secret77

A wedding in Cagliari, Sardinia is bringing my girlfriend and I to Italy for the first time this July, so we’re making plans to stay a bit longer.

We get into Rome the morning of Friday, July 2nd and leave the morning of Tuesday, July 13th (11 days/nights). The wedding is in Sardinia on Sunday, July 4th so we’d like to be there at least the night before, but were thinking three nights total in Sardinia.

We were originally thinking of splitting up the trip into: Sardinia – 3 nights, Rome – 3 nights, Tuscany – 3 nights, and Amalfi – 2 nights.

We understand that more time can be spent in any one of these places (especially Rome) but we’re also realistic and prefer not to try and cram in too much just to do drive-by’s and miss out on the small/off the beaten path kind of stuff. Also, we live/work in a large US city so city culture and touristy stuff is not as important as the general experience (we’d find our time better spent experiencing as much as what the locals would as the tourists).

Any recommendations on how to split this up? Some of our ideas to this point:

Perhaps spending the 2nd (Friday day/night) when we arrive in Rome to see a few sights (perhaps with a guide/tour) and take advantage of a Friday night in the big city, then flying out the next morning (Saturday) to Sardinia. On the other hand, we were also thinking of just continuing on straight to Sardinia when we land but not sure if we wanted to use one of our two entire weekends there.

In Sardinia we’d like to have a day in/around Cagliari to sightsee, etc., maybe one other checking out some beaches with a third day taken up by the wedding. Some of the hotels recommended to us in Sardinia have been:
T Hotel - http://www.thotel.com
Hotel Panorama - http://www.hotelpanorama.it/en/home
Hotel Mediterraneo - http://www.hotelmediterraneo.net
Hotel Regina Margherita - http://www.hotelreginamargherita.com/eng_home.htm
Hotel Calamosca - http://www.hotelcalamosca.eu
Chia Laguna - http://www.chialagunaresort.com/EN/
Hotel Flamingo - http://www.hotelflamingosardinia.com/

Flying directly from Sardinia to Florence, then continuing on to Rome.

In Rome we’d like to experience the major sights (Coliseum, Vatican, etc., perhaps with a guide/tour) but don’t feel particularly obliged this time around to inspect every nook and cranny of the many museums, etc. Like I said, we’d find our time better spent experiencing as much as what the locals would as the tourists.

If we had to drop one of these destinations we’d probably say Amalfi, it’s important to us/on our list but sounds like it can experienced fairly well by a day or two bus tour along the coast.

Some other notes: not especially interested in Pisa.

Thank you so much in advance for your help and advice!

markrosy

We have been to most of Sardinia (five times) and think it the best, most overlooked islands in Europe. The beaches are by far the best in Europe and the locals the warmest (by a long way) in Italy. A wedding in Cagliari should be a great experience - would suggest.

Hotel Flamingo : was once re-named "dead parrot" on tripadvisor.

Chia Luguna : very good food and service and is situated on one of the best beaches on the island.

If your budget allows : The Forte Village on the south coast is expensive but has very high standards.

I would agree with the idea of dropping Pisa, it is a small characterless place and once you have seen the tower there is little else to keep you there.

I love south Tuscany and Hotel del Capitano in San Quirico is very well located in a beautiful small village.

hobbitthefoodlover

I know that the following is not what you have in mind, but I recently discovered several flights to Turkey or Greece for $140 euro RT (leaving from Rome)! If I had known about these deals, I would have hopped on the airplanes when I was still in Italy. Wish someone had told me about these deals when I was planning my trip.