summer08bride

I'm a recent law school grad and newlywed and my husband and I are taking a trip to Italy and Paris after I finish with the Bar (August - I know it's not the best time to visit, but that's what we have!) Our 1 year wedding anniversary falls during the time of our trip as well. So far we have booked our flights (NY --> Rome, Venice --> Paris, Paris --> NY) but the rest of our trip is flexible.

This is our tentative itinerary (with possible train options listed):

Day 0: fly overnight to ROME
Day 1: arrive in ROME (late morning)- wander around, museums, etc
Day 2: ROME –
Day 3: ROME –
Day 4: ROME – Vatican day
Day 5: leave ROME (morning), arrive in NAPLES (afternoon) – explore Naples
- 8:44am – 10:05am – 39.90E/pp (trenitalia)
- 9:44am – 11:05am – 39.90E/pp (trenitalia)
Day 6: NAPLES – Pompeii; (possible NAPLES to FLORENCE)
- 3:54pm – 7:09pm (3:15 hours) – 63.70E/pp (trenitalia)
- 5:54pm – 9:09pm (3:15 hours) – 63.70E/pp (trenitalia)
- 6:16pm – 9:38pm (3:22 hours) – 63.70E/pp (trenitalia)
- 6:54pm – 10:29pm (3:35 hours) – 63.70E/pp (trenitalia)
Day 7: (possible NAPLES to FLORENCE)/FLORENCE: – explore Florence
- 7:16am – 10:27am (3:11 hours) – 63.70E/pp (trenitalia)
- 7:54am – 11:09am (3:15 hours) – 63.70E/pp (trenitalia)
- 8:24am – 1:33pm (5:09 hours) – 40.00E/pp (trenitalia)
- 8:54am – 12:09pm (3:15 hours) – 63.70E/pp (trenitalia)
- 9:54am – 1:09pm (3:15 hours) – 63.70E/pp (trenitalia)
Day 8: FLORENCE – things in florence
Day 9: FLORENCE - Winery day trip
Day 10: FLORENCE - Sienna/San G day trip
Day 11: FLORENCE – final things in florence
Day 12: leave FLORENCE (morning), arrive in VENICE (afternoon) – explore venice
- 8:37am – 11:17am (2:40 hours) – 35.20E/pp (trenitalia)
- 10:37am – 1:17pm (2:40 hours) – 35.20E/pp (trenitalia)
Day 13: VENICE – things in venice/murano glass factory?
Day 14: VENICE – things in venice?
Day 15: leave VENICE (very early morning) and arrive in PARIS at (late morning)
Day 16: PARIS
Day 17: PARIS
Day 18: PARIS
Day 19: Leave PARIS (afternoon) and arrive in NEW YORK (early evening)

We are thinking we will either travel from Naples to Florence the evening of day 6 or the morning of day 7. However, things can be shifted slightly. Also, day 7 is our wedding anniversary. We would like to do a nice dinner, and would prefer not to spend most of the day traveling but would still consider taking the train that morning if needed.

Please give advice re: our tentative itinerary. Also, do you recommend certain travel times (the earlier the better? not too early because you'll be exhausted all day? better to travel in the day and see the scenery v. at night?) Would you shift our distribution of days in each city?

any help is welcome! thanks in advance

ira

Hi S,

Nice trip, except that I would drop Naples for this visit and add the time to Paris.

Visit Naples when you are in Italy from Rome -> South rather than when you are visiting from Rome -> North.

Happy Honeymoon.

jamikins

Congratulations on all your accomplishments! I bet you are looking forward to August!

Your trip looks great. The only change I would make is to drop Naples and seeing as your flights to Paris are already booked I'd add 1 day to Rome and 1 day to Venice. There are so many things to see in Rome, and it is pretty hectic, another day there will allow you to have a nice pace...and Venice is well...Venice!

Enjoy!

adrienne

I agree with the above posters about dropping Naples/Pompeii from the itinerary. August is not the time to visit Pompeii with the lack of shade at the site and it's a lot of traveling from Rome and then to Florence. I would add a day to Rome and a day to Paris.

If you want a place that is not a city then stop in Orvieto on the way from Rome to Florence. Lovely small town with a magnificent church.

kybourbon

I would drop Pompeii unless it's a must see. If it is, I would just stay in Rome and either schedule a day tour to Pompeii or DIY by train. If you do a tour, be sure to check how much time is spent in Pompeii. You don't want a tour that takes you to coral shops and long lunches.

ellenem

I'm with kybourbon--if Pompeii is a must see, then save time by not changing hotels and just do it as a long daytrip from Rome. You could manage this by train or take the EnjoyRome shuttle tour which goes from Rome to Pompeii and back.

http://www.enjoyrome.com/shuttle_tour/pompeii.html

summer08bride

We were originally planning to do Pompeii as a day trip, but when I did some research online everyone said it needed more time than a day trip allows taking into account the amount of time spent on transportation in one day. I also had read that Naples has great food and is a good place to spend the day.

You all think that it's better to do a day trip to Pompeii and skip Naples?

Also, do you think we need the extra time in Rome? Florence?

We havent booked anything but flights so we are still flexible

ellenem

If you want to keep Naples, then use your option for a 2-night stay. I'm not a big believer in 1-nighters since checking in and out of hotels takes up a lot of time checking out, traveling, finding the next hotel, checking in . . . . Inevitably, no one just checks in, drops their bags, and heads out to see the town--there's always bathroom breaks, sitting down and regrouping, and so forth that eats up precious time if you're just there for one night.

When moving from one city/hotel to the next, I prefer to travel in the morning so that I arrive at the next city by about noon. Then there's time to find the hotel, check in, and have lunch before an afternoon of activities. This also works well when you consider that many sights have mid-day closing times. If you leave at 8AM and arrive at your next hotel at 11AM, by the time you get out of the hotel on your way, places may be closing for lunch.

I also like to keep in mind when choosing trains that I am on vacation, so I'm not getting up at the crack of dawn unless I have to do so.

I also assume that my precious vacation time is worth money. Your Florence to Naples train examples show one set of trains that take just more than 3 hours and cost 63 euros or another option that takes more than 5 hours and costs 40 euros. Paying the extra 20 euros is worth 2 hours more time for activities, even if it's just sitting in a cafe.

summer08bride

thank you for your replies! we did a little more research and decided to cut Naples. My husband really wants to see Pompeii so we will do it as a day trip. Any suggestions for the extra day? (Rome, Florence, Venice, another day trip somewhere, etc)

We can't add it to Paris since we already booked our flight from Venice to Paris.

TYIA!

jamikins

I would add a day to Rome and one to Venice!

Enjoy!

ira

Hi SB,

>...decided to cut Naples.......Any suggestions for the extra day? (Rome, Florence, Venice, another day trip somewhere, etc)<

I would add a day to Venice.
I suggest visiting Orvieto for a day. You can do that from Florence or Rome.

Have a nice visit.

fitznj

You've gotten good advice from the fodorites. I would second the notion of visiting Orvieto - it's heaven. Eat lunch at the cafe just to the left of the cathedral, as you're looking at the cathedral. Also, I'd check out the tour company "The Accidental Tourist" in Florence. My friend and I did a wine-tasting tour with Steve, of that company, and it was one of the highlights of our trip. Yes to Siena as well, and San G if you can fit them in. We did that on a bus tour out of Florence (with an insane female tour guide) and had fun. My last suggestion would be to look into a trip out to the American Cemetary since you may add to your Paris time. I'll never forget it, it's an amazing trip.