13 Days split between Rome and Florence?
Dec 5th, 2015, 08:00 AM
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13 Days split between Rome and Florence?
Hi! Four of us (2 couples) flying into and out of Rome, spending 13 days in Italy. Relying on trains and private drivers. Priorities are wine, art and fresh seafood. I'd love to hear feedback on this rough itinerary:
Days 1-6: Rome (including day trip to Pompeii and 2 overnights: Sorrento and/or Amalfi Coast.)
Days 7-8: Siena (One or Two nights?)
Days 8-13: Florence (1 or 2 day trips for vineyards? Day trip or overnight in Cinque Terre?)
Thank you for your help!
Days 1-6: Rome (including day trip to Pompeii and 2 overnights: Sorrento and/or Amalfi Coast.)
Days 7-8: Siena (One or Two nights?)
Days 8-13: Florence (1 or 2 day trips for vineyards? Day trip or overnight in Cinque Terre?)
Thank you for your help!
Dec 5th, 2015, 08:16 AM
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It's not an itinerary that is going to net you a lot of fresh seafood, but if you do some research about Rome and are picky about where you eat, and opt for 2 meals each in le Cinque Terre and Sorrento/Amalfi (and are picky about where you eat), you'll at get a good taste. In Tuscany, at least you'll have nice wine to console you perusing all those meaty menus.
Are you including the day trip to Pompei as part of the Sorrento/Amalfi excursion? I wouldn't make a separate daytrip from Rome to do it.
If you are interested in art, then I would do your vineyard visiting out of Siena, not Florence, especially since it will be easier to visit vineyards in the val d'Orcia from Siena. Many people visit all the sights they want to see in Siena in a half a day, so 1 night there might be enough (arrive midday, have lunch, go sightseeing, sleep, next day take a vineyard tour, then head on to Florence.
You don't say what time of year you are going, so it is hard to give advice about le Cinque Terre. What do you want to do in le Cinque Terre? Some things can be done in half a day, others it is better to spend the night.
Are you including the day trip to Pompei as part of the Sorrento/Amalfi excursion? I wouldn't make a separate daytrip from Rome to do it.
If you are interested in art, then I would do your vineyard visiting out of Siena, not Florence, especially since it will be easier to visit vineyards in the val d'Orcia from Siena. Many people visit all the sights they want to see in Siena in a half a day, so 1 night there might be enough (arrive midday, have lunch, go sightseeing, sleep, next day take a vineyard tour, then head on to Florence.
You don't say what time of year you are going, so it is hard to give advice about le Cinque Terre. What do you want to do in le Cinque Terre? Some things can be done in half a day, others it is better to spend the night.
Dec 5th, 2015, 08:32 AM
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If your are flying out of Rome, unless you are coming home on an afternoon flight like Alitalia, you would have to overnight on the last night in Italy in Rome. In which case, you would end up staying in Rome twice with accompanying check-in/out time and cost to go with it. In which case, putting all Rome stay last would simplify your trip, gives you more time, and usually reduce cost. Even if your return flight home is in the afternoon, it would be prudent to stay closer to the departing city on the final night.
If you are flying to FCO, if your arrival is in the morning, you can easily reach Amalfi coast on the arrival day. If your arrival in FCO is up to middle afternoon, you can easily reach Florence, again on arrival day to avoid having to split your stay in Rome.
If you want seafood, staying in a coastal location, such as Venice, CT, or Sorrento accomplishes that. Of course, there are seafood restaurants in Rome.
You might not want to do CT as a day trip. I was just there this September. I stayed overnights in Monterosso. However, the amount of day tour groups, including never ending streams of cruise shore excursions, make CT feel like a busy large city subway station during the day. If you are looking for a tranquil coastal Italy in CT, you would not find it unless you overnight there.
If you are interested in visiting wineries, you would have to make advance reservations. Most places are small operations, unlike humongous operations in Napa Valley, with limited staff for visitors. On top of that, they would organize visits on specific day and time by language.
If you are flying to FCO, if your arrival is in the morning, you can easily reach Amalfi coast on the arrival day. If your arrival in FCO is up to middle afternoon, you can easily reach Florence, again on arrival day to avoid having to split your stay in Rome.
If you want seafood, staying in a coastal location, such as Venice, CT, or Sorrento accomplishes that. Of course, there are seafood restaurants in Rome.
You might not want to do CT as a day trip. I was just there this September. I stayed overnights in Monterosso. However, the amount of day tour groups, including never ending streams of cruise shore excursions, make CT feel like a busy large city subway station during the day. If you are looking for a tranquil coastal Italy in CT, you would not find it unless you overnight there.
If you are interested in visiting wineries, you would have to make advance reservations. Most places are small operations, unlike humongous operations in Napa Valley, with limited staff for visitors. On top of that, they would organize visits on specific day and time by language.
Dec 5th, 2015, 09:20 AM
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It looks like you are doing a day trip to Pompeii and overnights (2 nights or 2 1 nights - this isn;t clear) and this makes no sense.
Pompeii is only about 30 minutes from Sorrento - so you should do it from there, not from Rome. And is it 2 nights in sorrento OR in the AC. You need to clarify - but again they are very close together - so all your time in this area should be together.
And agree that you need to be in Rome the night before your flight out - unless you have one late afternoon - which may not even exist.
Why not go from the airpot right to Sorrento or ? and relax there for a couple of days, then head to Florence by train and put rome at the end of the trip?
Pompeii is only about 30 minutes from Sorrento - so you should do it from there, not from Rome. And is it 2 nights in sorrento OR in the AC. You need to clarify - but again they are very close together - so all your time in this area should be together.
And agree that you need to be in Rome the night before your flight out - unless you have one late afternoon - which may not even exist.
