Mike

Below you will find a draft itinerary I'm putting together for my Oct 18-Nov 2, 2002 honeymoon. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, especially when it comes to traveling between cities. <BR>10/18- leave Washington, DC for Rome. <BR>10/19- arrive in Rome at 9:05 AM and hire a car to Amalfi (how much will this run me???). Relax by the pool for the rest of the 19th, do the same on the 20th with a walk into town. <BR>10/21- go to Pompeii (HOW????) for the day, returning to Amalfi that evening <BR>10/22- Leave Amalfi in the AM for Rome (take the train???). Spend the rest of the day hanging out at a piazza in Rome.<BR>10/23- visit the historic area of Rome<BR>10/24- spend the day in Vatican City <BR>10/25- an open day in Rome to do as we wish, either shopping or spending more time in one of the areas mentioned above.<BR>10/26- Travel to Florence in the early AM via the ES train. Spend the rest of the day in a Florentine piazza. <BR>10/27- Visit museums <BR>10/28- This is a Monday, so since the museums are closed, we plan on shopping and exploring the streets of Florence<BR>10/29- Spend some more time in museums or whatever we feel up to in the early part of the day and then take the ES train to Venice<BR>10/30- Spend the day touring glass factories and exploring Venice<BR>10/31- Visit the Uffuzi and possibly other museums<BR>11/1- Explore some more and visit museums until late afternoon and then leave for Rome via the ES train so we can catch our flight home the following day. <BR><BR>Am I trying to go to too many cities???<BR>

kelly

I think it sounds really good, except for the fact that the Uffizi is in Florence, not Venice.

Mike

Whoops! Thanks Kelly, I mixed up my museums!

Ellen

I suggest you fly into Naples if you can since it is much closer to the Amalfi Coast. From Naples airport to Positano it cost us $150 for a car, but it was well worth it. After a long flight with connections, it was nice to have someone who spoke Italian handle the pick up of our bags and deposit us at the hotel door in a Mercedes. We were still stressed from the wedding and the flight. One of the best things we did was rent a boat for 2 hours in Positano and putput down the coast, stopping to swim along the way. You do not need a full day in Pompeii. Hire a driver to take you to Pompeii, wait for you to get a tour for 2 hours, and drive you the rest of the way to Naples train station so you can get to Rome (about 3 hrs). It cost us $250 including the tour, but we got the maximum out of our day by not being in a group, dealing with the buses, and lugging the suitcases. And, it was our honeymoon, so we splurged. When in Florence, you might consider a bus tour to Tuscany on the Monday that the museums are closed. You can see Siena and San Gimignano in a day. Do not miss the Villa Borghese in Rome. They are timed tickets that you need to reserve in advance. Your concierge can help. Also, try to fly out from Venice or Milan if possible instead of back-tracking. You will spend your whole trip on trains.

Mike

Here's a list of possible hotels, I hope I don't mix up the cities again! Any other suggestions? ...and I don;t have an Amalfi list yet.<BR>Venice- Locando Leon Bianco, Locanda San Barnaba, Hotel San Galloand, Hotel Fiorita <BR>Rome- Hotel Pantheon<BR>Florence- Hotel Hermitage, Beacci Tornabuoni, Casci

mike

Ellen, thanks, the Pompeii suggestion is right on target. What I failed to mention is that I was planning on using my American Airlines miles and they only go to Rome, perhaps I'll have to re-think that.

Michael

The itinerary looks pretty good. I also would try to open jaw it by flying into Naples and flying out of Venice. An alternate would be to fly to Rome and out of Venice. Also would depend on whether you can fly direct from D.C. to Rome etc and what airline you choose. We go to Europe around your timing and the airfares are quite reasonable. We fly out of the west coast which is more expensive than flying out of D.C. so you should be able to get airfare for $800 to $1000 for two, possibly less if you get one of the two tickets for one price deal.<BR>We hired a car/driver last year to take us from the Naples train station to Pompeii, than to Sorrento; plus a 8 hour tour of the Amalfi the next day, returning to the Naples train station. Cost was less than $350. They can also pick you up at the Rome airport but I have no idea of the cost. I also highly recommend a guide for Pompeii. <BR>Have a great trip.

blinkybill

Does Venice have an International airport, for 747's etc. I flew in to Venice from Amsterdam about 5 years ago and the airport looked pretty small.

