Not only an American, but one from the East Coast.

I agree completely with franco.

The OP has proposed a perfectly reasonable first trip to Italy: Rome and one or two points south, 3-5 days in each location, with time for relaxing in the sunshine. And yet some posters insist that Rome/Florence/Venice, in the heat and crowds of July, would be a better trip.

The idea that no first trip to Italy would be complete without three days swimming in a sea of sweaty tourists in Florence or driving from one jam-packed Tuscany hilltown to another perplexes me. If the OP had expressed an interest in driving among hilltowns (which s/he didn't), why not the equally beautiful but far less crowded hilltowns of Abruzzo or Le Marche?

A place is only a "must-see" if it's what you want to see. For example, I've traveled quite a bit within the United States, but I have no desire to see either Miami or Atlanta. Just not my cup of tea. And although I love Rome and Venice, when I think back to the places on my Italy trips that I wouldn't have missed seeing for the world, I think of places like the sleepy, sloping piazza surrounded by mountains in the historical center of Bormio, or the serenely lovely piazza of Mondovi Alta, populated only by a group of school children with sketchpads taking an outdoor art class, or Corso Ovidio in Sulmona during the passegiata.

To the OP: Your trip sounds lovely and sensible. In my opinion, Venice is too far afield from Rome and points south to be comfortably included in a trip as short as ten days. As others have indicated, there are many areas south of Rome with good local train and bus transportation, so your idea of a car-free trip to Rome and one or two spots south of Rome is perfectly doable. Have fun!

We are still awaiting for more input from the OP

You can stay in 3 areas, have more travel and less time to do nothing or you can pick 2 areas and relax more. We tend to go to more areas because we don't get to Europe as often as we would like, and we are happy with that, but others are happier with fewer areas. Some posts I've read, the people go to one area and do nothing but relax and love it. Think about how you like to travel and I'm sure you will get a lot of wonderful suggestions here - we always have!

Venice is out of the way from Rome and the south, but it can be done. We'll be going to Switzerland, Tuscany and Rome in 12 days and while we'll have one killer day in the middle, it will work for us. Veinice is a lot closer than Switzerland is for us if it's important to you!

Asking a lot of questions and reading past posts will also help you decide what to do. The time spent up front for us has been invaluable.

with apologies to justjen,

nochblad and sap - I guess I did not make myself clear enough. My point was that for most first time visitors to any foreign country, the big name cities are usually the ones they choose.

I know, having travelled enough in my life, that many times the more charming and endearing places are away from the big cities. But, as to Italy in particular, if one ever wants to see the amazing Pantheon, for one, Rome is a must. You want to see David? you really have to go to Florence. You want to ride a gondola? Venice is it.

My point to Franco was that to experience what most people around the world have only heard of, the big 3 are IT. Which does not mean other areas in Italy should be dismissed.

So, since it seems the US east was also a sore point, if they want to see Los Angeles and San Francisco, they would not choose Santa Cruz or Carmel, and that would be their loss.

(btw, no, I am not an american, but I do appreciate everything the US has to offer).

screen name taken,

Atlanta?? are you kidding me?!

Well done Fodorites - it seems the OP has drowned in our turbulent sea of information.

Justjen - any more questions? obviously we are all on high alert to tell you what to do, er to help you.

Thank you all for your replies! Business has kept me away from fodors.com, but I really appreciate all of your advice.

We are open to any and all advice at this time. This will not be our one and only trip to Italy in our lifetime, but we are excited about planning our FIRST and just having difficulty deciding on an area to focus on.

I understand some might find "exciting and relaxing" an oxymoron and my apologies for not clarifying. While we like to do fun and exciting things, we also enjoying mixing up the days with relaxing strolls, lounging around.

We definitely do NOT want to return from our amazing trip feeling like we need a vacation. We will not enjoy ourselves if we are hopping to hotels every other day, strapping on backpacks and out ALL day everyday.

I thought perhaps the AC and Rome might be a good 'first trip' and introduction to Italy. Please keep in mind too, that this will be my husband's FIRST trip to Europe and is not too experienced of a traveller. I want him to enjoy it, but not feel overwhelmed.

We love wine, love the beach, love to stroll through cities and soak up every atmosphere we are in. I am sure many cities/towns/regions would compliment this...

