2 weeks in italy - what do you think of my itinerary?
 

hi everyone -
i have a near final itinerary & would like to get your blessing on it. here it goes:

day 1: arrive rome 2pm (night colosseum tour, if available) - night in rome
day 2: rome (colosseum, forum, palatine) - night in rome
day 3: rome (vatican, sistine) - night in rome
day 4: train to venice - night in venice
day 5: venice
day 6: train to como - night in como (varenna or menaggio, still searching for hotel)
day 7: relax in como
day 8: train to florence - night in florence
day 9: florence
day 10: day trip to cinque terre
day 11: day trip to siena and/or pisa
day 12: train to rome
day 13: day trip to pompeii
day 14: fly home

so whaddya think? my main concern is what to do with day 12.
should we stay an extra/5th night in florence and fit in another day trip ... and to where?
or should we spend more time in venice so we can day trip to murano/burano?

help please, fodorites! thanks:)

It doesn;t make sense to go in a giant circle - you are increasing time in transit.

Overall I think you are spending just too much time getting to places 0 rather than actually seeing them. Seeing Como AND CT AND Pompeii is just IMHO not going to work.

In any case I would fly into Naples and work north in one direction. Or, start in Venice and work straight south. Going through Rome in multiple times makes no sense at all.

thanks nytraveler...my original plan was to fly into rome and out of venice but the RT flights were way cheaper so i took that.

i realize my itinerary is ambitious. we might cut out cinque terre but i really want to see pompeii.

Since your flights are set I would suggest cutting Cinque Terre.

Day 10: a Tuscan day trip. Rent a car in Florence and drive to Siena and a small Tuscan village like San Gimignano (or some other small village knowledgeable Fodorites can suggest).

Day 11: day trip via train to Pisa and and finish the day and next morning in Florence.

Day 12: afternoon train to Rome.

Day 13: Pompeii as scheduled.

I've done a driving day trip from Rome to Pompeii and it works but you can't do much of anything else that day like see Naples or Sorrento.

Having been to Murano I would skip it. Streets are quiet and nice to wander through but the main attraction is the glass making exhibitions/sales job. And Venice is already shortchanged on your itinerary!

I think its smart to have a 'relax' day on the schedule.

You are really only moving days 4, 6, 8 and 12. Thats much better than most itineraries. You have the makings of a great trip!

I don't remember what time of year your trip is.

I'm not sure you realize how much time it takes to get from place to place. The train journeys (below) don't include the time needed to get from hotel to station and then station to hotel. If you're staying in Bellagio or Menaggio, you need to also add time for the ferry ride to Varenna.

Rome-Venice 4 hours.

Venice-Varenna, 4.5 hours.

Varenna-Florence, 3.5 hours.

Florence-CT-Florence, at least 5 hours.

Rome-Pompeii-Rome, 3.5 hours.

So far, 20.5 hours, maybe 23-24 hours when you add in the time getting to/from stations. And you only have 5 days when you're not on a train going somewhere.