JKTress

Hi guys!,

I am trying to plan a short notice trip to Italy (less than a month away) for 8 days. This is the first time my husband and I will be visiting, and with the help of some suggestions from friends and reading tons of forms on here I am getting a handle on most of the trip but still have a few questions and would love some suggestions from experienced travelers! We want to eat, sightsee, and just enjoy being in a new country. Would love a hike or boat ride, something we can't so anywhere else! With all that being said here's what i'm thinking!

Fly into Rome (Sunday afternoon)
Train to Florence (Wednesday)
-Worth using a day in Florence to rent a car and visit wineries?
Train to Naples (Friday morning)
Spend the afternoon eating pizza!
Boat to Capri (Friday evening)
Back to Rome Sunday night for a Monday AM flight.

Was thinking about using a combo of air b&b's, and hotels depending on what's available. Out budget is more on the conservative side. But would spend money on a hotel in one city if you guys think it's worth it!

The place i'm having the hardest time planning is Capri!!! Does anyone have suggestions on hotels, bed and breakfasts, or air b&b's? Also location to stay on the island? What is there really to do?

Any suggestions for any location would be greatly appreciated! Anything from areas to stay, hotel suggestions, restaurants, or must see places/museums/areas of town! And of course any tips you may have, when to buy train tickets, best tour guides for places, what we need to pack???!!!

Sorry there is a lot in this post! Just trying to plan asap! Any info helps!! Thanks in advance!

PalenQ

Just a word on trains -book NOW for discounted tickets which are sold in limited numbers and can sell out- www.trenitalia.com or competitor www.italotreno.com/en - for lots on info on Italian trains -www.seat61.com - adroit advice on discounted ticketing yourself online; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

-Worth using a day in Florence to rent a car and visit wineries?>

IMO no - not at expense of seeing Florence itself.

nygvic0326

Losing alot in travel time. Going Rome to Florence (North) and then back tracking to Naples / Capri (South) is going to eat into your available time.

For first time pick 2 cities and spend your focus on them. Rome, Florence, Naples / Capri / Amalfi all warrant minimum of 3 days just to scratch the surface.

Will give you more time to savor the feel of Italy. I have made multiple visits and usually make 3 nights my minimum stay in any location.

greg

Your trip looks like this in terms of nights.

Rome: 3 nights
Florence: 2 nights
Capri: 2 nights
Rome: 1 night

First, you have already thrown away almost one day out of this tight schedule by staying in Rome twice. Just do a simple time and money math of heading straight to Florence upon landing and do 3 nights of Rome at the end. This allows you to one 1 day to one of the other locations.

Renting a car from Florence requires thinking as you a not allowed to drive into Florence, thus further chewing up what little time you have.

Getting in/out of Capri is very time consuming even starting from Napoli or Sorrento.

You cannot just visit wineries in Italy. You need to make a reservation and if you need a visit in English, your visit time slot gets further reduced.

bilboburgler

greg is dead on, don't stay in Rome twice (go straight to Florence) and you will need a reservation for wineries, at the better ones an invitation.

Given the pain of the ZTL in Florence and the short time there I might look at a tour of wineries with an English speaker

JKTress

Thanks everyone!

Took your advice and looked into train tickets, and will book as soon as we finalize the days/times!

We can go to Florence first.. the last night in Rome was really more get there late at night, and stay in an airport hotel to leave on a 8am flight the next day. But I see your point and maybe we will switch it.

We are pretty set on going to Capri just from what we have heard about it. I know it doesn't lend much time in each place. But we are aware we will just be hitting the highlights and will plan another longer trip to really dive deeper into everything hopefully in the next few years!

With that said, any more ideas on lodging or must see things?

AJPeabody

Better idea, to avoid backtracking: Rome, then Florence, then Naples or Sorrento or etc. in the south and fly home from Naples airport (open jaw ticket, flight home has plane change in Rome). But with your time restraint, realizing that arrival day and departure day are mostly wasted, stick with two locations and save another wasted day transiting to a third location. Also, remember that Capri is weather dependent, both for enjoyment and getting on and off the island. It is also feasible to fly into Venice, train to Florence, then to Rome and fly home.

ekc

A good guidebook will help you narrow down what to see in each location. Lonely Planet books are often recommended. With all of your moving around, you really only have a day or two in each location so you really need to be specific about what you want to see.

You don't have enough time to rent a car and tour wineries.

I agree with heading straight to Florence upon arrival in Rome (but don't prebook the tickets since they are nonchangeable and your plane could be late).

PalenQ

I agree with heading straight to Florence upon arrival in Rome (but don't prebook the tickets since they are nonchangeable and your plane could be late).>

Or build in a lot of extra time and if plane on time there are many caffes and restaurants in Rome Termini train station.

PalenQ

Actually full fare may not be that much more on that short train trip than discounted tickets - and you can just get off plane and take train to Rome Termini and the next convenient train to Florence (buy tickets at airport train station) but allow some time to navigate a rather to the novice potentially chaotic Termini station.

massimop

Given your description of your interests, I would suggest dropping Florence altogether. Heresy to be sure, but the truth is that there is more artwork by Michaelangelo in Rome & as much Renaissance artwork overall in Rome & Naples that why not go to Italy & do what you really want to do

If you go to Naples for an extra day you can hike up Vesuvius. Or go to Pompeii. Really cannot do that anyplace else. Or stay on Capri an extra night and take a day trip to the nearby island of Ischia, where you can sit in hot springs & sip the wine they make on the island (they don't export it) or go visit one of the wineries.

If you tell me you are lifelong students of Renaissance culture, of course you won't even consider skipping Florence. But Naples is a tremendous city of history & Europe -- there really is no other place like it in Europe -- with exceptional pasta, pastries & coffee -- not only pizza, and if you are looking for adventure & the feeling of "we-certainly-don't-have-anything-like-this-back-home", Napoli is that everywhere you look. Nothing familiar in sight (except a lot of people who might remind you of Italians you know back home. Relatives!)

massimop

http://www.ischiareview.com/capri-to...formation.html

http://www.ischiareview.com/things-t...in-ischia.html

http://fathomaway.com/guides/europe/...-naples-italy/

http://winesnobsblog.blogspot.it/201...of-ischia.html

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/campania/ischia

ekc

Ischia is a good suggestion if you are looking for some beach time. But the island experienced an earthquake today, so you may want to determine the extent of the damage before including it in your itinerary.

I always rent an apartment for a week in Positano and spend the week exploring the area and relaxing, so I am a little biased.