Rex

Venice does indeed have an international airport; flights nonstop to JFK for sure. this doesn't necessarily answer the question about 747's - - there are numerous other aircraft flying trans-atlantic routes nowadays, of course.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Jim Tardio

Unless you have some special fascination with the famous glass from Venice, I'd skip the glass factory tours.<BR><BR>Sure, you'll see some glass made but most of your time will be spent in a showroom attached to the factory, with a salesman trying to sell you glass. And beware of the free ride to the Murano factories. It will most likely be one-way. Sorry to sound so down on this, but Venice is so wonderful that I was mad at myself for having wasted half a precious day with this.<BR><BR>I also agree that you should just fly to Naples and start there. You may want to rethink Amalfi as your base for that area. Sorrento is closer to both Pompeii and Rome and still close to Amalfi, Positano, etc...<BR><BR>http://www.jimtardio.com/italy.html

Mike Miller

Mike, we stayed in Sorrento this past Oct and that is where we dropped off our car. Really don't need it in that area at all and the traffic in that area was really crazy! There is a train called the Circumvesuvinia (spelling may be off) that goes from Sorrento all the way to Naples with stops at Pompeii and Herculeneaum. We did both Pompeii and Herculeneaum and our recommendations is for Herculeneaum because it is better preserved than Pompeii and you can really see the whole site in 2 or 3 hours. We rented an audio guide at the giftshop. Pompeii is too big to see in 2 hours. It took us all day. If you want to go down the Amalfi coast, there are blue Sita buses that leave from all towns on the 1/2 hour.

chris

Mike - American doesn't fly to Rome at all. You have to connect it LHR or CDG on BA.

John

Hi Mike,<BR><BR>Sounds like a very active honeymoon with tons of time spent traveling. If relaxing is your objective, I would cut this in half. Based on the time of year (weather) I would opt for Rome - Naples - Rome . . . and save Florence and Venice for an anniversary trip in the future.<BR><BR>You will find tons of things to do in both Rome and the Naples area.<BR><BR>In Rome seeing the basic historical sights can take a week, not to mention shopping and hanging out. Same thing in Naples.<BR><BR>You might want to consider the following:<BR><BR>1. Arrive Rome - check into hotel and hang out.<BR>2. Explore Rome - decide what you want to see when you come back. Rent car and head to Amalfi Coast.<BR>3. Stay in Ravello, Amalfi or Positano.<BR>4. Day trip to Naples - Archeological Museum and Capodimente (most of the Pompeii and Herculaneum artifacts are in the museums)<BR>5. Day trip to Herculaneum or Pompeii or both and/or trip to Caserta (mini Versailles)<BR>6. Head for Paestum - beach day and Greek ruins.<BR>7. To Capri (turn in car in Naples/Sorrento)<BR>8 or 9. Back to Rome (finish out honeymoon in Rome.<BR><BR>

Mike

Thanks for all the great comments! I was concerned about all the back and forth, we may reconsider which cities we visit as well as flying AA, but that might impact the budget(Chris, I contacted AA and they fly into Rome Oct 15 through May 15 but I did learn they don't fly to Milan anymore, which would have been ideal, into Milan and out of Rome). Jim, any ideas on where to go for glass in Venice, my fiance collects glasses?

sandi

American doesn't fly into Milan anymore?!

Sue

I couldn't use my American Frequent Flyer miles to get to Italy at all. They told me that since 9/11 they aren't servicing Italy anymore and I wasn't sure if it was for the entire airline or just Aadvantage tickets.

Sue

I heard the glass factories in Venice were a snore. I found plenty of shops in which to buy glass right around St. Mark's square.

Ellen

Hmm. I don't get it. We flew American and they just partnered us with British Airways. AA to Heathrow, BA to Naples. On the return it was BA from Milan to Heahtrow and AA to US.

Sue

Maybe the Italy restriction is just for Aadvantage awards then.

Mike

I just hung up with American Advantage...you can fly their One World partners to Italy, namely British Airways and Swiss Air, using your American miles (excluding their net saver rewards), and American does fly into Rome during certain time periods.