BellaIzabella

OK...Here I go. I have posted several threads and have read numerous suggestions. Here is what I came up with. While reading this, please keep in mind I don't have any hotels booked yet, so edits are welcome. I am looking for suggestions based on the Musts(and wants) I list below.
With arriving in Rome and departing from Rome, I NEED Rome to be my last destination.
We arrive in Rome at 8am on June 9th and Depart Rome on June 25th at 1pm Days: 17 including arrival and departure. Given that I will be in Florence by 1pm, please suggest what I can do on our first day since we will have many hours.

Here is what I am looking to do:
I want to limit myself to 3 or 4 hotels, but I PREFER 3.
I prefer NOT to stay in Venice.
I can stay in Siena or another hill top area with nearby restaurants and wineries.

My MUSTS:
Major sights in Florence and time for just roaming the streets
Pisa.
Emilia Bologna Region - Please include restaurant recommendations and must see sights/walks/drives
Venice
Siena/Greve and other tuscan towns within reasonable distance of Siena and Greve. I would like to drive(Car) in Tuscany visiting Siena, Greve, San Gimignano.
Capri
Pompeii
Hike Amalfi Coast(PLEASE recommend a good hike trail)
Amalfi Coast drive and leisurely day
Positano
Amalfi
Ravello
Minimum, 3 full days in Roam

Things/places I would like to do/visit

Visit Orvieto. I think it's best by train from Rome, so please keep that in mind.
Visit Cortona
Visit Verona
I would to visit the Cinque Terre.

Here is what I was thinking:

Itinerary Option 1:

Day 1: Arrive in Rome 8am and head to Florence by train
Day 2: Explore Florence
Day 3: Venice
Day 4: Pisa
Day 5: Emilia-Bologna Region(Visit Bologna, Modena and Parma) -
When in this area, I would like to visit the Savigno to dine at Amerigo dal 1934
***Should we take car or train
Day 6: Visit Siena/Greve/San Gimignano (CAR). Thinking of leaving car in Siena and depart back to Florence by train.
Day 7: Depart Florence for Sorrento - What is the best way to get here?
Day 8: Capri
Day 9: Pompeii
Day 10: Amalfi Coast
Day 11: Hike - Please recommend some hiking trails
Day 12: Depart Sorrento for Rome
Day 13: Rome Sights
Day 14: Rome Sights
Day 15: Rome Sights - Trip to Orvieto
Day 16: Rome Sights
Day 17: Depart for home

Itinerary Option 2:

Day 1: Arrive in Rome and head Sorrento. What is the best way to get here?
Day 2: Capri
Day 3: Pompeii
Day 4: Amalfi Coast drive/tour
Day 5: Hike (Recommendations on which hikes PLEASE)
Day 6: Depart Sorrento for Siena. What is the best way to get here? (Car or Train) If by car, what is 1 good stop in between worth while seeing? Please keep in mind I would like a car here.
Day 7: Explore Siena
Day 8: Depart Siena for Florence (car)
Day 9: Explore Florence
Day 10: Venice (Train)
Day 11: Pisa trip (Train)
Day 12: Emilia-Bologna Region(Visit Bologna, Modena and Parma) -
When in this area, I would like to visit the Savigno to dine at Amerigo dal 1934
***Should we take car or train
Day 13: Depart Florence Rome (Train)
Day 14: Rome sights
Day 15: Rome Sights
Day 16: Rome Sights
Day 17: Depart for home

Itinerary Option 3

Day 1: Arrive in Rome 8am. Train to Florence Hotel.
Day 2: Explore Florence
Day 3: Venice (Train)
Day 4: Pisa trip (Train)
Day 5: Emilia-Bologna Region(Visit Bologna, Modena and Parma) -
When in this area, I would like to visit the Savigno to dine at Amerigo dal 1934
***Should we take car or train
Day 6: Depart Florence for Siena (Car)
Day 7: Explore Siena
Day 8: Depart Siena for Sorrento (Train or Car...please suggest transportation)
***If we drive, what is 1 good stop on the way to Naples then to Sorrento?
***If take the train, which should I take? After arriving in Naples, how do I get to Sorrento?
Day 9: Capri
Day 10: Pompeii
Day 11: Amalfi Coast drive/tour
Day 12: Hike (Recommendations on which hikes PLEASE)
Day 13: Depart Sorrento for Rome
Day 14: Rome Sights
Day 15: Rome Sights
Day 16: Rome Sights
Day 17: Depart for Home.

