slothboots

Hello, I am in the process of planning my first ever trip to Europe or anywhere, really, and could use some help with my itinerary. My rough outline is to fly into London, visit Paris, and head to Italy. I'm just not sure if I've allocated enough time for everything or if I'm trying to do too much, especially with the day trips from Florence. Is it okay to take that many? I appreciate any advice! Thank you in advance!

• Day 1 – Flight from NYC to London, England
• Day 2 – London
• Day 3 – London
• Day 4 – London
• Day 5 – Train to Paris
• Day 6 – Paris
• Day 7 – Paris
• Day 8 – Day trip to Versailles
• Day 9 – Fly to Venice
• Day 10 – Venice
• Day 11 – Venice
• Day 12 – Train to Florence (use Florence as a base for daytrips)
• Day 13 – Florence
• Day 14 – Day trip to Siena
• Day 15 – Day trip to San Gimignano
• Day 16 – Day trip to Lucca (stop in Pisa to see the tower? Does Pisa need a full day?)
• Day 17 – Day trip to Bologna
• Day 18 – Train to Vernazza
• Day 19 – Cinque Terre
• Day 20 – Cinque Terre
• Day 21 – Train to Rome
• Day 22 – Rome
• Day 23 – Rome
• Day 24 – Rome
• Day 25 – Rome
• Day 26 – Train to Naples
• Day 27 – Naples
• Day 28 – Day trip to Pompeii
• Day 29 – Train to Atrani (use Atrani as a base for day trips to Amalfi Coast)
• Day 30 – Day trip to Positano
• Day 31 – Day trip to Amalfi
• Day 32 – Day trip to Ravello
• Day 33 – Fly home from Naples

janisj

>> I'm just not sure if I've allocated enough time for everything<<

That depends on what you mean by 'everything', and what you hope to see and do in all these places. Do you want a 'tasting menu' or do you want to see anything in depth?

For instance -- you have given your self about 2.5 jet lagged days for London which is the largest city in Western Europe by a huge margin, with literaly hundreds of things to see/do. If you only want to see maybe 3 or 4 major sites -- then I guess 2.5 days is enough.

This could be seen as a reasonable itinerary -- but I'd fine it exhausting, and as you say, it is your first time. Do you need to cram it all in to one trip? You could spend all the time in Italy, or all in London and Paris and some time in England and/or France. OR you could do this itinerary . . .

slothboots

Thank you so much for the reply! I had a feeling I was definitely trying to do too much. I've been reading so many guidebooks and websites, but I'm finding it very difficult to craft an itinerary that makes sense. I think I will head back to the drawing board and try to make a plan that is a little less busy. Thank you again!

mjs

KarenWoo

If you like big cities, you could reasonably spend your time in London, Paris, and Rome. Each one of those cities deserves at least a week, and each one is very different from each other. You would also have time for a day trip from each city. For example, you could visit Windsor Castle from London; Versailles from Paris, and perhaps spend a night or two in Florence before or after Rome. I think this would be a great itinerary, and gives you the opportunity to visit 3 major European capitals.

Alternatively, it is also nice to divide your time between major cities and smaller cities/towns/villages. If you want to see the countryside, I like janisj's suggestion of spending all of your time in Italy, and that could include all the places you mention in Italy. You seem to have a preference for Italy, since most of your itinerary is there. I would allocate a week for Rome, and several more days for Florence. I haven't been to the other places in Italy yet, so can't really offer firsthand advice. But the more I think about it, spending a month in Italy would be wonderful! What time of year, btw?

slothboots

slothboots

Jean

A correction: There is no "train to Atrani." The nearest train station is Salerno, and there is direct train service between Naples and Salerno. From Salerno, you would bus or taxi to Atrani.

There is also no ferry to Atrani. The nearest ferry stop is Amalfi, about a 10-minute walk from Atrani.

But Atrani is on the SITA bus route.

I would try to adjust your time in Naples/Pompeii/Amalfi Coast to allow for a day trip to Capri.

Before you set in stone your day trips from Florence, check the open/closed days of the things you want to see/do in Florence. Many of the most popular sites are not open every Sunday or Monday, and you may want to plan your trips on those days.

Also, regarding your Florence time... Unless you catch a rather early train from Venice, you won't have dropped off your luggage at your Florence hotel until about noon. That leaves you just 1.5 days not impacted by day trips. For me, that wouldn't be enough time to see all that interests me in Florence. It might work for you, but you should make a schedule to see if you can fit it all in. Again, for me (and it's not my trip), I'd rather have one less day in the Cinque Terre and one more day in Florence.

