This is our first trip to Italy. There are 6 of us traveling including my 11 year old son and 15 yr. old daughter and my parents. We are planning 10 nights. Flying into Venice, staying 2 nights, then train to Florence in the morning. Spending all day in Florence. The following day we plan to travel by car to the Lamborghini museum/tour,
and then to Pisa. Is this doable? Any places we can stop for lunch on the way back from the tour to break up the car ride to Pisa? Or should we flip it and do Pisa in the morning? I was thinking by evening, we may appreciate the shorter trip back to Florence. The 3rd day we are spending in Siena. Traveling by bus from our hotel in Florence. Train to Rome and spending 4 nights. Arriving early morning to Rome so I plan to spend 3 full days in Rome. On the 4th day, I was planning to take the train to Pompei. Would have loved more days to stay in Naples and go to Pompei but decided to not pack/unpack again and to fly out of Rome. Any thoughts about this itinerary would be greatly appreciated.

So our hotel stays are: 2 N Venice, 3 N Florence and 4 N Rome

Pompeii is totally a worthwhile place to visit, but I wouldn't do it as a day trip from Rome. You would spend roughly 4 hours traveling each way (~3 hrs Rome to Naples, then ~30 min on the regional train to Pompeii). If you really want to hit Pompeii, I would remove Pisa and Siena from your itinerary and add in a couple nights in Sorrento, then take the train back to Rome the night before your flight home. Otherwise, I would save Pompeii for another trip.

As a side note, I definitely sympathize with the fact that there are so many wonderful places to visit in Italy and it's tempting to cram them all into a single trip! But unless you have a ton of time (like 15+ days), it's really difficult to fit Venice, Tuscany, Rome, and any destination in Southern Italy into a single trip.

I hope you don't get serious jet lag, otherwise your one full day in Venice could be misery.

After Venice, I would do things differently. I would train Venice-Bologna, store the luggage at the train station and take a taxi back and forth to the Lambo museum. (Most trains Venice-Bologna take about 90 minutes.) Then retrieve the luggage (make sure you take note of the hours the office is open/closed), get back on the train and head to Florence. There are many departures all day and until about 8:00/8:30 p.m. The journey is about 40 minutes. Check into your Florence hotel.

The next day (2nd after Venice), train back and forth to Pisa. Most trains take about 1:00-1:20 hours each way.

Taking the train between/among Bologna, Pisa and Florence precludes your having to worry about the limited traffic zones (ZTL) in each city and the potential for getting tickets in the mail after you get home. Driving would involve perhaps 5 hours in the car plus time in the pick-up and return process and the search for parking everywhere. You'd be restrained at both ends of the day by the open hours of the rental office.

It sounds like your day-trip to Siena (3rd day after Venice) is with a driver or guided tour ("traveling by bus from our hotel in Florence"). I hope you have allowed for time to see all of the wonderful sights in Florence.

I find Pompeii fascinating, but I probably wouldn't take a day away from Rome to go there. You could play this by ear after you get to Rome and see how much there is to see. I definitely would go to Pompeii if rain is predicted and would really think twice about going on an extremely hot and humid day. A much-closer alternative to Pompeii would be Ostia Antica.

http://www.ostia-antica.org/touristguide.pdf

Sorry... "I definitely WOULDN'T go to Pompeii if rain is predicted..."

Thanks for the quick replies. I see what you are saying about Pompeii. Maybe not the best way to spend our last day in Italy being on the train that long. I figured it would be that long but thought maybe it's something not to be missed. I was considering Tivoli as an alternative. Would you still recommend Ostia Antica over Tivoli?

Re Pompeii:

Rome-Naples on the fast train is 1:10.

From Naples train arrival to getting a ticket and getting to the Circumvesuviana (commuter train) Platform is ~15min.
Trains leave every 30min.

From Naples to the Pompeii's Circumvesuviana station to the entrance ~40min.

So if you took the 0735 train to Naples you arrive at 0845, and 15min to the Circumvesuviana platform at 0900.

Within 0-30min the train arrives, so you would get to Pompeii's entrance between 0940 to 1010.

So the trip is between 2:05 and 2:35.

If that's too early another train leaves Termini at 0845 so a 1040 to 1110 Pompeii arrival.

There is so much to see and do in Rome you could easily fill your 4 days!
That said, I've done both Pompeii and Ostia Antica and prefer the latter. It's closer to Rome, an easy 30 minute train ride and far less tourists. I downloaded a Rick Steves podcast that was easier and more informative than trying to follow the map.
Rome is my favorite city anywhere. Hit the major sites by all means, but give yourselves time to wander, enjoy the fountains, and watch the local color in the piazza's.
'Rome Walks' offers free walking tours every evening, meeting at the Keats/Shelley House at the bottom of the Spanish Steps. It's a great overview of the historic center and you'll walk from the Spanish Steps to Trevi Fountain on to the Piazza Navona. Great, inexpensive evening.

Hi mama,

Rome/Pompeii is a verrrrrry loooong day. You can visit Ostia Antica if ruins are important to you.

Are you sure that it is possible to rent a car for one day?

I would add a day to Florence and a day less in Rome. I think it would make your visit less hectic.

Enjoy your visit.

Rostra is correct on the travel time - I have no idea why I remember the trip from Rome to Naples taking so much longer. In any event, it is the easier part of the journey because the Eurostar is quite luxurious compared to the Circumvesuviana, which also seems longer than it actually is due to the number of stops (like taking the NYC subway from downtown to uptown). Though I will say that it offers a glimpse into Italian life that you won't see in the city center of Rome! If you have your heart set on Pompeii, go for it. As far whether it's a "must see," it is very cool and obviously historically significant, but there are so many "must see" sights in Italy that it's hard to judge.

I've never been to Ostia Antica or Tivoli, so I can't give advice there.

Sigh. I was thinking of changing to Ostia Antica based on the good advice and realized our 4th falls on a Monday so it is closed. Tivoli Estates are closed but Pompeii is open.

>>>Rostra is correct on the travel time - I have no idea why I remember the trip from Rome to Naples taking so much longer. <<<

Trains are faster than they were a few years ago. Fast train has gone from three hours to two and now barely over one.

If you can't change your Rome itinerary, consider seeing Hadrian's Villa on Monday. It's open every day except Jan. 1st and Dec. 25th.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian's_Villa

http://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...rnard-frischer [an excellent educational video]