I had the best Italian meal of my life at Trattoria Za Za in Florence:

http://www.trattoriazaza.it/index.ht...ina=X&idSito=1

But the food in Italy was excellent just about everywhere. I loved Roman pizza.

Don't worry about seeing everything. Italy's a big place and more than worth at least two trips.

Great food is everywhere in Italy. There is great shopping in Rome -- and the amalfi.

I agree with two destinations this time.

How's this...?
Rome - 5 nights
Capri - 1 night
Positano - 3 nights (include 2 day trips - 1 to Amalfi & Ravello and another to Pompeii)

Were it me, I would stay in Capri for 3 nights and daytrip to Positano and Amalfi (and Ravello) and spend one night either in Sorrento or Pompeii itself to see Pompeii.

i never thought of doing it that way. the hotel i want to stay at in capri is actually available for 3 nights right now.

zeppole - would you pick sorrento or positano as the base for Pompeii? or could i simply leave capri on the morning i need to checkout and go to pompeii for the day and return to rome at night?

Personally I would pick Pompeii itself because the site is ENORMOUS and I would want to spend a lot of time there.

But it is easy to get to Pompeii from Sorrento, and very difficult to get there from Positano.

If you want to leave Capri and go to Pompeii on your way to Rome, check out the idea of taking a ferry from Capri to Salerno and taking the train from Salerno to Pompeii.

if i leave capri in the morning by ferry to salerno, train to pompeii and spend about 4 hours in pompeii, would i take the train directly to rome from there? how long do u think this day's journey would be?

Personally I didn't think Pompeii was "very difficult to get to" from Positano.
But I do love the idea of staying overnight on Capri. (I love capri).

I do have one small problem with staying on Capri.... you need to be careful to check up on the ferry schedules. When we were there a few years ago in early spring there was no early morning ferry to Positano or Amalfi -- thus killing the idea of a daytrip to the coast. Just check and be sure that you can get there and back easily in a day.

Also, you might consider spending a night in Naples and if possible flying out of Naples so you don't have to trek all the way up to Rome. You could take the ferry directly there, visit the museum with the Pompeii artifacts and have some of their fabulous pizza.

Sample Itinerary:
Day One: Arrive, rest from jetlag and explore Rome - overnight Rome
Day Two: Rome - overnight Rome
Day Three: Rome - overnight Rome
Day Four: Morning train to Naples - Ferry to Capri - overnight Capri
Day Five: Daytrip to Positano - overnight Capri
Day Six: Daytrip to Amalfi/Ravello - overnight Capri
Day Seven: Capri - depart on mid-day ferry to Naples and go to Pompeii museum if possible - overnight Naples (eat pizza!!)
Day Eight: Daytrip to Pompeii - overnight Naples
Day Nine: Depart Naples

steviegene,

How did you get there?

Bus to sorrento and then train to Pompeii.
We left very early in the morning and were able to spend a few hours in Pompeii, and were back in Positano in the late afternoon.
Its an extra step taking the bus to Sorrento, but it really wasn't bad.

Trick is EVERYplace we're talking about is worth-while, certain Florence and Venice are in that category! It's simply you don't have enough time to do everything you've mentioned.

A couple of thoughts based on our trip two years ago:

1. Beware of where you get a hotel in Naples. It is not the nicest of cities, but I believe that there are some nice areas. The area around the train station is not the best, although we stayed there for three nights and were not bothered at all. It's just not an area where you feel like strolling around after dinner. That said, our hotel was the Grand Hotel Europa (I think). It was a good hotel with a nice breakfast included in the price and it was within five minutes of the train station, which was great for going to Pompeii. However, it was not close to the port where you catch the ferry to Capri. We took the bus to the port, which was one of our great Italian experiences (along with the men arguing vigorously in sign-language).
2. If you really feel that you need to go to Florence, you can always get up early one day while you are in Rome and take a day trip by train to Florence. I can definitely understand your urge to see Florence.
3. Skipping Venice is definitely a good idea. It's a great place, but it takes a while to get there and back.
Have fun!

Dtph - Day-tripping FROM Capri TO the Amalfi Coast is NOT feasible by direct ferry.

Even in high season there is NO direct morning service to the Amalfi Coast.
Departures from Capri to Positano/Amalfi are late afternoon - usually 16.00-18.00.
(These timetables are set up for day-trippers TO Capri from the Amalfi Coast, but NOT the reverse)

So ... if you want to day-trip from Capri, you have to go first via Sorrento. From Sorrento you can continue to Positano/Amalfi by bus (- or ferry/hydrofoil) - depending on timetables. Feasible ... but time-consuming :(

Steve

P.S. If you want to go to Pompeii enroute from Capri to Rome, you would go via Sorrento, not Salerno.

Steve,

How time consuming is it to take a ferry to Sorrento (25 minutes, right?) and then another one to Positano, even allowing for a wait between ferries?

Zeppole - It depends on the season. Sorrento-Positano ferries/hydrofoils are not very frequent - even in high season.

Unless you hit lucky with the connection it can be very time-consuming.

The alternative is bus - or taxi - from Sorrento.

Steve

Steve,

I may end up looking at the sked myself just to satisfy my curiousity. What do you mean by "time consuming"?

When people stay in Camogli on the Italian Riviera, they commonly want to day trip to Portofino by boat. The boat to San Fruttuoso takes 20 minutes. The boat from there to Portofino takes another 20 or so. Most people get off the boat in San Fruttuoso to look at the abbey there, but even if they don't, they are looking at a 45 minute "commute" on two ferries to get to Portofino. Nobody thinks is "time consuming."

When they get to Portofino, there is not a lot to "do" other than eat lunch and shop a bit. Kind of like Positano. If they want to take the boat back to Camogli before 5pm, they can. Many instead take a bus to Santa Margheria Ligure, and a train or bus from there back to Camogli.

All this is considered to be pleasant noodling around on the coast. What's the big rush on the Amalfi?

I'm not urging the OP to do this, because she's nervous about missing the last ferry back.

But were it me, I would want to get the hell out of Capri during the day, and I wouldn't mind being on a boat on the water looking at the Amalfi coast line.

Well, curiosity got the better of me.

I looked at the schedules, and if I am reading it right, it appears there are as many as 5 boats that leave Capri for Sorrento in time to catch the 10am boat that leaves Sorrento for Positano, and arrives at 10:55. It appears that weekends involve the shortest layovers, meaning you could leave Capri at 8:55 am and be in Positano at 10:55, with about a 25 minute wait time between boats, or you could leave Capri at 9:20 if you wanted to live a little more dangerously and eliminate the layover. In either case, it arrives in plenty of time to wander about for two hours before lunch, including you could take a bus to Amalfi for lunch.

I would take the bus back in time to catch last ferry at 8pm to Capri -- which means I'd be looking to leave Amalfi or Positano around 5:30. So I'd have another two hours after lunch.

I realize most people wouldn't want to do it -- but I can see why some might!

To me it seems madness to charge around as if it's the last trip of your life. Either you want a culture week in Florence and Venice or spend a good week in paradise on the Amalfi/Sorrento coast line. You can still visit Pompeii, Vesuvio, a day trip to Naples, Capri, Ischia, and a tour along the coast. I live here with my Italian wife and my children (your age) are mesmorised with the beauty.
We can arrange luxury transport and have an apartment with terrace, garden and panoramic sea views available for summer .plse click my name for more details via email.

Back when I was young (and foolish! haha) I did the same trip you talk about.

If I were 21 again and planning this, I would land in Rome and jump on the first flight to Venice. SLEEP!!!

Day 2 spend all day in Venice

Day 3 train to Florence spend the night in Florence

Any sleeper trains from Florence to Amalfi?? When I did this kind of blitzkreig travelling, I took advantage of overnight trains. Spend all day in one city, board a train at night, wake up in another.

Day 4, 5, 6, 7 - Amalfi Coast

Day 8, 9 - Rome

Day 10 fly home

Just my 2 cents