Our first trip to Italy is starting to take shape. We will be spending twelve nights total in May. We will start out staying with family in Rome arriving on Sunday for three nights. We will travel by train to Venice on Wednesday staying for two nights most likely at the Hilton Molino. (I will be using my points for the stay) On Friday we will travel by train to Florence and plan to stay two nights at the Hotel Caravaggio. Sunday morning we will take the train to Sorrento where we will stay at the Grand Hotel Aminta for three nights before returning to Rome on Wednesday to spend our final two nights with family and return home on Friday. I know this is long-winded but we are stoked about making this trip! If anyone would care to share your experiences or suggestions for this tour we would be glad to see them. Thanks!
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
It sounds like you'll spend a lot of time on the train. The trip from Rome to Venice is over 4 hours. The train from Florence to Naples is 3 hours with another hour for the train to Sorrento. Then back to Rome is almost 3 hours and that's just the time on the train. It doesn't take into account checking into and out of hotels and getting to and from the train station. You'll lose the better part of a day traveling so you'll only have a full day on Thursday and the evening on Wednesday to see Venice. Depending on when you leave Venice on Friday you'll have part of Friday to see Florence and Saturday. Sunday will be a long trip to Sorrento so you might only have the evening to visit as well as Monday and Tuesday. This is not a lot of time in any of these cities. You may want to leave Sorrento for a later trip in order to really have some time in the other cities. Donna
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11318 posts
You must be so excited Dan! How lucky to have family in Rome! As Donna suggests, it is a lot of travel time changing places. Some people love that though. My husband would take a 3 hour ride on a train every day, but alas I am the practical one who says we actually need to see the places we go and experience the culture. :-) I would suggest dropping Sorrento as well. It is a long way south of Rome. I wanted to go last time, but realized that it was just too far off our main Northern Italy track. Add two nights to Florence and one to Venice. You will be glad you slowed down a bit. With the extra time in Florence, you can daytrip to a hilltown (or two), take a wine tour in Chianti, etc. Splurge on a car for a day or two in Tuscany and take a driving tour. Slow Travel has some great recommendations for drives, like this one http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/monte_cetona.htm. On that page, note the suggestions in the column on the right. Some ideas to inspire you. Someone will chime in about cars and Florence, so here is the advice: Don't drive in Florence. Maybe you can rent the car for a day and return it to avoid parking problems. I was told not to rent or drive in Siena, but I did, and my landlord had a parking spot for me for only a few euros a night, outside the ZTL. Check with your hotel. Also search the archives here. Lots of good advice on sights and activities.