Tips for first time in Italy

I think you had better stay somewhere in Rome on the 19th if you are flying home. A noonish flight means you need to be ready for the scrum through the first level of security before the counters at the US carriers by 8 or 9AM!

I don't understand the thinking behind doing three one-nighters in a row right at the end of your trip when you'll probably be exhausted. Our rule of thumb is to spend at least two nights in a place, preferrably three. That allows us to actually enjoy it. I would shave a day or two off of Rome (and I LOOOVE Rome), drop Orvieto (which can be done as a day trip from Rome) and then pick either Assisi or Siena.

agree with micheal
would add one more day in both venice and florence and pick assisi or siena and drop orvieto

Hi Karl. Since you'll be in Rome for a good amount of time, I would do a day trip to Orvieto from Rome. This is easily done; it's a 75-90 minute train ride from Rome. You could also plan an additional day trip from Rome to Ostia Antica or Tivoli (Hadrian's Villa or Villa d'Este).

I agree with the suggestion to add a night to Florence but then I would suggest that you visit Siena as a day trip from Florence. You can either take bus or train and I believe it's approximately an hour away from Florence. I would look into whether you can also visit Assisi on a day trip from Florence, and if so, then stay 4 nights in Florence.

I personally would drop Assisi all together and add that day to Vernazza. I'm thinking that you won't have enough time in Vernazza because it will take approx 6 hours to get from Venice to Vernazza and by the time you check into your hotel and get settled, you will have wasted almost a full day. It's something to consider because if you travel to Vernazza on the 11th, then you will really only have 1 full day there. I personally wouldn't travel all that distance for only 1 day in the Cinque Terre. I would allot a minimum of 2-3 full days.

I would stay in Rome on Sun the 18th in order to catch your noon flight home. When reviewing your itinerary, keep in mind that you will be spending a lot of time moving around & it's not worth changing hotels for only 1 night (and in my opinion, even for 2 nights). I try to minimize short stays like that because you lose a lot of time in transit from one place to another, checking into and out hotels, etc.

Have a wonderful trip.

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking of extending Venice and Florence by a day and getting rid of Vernazza and either Siena or Assisi. I thought the three towns at the end were all on the same train "branch" but I see that they are not and with 2hrs of train time for each city, it is not worth doing all three. I also didn't realize how far Vernazza was. I think We'll just save that for another trip.

I have traveled to Europe before and I have found that traveling the first day is not to difficult. I have a direct flight from Philly to Rome (8hrs) and can usually catch 3-4hrs sleep on the plane.

As for the last day, I was thinking of being at the airport at 9am (11:50AM flight) and I can do that with a 7AM train from Orveto (changing trains at the Termini station). The only thing that worries me is if I would run into rush-hour traffic going into Rome and not make my connections. Unless I stayed at an airport hotel (what is the fun in that), it is still about an hour to get to the airport from Rome.

So here is what I'm thinking now:

30 - Tues sleep on plane

31 - Wed Sorrento

1 - Thurs Sorrento

2 - Fri Sorrento

3 - Sat Rome

4 - Sun Rome

5 - Mon Rome

6 - Tues Rome

7 - Wed Rome

8- Thurs Rome

9 - Fri Venice

10 - Sat Venice

11 - Sun Venice

12 - Mon Florence

13 - Tues Florence

14 - Wed Florence

15 - Thurs Siena/Assisi

16 - Fri Siena/Assisi

17 - Sat Orvieto

18 - Sun Orvieto

19 - Mon Back in NJ

Karl - there is also a 6 am train from Orvieto that would get you there around 8:30. You might want to consider that one. If something happens to it. you still have the 7 am one to get there.

Karl,

Regarding your latest Itinerary, it looks feasible however a few comments.

Your first day in Italy is going to be a LONG one! After arrival at FCO and clearing Passport control, the Leonardo Express into Rome will be about 30 minutes. From there you'll have to head for Naples and then transfer to the Circumvesuviana for the trip to Sorrento (watch your luggage!).

