triciafromoz

I am madly trying to finish my itinerary, booked on the week end to fly out Wednesday. It seems we now have an extra two nights that I havent accounted for. We are flying from Dublin to Rome (although haven't purchased that leg yet) intending to spend three nights in Rome and flying to OZ from there. It now seems I have an extra two nights. Being short on time I am turning to my Fodor friends for help. Should I look at flying into Naples or Florence or somewhere else for the two nights; then do I drive/fly/train to Rome for the final three nights? Any suggestions? Thank you

kfusto

Why stay twice in Rome? Fly from Dublin into Florence and start the trip there then train to Rome for the remainder. You do not state how many days you have in total so hard to make specific recommendations.

What is OZ?

Where you spend your extra time should be dictated by your interests. I enjoy Florence in February when it is not crowded and it makes a good base for day trips as well.

qwovadis

www.skyscanner.net www.ryanair.com usually cheapest

on those legs booked in advance great savings...

Have gone into Pisa with them for less than 15 quid

cheap regional train to Florence then down to Rome.

Might work well for me...

caroline_edinburgh

It depends on your tastes. Personally I love Naples and have so far spent a week and a separate long weekend there, whereas I'd had enough of Florence after 3 days, about 20 years ago, and haven't been back. There's much more to see in Naples.

But where else in Italy have you been, if anywhere ? What about Venice ? Where else can you fly direct from Dublin ? What makes you think you wouldn't enjoy 5 nights in Rome ? Some other places which would provide a contrast with Rome & involve shorter train rides are Orvieto and Assisi.

mamcalice

Where you go depends entirely on what you want to see and do. Unlike the poster above, we have been to Italy 7 times and have visited Florence on each trip. While I love Rome, Florence offers so much to see and do that we have barely scratched the surface in our visits.

It would be a little easier to provide input if we knew what/where OZ is, who is travelling, how long you will be in Italy, have you been before,etc.

travelfridge2

is OZ Australia or New Zealand?

ira

Hi tric,

Make it easy on yourself - stay in Rome.

You can take a train ride to the hill town of Orvieto.

You can do a day trip to Naples, if you decide to.

Ditto for Florence.

Enjoy your visit.

caroline_edinburgh

Doesn't everyone refer to Australia as Oz ?

Fra_Diavolo

"Doesn't everyone refer to Australia as Oz ?"

Only if returning involves "a hazardous and technically unexplainable journey into the outer stratosphere to confer, converse, and otherwise hobknob with my brother Wizards."

LoveItaly

Hello, caroline, I thought everyone knew that OZ meant Australia but evidently not.

Personally, tricia, if it was my trip I would do as our Ira suggested. Staying in one hotel in Rome for your time there would be my cup of tea and you can decide once in Rome if you want to take some day trips. But we all have different styles of travelling of course so I again stress "if it was my trip". Enjoy!

triciafromoz

Thannks for all your help. OZ is Australia, sorry its a collequalism that I thought most people used but now I realise its an Australian thing. I haven't booked the flight to Rome yet, so I was thinking I would fly to Naples, spend two nights there and then drive to Rome, is that reasonable? In terms of driving I mean. I love Rome but my husband has a short attention span and it helps to break things up. He loves to drive as long as it is not bottled necked with trafficbut now I am thinking that driving INTO Rome would be a problem. So then 5 nights in Rome with a day trip to Naples or fly to Naples for two nights then train to Rome. What do you think?

annhig

why drive from Naples to Rome? you won't need [or want]

a car in either city, and there are perfectly good trains running regularly between the two.

personally i feel that you get so much more from a three night stay than from two nights, so much though I love Rome, I would go for 3 nights in Naples, and 4 in Rome.

SAB

Since I prefer Rome to Naples, I would say 2 nights Naples, 5 nights Rome but if you want to visit Pompeii for example, 3 nights in Naples would probably be better.

STUMBLEBUM

You could also pick any of the towns in the north and get an internal flight to Rome. I have done this from Milan and it took about an hour. Their trains are very cheap too.

caroline_edinburgh

Tricia, saying Oz is not just an Australian thing, I'd expect anyone in the UK to know and probably use it (having originally picked it up from you, of course !).

I'm a bit confused now about how many nights you have in total.

If it's 7, I'm with Ann - 3 nights in Naples, train to Rome, 4 nights in Rome. 2 nights anywhere only gives you 1 full day and IMO at least 2 is better anywhere.

Or is it 5 ? Which is trickier to spread between 2 cities. I think much depends on the times of your flights in & out - can you get a flight which will get you to Naples early, and is your flight to Oz late ?

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Can I throw one last option in the mix?

Fly to Naples, dump bags at hotel and get out to see the city (noting that the Archaeological Museum, where many of the treasures from around Vesuvius can be seen, is closed on Tuesdays).

Next day, take your bags to the main railway station's Left Luggage, and go down to Pompei and perhaps Herculaneum or Oplontis on the local Circumvesuviana train (30 mins or so) - seeing the volcano as well if you wish. Come back, pick up your stuff and head off to Rome - with a quick doze on the train to recover - to spend 4 nights there.

Much as I love Naples, there's not much to be said for spending a second overnight there, if you'd only be heading off first thing the next morning anyway!

Photos? In and around Naples - too bad you'll not have time for Ischia!
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/tele

...and Rome...
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/lazio

Peter

triciafromoz

thank you everyone. I sat down and worked out the logistics of it all, including the availablity of flights from Dublin to Naples. which were practically non existant and the ones that were there were 4and 5oo pounds each and via bullamakanka (another OZ expression which means out the back of nowhere) so I had to revise the plans. We are now spending two nights in Belfast, two nights in Dublin and four nights in Rome. I am looking at some day trips; we did some in New York ( to Washington and then to Niagara Falls which were 14 hr trips) we may have to make do with those. THank you again for all your wonderful ideas.

ankhboy

Ah, I should have read your name, tricia from oz! but I skipped over that. I did wonder about OZ, and thought of Australia, but then I thought we were talking about Europe, so I wasn't sure. It was out of context. Might have helped if it was Oz, not OZ it sounded like it might be an Austrian airport!?
Anyway, I know it is tempting to cram in as many cities as possible if for no other reason than bragging rights, but for me, it would be more fun and more significant, to stay in Rome the whole time, gosh, you will need a whole day just to glimpse the thousands of treasures in the Sistine Chapel, and may want to go back. And if you have 4 nights or 30 in Rome, you will only scratch the surface...

triciafromoz

You're right ankhboy and thats why I had to give Naples a miss. Maybe next time! I spent an afternoon in the Sistine Chapel the last time I was there. This time I might be able to see more.