26 NIGHTS IN ITALY, AM I INSANE?
 

I'm planning to spend 26 nights in Italy divided this way:

05 nights in Venice:
I want to visit Venice and the isles of Murano, Burano and Torcello.

06 nights in Tuscany:
I want to visit Florence, Siena, and San Gimignano.

10 nights in Campania:
I'll spend 4 nights on Ischia with a daytrip to Naples, 3 nights on Capri, and 3 nights in Positano with a daytrip to Ravello and Amalfi.

05 nights in Rome:
I want to visit Rome with a possible daytrip to Assisi.

1. I'll be travelling by train (main cities), ferries (islands) and buses (Tuscany and The Amalfi Coast).

2. Is it insane to do such a long trip?

3. I'll spend the arrival days resting and doing no sightseeing at all.

4. I'm planning to do this trip in July.

I really appreciate all of your opinions on this itinerary.

I would kill for 26 nights in Italy! (I was there for 17 nights last Sept and would have been happy to stay longer.) No, you are not insane! It will be very hot in July, so I would want my 26 nights in Sept, but if that's when you can go, so be it. By the way, you will actually have time to see more than those three places with 6 nights in Tuscany.

You have a nice unrushed number of nights everywhere. I haven't been south of Rome yet, but I still might take a night from Capri and add it to Rome. You can't have too much time there!

I think the amount of time you've given yourself is great. In fact, 31 nights would be even better, with five more going to Rome!

If you want to go to Assisi, consider stealing a day from Ischia or Capri (or both) and put it toward making that trek. I wonder if there is some way you could get there most efficiently from Tuscany. But it may be that getting there from Rome is your best option. I just don't know. But you might want to spend a night in Assisi.

You also might consider doing your day trip to Amalfi and Ravello from Capri. The boat goes directly to Amalfi, which you could tour in the morning and then take a bus up to Ravello for lunch. Tour Ravello, and come back down in time to catch the boat back to Capri. Both Amalfi and Ravello are so small, you won't feel like your doing anything more intense or strenous than having a nice walk, so it won't cut into your rest.

By doing that, you could free up a day in Positano to spend a day at Pompeii. I can't help but think you would find it rewarding.

I would bring a parasol of some sort, and those things that keep your neck cool. The sun and heat will be intense.

Insane to spend 26 nights in Italy? Not in my opinion. I have more than once spent 60 nights in Italy. And 10 nights on Capri, so 3 nights does not sound to long to me.

Spending arrival days relaxing (walking around, sitting in an outdoor cafe and enjoying a refreshing drink while people watching) sounds like what I do.

Enjoy every precious moment..you will no doubt get a lot of suggestions to change your itinerary but I would encourage you to keep the itinerary you have planned.

sounds awesome to me. I have been to most of those places. To see Murano is a half day, same with Burano. It's an entire country and you aren't even going to Umbria. LOL.

Enjoy. Make sure all the lodgings have pools, it will be hot. I could spend 2 weeks in Positano alone. Ischia - great spa and thermal waters. The only stop I would pass on is Naples, just not worth the boat ride there and back. Stay and relax on Ischia or add another day to Positano instead of 4 on Ischia and see Pompeii and Ravello as trips from there.

Staying in Florence versus seeing the Tuscan countryside would mean having a car, so I guess day trips by bus to Sienna and San Gim is how you plan to do it?

Great itinerary.

Sounds great, but it makes no sense to do a day trip from Rome to Assisi. Assisi is about an hour drive from Florence, and 3 hours from Rome.

Assisi is in Umbria, on the border with eastern Tuscany. You can very easily combine it with other places in eastern Tuscany on the same day, like Cortona, a very popular town which you might want to visit.

You can also check my web site which includes several trips to Italy:
http://www.travel.stv77.com/

And another thing,,,

You are definitely not crazy!!!

Advice to have an overnight in Asissi is great. It is a lovely town. Stay "within" the walls and you will enjoy the evening when all the hords of tour busses are gone. I'd take a day from Capri and add Asissi.Lucky,lucky you!!!
nannibray

No! You are totally sane. What a great way to spend 26 days. Enjoy every minute. Last May I spent:
3 nights Venice
3 nights Rome
7 nights Umbria (one location but daytrips around Umbria/Tuscany)
4 nights Ischia (w/daytrip to Pompeii)
2 more nights Rome
(w/ 2 days London at the beginning and 11 days Spain at the end)

I forgot how wonderful it is to be able to spend that much time on a trip. It was well worth the planning and the money. Only problem is now I want all my trips to be month-long trips!