I'd suggest dropping Assisi, however you could easily visit Siena after Florence (on the way to Orvieto). Take the Bus rather than train, as it drops passengers right in town, rather than the bottom of the hill where the station is located. The Bus station is next to Firenze S.M.N. rail station, and it's a pleasant trip. When leaving Siena, I find that a Taxi to the station is the easiest method.

On your last day, travel from Orvieto to get to FCO by 09:00 IS possible, but doesn't allow much room for any "unexpected eventualities". Staying in Rome the last night would be my preference, especially with such an early flight. If you use the Leonardo Express to FCO, rush-hour traffic won't be a concern.

Happy travels!

Karl, your revised itinerary looks great! I would definitely take the earlier train out of Orvieto on your last day...just in case!!

Your first day in Italy is going to be a LONG one. I never sleep well on the plane and never plan on anything other than hotel and sleep. I would depart for Sorrento on Thur 1. Also, I would probably have booked an open jaw flight to Venice and home from Roma. This strategy saves you time from backtracking and is, sometimes, a little cheaper. Lastly, I would spend the last night or 2 in Roma and just take the Leonardo to the airport. If you are flying on an American carrier you will probably need to go to T5 to check-in. Then a shuttle bus takes you to the terminal.

Additionally, wear a money belt. Last summer a Peruvian Indian lady tried to pick my pocket on the Metro and, fortunately, I caught her. I beat her with my water bottle and she was not successful. I had decided earlier that morning to leave it at the b&b. I was dumb and lucky. Last summer was my 12th trip to Italy.

Buon viaggio,

RB

Much Better but you could do a day trip to orvieto from rome if you still wanted to go to assisi

Karl, I'm going to be less diplomatic about going to Sorrento your first night. It is insane! You will have to transfer three times, the last transfer onto the infamous Circumvesuviana regional train. You will be completely exhausted at the point where you need all of your wits to protect yourself and your belongings. Naples is my favorite city in Italy, but you need to be well-rested when tackling it and its environs.

You might consider switching the Sorrento and Rome times. That way you'll rest in Rome the first night, and have several more days there...THEN head for Sorrento!

Folks - Karl is in italy now, won't be abck till Monday or Tuesday. hopefully he'll come back and tell us how it went.

First off, let me say thanks to everyone for helping with suggestions. Our trip was amazing, we loved Italy. The only impact from the volcano was that the last couple of days we had to deal with crowds at the airport and train station, but we made it to all the cities we wanted to see and made it home on the flight we originally planned.

Getting rid of the one night stays and spending the last night in Rome was a good thing and epically considering the volcano, I’m glad we didn’t plan to travel from Orvieto on the last morning, even if we missed Vernazza.

The audio guides (podcasts) were awesome. It is much better than having our noses buried in a book.

We managed to get tickets to Easter mass the night before because someone at the hotel didn’t want to go. We are glad we did the 5 days in Rome, because both of us got a little sick (possibly from standing in the rain at Easter Mass…) and having a few days to take it easy was appreciated. Also, it was good to be in Rome for Easter (and Easter Monday) because there was still a lot of things open in Rome. We thought it may be harder to fill the two days of holiday in the smaller towns. Doing Sorrento first allowed for efficient train trips AND spending Easter in Rome.

We did not have any problems with traveling out of Rome the first day. We flew from the east coast and had a 8 hr direct flight to Rome (with a 6 hr time difference). We both took short naps on the train to Naples (the second of our 3 train rides) and after getting into the hotel in Sorrento, we went for a walk around Sorrento and stayed out until sunset which helped us adjust to the new time zone. We really had no jet lag. If you add another 6 hrs of flight time, a connection on the east coast, and 3 more hrs of time change and your experience may vary.

If any of you out there work on Rick’s book, thanks! It having a good guide book defiantly helped the trip. We saved money and got a better experience.