I posted some questions back in November about a hoped-for trip this summer (late July, early August, 2021) to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum with extended family (my family of 4, my brother's family of four, and mom/Grandma). I got so many wonderful responses and tips/recommendations. I thought I would post an update on where things stand. After a few months of uncertainty (bordering on certainty that the trip would NOT happen), we are once again in a waiting position - ready to go if things work out. First and foremost, every one of us is now fully vaccinated - which is the only reason we are even still considering this. We are all also very willing to abide by whatever the local rules are - masks, distancing, etc...
We will initially be spending a week in the Veneto on a barge. After that week, the 9 of us will travel to Sorrento (probably by train - the fares for flights/trains are similar, and we're thinking the train may be a bit easier due to Covid requirements on airplanes). We are booked in the Hotel Regina for four nights. We've hired Gaetano Manfredi for an all-day tour of Pompeii and Vesuvius (all day because it includes transportation - he has arranged a driver). Our goal this trip is simplicity! We will enjoy our time in Sorrento and maybe take a trip to Capri, or maybe not. We'll see how things feel! We'll leave Sorrento on August 11th. Someone on my prior post had suggested leaving early that day, and visiting Naples for some hours before taking the train to Rome - that advice was just what we needed, and that is now the plan.
We'll then have two nights in Rome. Really only one full day (the 12th), and whatever time we may have on arrival on the 11th. We're booked at the Albergo del Senato. We should have pretty easy access on foot to whatever we may want to see. I understand that any hope of seeing the Colosseum will require advance tickets. We're waiting a bit on that simply to see how things go in the next few weeks. There are plenty of other sites in Rome, so even if we had to simply see the exterior, that could be fine. In years past, our goal would have been to see as much as possible (in a meaningful way, of course). We're trying to relax that approach quite a bit this summer, understanding that things simply won't be working that way. We've certainly found that setting reasonable expectations has a lot to do with how much one enjoys the trip itself.
The one detail I left out of my original post is that my family of four is actually set to "pre-game" this trip with a week in France with my in-laws. Normandy and Paris. The hope was to take the Thello night train from Paris to Venice to meet up with the others (for the adventure, not for the good night's sleep - I've read the negative reviews!). However, the night train is currently not running, with no plans to open up this summer. We're now booked on a short flight from Paris to Venice. We are hopeful that this week will happen, but the travel between France and Italy does give me a little pause this summer. We're watching entry requirements closely. If we need to, we will scrap the French week and head straight to Italy. We are holding off on that for the time being, as my in-laws have never been and are VERY excited about the D-Day beaches (FIL) and Paris (MIL). Again, we all understand that this may need to change. My in-laws are actually joining us on the barge (as are my brother's in-laws), but will not be with us in Sorrento. So, for those of you that commented on the un-wieldy size of our group of 9, I must admit that I chuckled a little and thought, "Oh, if only they knew." :)
Overall, we are cautiously optimistic. I'd love to any thoughts/feedback - especially about our plans for our final week (Sorrento/Pompeii/Rome). Thanks again everyone for all the help with our early planning. Sorry for the long post!