No,that's not insane to me at all. If it is I'd like to go insane. Have a very nice visit!

I agree that this will be a great trip, and I also agree that you should add time to Rome, the most interesting city in the whole world, and I also agree that you could well steal it from any of the Campania destinations to which you have assigned what may seem a little too much time (though it's certainly not unpleasant to spend that much time there, or even more - just that you'd really need it for Rome).
I don't know anything about public transport (as a true car addict), but by car at least, Assisi would be much better visited from Florence than from Rome.
What I'd strictly avoid is to stay overnight in Assisi. Especially in summer, this wonderful little town is overflowing with pilgrims and other visitors, and in the evening, the German pilgrims are singing their religious chants open air sitting in the main square bars... it's just unbearable, all that Saint Francis business (and it's just logical that Assisi's mayor has been a Communist ever since, and that the locals are wearing t-shirts telling "I'm not a tourist - I live here"). Nevertheless, go there, as the basilica is one of Italy's greatest art treasures. But don't stay overnight.

I agree with franco about not staying overnight in Assisi but I would suggest staying overnight in the vicinity in Umbria or perhaps Orvieto if there is a good connection to there.

The reason you are getting so much advice to trim down your Campania stay, and to add Pompeii to it is that is it's not clear if you really want 10 days of downtime, with truly minimal cultural exploring, or if Italy mainly draws you for its cultural treasures.

One of the problems, I think, with going to the places you've chosen in the Amalfi that long is that they really are tourist destinations, including Ischia (for Germans). If you want to experience the Italian seaside as the Italians do, there are probably more interesting destinations (even in the Amalfi). And if when you arrive at the islands you find them unpleasantly touristy, you'll find it hard to do day trips.

However, there is no denying that the scenery of the Amalfi and its islands are spectacular. And mass tourism is definiely a big part of modern Italian life!

Stop stop, you guys are making me so jealous. If I could spend 26 nights there I may never come back.

Hi LP,

Lucky you.

>06 nights in Tuscany:
I want to visit Florence, Siena, and San Gimignano.

10 nights in Campania:
I'll spend 4 nights on Ischia with a daytrip to Naples, 3 nights on Capri, and 3 nights in Positano with a daytrip to Ravello and Amalfi.

05 nights in Rome:
I want to visit Rome with a possible daytrip to Assisi.<

As noted, visit Assisi from Florence.
You can also do a daytrip to Bologna.

Visit Orvieto from Rome.

I suggest that you reduce Ischia to 2 nights, Capri to 2 nights and add them to Naples. You could also visit Ischia from Capri and vv and not have to unpack.

You can visit Pompeii, Mt Vesuvius, Herculaneum and Paestum from Naples.

Have a great trip.

((I))

Thanks everybody for all of your opinions!

These past couple of days, I was a little worried because I thought that, maybe, I was expecting to visit too much or that such a long trip (I've never been that long abroad) would be too tiring. I feel better now after reading your opinions.

I've already been to Rome, that's why I don't want to spend more than 5 nights there. I've never been to Trastevere or Campo Marzio, though.

I know that it seems more logical to visit Assisi from Tuscany, but, by train, Assisi is closer to Rome than Florence.

Can I really visit more than 3 places with 6 nights in Tuscany? I've read that Florence is rather small but it seems like there's so much to see in there. I thought that I could spend 4 nights in Florence and the extra two days for Siena and San Gimignano.

Many people say that Naples is not that great and that I shouldn't bother going there because it's dangerous, dirty and chaotic, but I really would like to visit it, that's why I thought of doing a daytrip rather than spending the night there.

Is 10 days in Campania really that much? I'm not expecting cultural treasures there (I wouldn't like to spend a month just visiting churhces and museums), but I thought that: with 4 nights on Ischia, a day for Naples, a day to visit the island, and a day for Procida (I recently watched "The Postman") would keep me busy there. I'd like to do some walking on Capri and not only visit the towns. I'd also thought about doing a daytrip to Pompeii from Positano, and, since you've recommended it to me, I guess that a daytrip there along with Amalfi and Ravello will fill those 3 nights in Positano. Wouldn't that keep me busy during ten days in Campania? I've never been there, though. At the beginning, I was going to stay in Campania for 9 nights, but since Procida is practically next to Ischia, I thought of adding an extra night to visit it.

