shezoolover

We are going to Italy for the first time for our 25 year anniversary. We want a mixture of sightseeing and relaxation. We are flying into Rome and flying home from Venice We thought about trying to spend 3 nights in Rome then heading south for a couple of days to Amalfi Coast, then head to the Tuscany Region/Florence and end up in Venice for our last couple of nights. We know it is a lot, but we may never get back. Is this doable, and if so, could we ride the train to Amalfi and then rent a car for the drive to the Tuscan Region? Also, what cities would be your bases to stay and how would you do it. Of course, hotels and great food recommendations would be greatly appreciated

zeppole

What time of year are you going?

You already know you are trying to cover a lot of geography, plus hitting some major sightseeing destinations. And you want to relax!

You can do it, but under the best of circumstances it won't be all that relaxing unless you promise not to sightsee.

Or unless you spend a lot of money on drivers.

Is there anything you're willing to give up.

No.

Okay.

"and how would you do it" --?

Here's how I'd do it.

If you want to see Firenze, you shouldn't pick up your car until after you've done that. And it might be better if you actually just stayed in Firenze and hired a driver for one day to drive you around Tuscan hill towns.

(or Stay in Siena, hire the driver, and do a day trip to Firenze.)


"and how would you do it" --?

Here's how I'd do it.

Fly to Napoli (or Rome). Hire a driver to pick me up at the airport and drive me to Amalfi coast. Do nothing for 3 days.

Leave Amalfi coast by bus and train and go to Roma. 4 nights.

Proceed to either Firenze or Siena or Tuscan villa, 3 nights. Hire driver/guide for day to show me Tusca highlights. Day trip to Firenze if staying in countryside.

Go to Venice via train.

Fly home.

tuscanlifeedit

Is that 12 nights in Italy?

So

1st night you will be in Rome, as you are landing there. Stay at least two more nights.

Train to Naples (no, you can't take a train to Amalfi). To get to Amalfi, you will either have to take a train to Sorrento, then bus or driver to Amalfi, or possibly a ferry from Naples, depending on the time of year. Considering that it will take you a good part of a day to get there, stay 3 nights.

On the 7th day, you have to get yourself from Amalfi to Tuscany. Will take most of a day again. If you have to rent a car to do this, you will want to leave Amalfi and probably head to Salerno (closer) but I would get a driver, a bus, or again depending on the season, a ferry, to Salerno and train to Florence. You don't want and can't really have a car in Florence. Stay 3 nights. Do a driver or bus to a town or two in Tuscany while you are in Florence, remembering that your first day there is pretty much shot by just getting there.

On the morning of the 10th day, take a train from Florence to Venice. Stay three nights.

This all supposes that you have 12 nights. If you have 12 days/11 nights, you will have to do some thinking about what to give up.

Can't recommend hotels or anything else without your budget. How much per night?

What cities: Rome, Florence, Venice. I see now that you say "Amalfi region" so if I had to pick a town I would pick Positano. Although Amalfi has better transportation connections, and Sorrento would save you time. Again, so much depends on time of year.

As far as Florence goes, it is to my liking but unless you enjoy museums and churches, it might not be for you. What do you have in mind to do in Tuscany?

shezoolover

Okay, here is another thought. What if we substituted Cinque Terre for the Amalfi Coast. That way we would not do so much backtracking. As for what we like, we are not museum lovers but of course want to see the must see exhibits. We really love to take in the feel and my husband likes coastal areas, great food and of course wine. As for hotels, we would rather stay in quaint midprice but have budgeted for $200 per night US.

zeppole

What time of year is this?

If you are somewhat off-season, I would suggest maybe this:

Rome 5 nights -- including a day trip to Firenze, 90 minutes each way.

Train to Orvieto (one hour from Rome) Have lunch, tour town. Drive to some not-too-far-Tuscan town, spend night.

2 more nights in Tuscan towns, moving northward.

Drive to Portovenere or Levanto -- 2 nights, visit Cinque Terre.

Drive to Venice, stopping for nice lunch en route. Get rid of car.

If you are going in high season, I don't recommend any of this.

zeppole

Sorry. I think I may have counted wrong.

Rome 5 nights
Tuscany 3 nights
Liguria 2 nights
Venezia 2 nights

Have you got that many days?

shezoolover

We are going the first part of September. Is this considered high season?

zeppole

To some extent, yes.

If that's the case, drop Portovenere in favor of Levanto.

But realize that it is a long drive from le Cinque Terre to Venezia. So that really leaves you just one day to see Venezia, if I've counted your days right.

I really don't recommend your taking such a trip. Italy is extremely dense in riches, and it is possible to pick a small area of it and still see fantastic things while at the same experiencing more of what makes Italy a very enjoyable culture.

With a whizz around the country, you be seeing sights, but seldom have a chance to savor them. And one of the difficulties of including the Mediterranean on any Italian trip is that it is always slow-going there, and when you want to tack on Venice -- too!

If you are saying you are going in five weeks and your budget for lodging is around $200 per night, you really need to get cracking with booking hotels if you plan to go to the most popular sights in Italy.

It may be too late to start considering this, but I will just mention that you could have a very beautiful 12 day stay in Italy if you spent 3 nights in Roma, 5 nights in an agriturismo in Umbria -- seeing Orvieto, Assisi, Spello, Spoleto, Montefalco and perhaps Perugia or the Piano Grande -- and 3 nights in Venice. And it would cost you less, and you'd probably eat slightly better and drink better wine. And you'd see fewer tourists and meet more Italians.

Any interest? If you want to plan a trip like this, including a stay at an agriturismo in Umbria, post here but also post over at the Slow Travel website. (Those folks, however, won't help plan the other zoom trip you are considering.)

OhioDi

We did a very similar itinerary several years ago and it went something like this

Arrive Rome: Stayed 3 nights
Took a train to Tuscany and picked up a rental car. Stayed 3 nights in San Quirico.

Drove to Florence, dropped rental car and stayed for 3 nights.

Train to Vencie. Stayed three nights.

Flew home from Venice.

We really loved this trip and although we covered alot of the area we never felt rushed.

Happy Anniversary!! You will love Italy

shezoolover

This sounds very doable. My other thought would be
Rome 3 nights
Cinque Terre 2 or 3 nights
Sienna 3 or 4 nights
Venice 2 or 3 nights

Would I be able to take in Florence with this itinerary and where would you spend the extra nights. We have 11 in all!

OhioDi

If you stay 4 nights in Siena you can easily day trip by train or bus to Florence.

If you really have a strong desire to see Florence I would add the extra day to Siena or better yet stay somewhere outside of Siena and enjoy the more rural parts of Tuscany.

Your trip could go something like this:

Rome 3 nights
Cinque Terre 2 nights
Siena or B&B outside Siena 4 nights
Venice 2 nights

If you can possibly add another day I would stay in Venice for three nights and then fly home.