italy itinerary

I wouldn't want a car in Naples or Florence and you can't drive in the CT.

It would make more sense to pick your car up on Day 1 and head to Pompeii. Put all of your Rome trip at the end instead of splitting it.

What you want to do is easily done by train and IMO would be less hassel. Please read up on problems that dirvers can have in Florence - you can rack up alot of traffic fines unless you are very aware and careful. If you really want to do a car you should probably carefully plan where you will pick up and drop it - IMO driving in Rome, Naples and even Florence would be very dicey - CT is also no car territory. Your itinerary sounds good but possibly better done by train than car.

If you're arriving after a long, overnight flight, you'll be jet-lagged and sleepy. It's not good to then start out driving in a strange country, especially one like Italy that offers some driving challenges.

I actually don't think you need a car at all. You don't want to drive on the Amalfi coast either. It would be better to do your travel by train, which efficiently reaches most of your destinations. The exception is Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast, for which you can use a combination of commuter train, bus and boat.

Visiting a city with a car, you would need to park at some distance from the city center, pay to park, and takes a bus or a taxi into the historic center. If you drive in the center, not only can't you park, but you risk driving in a locals-only zone (ZTL) and getting a ticket.

But to back up a bit, if you haven't yet bought your plane tickets, consider an open jaws ticket, into Rome, out of Pisa. Such a ticket costs about the same as a round-trip ticket, but saves you time and money back-tracking to Rome.

As kybourbon indicates, generally the best use of that first jet-lagged day is to get to a distant point on your trip. In your case this would be Naples or Sorrento, the best bases for a visit to Pompeii.

Another thought: do you really want to go to Florence? It's best for lovers of Renaissance art and architecture. Would your kids be bored? Maybe you want to spend some time in the Tuscan countryside instead. For this you would want a car. And maybe an agriturismo with a pool. (You can do Florence as a day-trip by train or bus.)

That's enough for now. I'm sure others will chime in with other suggestions.

Agree that a car will be more trouble than it's worth for any of the places you want to go.

I also feel you have at least one too many places on your list for 12 days. Your ratio of 'being' some place and 'getting there' is skewed. Too many different hotels. And I say that as someone who is planning an entire month long trip this summer with mostly 1,2, and 3 night stays. BUT - big but - it's my 22nd trip AND most of the places I'm going are tiny out of the way places without major sites. Lots of people spend an entire week in Rome alone and don't see half what they think they will.

I would eliminate the Cinque Terre. The Amalfi Coast will give you the coastal experience and combines well with Pompeii.

One suggestion: fly into Rome and continue on, via train to Sorrento and plan to stay 5 nights. Do a day trip to Pompeii, one to Capri, one to Amalfi and Positano. Easily done by train, boat, bus - tons of threads here on how to organize this. Then train to Florence for 3 nights. Do a day trip to either Siena or Pisa/Lucca. Then train to Rome for 4 nights and fly home from there.