I want to thank you all for your opinions, I certainly feel much better now.

I still appreciate any other experience and comments you'd like to share.

I've spent a total of 14 days in Florence over the past 4 years and there is still so very much that I haven't seen. Florence has an embarassment of great art. If you love art, IMO you shouldn't rob a day from Florence to do another day trip.

I envy you for the amount of time you have - you will have a wonderful trip! My husband and I went to Italy for 14 days last September.

- While in Tuscany, consider visitng Montepulciano. We didn't go, but other travelers said it was a highlight. We stayed in Chianti region and it was lovely. I would recommend it if you have time.

- Rome: be sure to go to the Colloseum at NIGHT. It is awesome. Stayed at Daphne Trevi B&B and loved it. It books up early though.

- Assisi - isn't really a day trip from Rome. Pretty far away. I think it is worth an overnight. Very peaceful, lovely hilltown in Umbria. Very religious, though. If that isn't what you want, you could go to Orvieto (similar feel, closer to Rome, small town) instead.

- didn't go, but have read a lot on this board that RAVELLO is a gem. It is a part of my next itinerary.

Good Luck.

Wow...I think I'm in the minority. I spent 21 days in Italy, and was homesick for my habitual foods and media by the end of the second week. I was only 19 at the time, maybe that had something to do with it.

Good luck with your trip, it sounds wonderful.

hi again, lonelyplanet

If you've already been to Rome, you are surely the best judge of how much time you want to spend there. Staying in Trastevere will give you a fresh take on the Eternal City and I hope you enjoy the area as much as I do.

Have you considered that it may be more cost effective to rent a car for your post-Firenze days in Tuscany? Even just a 3 or 4 day rental would mean that you could dramatically cut your hotel costs by staying in the countryside as opposed to pricier tourist destinations like Siena and San Gimigiano. It would also enable you to drive straight to Assisi from Firenze (cutting out a night's worth of hotel costs in Rome).

I think Firenze is definitely worth as much time as you can give it, if you are in Italy to see great art. I was there for 5 nights (with a day trip to Siena). I could have happily stayed more and would have included a day trip to Pisa. So even if you don't add to your stay in Firenze, I suggest you not trim it.

As for Naples, I adore it, but it is dirty and chaotic. To the extent it is dangerous, the danger is not to tourists, but to Neapolitans, but it can feel unsettling, especially if you are travelng alone. Most discouraging of all, the areas convenient to the Naples train station -- and thus most convenient to Pompeii -- are not nice neighborhoods.

So please do visit Naples, especially its art and history treasures, but I would suggest making Sorrento your base for doing that and making a trip to Pompeii. From Sorrento you could also visit all the islands. The problem with Ischia is that it will be expensive and time-restricting to plan your days around the ferry schedules.

I honestly do think that your 10 days in Campania could benefit from some new analysis. What is your budget? What time of year are you going? Weather is very much a consideration. So is your tolerance for large crowds of tourists.

By the way, I believe that most of Il Postino (The Postman) was shot on Salida, one of the islands off Sicily. Genearlly speaking, the Amalfi is so expense, taking a flight from Naples to Sicily and spending 10 days there might be a cheaper -- and more fascinating -- option.

Most people go to the Amalfi to live hedonistically and delight partying and shopping in a spectacular setting made glamorous by jet setters. It's a great place to read, swim, get a suntan and be silly. Sound like your kind of fun?

Were I to return to the Amalfi I might hook up with the folks at Amalfi Walks just to try to see a different side of Amalfi -- the smaller, less famous towns even higher up in the hills, where there are goat paths to go hiking. But I wouldn't do more than 2 days of that, with maybe 2 nights on Capri.

Whatever you do, don't cut back on your 26 nights!!!! You are hardly crazy. I could spend months in Campania. I just wouldn't stay in the tourist hot spots.

When time of year are you going to make this trip? And what is your daily hotel budget?

ciao

You are SO LUCKY!!!