Transporation Suggestion within Italy

You must leave the kid at home, of course.
Then everything you mention is easy-access by train.

As usual someone needs to pay closer attention to your posting. This is no Hilton at Ciampino. Most likely the flight out of Ciampino is not an international flight so if you are there by 6 AM you should be OK. However, Ciampino is more difficult to get to so ask your Rome hotel for recommendations. You have too much planned but that is a common response by most experienced travelers. You will spend a lot of time check in and out of hotels and train stations. I would drop the whole Sorrento/Naples/Pompeii and save it for another trip. Especially when traveling with a six year old.

HSR,

I have to agree with Frank in that this Itinerary seems FAR too busy for a trip of 12-days (if I've read your post correctly), especially with a 6-year old child. I would also suggest that dropping the Sorrento / Pompeii / Vesuvius segment would be a good idea.

In the same situation, I'd spend a bit more time in Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre and Rome and "pace" your touring so that your "kid" doesn't get worn out. If you're only interested in seeing the Leaning Tower, Pisa can be seen on the way from Florence to the Cinque Terre.

Could you provide more information on your flight out of Ciampino? I'm assuming you'll be stopping at a larger airport (Frankfurt?) before boarding your flight back to the U.S. Ciampino typically isn't used for international flights.

For suggestions on lodgings, have a look at the Italy 2010 Guidebook, as there are lots of listings there in different price ranges. If you don't have a copy of the Guidebook, post another note and I'll add a few suggestions.

Happy travels!

Thanks for your responses.

@Ken- Yes, I forgot to mention we are taking a domestic flight out of Ciampino to Frankfurt.

Based on your suggestions, we are planning to drop one place from the itinerary - CT or Sorrento, so that we can spend more time in the chosen place.

Which place would you suggest we do? CT or Sorrento.

Also, if we choose to go to Sorrento, we plan to rent a car from Rome and drive down there. Is Sorrento a good place to go around by car - parking, etc.

We saw some decent deals in autoeurope.com - $60 USD / day for a compact car. Has anyone used this service?

Thanks again for all the feedback!!

Ken,
I don't have the guidebook and so any suggestions on lodging would be very helpful.
Thanks!

If I am reading your schedule correctly it looks like you only plan one night in Vernazza. Is that correct? If it is, I would either drop going there or add at least another night. For one night I don't think it would be worth the time and money to travel there. Staying only one night somewhere is generally not recommended.

HSR,

In response to your most recent questions, my suggestion would be to drop Sorrento / Naples / Pompeii / Herculaneum / Vesuvius from this trip. Given the fact that the majority of places you want to visit are Rome and north, I'd focus on that area this time. As the trip is so short, it will be important to minimize travel times so that you have as much time for sightseeing as possible.

Using a car for visiting "Naples and Pompeii or Herculaneum and Vesuvius" wouldn't be my first choice. The traffic in Naples is horrendous, and traffic in Sorrento also seemed a bit "chaotic" and busy. I don't have any information on parking in Sorrento.

Note that for driving in Italy, a compulsory International Driver's Permit will be required, which must be used in conjunction with your regular D.L. You'd also have to be very careful to avoid any Zona Traffico Limitato areas, which come with a hefty fine EACH time drivers pass through one of the automated Cameras. I've seen these in the south also, so they're certainly not limited only to Florence.

Which towns do you require lodging suggestions for? Could you provide some "guidelines" on what type of accommodations you prefer and the price range? I'm sure the group here will have lots of good suggestions.

Cheers!

Thank you for your information.

I would like to get accommodation information at Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento. Looking for B&B 100 Euros or less.

do read the "stickie" How much time to get there? & itinerary questions answered here at the top of the page and look at the train schedules between destinations.

For instance, it's a 2 hour train ride from Venice to Florence. You will need to allow close to an hour to get to the train station from your hotel (Venice is small, but transportation in Venice is much slower), and then another 1/2 hour, at least, to get to your hotel in Florence, check in and dump the luggage. And that's without packing/unpacking time. Which is why most veteran travelers advise fewer hotel changes.