My wife and I are planning to go to Italy in October of 2017 and are trying to decide how many days to spend in each city. We are planning on spending most of the time in Rome being that we would like to see the vatican and ancient ruins, but not sure how long it will actually take. We are also trying to decide if we wanted to see Venice or just stay a few days on the amalfi coast so we could tour the coast and Pompeii. Also, we were looking into staying at some air Bnb locations as they seem larger than hotels and have really good views. I would appreciate any tips you guys could give, this is our first trip overseas and is new to us.

Do you have a fixed amount of time? A max amount?

Yes, a rough estimate of maximum days (including travel) would be helpful.

Rome could take a life time to get to know but you could do

a) 2 nights and just wander around central Rome with a focus on the Forum and Coloseum
b) 3 nights and do the same but include a visit to the Vatican and another site nearby
c) 4 nights and start to add a few more local visits churches/ art galleries/Museums, use local trains etc

You can expand this up until say 7 nights before you run out of easy visits

Venice is unique you need a minimum of 2 nights so you can see the city early in the morning and late and night. You can add a couple of nights easily before you have to think of things to do.

Pompeii etc; yep you can do this too and need a minimum of 2 nights. Naples offers some good visits but you are edging into the second division of attractions.

All can be visited by train.

Take care with your ABnB bookings.

I would fly into Venice and stay there for 3 days.

Then take the train to Naples. At the Naples station change to the Circumvesuviana train and go to Sorrento for 3 days.

Finally, train to Rome and stay there 4 or 5 days. Fly out of Rome.

I'm no help with ABnB as we always stayed in hotels and I still do. Many times, desk clerks can help with reservations at restos and venues.

--------
Other Fodorites: Do international flights still leave very early out of Venice? If so, that is why I suggested flying into Venice and out of Rome rather than the other way around.

I forgot to suggest that you get a good guide book and mark the things that call out and report back. Some places, like the Vatican museums and St. Peters are so huge, we might suggest that you break up into 2 visits. Much depends on your level of energy and mobility.

As guide books should tell you, often venues close for 2-3 hours for lunch. Factor that in as well. Part of the fun for DH and me was the eating!

Have a fabulous time.

We are thinking about doing 9 days total and fly into Rome and out of Naples or the other way around. We just ordered a couple books on Italy, so we plan on making a must do list and decide from there.

I have no experience with Naples airport--only Venice and Rome. Your choice of course, but Venice is magic.

TD - Naples airport is very modern and there is a bus from there to Sorrento I believe so if that's where the OP wants to go, it would be very easy to do.

Garetth, 9 days [is that nights or days, BTW?] would be a good amount of time for a first trip to Rome and Naples. Have a look at flight arrival and departure times to work out which airport to fly into and which to fly out of so as to get the best combination of flights.

Thanks for the info about Naples airport, annhig.

In general, garretth, deduct your travel days from the total number you have available. Deduct 1/2 day traveling from one city to another. As annhig mentioned above, do check the travel times.

Helloooo
First of all i think a good number of days is 10! you can see a little bit of many things..
I don't know about Rome but i can tell you about Milan.. amazing place to take the wife and get lost on the streets! You can visit cathedral church Duomo and just 3 minutes away Scala di Milano! Castello Sforzesco, Museo del Novecento A M A Z I N G!( you need plenty of time for that... but it worth it!!
you can also take the train and go for one-day-visit at Como! just an amazing peaceful place ideal for couples!!
Except if you want to go to Florence and tell me how it was to go with my bf

When visiting Italy with my sister for her first European vacation in 2006, I found that we were able to accomplish quite a bit with 5 nights in Rome and three in Florence. I did have a very structured itinerary and neither of us are sit and people-watch folks so we were go, go, go. We also took several small group tours in Rome which helped us to see (and understand)ancient Roman sites and curated the Vatican Museum so as to view the most "important" art. I found that having good guides helped us to make the best use of our time. I did write a trip report that is posted on Slow Travel and you might find it somewhat helpful as far as seeing what can actually be accomplished in so short a visit: http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=1158

As far as Air BnB - you might find it useful to stay in a hotel where the front desk or concierge can help you navigate. But if you feel confident on your own - go for it! For apartments, I've had success using Homeaway.com (which also lists AirBnB rentals). This listing service has the ability to pay by credit card, offers various trip insurance and protects your (and the owners) personal email address as you communicate through their portal.

Happy planning!

We are also trying to decide if we wanted to see Venice or just stay a few days on the Amalfi coast so we could tour the coast and Pompeii.>

tough choice for sure - Venice is only about 3 hours by train from Rome -maybe quicker than going to Amalfi.

To me Venice is so so fantastic that I always put it tops on any Italy wish list-you could do 3 full days in Rome - 3 in Florence and 3 in Venice -the classic first-time Italy trip.

Anyway go south or north Italy's trains are super- Rome to Naples 1.5 hours and then you can take the CircumVesuviana train to Sorrento and bus to say Positano or take train to Salerno and then ferry or bus to other Amalfi towns east of Positano.

For lots on Italian trains check www.trenitalia.com; www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Anyway you can't go wrong either choice.