janetsb

My husband and I will be traveling to Italy in May with another couple. We are flying into Rome and spending 3 nights. Our plan is to rent a car and head to Positano for 3 nights. We will stop in Pompeii on our way south. Will it be safe to leave our luggage in the car especially if we end up with a vehicle with no trunk for the time we tour Pompeii?

After Positano we are staying outside of Cortona for 2 nights. All of those hotels are already booked. Now the question is how to spend the rest of our time. We have 5 nights left (the 6th night is staying at the Milan airport). We were thinking of staying in the Siena area for one night, one night in Florence and turning in the car, then a train to Venice for 24 hours, then on to Cinque Terre for 2 nights before heading to Milan airport. Is it worth going to the expense and time to go to Venice for 24 hours? Should we add another day to Tuscany countryside or Florence instead?

bobthenavigator

No, you are too busy as it is. Venice deserves more time.

I would have only one hotel in Tuscany---I hate one niters.
And, your time in Cortona is really only one day. I would stay more centrally in Tuscany and spend at least 3 nites.

I would consider dropping the car in Florence and train to Venice for 3 nites, and droping the CT. It is the obviuos outlier.

Michael

Your car will probably have a cover for the trunk, even if it is a hatchback. I have not come across an uncovered trunk in years. To augment security when you park the car, try to back it against a wall, so that any potential thief would have difficulties accessing the trunk to pop it open.

I think that Venice to Cinque Terre does not make sense. I would drop Cinque Terre because you will have already spent time on the Italian coast. It's a lot of travel just to see another part of the coast line.

nytraveler

You are bouncing around in too many directions (have you looked at a map?) - way too many differnt places for so few days.

And no - it is not safe to leave your car with anyhting visibile - even a map or book - anyplace in Itlay (or any place else IMHO). Either make sure you luggage is IN the trunk (and put there before you get to the parking lot -as in when you leave the hotel - don;t move things around at highway rest stops) or check it somewhere.

MmePerdu

I feel very strongly about Venice, I love it. It's a place like no other on the planet. I don't think it's a good place for a day trip or for a 24 hour stay. To begin to appreciate Venice I believe one should stay off the heavily beaten path and have the time to wander the back alleys and canals and visit the furthest islands. If I were you I'd replace several of your 1 night stays with a longer visit in Venice. If you can't do that then I suggest you not go for a day as you describe but save it for when you can stay a while.

annhig

hi, janetsb,

i find that setting the trip out in tabular fashion is a vey good way of seeing what I'm doing.

at the moment your trip looks something like this:

Day 1 - fly into Rome.
Day 2 - Rome
Day 3 - Rome
day 4 - drive to Positano via pompeii.
day 5 - Positano
day 6 - positano
day 7- Cortona
day 8 - cortona
Day 9
Day10
day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14 - sleep Milan
Day 15 - fly home.

so you are driving all the way to Positano for just 2 days - and then driving back toeards the north for effectively one day in cortona.

personally, i would rearrange things to give me more time in each place, to give you this:

Day 1 - fly into Rome.
Day 2 - Rome
Day 3 - Rome
day 4 - Rome
day 5 - Rome
day 6 - drive to Positano via pompeii.
day 7- positano
day 8 - positano
Day 9 positano
Day10 drive to cortona
day 11 corotna
Day 12 cortona
Day 13 drive to orvieto. tour. late train to Milan.
Day 14 - Milan
Day 15 - fly home.

you now have 5 nights in Rome [allows for losing one of your 4 days to jetlag] 4 in positano, 3 in Cortona, and 2 in Milan - IMO a much better balanced and more doable trip.

Byrd

I would do whatever it takes to spend time in Venice.

Byrd

mamcalice

I agree that one night in Venice is not worth it - Venice deserves several days. And then to travel the entire width of Italy to spend a couple of days in Cinque Terre makes no sense. I would spend the 4 or 5 nights in either Florence or Venice. After Siena, drop the car in Florence and stay there until you go to Milan or take the train to Venice and spend the time there. Your trip is very "choppy" as it is.

StCirq

No, forget Venice until you have time to do it justice. You're already bouncing all over the place without a sensical plan - do you have a map? Drop Cinque Terre, too, and rearrange things so you're not driving the length of Italy for two days in Positano.

ozpair2000

Just a further word if you are security conscious. There are organised pickpockets (many gypsies) that travel on the train between the lovely villages of Cinque Terre looking for an opportunity to 'bump' you as you depart. We lost our camera with a full UBD stick of photos from our preceding travels. Please be careful as the local police do not appear to control the problem although one would wonder why people travelling the train all day do not raise questions.

dfourh

>>>>>> it is not safe to leave your car with anyhting visibile - even a map or book - anyplace in Italy...

Though some people recommend leaving an Italian-language newspaper in plain view.

birdofsong

I would spend more time in Rome...also...if you're not directly on the way to Pompeii, I would consider Ostia outside of Rome instead (a very short train ride) as it has more ruins than even Rome, itself. There are mosaics and intact home areas. Fantastic.

annhig

Though some people recommend leaving an Italian-language newspaper in plain view.>>

most rental cars that i've had have something pretty prominent that has shown what it is - a logo on a tax disc, a label on the windscreen..I'm sure that experienced thieves can spot them from a mile away.

the best advice I can give is that you put everything in the boot {trunk to you] and then reverse it up to a wall or a tree, so that the lid/tailgate can't be opened.

i agree that Ostia antica is well worth a trip, but were you driving near Pompeii, I wouldn't want to dissuade you from going there, if that's what you want to do. but if it was a nice day, i'd go straight to Positano, as in your current itinerary, you have very little time there. [2 days in fact].

franco

<And no - it is not safe to leave your car with anyhting visibile - even a map or book - anyplace in Itlay>

nytraveler, I rarely do NOT concur with what you post, but in this case, I do - strongly! That's not true, very simply, and it's an utterly bad idea to make people panic about safety in Italy. Most places in Italy, it's no problem at all to leave things in the trunk (I'm regularly doing that in Mestre, often for many days without ever moving the car while I'm in Venice); many places, it's not even a problem to leave things on the backseat, fully visible; and some places, you wouldn't even need to lock your fully packed car. That said, the surroundings of Naples are certainly a different story, and that includes Pompeii, of course. I for one wouldn't leave anything in the car IN THAT PRECISE REGION, not even in the trunk, not even back against the wall, nothing, nada, never.