Why not go from the airpot right to Sorrento or ? and relax there for a couple of days, then head to Florence by train and put rome at the end of the trip?
Jan 10th, 2016, 11:28 AM
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Hi everyone, thank you so much for the very helpful advice! Our trip is the end of this April into May. Our return flight departs FCO at 09:00am, so now it is clear we should save Rome for the end of our trip.
Now where to go first- Tuscany or Sorrento? Which is easier to get to from FCO airport?
I'm leaning towards Sorrento first. We will visit Pompeii during our time there.
Next, take trains to Tuscany. Would anyone suggest renting a car to visit the countryside, or hiring a tour company to take us? Seems like vineyard visits are are better received if done with the help of a private tour guide.
Thinking of skipping CT. I think Amalfi Coast will satisfy our desires to experience the coast.
Now where to go first- Tuscany or Sorrento? Which is easier to get to from FCO airport?
I'm leaning towards Sorrento first. We will visit Pompeii during our time there.
Next, take trains to Tuscany. Would anyone suggest renting a car to visit the countryside, or hiring a tour company to take us? Seems like vineyard visits are are better received if done with the help of a private tour guide.
Thinking of skipping CT. I think Amalfi Coast will satisfy our desires to experience the coast.
Jan 10th, 2016, 11:19 PM
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I don't think that a day trip to Cinque Terre will work so well. Train to La Spezia, regional train to one of the five towns (forget Corniglia, it is about 1000 steps up from the station to the town). A lot of travel for not a lot of time there.
The towns themselves are cute, hilly, small, and really are given over to the tourist traffic. The thing that makes the Cinque Terra. UNESCO world heritage site is the agriculture and horticulture, plantings on unbelievably hilly hill sides, terraces made 500 years ago.
We enjoyed our time there, but we stayed a couple of nights. But as a day trip, perhaps not so worthwhile. I do think we would have been pretty underwhelmed if we went there as a day trip only.
It is so difficult making suggestions for other people .........
The towns themselves are cute, hilly, small, and really are given over to the tourist traffic. The thing that makes the Cinque Terra. UNESCO world heritage site is the agriculture and horticulture, plantings on unbelievably hilly hill sides, terraces made 500 years ago.
We enjoyed our time there, but we stayed a couple of nights. But as a day trip, perhaps not so worthwhile. I do think we would have been pretty underwhelmed if we went there as a day trip only.
It is so difficult making suggestions for other people .........
Jan 11th, 2016, 03:18 AM
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It's easier to reach Florence or Tuscany first. There's been a bus from the airport to Siena (via Orbetello,Grosseto and in season Civitavecchia). You didn't state your FCO arrival time so don't know if the schedules coincide with yours.
It's not clear how many hotel nights you have and I think you are counting arrival/departure days. Do you depart on day 13? What are your actual flight dates and/or number of hotel nights?
FCO/Siena - 4 nights? (day trip to vineyards?)
Florence - 3 nights
Rome - 5 nights.
It's not clear how many hotel nights you have and I think you are counting arrival/departure days. Do you depart on day 13? What are your actual flight dates and/or number of hotel nights?
FCO/Siena - 4 nights? (day trip to vineyards?)
Florence - 3 nights
Rome - 5 nights.
Jan 11th, 2016, 03:49 AM
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I agree that Florence is easier as the first stop. There are now even direct trains from the airport to Florence, but only a few per day, so they may not be convenient with the flight arrival time.
If you really want to visit the Amalfi coast, you wouldn't want to spend seven nights in Tuscany. I would choose either Siena or Florence, and make day trips from there. There are good day tours from either one for vineyard visits if you don't want to rent a car.
The choice of Florence or Siena could depend on just how much art you want to see. If just an appetizer, a day trip to Florence might be enough. If you want a three-course meal of art, it would be best to stay in Florence.
I can recommend a seafood restaurant in Rome: Cantina Cantarini. It doesn't look like much, and the proprietors aren't the most congenial I've ever met, but their fresh fish is truly fresh and excellent. Stick to the whole fish; my husband once ordered a mixed grill, which wasn't any better than at an average seafood restaurant.
By the way, whole fish at restaurants in Italy are usually sold by weight, and this causes much confusion for tourists. You'll see a price on the menu followed by /hg., which means "per hectogram" (100 grams, about 1/4 pound). You can always ask the waiter the approximate weight of the fish, and how many people it would serve. Some people see €6/hg and think the serving of fish will cost €6. Then they're outraged when the get a check with a cost of €25 for the fish. Steak is also often priced like this on menus.
If you really want to visit the Amalfi coast, you wouldn't want to spend seven nights in Tuscany. I would choose either Siena or Florence, and make day trips from there. There are good day tours from either one for vineyard visits if you don't want to rent a car.
The choice of Florence or Siena could depend on just how much art you want to see. If just an appetizer, a day trip to Florence might be enough. If you want a three-course meal of art, it would be best to stay in Florence.
I can recommend a seafood restaurant in Rome: Cantina Cantarini. It doesn't look like much, and the proprietors aren't the most congenial I've ever met, but their fresh fish is truly fresh and excellent. Stick to the whole fish; my husband once ordered a mixed grill, which wasn't any better than at an average seafood restaurant.
By the way, whole fish at restaurants in Italy are usually sold by weight, and this causes much confusion for tourists. You'll see a price on the menu followed by /hg., which means "per hectogram" (100 grams, about 1/4 pound). You can always ask the waiter the approximate weight of the fish, and how many people it would serve. Some people see €6/hg and think the serving of fish will cost €6. Then they're outraged when the get a check with a cost of €25 for the fish. Steak is also often priced like this on menus.
