Feeling overwhelmed!

Old Aug 26th, 2017, 05:20 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Feeling overwhelmed!

We are going to Italy for 16 days in October 2018. I'm struggling with two parts of our trip. Our travel agent suggest staying in Florence for 3 nights then moving to Siena for three nights to get out of the crowds of Florence. She suggest doing a cooking lesson/dinner one evening and a wine tour/lunch one day. We are big foodies but I'm wondering if there is enough to do in Siena for 3 nights. We are not renting a car while in Italy. I'd like to know if there are any great restaurants in Siena one would recommend.

My other concern is Sorrento. It was suggested we stay in Sorrento for four nights to relax before going to Rome. I would like input on staying in Positano verses Sorrento, or should we do two nights in each...or is that too much? We will probably see Pompeii on the way to Sorrento and I don't want to go to Capri.

So my question is where to stay in Tuscany, Florence the whole time or split it up with Siena. Sorrento or Positano or split it up? Thoughts?
Debbie2673 is offline  
Old Aug 26th, 2017, 06:17 PM
  #2  
kja
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,101
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Sorrento / Positano -- what do you want to do in the area? You mentioned Pompeii, but if you also want to visit Herculaneum or the awesome Archeological Museum in Naples, you might want to stay in Sorrento. If you just want to visit Pompeii on your way to / from the Amalfi Coast and your focus is on the Amalfi Coast per se, then stay on the Amalfi Coast -- Positano or Amalfi. And if you want to see Herculaneum and the Archeological Museum and want to see the Amalfi Coast AND don't mind changing hotels, then stay in Naples and either Positano or Amalfi.

If you don't already have one, I would urge you to get a good guidebook. In comparison to the cost of your trip, the cost of a guidebook will be nominal, and you will have a wealth of information at your fingertips. For that matter, you can consult one at a local library or book store....
kja is offline  
Old Aug 26th, 2017, 07:08 PM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,969
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
If you want to make a rational decision on Florence/Siena and Sorrento/Positano, you need to articulate what you want as mentioned by the previous poster. How did your TA arrive at the proposal? (I don't know why you are using a TA in the first place, but that is a different thread.) Once you decide what you want, the decision would be more straight forward - which one satisfies your needs? Without objectives, you will be going in circles and the TA would be happy to propose an itinerary to increase the commission.

As long as you operate in "it was suggested" mode, it would be difficult to come up with an itinerary meeting your needs.
greg is offline  
Old Aug 26th, 2017, 08:54 PM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,118
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What I would do is stay 2 nights Siena after Florence, then 2 nights in Naples or Sorrento to see Pompeii (I like Sorrento for a first trip) and 3 nights in Positano or Amalfi.

I agree with above, you are doing yourself a disservice relying on others' opinions rather than getting some guidebooks and researching for yourself what excites YOU and what places you want to see.
sundriedtopepo is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 12:33 AM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 25,493
Received 4 Likes on 4 Posts
So Tuscany without a car does not mean no travel.

Pisa and Lucca are both a 45 min commute away from Florence on the train.

Some small towns are easy access from Siena.

There are also buses (which tend to be a bit trickier than trains.

So, go back to your TA and get them to work out lovely places to visit nearby.

seat61.com explains how European trains work (click through to Italy) and the "regionale" trains are the slow one that stop at every haystack, with dirt cheap prices that you just wander onto.

BTW Siena is lovely but after a 2 nights I would want to visit somthing else.
bilboburgler is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 01:52 AM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,645
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Your trip is a long time away so you have lots of time to pick & choose. If you are going to Italy in the second half of October, Fflorence will not be so crowded. Anyway, Siena is so crowded these days that it really doesn't make sense to change to escape the crowds. There is a lot to see in Florence but almost all of it involves art or Renaissance history. 5 or 6 days is fantastic if you love beautiful Italian artworks. If you are an outdoorsy-small town person, maybe you would prefer spending more time somewhere else.

Sorrento is in a lovely bay with a location that makes it convenient to see both Pompei & the Amalfi coast as day trips. But Positano has the much more dramatic scenery (which comes with LOTS of stair climbing). You can only easily visit Pompei on your way to or from Positano. Not easy to do a day trip.

If you are going in the 2d half of October, the chances of rain increase. If you are staying in Sorrento, it is easy to get a train to visit Naples on a rainy day. If you are staying in Positano, not much else to do in the village except shop or maybe track down a cooking class last minute.
massimop is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 03:27 AM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,536
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I am going to repeat a lot of what was said above and add onto it:

1) You have given yourself a lot of time to plan. Good for you. You are smart, smart, smart.

2) You have 16 days. Bravo!!!! You are not trying to see all of Italy in 4.5 days.

2) That said, use those smarts and your generous time advantage while putting your travel agent's advice in the same category as any other advice: Advice, not directives. Say to yourself, "I am going to read trip reports on Fodors and see what people did that they enjoyed that I think I might enjoy. I am going to take my time and read some guide books to see what appeals to me."

Everyone is different. As I've often said, my sister feels deprived if she doesn't encounter food markets daily. She hates, hates, hates art museums. I am the reverse: I'm willing to fork over a zillion bucks for a fantastic meal, but I do not need to shop for the darn food. Give me an art museum, and I'm in love.

However, everyone in this family, including my non-cooking husband, gets a kick out of cooking classes. We all love food tours, too.

So with potential crappy weather, what do YOU want to do?

