Whirlwind Italy in 16 days

Old May 26th, 2016, 10:16 AM
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Whirlwind Italy in 16 days

I won a trip to Rome for 4 hence having to fly in and out of Rome and free accommodation in Rome for 16 days. I haven't been to Italy in over 20 years now I am married with teenagers I really want them to see Venice and Florence. I have always wanted to see Amalfi coast area. We may never be able to get back as it's rather expensive so squeezing in a fair bit. So my idea was:
Rome 4 night
Venice 2 nights
Florence 3 nights
Sorrento 4 nights (side trips to Pompeii, Positano, Capri)
Rome last night

We have the hotel in Rome for the full 16 days but we have booked hotels at the other cities.
Thank you
We are leaning towards getting a rail pass versus driving although we like the idea of the freedom with a car it sounds like a hassle with all the no drive zones etc and no real need while in the city

I would love to hear any suggestions as it's not too late for me to change things a bit
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Old May 26th, 2016, 10:25 AM
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Forgot to mention it will be summer
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Old May 26th, 2016, 10:44 AM
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First off, congratulations! How wonderful.

You are right, a car would be more of a hindrance. However, I think you are better off buying point to point rail tickets rather than a rail pass.

You can go on the Trenitalia website to get an idea of costs, and also there is Italo which is a privately owned rail company.

Be aware it will be very hot while you are there, and crowded, so if there are specific things you want to see you might be better off booking tickets online or joining a tour so you can at least bypass some of the line ups.
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Old May 26th, 2016, 11:38 AM
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Thank you for ur response. I did look at Trenitalia and it was $130 from Rome to Venice and the rail pass is only $260. I have read a few times that it might be cheaper to buy the rail tix separately. I will have to check again perhaps I did something wrong. I will definitely look at pre buying everything as standing in line in the heat isn't my idea of fun. Thank you
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Old May 26th, 2016, 11:45 AM
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Love the screen name raincitygirl you must be in Vancouver ;-)
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Old May 26th, 2016, 12:28 PM
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If you want to have fully flexible train travel to select your trains once there then full price tickets would probably be more than a pass - but even with a pass you must get a seat reservation at 10 euros a pop for each train you take except regional trains on which you need just show up - most people now go to www.trenitalia.com and book well in advance to get discounted tickets

which are however train-specific and can't be changed and as sold in limited numbers must be booked in stone weeks in advance often to guarantee and these for your travels would be probably cheaper than the pass - especially with the 10 euros supplement per train with a pass.

For lots of info on Italian trains check www.seat61.com- great info on discounted tickets; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.
For tickets alsocheck italotreno.it.en- the competitor to Trenitalia that raincitygirl mentions - often steady low prices even on short notice.
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Old May 26th, 2016, 12:53 PM
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Where did you see $130 from Rome to Venice? It doesn't cost anywhere near that, and the prices are in euros, not dollars. If you saw the ticket price on a web site that's selling rail passes, that might explain it.

With four people, if you want to get discounted tickets, you'll probably get the best price at www.italiarail.com . (For one person, the best prices would always be on www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en , but they won't show you discounted fares unless there are enough left for your whole party, whereas Italiarail will combine discounts to get you the overall cheapest price for the trip.) You should also try
www.italotreno.it/?sc_lang=en , Trenitalia's competitor, because they sometimes have cheaper prices. Italiarail prices are in dollars, while Trenitalia and Italo prices are in euros, so you have to convert the Italiarail prices to euros to see which is the cheapest.

If you haven't got your air tickets yet, it would be better to fly into Venice rather than Rome. If you already have the tickets, I suggest you get a train straight to Venice on arrival and spend your 2 nights there.You can sleep off your jet lag on the train.

Then go to Florence. After Florence take a train directly to Naples, and change to the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento. (This is not a Trenitalia train, and you can't buy the tickets in advance.) You might want to consider getting a private driver to take you to Sorrento; the cost would be split four ways, and it's certainly more comfortable in the summer than the Circumvesuviana, which is a bit like a New York City subway car.

After Sorrento, return to Rome for the last part of your trip. This will save you one change of hotel, and a bit of travel time.
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Old May 26th, 2016, 01:02 PM
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I agree more or less with what bvl says as it's much more time efficient to put all your days in Rome together and at the end of your stay.

I would however suggest 3 nights in Venice as most of the first day will be taken up with travelling, and you might take a while to get going on the the second due to jet lag. You could "borrow" a night from Florence as if you get an early train and get a hotel near the station, you will have almost 2 days there or use the night that you have freed up from Rome.

I would also suggest that with only 4 nights in Sorrento, planning 3 excursions is a bit much; you could see Pompeii on your way back to Rome either by train or using a car service which split between 4 might not be too expensive.

Sounds like a great trip - congrats!
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Old May 26th, 2016, 02:49 PM
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Yes I am from Vancouver and I see you are too! You have been given some good advice above. You might want to take it easy a bit in Sorrento and hopefully your hotel has a pool.
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Old May 26th, 2016, 04:30 PM
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Congrats on winning the contest!

