in the slim minority on this, but neither of us liked Venice much last time.

@geo/beth my girlfriend has her heart set on Ravello so that part is out of my hands (and Ravello looks great to me).

@Jay I appreciate the reassurance on Rome! It was tough to pick one long base so that’s nice to hear.

@Janet I have a family obligation stateside right at the 90 day mark so it works out well.

@Roberto we actually picked an apartment in Trastevere very close to Monteverde—I’m glad we made a good choice!

@Becky thanks, I’ll keep that neighborhood in mind when I get to researching Naples. The name sounds familiar from the Ferrante novels (which books are somewhat responsible for the relatively long Naples stay).

I've never stayed in a masseria, but my forum friend Charlene has recommended Masseria Montenapoleone, kind of between Ostuni and Monopoli.

Ravello is charming and has beautiful views. We took a bus there from Amalfi and walked back. The only disadvantage of it is that it isn’t that easy to get anywhere else from there. But if the two of you are content staying out, it really is a lovely place.

We loved staying at Masseria Aprile outside of Locorotondo in Puglia --- lovely hosts, great breakfasts, peaceful, and you stay in your own trullo with a terrace in the back and olive orchards.

In Naples, where we also spent a week with no day trips and easily could have stayed longer, we loved our sixth-floor (seventh-floor?) apartment right in the center of town on Via Atri, close to the archeology museum and literally around the corner from Sorbillo's pizzeria. Great view of the city and the volcano --- if you think you can take that many stairs: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1874249?source_impression_id=p3_1572959618_UD%2B06s6TgGdkH4U3

More later.

Have your searched leasing a car over renting? There was a time when leasing a car was cheaper than renting a car of more than 3 weeks.

hey hey daniel
sent you a PM (private message). check your inbox upper right hand corner
aloha

We stayed in Parma, Bologna, and Ravenna for 5 nights each.

Parma --- so pretty and so easy to walk around in
Torrechiara Castle in Langhirano --- interesting castle with many rooms with painted walls
Bologna --- lots to see and do and eat, super easy to do day trips by train
Ravenna --- many people just do a speedy day trip to see the "top" places --- but it's a nice walkable town with at least a dozen interesting sites, and it makes a good base with good food.

Our favorite small towns in Emilia Romagna:
Portico di Romagna --- nice old hotel with good food: Al Vecchio Convento. They arranged a truffle-hunt with dogs for us. Be sure to climb the tower and to cross the old bridge in town. Lots of hiking in the area. It's halfway on the road between Florence and Ravenna.
Brisighella up in the hills (walk on the donkey path inside a building.)
Comacchio in the Po Delta (cool bridge and canals in town, walk in the regional park)
Cesenatico on the coast (its Maritime Museum is a collection of boats floating on the big canal that runs through town.
Faenza --- if you like ceramics visit the ceramics museum

Be sure to eat some piadine and tigelle and some puffy fried bread whose name I forget. Go on a food tour to visit places that make cheese and balsamic vinegar.

Since you'll be in Emilia Romagna a long time, I'd try to include a visit to Ravenna to see the extraordinary mosaics. There's a blurb on this website and tons elsewhere. You may find it worth a detour.

hey hey daniel
if you're interested in historic racing cars, check out mille miglia 2020 tour that will be in cities around italy. look what days they are in the cities that you will be in. may 13 - 16 2020
a great opportunity to see these classic, lovely vintage cars.
aloha

Hello, I see you are already headed to Puglia. We just returned from an 8 day self guided cycling trip from Matera ending in Ostuni with Puglia Cycle Tours. Was an amazing way to see the country, mostly on empty back roads surrounded by olive trees. We are not big cyclists (well I am not anyway!) so we rented e-bikes. Great places to stay and wonderful support on the road when needed. We were sad that we didn't choose the longer tour. Loved all the towns we visited and stayed in, Matera is especially enchanting.