3) Do not let anyone tell you that you NEED to rent a car. You certainly MAY want to rent a car for a day or two, but then again we ourselves go to Europe every year for the past 20 years, and our last car rental was over 15 years ago. As Bilboburger indicted, daytrips via other means abound everywhere. We TOTALLY enjoyed our daytrip from Florence to Pisa via train. We did Pompeii as a daytrip from Rome via train. You get the drift.
AlessandraZoe is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 03:49 AM
  #8  
bvh
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 89
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
16 days in Italy can be an overwhelming trip. Sensory overload, for sure. I hope this isn't your first trip.

Florence is an art town. If art isn't your thing, then food may be your main source of entertainment. There's plenty of good food in Italy, but how does anyone define the word "great?"

Leaving Florence for Siena to escape crowds is laughable. Most travel agents these days don't have no clue. Useless. Siena is just as packed if not more so, depending on the large-numbered tour groups visiting from all over the world.

Florence is much flatter than Siena, much easier to walk around. If you're not fit, Siena can wear you out quickly. Food in Siena is more conservative/traditional than Florence. You can definitely eat well for 3 days, but "great?" According to whom and by what standard?

As for the south, 2 days anywhere will not be a relaxing experience. I need a vacation just from reading about your proposed itinerary.
bvh is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 04:31 AM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 19,736
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I was thinking what massi and bvh said above: Got to Siena to get away from the crowds? I think not. Siena, IME, is very popular and crowded with tourists. It's a smaller Florence. However, as a base to take day trips in Tuscany, it would work, plus it's worth a day or two's visit. I just don't want you to think Siena is going to be some sleepy, laid-back Italian village.

Given that, you might spend 3-4 days in Florence and 2-3 in Siena.

Sorrento is less busy than Rome, of course, but it's pretty busy.
BTW: Never been there or the AC in Oct. Others can comment, possibly, on the advisability/weather that time of year.
vincenzo32951 is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 04:59 AM
  #10  
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 5,564
Received 12 Likes on 7 Posts
Take bus to Siena from Florence. The train is not city center and you have to get a taxi where the bus drops you off not far from city square.
Macross is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 07:18 AM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,536
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The crowds in both Florence and Siena decrease in October, though.
AlessandraZoe is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 08:11 AM
  #12  
bvh
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 89
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
"The crowds in both Florence and Siena decrease in October, though."

Says who? Where is the source for this data? School tour groups are everywhere, 20-30 deep. Some of those kids are loud and obnoxious. October is high season in both places. Look at the hotel prices. I don't think this statement tells the true story. October has turned into the new September from what I see.
bvh is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 08:38 AM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,350
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Lucca is a lovely way to spend one of your days via train from wherever you decide to ultimately stay. We regret only spending the day there and not a night so definitely plan to spend majority of a day there. Siena is very busy, and was very crowded when we were there in October.
michele_d is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 10:21 AM
  #14  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 7,933
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
One of my daughters was in Florence in mid October a few years ago, and I met her there. I was surprised at how crowded the city was, although definitely not as crowded as the last time I was there in the summer. There was a terribly long line to climb to the top of the dome of the Duomo, which ten years ago was almost never the case.

Siena is also pretty crowded, too, though. Unless you have specific things you want to see in Siena, I would suggest taking a day trip there from Florence. I really don't care for changing hotels every few days, especially to see a city that's near enough for a day trip.

I also would choose either Naples OR Positano OR Sorrento, rather than choosing two places. Just keep in mind that Positano is not convenient for visiting Pomepeii, Herculaneum, or Naples. Sorrento is convenient both to these three places and also to the Amalfi Coast (where Positano is).
bvlenci is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 10:43 AM
  #15  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,536
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hey, at least October is shoulder season. It's not as though she's visiting Rome at Easter or Florence in Free Museum Week.*

But I do agree that travel agents often think in terms of pretty pictures of squares, etc without hordes and lines (similar to advertisements for Disney World on TV).

*Make a note to yourself to investigate Free Museum Days in Florence and elsewhere. They have been doing a First Sunday every month for State Museums, but that might change. Because we were willing to pay money to make sure we had oxygen, we tend to tour museums the day before or after the free days.
AlessandraZoe is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 11:09 AM
  #16  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 276
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We are going to Tuscany in the spring of next year. There is nothing wrong with the 3 in Florence and 3 in Siena idea, but what we are doing instead is spending a week at a villa in the countryside about halfway between the two. We are staying near San Donato. It is an easy drive to the two cities and is a good base from which to explore the other hill towns. As for the Amalfi Coast, I will vote for Positano. We spent a week there in 2014 and loved it.
letsgeaux is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 11:09 AM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 17,989
Received 22 Likes on 4 Posts
We spent four nights in Florence and five in the more rural Chianti region of Tuscany on our first trip to Italy and it worked well.
HappyTrvlr is online now  
Old Aug 27th, 2017, 11:52 AM
  #18  
mjs
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 3,122
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
October is no longer shoulder season when it comes to tourism. Rome now welcomes the largest number of tourists in October. Would not be surprised if this was not the case for Florence and Venice.
mjs is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
bogger
Europe
5
Nov 22nd, 2009 09:18 PM
SamandKy
Europe
37
Apr 2nd, 2009 09:50 AM
TimH
Europe
79
Mar 29th, 2007 08:57 AM
Cricket
Europe
4
Feb 10th, 2003 07:56 AM
fi
Europe
8
Aug 26th, 2002 03:11 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -