8 Day Itinerary Help (Fly In/Out Rome)
 

We are flying in/out of Rome the first week of October. We will have 8 full days (not including travel days from the US) and I'm trying to determine which area to go to along with Rome. I have already been to Rome, Venice, Cinque Terre, Amalfi Coast/Positano/Capri, Florence, Tuscany, Pompeii. My husband has never been to Italy so we will want to do the main sites in Rome and then spend a few days somewhere else. One option I was considering was spending 2-3 nights in Naples and then doing a couple day trips to Ischia and Herculaneum. However, since I've been to Pompeii, I wasn't sure if Herculaneum would be worth going to. We would also probably do a day trip from Rome to Orvieto. The other option I was considering instead of Naples was going to Matera and then one of the coastal towns near Matera. I wasn't sure if it was worth going to Matera since it's quite a bit longer of a train ride than Napes and we only have 8 days. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Naples would be great- a neat old town that is redolent of Italian cities years ago with laundry-strung narrow lanes, etc. Nice base and folks say and I concur IME Heraceuleaneum is way different from Pompeii and well worth a visit. Have you considered ascending Mt Vesuvius - can do from near Ercolo - modern day city Heraculeaneum is in. Ischia to me as as interesting as Capri - maybe 2-3 days in Naples and rest day tripping from Rome - Orvieto great - Viterbo also - Hadrian's Villa and the Villa d'Este's fanciful splish-splashing water gardens an easy day trip from Rome to Tivoli.

The Castelli Romani - a string of ancient towns along the foothills of old volcanos south of Rome and where ancient Romans fled Rome in summer is also great - easy train dtrip thru all of them - check out Pope's summer home (and permanent residence of ex-Pope Benedicdt) in Castelgondolfo. There is also a large volcanic lake to walk around. A bedautiful area.

Ostia Antica - Rome's ancient port is now a vast archaelogical site many compare to Pompeii - short commuter train ride from Rome.

Maybe a day trip for hub by's sake to Florence by train.

Trains are great for all those places- check Acquista il biglietto con le nostre offerte - Trenitalia for schedules - most are regional trains where tickets are best bought on day of travel at stations - Rome to Nales however if booked far far in advance could have greatly discounted fares as any long-distance high-speed train in Italy has but those seats are limited in number so book early. www.seat61.com has loads on doing that - general info trains and where to go also BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

Great - thank you so much for all of the suggestions!

Matera itself is a unique site but just going that far for a quick look - now if you want to spend time seeing Lecce and other neat towns in the area fine. There are overnight trains from Rome and Naples I believe.

if you DH has never been to Italy before Rome may come as a shock but then Naples might be worse.

I would suggest that if you are going to stay somewhere other than Rome, you go there first, and then end your trip in Rome, when he's got his italian feet a bit and so you're in the right place for travelling home.

As you have mentioned wanting to go to Orvieto, you could get the train there on your first day, [it's less than 2 hours on the train from Termini] spend a day exploring the city, then hire a car for a day or two to explore Umbria, and return to Rome to finish your trip. I would not be trying to get to Capri or Ischia, doing long train journeys or dashing around too much with only 8 days in Italy, not if you want your DH to want to go back there.

8 days is pretty short. What about staying in Rome and doing a couple day trips, instead of actually moving your location?