Also, I am not opposed to renting a car at all... but just wanted to know which regions were conducive to driving for tourists.

Rome and the Amalfi Coast would be a good introduction and offer a mix such as you are looking for. A car would be more of a hindrance than a help, for both Rome and the Amalfi Coast in July.

Regions that are conducive to driving include Tuscany, Umbria, Piedmont, Puglia and Sicily (and perhaps others that I am forgetting).

But if you prefer not to restart the earlier squabble, I suggest that you stick to your idea of Rome and the Amalfi Coast, read up on them and return to ask specific questions about each.

Will do Zerlina. Thanks!

Since arriving at the Amalfi Coast without a car is not that easy (while, OTOH, you can hardly use the car any longer as soon as you are there), a possible itinerary if you stay 12 days all in all would be:
5 days Rome
Rent a car on departure, drive to the Cilento for one night (near Paestum); on your way, you could stop in Salerno to see the cathedral.
Day 7, visit Paestum (or do that on day 6 already), drive around the Cilento National Park if you feel so inclined; in the late afternoon, drive to the Amalfi Coast, immediately drop off the car.
5 days Amalfi Coast
This would solve the problem of getting to Amalfi, and provide a possibility to get a glimpse of a definitely non-touristy, mostly rural part of Italy (Salerno - Paestum - Cilento), which would make for an interesting contrast with the large city that is Rome and the exclusively tourist-oriented Amalfi Coast.

But, franco, where on the Amalfi coast do you drop the car? Which town has rental car offices?

I'd think first time visitors who want to relax are better off not driving in Italy, especially southern Italy.

To the OP, fly into Naples, find one nice relaxing place to stay on the Amalfi coast, stay there 5 days and do daytrips. There are lots of places to visit around the Amalfi coast using public transportation: Capri, Pompeii, Naples, Paestum, Mt. Vesuvius. Though you'll be better off taking boats than buses in the busy month of July. BTW, you might be disappointed by the beaches on the AC, more pebbles than sand.

Then train to Rome, spend the rest of your time there, and fly home from Rome.

If you're up for more excitement at the start of your trip, reverse this itinerary.

Mimar, almost all major car rental networks have a representative in Sorrento. So it would be an easy solution to drive to their hotel first, drop off the luggage, drive to Sorrento, drop off the car, and go back to the hotel by bus, without anything to shlep... of course, if they don't want to drive at all, I fully concur with the itinerary you are suggesting. But then, didn't they ask for a relaxing <b>and exiting</b> holiday? Seriously - for me, driving is always and everywhere relaxing, so I don't see any issues with driving, whether for first- or for 36th-timers; but of course, to each his own, and I don't say everybody has to be relaxed by driving a car in Campania!

Driving from Paestum to Sorrento? Ouch! It would be pretty close to sheer hell in July by either the Amalfi drive or the overland route. Much better to drop the car off in Salerno and take a boat from there to Amalfi or Positano. Which is also an easy and quite wonderful way to get to the Amalfi Coast from Rome: train to Salerno and a boat from a dock a few hundred yards away from the train station.

True, the Amalfi Coast is touristy, but it's not totally devoid of cultural interest: Ravello's gardens and cathedral, Amalfi's cathedral and cloister (in addition to the places Mimar mentioned). And there are towns on the Amalfi Coast that are not as overrun as Positano or Amalfi (which is less touristy than Positano, although day-trippers say it is more touristy, chiefly because it's a bus and boat hub). Think Vietri sul Mare, for one.

If also the overland route is now thick with traffic in summer, then of course, yes, that's an excellent idea; this way, they could visit the cathedral in Salerno on that day, i.e. on the way back. The only disadvantage would be to have the luggage on the boat, but then, if they would entirely rely on public transport, without ever renting a car, they'd have to always shlep their luggage, anyway, so that's perhaps not at all daunting for them.
I didn't want to imply the Amalfi Coast is devoid of cultural interest, not at all; Amalfi and Ravello are wonderful sights! I just wanted to point out that IF (I don't know!) they want to experience a slice of "real" rural Italy, where not everybody is working in the tourism industry, then including that one day Cilento detour would be an easy possibility.