Should I book trains prior to arriving in Rome after finalizing my itinerary? I will have a RailPass with 8, 9 or 10 train rides. With this pass, even if I book seats now, I will be able to cancel my seats(I think).

Thanks in advance for everyones feedback. Just like I tend to overpack for all my vacations, I seem to be overpacking this trip with activities. I want to make my time as much stress free as possible, but see as much as possible.

annhig

Gosh, where to start? I'm sorry to have to say that your itineraries are all over the place and you seem to have far more than the 3-4 hotels that you say you want. [which in a 17 day trip ought to be very achievable]. your are certainly right when you say that you are over-packing your trip.

also, you seem to have an unrealistic idea of what is achievable in a day - for example, in your Itinerary 1, your day 5 has your visiting Bologna, Modena, AND Parma - which would be well night impossible. and why don't you want to STAY in Venice? it is in fact the obvious place for you to go straight from Rome, and then work your way back.

This would be what I would do to try to maximise what you see, and to give you a holiday as well:

Day 1 - arrive Rome, train to Venice.
Day 2 - Venice
Day 3 - train to Bologna.
Day 4 - Bologna
Day 5 - Bologna
Day 6 - train to Florence
Day 7 - Florence
Day 8 - Florence
Day 9 - Florence
Day 10 - train to Sorrento via Naples
Day 11 - Sorrento
Day 12 - Sorrento
Day 13 - train to Rome
Day 14 - Rome
Day 15 - Rome
Day 16 - Rome
Day 17 - go home.

The idea is to use Bologna [which is a CITY in the Italian PROVINCE of Emilia-Romagna], Florence, and Sorrento as bases to use for your day trips.

if you don't want to stay in Venice, you could use Bologna as your first base and do a day trip to Venice from there. trains [or in the case of Capri, a boat] will get you everywhere and a car would be difficult if you want to stay in cities because of the restricted traffic zones.

this should give you a basis for sorting out how long you want to stay where, depending on how many trips you want to make from each base. for example, from Bologna you could see Modena, Parma, Ravenna and Venice; from Florence you can see Pisa, Lucca, and siena [by bus].

hope this helps!

kybourbon

You've had tons of transport suggestions on your other thread about getting from Siena to the coast.

I'm not sure how you decide to buy a pass when you don't know whether you are taking trains yet or not. Some trains will not have reserved seats (such as most between Florence/Pisa), so you won't be able to book seats. A pass doesn't cover Naples/Sorrento either. Some of your train rides will be less than the cost of a pass day.

>>>With this pass, even if I book seats now, I will be able to cancel my seats(I think).<<<

I'm not sure that is true.

A rail pass would only cover:
Rome to Florence (plus 10€ for each seat)
Florence/Venice (plus seat fees)
Florence/Naples
Naples/Rome

Florence/Pisa might be cheaper to buy tickets than pay for that day on a pass.

The pass won't cover the train from the airport to Rome (14€) unless you spend extra to get a 1st class pass (not worth it since that train is only 14€).

>>>Should I book trains prior to arriving in Rome after finalizing my itinerary? I will have a RailPass with 8, 9 or 10 train rides.<<<

You shouldn't even consider a pass until you determine your itinerary. If you are booking seats in advance, you might as well just buy tickets from Trenitalia and snag some of the 9€ tickets.

hollywoodsc

Get yourself a map of Italy and trace out your itinerary, trying to do as little back-tracking as possible to save on time and costs.

Pick 3 cities to base out of - Florence, Sorrento and Rome sound good.
You've got 17 days but the first and last days are shot just coming and going.
So, with 15 days I'd do 5 days in each 'base'.
When you land, take the train to Rome's Termini station, transfer to the fast train to Florence. Check into your hotel.

You then have 5 days to see Florence, do day trips to Siena, San Gimignano, wine tour, etc. You can take the bus or train and not need a car at all.

Then travel to Sorrento. I haven't been to the area other than to visit Pompeii. Hopefully others will help with this section of your trip.

Finally, take the train up to Rome for your final base. I recommend staying in the historical center. You might pay a bit more for your hotel but the convenience is worth it. Do your day trip to Orvieto from there.

To really enjoy your trip stay in as few places as possible. Make a base and set off each day from there. You'll be so happy not having to pack and unpack, check in and out, as each time you'll lose sight-seeing time and it will cost money.