BTW, you can easily combine Lucca and Pisa if you're not interested in a deep dive into either city. Climbing the Leaning Tower requires advance reservations.

slothboots

Wow, thank you so much for all the information! I was confused about the train to Atrani thing, so thank you for clearing that up as well. I also appreciate the help with Florence and will definitely take that into consideration and try to both add more time there and make sure the sites are open during my visit. I never thought about going to Capri for some reason, but I will look into it.

I have definitely restructured my trip thanks to everyone's suggestions here and will try to update the itinerary. Thank you again!

jpie

Given the time of year I would be tempted to start at the most southern part of your itinerary as it could be broiling in southern Italy and raining and cool end of May in London (if you decide to keep that as part of the trip) Since it looks like you are coming and going to the NYC area you should have lots of choices of where to fly in and out of.

isabel

Not bad. As already pointed out it's a kind of 'tasting' itinerary, not enough time for much in depth exploration or relaxation but if this is what you want it can be a very good trip. I agree London is pretty tight.

The beauty of a base with day trips is that you don't have to take them if, once you are there, you don't want to. So you could skip one (or more) of the Florence day trips if you find you love Florence and want to spend more time there. And yes, Pisa and Lucca are easily combined in one day. Most people want to just look at the leaning tower and a couple hours is plenty.

I would alter your Amalfi Coast/Naples time. I'd base the entire time in Sorrento and do day trips to Naples/Pompeii (one day or two) and to Amalfi/Atrani, Positano, Ravello, Capri. You'd have 6 nights total which is good (but not too much by any means) . Depending on the time of your flight out you'd want the last night in Naples. Certainly if you decide to keep Atrani as a base you'd want to put Naples at the end. If you are staying in Sorrento and your flight is late enough you could spend the last night there.

Another option - while Cinque Terre is wonderful, since you have Amalfi Coast as well you could skip the CT this trip and add those nights to other places (like London, or one to London and one to the AC). That would give you a little bit more relaxing pace and still see the main things you are hoping to see.

StCirq

A month sounds like a long time on paper. Even the word has a lenghty-sounding tone to it. It's a fallacy. A month slides by before you know it.

slothboots

Hello! Thank you so much for the reply. That is a very good point about the heat in the southern parts of Italy that I hadn't thought about. After much consideration, I've decided to completely restructure my trip and only go to Italy. I'm thinking of starting in Rome, exploring Tuscany, Cinque Terre, and ending in Venice. Hopefully this plan is a bit more practical. Thank you again for the advice!

slothboots

Thank you for the reply! You have given me such good advice. Trying to plan this trip has been a bit overwhelming, but with the help I've gotten here, I think I have a much better idea of what to do. After talking to my travel partner, we've decided that we do want a bit more relaxation, like you said. We're both mostly interested in Italy, so the new plan is to fly into Rome for about 7 days, explore Tuscany for about two weeks, and spend the last week split between Cinque Terre and Venice and fly home from Venice. Does this sound like a more doable and less stressful plan? Does this seem like a good amount of time for the places I've mentioned? Thank you again for all your help! I'm saving all this information for future trips to Italy!

slothboots

That is a very good point. As someone who doesn't do much traveling, the idea of going anywhere for a month seems like a very long period of time, but you're right, it goes by very quickly. I'm definitely restructuring the trip thanks to everyone's advice. Thank you for your reply!

KarenWoo

I think it sounds like an excellent plan! Many years ago we spent a full week in Rome and loved it! We were never bored, and I know there were things we didn't have time to see. A week in a major European capital is a good plan!

StCirq

Sounds good to me. But do check on the Cinque Terre in April. I imagine that's before the tourist hordes hit - and they can be truly awful - but google Cinque Terre crowds images to get an idea. If you need a seaside venue and the CT seems too daunting, you can easily and cheaply go down the coast from Rome by train to Sperlonga, Gaeta, Terracina, etc.

And check on flights home from Venice if you're flying back to the USA. I haven't flown out of Venice for years, but it seems to me I've read that most flights leave vey early in the morning, making for some tough logistics. If that's the case, maybe it would make more sense to go straight to Venice (and CT if you decide to do that) from Rome, then go to Tuscany for the last part of the trip and fly home from Pisa or Florence (not an expert on any of this, so just guessing, but plenty of people here are).

Peter_S_Aus