12 days, in what order. Rome, Venice.
 

We actually have about 12 days. In what order would you visit Rome, Venice, Capri, Amalfi Coast? We're going in September (4 adults) and are all first-timers!

Be advised that Venice to Amalfi is 8 to 9 hours by train. That is a major long train ride and you may want to avoid that. The general consensus on this board is that a train ride more than 5 hours long becomes a chore instead of a vacation.

If Capri is a day-trip from Amalfi, then you have a good itinerary here.

I'd fly into Venice, spend 2 or 3 days there getting over jet lag, take a train to Rome for, say, 5 days, then train or bus to Sorrento for 4 days seeing Capri, Pompeii, and the Amalfi Coast. Can you fly home from Naples? If not, you'll have to spend a day returning to Rome.

We did a similar trip this past June. We flew into Venice, stayed 3 nights, took a train to Rome, stayed there 4 nights, then took one more train to Naples and on to Positano for 4 nights, flying out of Naples.

We hired a driver who picked us up in Naples, brought us to Pompeii for a few hours and then on to Positano. We were planning on visiting Capri too, but we decided to relax in Positano, saving Capri for another trip.

We never felt rushed and thought our itinerary worked perfect for us. We were very glad we flew out of Naples and not Rome, though.

Good luck and have a great time planning!!! You are going to love Italy!! Any questions, please ask!

We did this trip, but we took 15 days. We flew into Rome and spent, I think, 3 nights. Then we hired a car to take us to Sorrento with a stop on the way at Pompeii. We had no worries about storing luggage. It was an easy couple of hours drive I believe. We made it to Sorrento by the late afternoon. This is where we stayed and took day trips to Amalfi and Capri. We spent 6 days in this area. The point was to relax and see the sights. Sorrento is a lovely town. However, I think this was more than enough time here. We then took a train from Naples to Venice. It was an easy day, with the exception of changing trains in Rome. We had a 20 minute change, but our train left Naples 15 minutes late. Although it required a mad dash through the Roman terminal, surprisingly enough we made it. Venice was fabulous! I'm so glad we included it even though so many people told us not to bother. Three nights in Venice were wonderful. We stayed on the island and it was lovely after the tourists left for the day. We then went back to Rome and spent a couple of days before heading home. It is somewhat awkward to do it this way, however, if you are going to fly into Rome and you want to visit these areas, it is somewhat necessary. We were not stressed by the travel, with the exception of the mad dash through the train station. Visiting these very different parts of Italy gave me a wonderful feel for the country.