What would you do for an extra week? Sorrento to Milan?

Pam, what a wonderful luxury to be able to add more time. If I understand you correctly, you will already have a week in Sorento and are asking if additional days should be added there or in Milan? If that's your question... If Milan interests you, I'd suggest adding it. I had 4 days there this fall, one of which was spent on a day trip to Pavia. I really enjoyed the time, spending the 3 days in the city exploring the major galleries, duomo, and early churches. Obviously shopping is also a major draw for many, although it doesn't hold much appeal for me. I didn't bother to see Last Supper since since daVinci's art leaves me cold, but if you want to see it, reserve those tickets as soon as you get your schedule pinned down. Milan has a very different feel from other Italian cities, more "northern" European; the area where I stayed felt/looked like New York's Upper West Side.

If you're tacking on 7 more days after Sorrento, you could easily visit both Milan and Lake Como. You could spend a couple or 3 nights in a town like Bellagio and not come close to running out of things to do. You'll have many more flight options flying home from Milan rather than Naples.

If I understand correctly, your tour goes to Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Assisi (Umbria) and Rome. You added seven days to that and plan to stay in Sorrento. You will fly back to SFO from Naples after those seven days with Lufthansa (presumably via FRA or MUC). Changing flights and depart from Milan instead will cost you at least $100 per person, just for the flight change fee. Plus additional costs must be incurred to take a train from Sorrento to Milan (over $100 pp). Besides from Sorrento to Milan it's the same distance as Chico to Los Angeles. It's not close. Unless you have been in the Naples/Sorrento area before, you should stick to your current plans and visit that area of Southern Italy instead. Seven days aren't that long, once you consider all the things you have to see. First of all I don't particularly care for Sorrento, but I love to stay in nearby Positano, on the Amalfi coast. But that is up to you (Sorrento to Positano is about 40 min. by bus). These are the things you could do in that area during the seven days, besides seeing Sorrento: - Visit Naples (plenty to do, incl. the Archeological Museum) - Go up the Vesuvius from Ercolano - Visit Pompeii - Visit Paestum (south of Salerno) - Visit the island of Capri - Visit and relax at the Poseidon Spa at Ischia island and its beaches and also Procida Island - Visit the Amalfi coast (Positano to Cava dei Tirreni) - Visit the Cilento National Park - Visit Pozzuoli
- Visit the Royal Palace of Caserta (Reggia di Caserta) And this is only a partial list. Do a search on 'Campania' (the name of the region) and you'll find plenty to do. Each of the entries above will take most of a day. Naples will require more than a day. Before you know it, seven days are gone.

Cont'd. Since your flight back (via Germany) from Naples is probably very early in the morning, you should split your hotel stay. Instead of staying all nights in Sorrento (or Positano), spend at least the last couple of nights in Naples. That will give you a chance to visit Naples for a couple of days. Also by spending the last night before the flight in Naples, you won't need to get up that early to get to the airport. It will also be cheaper because a taxi from Sorrento to the airport will cost you about $120 (over 1 hr) and the train or bus from Sorrento isn't an option if your flight departs before 8:00 am (you need to be at the airport at a min. 1hr prior to your flight, even if it's a EU flight).

Roberto wrote "I don't particularly care for Sorrento." I have to play devil's advocate and say we absolutely love Sorrento. Our favorite town in Italy. It's on the Mediterranean ocean, beautiful, charming, relaxing and fun. (had to tell you, I went to Chico State and my parents lived in Chico for 32 years after they retired :)

To elaborate a bit on what Roberto said . . . I would plan my hotel reservations to include one night on Capri. We did it as a daytrip from Sorrento and felt we didn't have enough time. The last boat back to Sorrento leaves rather early (6ish?), and you have to allow yourself time to get back to the Marina Grande and to find the right departure point. We had ditched our car in Naples and didn't want the hassle of trying to use public transportation to Paestum, so we reserved a guided tour, recommended by someone on this site, from Golden Tours. We were very satified with that choice. That's another whole day. The advantage of Sorrento over any of the other towns is that it's connected north all the way to Naples by the Circumvesuviana and to the Naples airport by the Curreri bus. Easy access to Pompeii and Herculaneum. There are also many ferry connections. Because I'm a worrywart, I would stay in Naples the night before my flight. I would go up early, check into my hotel (or at least leave my bags), and spend the day at the Archaeological Museum. That and some strolling around is enough for Naples, imo. So there are four days. You must see something of the Amalfi Coast towns. Again, imo, Positano is a bore; but Amalfi is interesting. Don't omit Ravello. It's serene and beautiful, with two splendid villas with gardens that can be toured, views to die for, and a pretty cathedral. If you're there at the right time, there are concerts at one of them. Fill seven days? Easy!

We spent a week in Milan a few years back and found it to be an interesting city, though very big and busy. It also turned out to be a good location for making day trips elsewhere, such as the Cinque Terra, Lago Magiore, and anywhere else easily reachable by train. Your time there would fly by. Happy travels. Devra

Oh my, I am a travel novice! So glad to have these responses. I had already thought about staying over in Capri but didn't really know how to do that and check out of our hotel and go back to finish out our stay. I suppose you have to pay for that night and just not worry about it :) I am thankful for the advice on staying in Naples a couple nights and not being so hectic on the morning of departure, although I did book an 11 am flight outbound. I'll post again when we firm up the plans :) I guess we just figured we were already there and why not stay longer and I am spending my 60th birthday and our 25th wedding anniversary there during that visit. Ciao for now :)) Pam

Pam, you don't have to pay for an extra night if you're not staying an extra night (anywhere, not just in Capri). You check out in the morning, then ask the hotel to hold your bags; I've never had a problem with this. The same is true on arrival; if you are earlier than check-in time and your room isn't ready, you can leave your bags. This is not usually possible if you're renting an apartment. Oh, and one B&B in Carcassonne, France would not allow hold bags before check-in time (so I stayed elsewhere). But that one place is the only one I've ever found that would not hold bags on the day of arrival or departure. Do be sure to check out on time, or you will be charged the extra night. And, depending on the particular arrangements at that hotel, be sure to get back there with enough time to retrieve your bags and get to the boat dock, train station, airport, etc.