As you mentioned, the contest is giving you tickets into and out of Rome and a 16 night hotel stay there. Who makes the reservations? You or them? Is changing the inbound flight to another city an available option?

If them and no option to change the inbound flight, you may have to check into your Rome hotel before moving onto Venice (with or without spending any time at that hotel). Not knowing the details, if you don't check into the Rome hotel on a certain date, does it allow the hotel to cancel your reservation?
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Old May 26th, 2016, 06:13 PM
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Thank you everyone

We are stuck to flying in and out of Rome, the dates, flights and hotel in Rome are booked and I'm dont have the option to change anymore. If I'm not paying for the hotel in Rome, then I figure I can use it for the last night, so we aren't stressing to get to airport the morning of flight from Sorrento. If I didn't check into hotel on the expected date, I'm not sure what would happen.

so I just went onto Trenitalia and entered 4 tix Rome to Venice and it says the lowest price is 107 Euro. I just realised they are showing me the total price, not the price per person, ahhhhh! Thank you PalenQ & bvlenci for the links to train info, it more overwhelming than I thought it was going to be, there is so much research to be done.

I love the idea of private driver between Naples and Sorrento although we wont be splitting the cost 4 ways since our kids aren't quite old enough that we make tem pay their own way yet ;-). I did book a hotel with pool in Sorrento, incase we are too tired to do anything else and if we don't make it to Capri I'm not worried, the kids want to see Pompeii for sure though.
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Old May 26th, 2016, 06:33 PM
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What a wonderful thing to win! Congratulations! Yes, there's a lot to consider, but think of this trip as a Life Bonus and enjoy what you can. You may be able to return someday.

In terms of guidebooks, I personally like Michelin Green Guides. Lots of info, and I often use them as a starting point for further research if I really want more info about a particular subject, site or region.
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Old May 27th, 2016, 07:45 AM
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Oh that's great, that pool will be very welcome I'm sure.

I would suggest going to Pompeii as early as possible before it gets too hot. There's no shade and it gets very hot. You can get there easily from Sorrento on the Circumvesuviana train. All the treasures from Pompeii are in Naples in the Archeological museum.

The private driver from Naples to Sorrento would be convenient.
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Old May 27th, 2016, 08:29 AM
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I love the green guides too, and have kept all my old ones; this came in handy in Arles last week when according to my 1978 guide to Provence, the church closed at 12 noon - and it did!
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Old May 27th, 2016, 09:31 AM
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raincitygirl - I should have guessed that the treasures would be in Naples, I didn't really think about it, just like in Greece, all the cool stuff in the museums.

I will have to look into the green guides. I have Rick Steve's guide.

I was on the rail sites last night, and with first class, flexible tickets (3 adults 1 child) all 4 rail trips, total 845 Euros. I realize we can go cheaper in 2nd class. We have free parking at hotel in Sorrento if we decide to drive from Florence to Sorrento then back to Rome, but I think it seems like more hassle to worry about a car.

There is just so much to do, and so little time. Hopefully this will give us an good idea where to go back to if we get the chance again.

Thank you everyone for your insight.
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Old May 27th, 2016, 10:35 AM
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I have taken the fast train from Florence to Naples on Italo. It was great, takes just under three hours. I would do that rather than drive.

We had a car while we were in Sorrento but we had two weeks in that area, one week in Minori on the Amalfi and one week in Sorrento. We used the car all the time for the first week, driving up to Ravello, to Salerno, Paestum, Amalfi etc but once we got to Sorrento the car remained in the hotel parking lot.
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Old May 27th, 2016, 10:45 AM
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You don't need first class tickets
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Old May 27th, 2016, 10:48 AM
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I find that train fares in Italy are remarkabaly cheap- from Stresa-Milan was 9 euro and that was a fast train including seat reservation )(however, I got on the wrong train - it said Milane-Centrale and was a little early but sometimes they stay in the station a few minutes - turned out it was a regional train - I still got there but I had the wrong ticket - however the conduction didn't mention it, just punched it.
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Old May 27th, 2016, 12:38 PM
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No you don't need first class tickets but as always there is a more relaxed ride in first class - fewer seats in each same-size train car - thus more room for luggage in overhead racks and often more empty seats and only in first class do you get rows with just one seat in them- an aisle and window seat both - no bothering nobody to get in or out - these seats can face each other with a table in between.

And flexible tickets are priceless to some who do not want to book in stone months early a specific train - yes first class costs more but on the trip of a lifetime go in style - IMO and you will have a more enjoyable ride.
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Old May 27th, 2016, 12:47 PM
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I sort of agree with you, Pal. Often if I am not traveling on a tight schedule or in high season, I just buy my train tickets while in country. I pay for that convenience, of course. But I think Pookyface doesn't have a lot of flexibility, so perhaps buying in advance makes more sense.

FWIW, I have wandered into travel agencies in Rome and just bought tickets there if I didn't want to deal with the machines in Termini.
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