bunnymonk

Hi All!

The search feature on this site has been serving me well, but now its time for a question!

I will spend a month in Florence June 2007. My husband is going to come meet me and we will travel together from Florence for about 2 weeks. Here are our chosen locations:

5 days Southern Tuscany (most likely the Pienza, Montepulciano area)

4 days in Naples/Sorrento

5 Days in Rome

Currently researching flights, and open jaws are all about the same price for us to fly into Florence, and leave out of either Naples or Rome. Also, about the same price to fly round trip to Florence. So heres the question:

WHAT ORDER SHOULD WE GO IN? I'm sure much of this is a matter of personal opinion, but does one route make more sense logistically? We plan to have a car when in Tuscany, but will rely on train travel to get us from point to point.

Is there something to be said for hitting the cities first, and then relaxing in Tuscany?

Thanks for the input - it's our first trip, and figuring out the logistics is making me anxious - once the flight is booked I am looking forward to enjoying the fun part of planning!

Happy Holidays...

Cato

If the departure prices are the same for Rome and Naples, then in order: Southern Tuscany,Rome, Naples.

Viajero2

This is the logic to follow: front load your sightseeing, relaxing pace towards the end.

lincasanova

also see if there are drop off charges for car with open jaw.
otherwise, sounds good, although you can also do a circle trip since there is so much to see .. go down one route, back another to origin.

bobthenavigator

End in Rome.

MaureenB

Have you researched the train routes yet? Maybe it's much quicker one way over the other, fewer connections, etc.
Sounds like a wonderful opportunity!
>-

toni_g_b

As already suggested, I'd start the heavy duty touring at the beginning of your trip in Rome. Pick up the rental car in Rome and explore Umbria on the secondary roads on the way to Tuscany. Then drive to the Amalfi Coast (with a stop in Caserta to visit the Royal Palace and Gardens) approaching from Salerno so you're driving on the hillside instead of coast. Same views but not quite as scary! Can't tell you where to drop the rental car in the AC but once there you really won't want/need it. Then take public transportation to Naples, and depart from there.

Cimbrone

I'd fly into Florence and do the Tuscan countryside you suggest. Then on to Rome. Then on to Sorrento (and the Amalfi Coast, I hope) and finish with Naples. Since Rome and Naples will definitely be the most frenetic of the places, I think it makes sense to alternate them with more restful locales. That's what I'd try to do anyway.

bunnymonk

i appreciate the input! as suggested, i think it would be a good idea to research train routes with each scenario.

more replies welcome. many thanks!

jabez

I'd skip Naples/Sorrento and either train from Florence to Rome and spend 6/7 days or end in Rome after adding a 2/3 days to Chianti.
It all depends on flights. Saving time,it's most logical to have a car from Florence and leave it in Chiusi or Orvieto (Rome's airport is also possible) and finish in Rome.
Although doing a circle (Florence-to Rome-to Tuscany-leave from Florence) has one additional train trip,Florence's airport is much easier to leave from and allows you to finish in a slow way.

basingstoke2

I did pretty much the same trip 2 years ago January. Florence, bus Siena and San G and environs, bussed back up to Florence from Sienna (about an hour) and train to Rome for a few days. Train Rome to Naples. Rent a car for Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, etc. Out of Naples to home. Worked well and our last day in Italy driving the A coast just one more time, was a great ending to the trip.

lovisa

I would pick up a rental car in Florence, go to Southern Tuscany for 5 days, drive straight on to Sorrento, drop off the car in Sorrento, stay there, and go to Naples and then Rome via trains, flying out from Rome.

I would suggest you look at www.hertz.com and www.avis.com to see where possible pick-up and drop-off points are. It is much easier to find the rental car drop off point in a smaller town. Almost no one would advocate dropping off a car in Rome or Naples (both a driving and navigational nightmare). Also, generally you will pay no more to rent a car for one week rather than five days because of the way in which rental car rates are structured. As stated above, if you choose to drop off your rental car in Tuscany and go on by train, the logical places to drop off (or pick up) are Chiusi and Orvieto (actually in Umbria).

You can get an idea of driving times at www.viamichelin.com by entering your departure and arrival points. For example, it shows a drive time of 4.5 hours from Montepulciano to Sorrento. Driving to Sorrento will save you a lot of time over dropping your car and training to Sorrento.

There is no national train to Sorrento. You would have to go to Naples, and then take the local circumvesuviana to Sorrento. To take an FS train, you would have to go to Salerno, and then take a bus to the Amalfi Coast.

Personally, I find both the German national railway site, www.bahn.de (go to "Int Guests" for English) or the Swiss site, www.sbb.ch (choose En for English at top), much easier to navigate than the Trenitalia site, and use those to figure out travel in Italy, even though they don't show prices.

NeoPatrick

I'm not sure if everyone is reading your full post. I can't imagine since you're going to be in Florence at the beginning, why you'd "start in Rome" after that. I would personally pick up a car at the end of your Florence stay and do southern Tuscany first, then drive to Sorrento area -- yes, I WOULD have a car there. Then drive up to Rome, turn in your car and finish there, flying home from Rome.

NeoPatrick

Oh, by the way, personally I think there's nothing easier than dropping a rental car off at the Rome airport and taking a shuttle in to the city center (35 euro to do so). So I'd look at dropping the car you pick up in Florence at Rome airport.

AlbertusMagnus

Buon giorno,
I would do Florence first, with time in Tuscany, florence will give you the museums and Duomo and fashion, Tuscany, will give you the hill towns and peace.
Then I would drive to Sorrento, stopping along the way for lunch in Orvieto and sightseeing at Monte Cassino. Relax for those days on the beautiful Amalfi coast, Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, day trip to Pompeii of you choose. Skip Naples. Then drive to Rome airport, leave the car, take a cab into Rome and enjoy Rome as a more seasoned Italian traveler. One thing, when in Rome, stay near the Panteon, so that you can walk to everything, along easy well signed and well policed routes. Suggestion Albergo Santa Chiara. Enjoy.
Ciao
Alberto

bunnymonk

thanks again for the thoughtful replies! I still am not totally sure what I am going to do, but I think Tuscany-Naples-Rome might be the order as of right now. Part of me feels I should end with Tuscany, and relax, but something about leaving with the last images of Italy being Rome makes me very happy.

stefm

I would choose Rome too as your final stop, especially if you are going to fly back home from there.