You REALLY need to be looking at a map to get an understanding of distance. You can't fit everything in one trip.

BellaIzabella

Hollywoodsc. Your recommendations are similar to Itinerary Option 1. I'm thinking the same thing, so thank you. I was also thinking of staying in Siena overnight so that I can visit Cortona and Assisi, but these places can be just like the other locations in Tuscany. Maybe there is no point of spending the night in Siena? I just want to see it and explore it and eat at 1 or 2 restaurants while visiting. Lunch and dinner.

How do you think I should visit Bologna, Mdena, Parma? I can take one of these destinations out of the equation, becuase I would really like to dine in Savigno at Amerigo dal 1934. There is an older couple from Bologna that own a wonderful restaurant in Chicago. They live here now, but lived in Bologna most of their lives. They highly recommended this area.

Jean

I'm glad annhig already posted, because I too did not know where to start. I like ann's suggested itinerary.

As others have commented, your wish list is too long for the time you have. It's good you're wanting to limit your hotels to 3-4, but you have 15 full days and at least 15 destinations on your list. Even with a city pairing here and there, you need to face the reality of distances and time needed to get from point to point. On any driving days, you need to calculate not only the road time but also time looking for parking (and perhaps figuring out parking payment machines) and walking from the car to the city centers. Driving in and out of cities like Florence, Siena and Pisa require careful planning to avoid getting tickets for violating the Limited Traffic Zones (ZTL).

annhig

How do you think I should visit I can take one of these destinations out of the equation, becuase I would really like to dine in Savigno at Amerigo dal 1934. >>

I thought that I'd explained that - the train will take you to Bologna, which you can use as a base for Modena, and Parma. as for Savigno, you'd need a car - you could use it for visiting smaller places in the area if you liked or get a taxi.

or why not stay at the amerigo itself? - it has 5 rooms which seem to be quite reasonable:

http://www.amerigo1934.it/content/show/section/camere

for that, though, you would need a car.

kybourbon

>>>I was also thinking of staying in Siena overnight so that I can visit Cortona and Assisi,<<<

Siena is not close to Cortona or Assisi (which isn't in Tuscany).

You are underestimating how long it will take to travel many places.

>>>My MUSTS:
Major sights in Florence and time for just roaming the streets<<<

Yet you aren't allowing time for that because of all the day trips.

>>>My MUSTS:
Emilia Bologna Region - Please include restaurant recommendations and must see sights/walks/drives<<<

An entire region is a must, but yet you don't seem to know what is there? I wouldn't base visiting this region on someone's restaurant experience from years ago.

I like annhig's itinerary except for the Bologna part. I would drop it in favor of some time in the Tuscan countryside. Nothing against Bologna, but your real interest seems to be Tuscany.

Jean

I missed your reply to hollywoodsc. Seriously, you need to spend some time on either maps.google.com or viamichelin.com and see how long your contemplated drives will take. You're thinking of staying in Siena so that you can visit Cortona and Assisi (presumably by car). Well, that's another day with at least 4 hours behind the wheel plus time to find parking and walk in/out (this will take longer in Assisi). If you're staying IN Siena (as opposed to somewhere just outside the city), you may be slowed by morning traffic and/or the need to circle the town before heading east.

annhig

ky - honestly I'm not sure if the OP knows what his/her interests are. this is what I was going on when I suggested Bologna:

Day 5: Emilia-Bologna Region(Visit Bologna, Modena and Parma) -
When in this area, I would like to visit the Savigno to dine at Amerigo dal 1934
***Should we take car or train>>

Bellalzabella: at the risk of seeming pedantic, Emilia- Romagna is the name of a province of Italy. Bologna is a city in that region.

and what is it in Siena that you think you will see/do/eat that you couldn't do in Florence? yes it's nice, but it's not on a direct train route from Florence to Naples - you have to go back to Florence which adds at least another 2 hours to the journey time. [5 hours as against 2 or 2 1/2.]. if you want to see Siena, go there for a day trip on the bus.

BellaIzabella

Thanks everyone.

I think I may take the Bologna area out of the equation. I don't find myself staying in Amerigo in Savingno itself. I have searched for driving distances and though the time of estimated drive is not that long, but I don;t want to spend most of my day in the car.

I will take a bus tour to siena/greve and San G. I will take a train from Rome to Orvieto. We will just take the train to Naples then to Sorrento.

annhig

hi Bella,

a much better plan, if I may say so.

do you want to post your new itinerary?