Traveling to Italy mid September 2011

First, buy a good guide book. Of course most of us recommend Rick Steves, and Rick's book(s) have almost everything you would want to know about connections. (I like to take Rick's recommendations for lodging and check them out on Trip Advisor, also look at them on the hotel's or B&B's own website. You'll see pictures and read what other travelers have to say.) I made my lodging reservations as soon as I had my plane tickets, so about 10-11 months out. Start emailing as soon as you know your dates for each stop. As to trains, look at the Trenitalia website, too, http://www.trenitalia.com/. You can plug in cities and times (note European style time, dates) and make your plans. You'll have to "fake" your date because Trenitalia doesn't go out too many months, but the train schedules seldom change more than by a few minutes. Good enough for planning purposes. Good luck and enjoy planning. I find that's half the fun!

If your first stop is Sorrento, it might make more sense to fly into Naples rather than Rome. From Naples, Sorrento is a short train ride. (Or you can splurge and have a driver meet you at the Naples airport and drive you to Sorrento.)

Does your 18 day trip include 12 days on the cruise or is the cruise in addition to the 18 days? If it is the former, you have way too many cities for only 5 full days. If it is the later- lucky you! Have a great trip!

Thanks for the response on our trip. Flying into Naples does make sense but when we dock
from the cruise it is at Rome. But, worth checking out to see which is better.

So you're doing a cruise that ends in Rome, then you have 18 days in Italy before you start another cruise in Venice?

Lois, Could you clarify the duration of your trip? Is the TOTAL length of the trip 18 days including the 12-day Cruise? If so that allows only six days, to see the other five place you've listed in Italy (it could be somewhat "challenging" to cover locations from Sorrento to Venice in that time frame!). Cheers!

Sorry for the confusion on our trip plans to Italy next September 2011. What we are planning is 18 days in Italy, followed by a 12 day cruise. So we are really looking for information for the 18 days in Italy. How early should we book lodging? We have the Rick Steves travel guide, we have been searching lodging that he recommends. Our plans are to do some day trips out of Florance. So we would like recommendations on day trips bus or train (we do not plan to rent a car). Once again thank you for the replies
and look forward to hearing from you. Thanks

You don't need to book lodging for September just yet; you have time to work out a solid itinerary first, then start looking after the New Year. Are planning on a stay in Lucca? If so, I suggest you go Rome to Lucca to CT, then to Florence and up to Venice from there. it is a long train ride from CT to Venice. You can use one of the national train websites to see the routes and schedules. Use a date in the next few weeks to get an idea, as the schedule for next September is not available yet. It won't change much. Trenitalia.com Bahn.de Rail.ch.

I have to disagree with the suggestion to wait to arrange for your lodging until 1-2 months prior to going. September is still high season in Italy. We've just solidified our lodging arrangements for May 2011 and were turned down by several of our first choices because they were already booked. This is especially true of the smaller places (B&Bs, small inns) where we like to stay. It would be less true of large hotels. I suggest doing lodging 6-8 months ahead.

I too have to disagree about the "1 or 2 months in advance" reservation. It is too early now (many smaller places don't want to deal with 2011 reservations until after the New Year). But for most of the popular places, especially if they are listed in Rick's book, you should book 6 or 8 months ahead as suggested above. If you wait, you will of course still be able to find nice lodging, but you may not get your first choice. I like to book as soon as my itinerary is certain, so I don't have to make any changes. That is usually around 6 months ahead for us.

Thanks to all for the response to our 2011 trip, We appreciate the the information given to us it will help us in our plans. Thanks
Lois