BriMSP

Hi all. I, like so many others, need help in figuring out a clear travel plan for a trip I'd like to take my parents on. Having been there before, I thought a great but big journey would be to leave the US (Minneapolis) and make our way to Rome, Almalfi and Venice. I'm just not just sure how best to encompass these cities (ie order) and not make all the travel the worst part of the vacation. My folks are early 60s and fairly sturdy when it comes to travel, so they'll handle it well, but I'd like to make sure that they don't remember the trips in between these places more than the time spent in them. Have you suggestions? Let me know and many, many thanks in advance.

Jean

What time of year? How many nights?

I think the first thing you should do is research your flight options from Minneapolis. Since you're going to have to connect somewhere, see if you can easily flight into or out of Naples and then into or out of Venice. If you can manage to fly into one city and out of the other, seeing Rome in the middle of your trip, then you'll avoid any backtracking.

Decide what you want to see/do in the Amalfi Coast area. Sorrento is a great transportation hub for most sightseeing (Pompeii, Herculaneum, Vesuvius, Naples, Capri, AC towns), but it's not actually on the Amalfi Coast. If you're mostly interested in seeing the coastal towns, you'll probably want to stay in one of them, like Praiano, Positano, Amalfi or possibly Ravello.

greg

I suspect much would be forced on you by the air connection.

The most desirable would be to fly into Venice and out of Napoli or vice versa. This minimizes back tracking. However, the timing, layover, departure time, arrival time, airfare, etc consideration might not favor this route.

The next options would be fly into Venice and return from Rome or vice versa. In this case, you do not want Amalfi at the end, because that means try to travel back to Rome on the day of departure or having to stay last night again in Rome. This means Amalfi at front or middle.
Amalfi end: not desirable
Amalfi middle: Rome-Amalfi-Venice or Venice-Amalfi-Rome
Amalfi beginning: Amalfi-Rome-Venice

Amalfi beginning if you cannot fly into Napoli means you land in Rome. This route is possible if you land in Rome before noon. You'll get to Sorrento by 5pm, Positano/Amalfi by Italian meal time If you cannot fly into Rome in the morning, you will have to do Rome-Amalfi-Venice.

Bamaman

I'd suggest you limit your trip to Venice, Florence and Rome. Naples/Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast are 150/200 miles south of Rome, and they might push you over the edge.
Italy will easily overdose new travelers with art, history, architecture, food and culture. It's a place that's best taken slowly.

Jean

The distances and scope of sightseeing shouldn't be limiting factors if they have lots of time. BriMSP, you need to tell us how long this trip will be.

jgg

We did this exact trip this past March. This was our 4th trip to Italy but my parents first and we were also going to visit my daughter who was studying in Rome. Due to her school schedule we had to do Rome last. We flew into Venice, stayed 4 nights there, then we took an EasyJet flight from Venice to Naples (it was cheaper then the train). We stayed 4 nights in Sorrento then we actually hired a private driver to take us from Sorrento to Pompeii and then Pompeii to Rome. You could also do this part by train. We just decided to do the private driver due to the stop in Pompeii and with 6 of us, while it was a bit more expensive, we decided it was worth it to just make it simpler and we were able to share the cost with my parents so that helped.

BriMSP

Dear all: I really appreciate the advice given so far! The trip is just taking shape in terms of days (parents can be hard to tie down sometimes). Jgg, I especially appreciate hearing how you made the trip work. I was thinking just 3 nights in Venice, 3 nights in Sorrento at least and 2 in Rome.

This will be my third trip to Italy and their first; I think it imperative that they see a place like Venice in order to contrast it to the southern parts of Italy.

BriMSP

Just wanted ot provide a late update. The rents and I did indeed do the above planned trip. The flight was into Venice which was just as amazing as the first time I went. We then took the train from Venice to Naples and finally to Sorrento; what an easy way to travel this distance and so much less hassle than the darn airports. The folks got some needed downtime and rest while getting to see countryside that we would not have seen otherwise. We then did the usual high speed train into Rome from Sorrento and flew out from there, back the tundra that is the upper Midwest right now.

All in all, it was easy, less hassle than flying and certainly no more costly in the end. I highly recommend not limiting yourself as some suggested. Each city was different on this itinery and to have substituted Florence in here would not have given this jaunt the distinct flavor that it had.

msteacher

Thanks for following up! So glad you had a great trip!

burnsie

Bri-

When you said "high speed train" from Sorrento to Rome, did you mean the Circumvesuviana commuter train from Sorrento to Naples, and then a Trenitalia train from Naples to Rome? Otherwise, a high speed train from Sorrento to Rome would be awesome for our upcoming trip!

greg

> I highly recommend not limiting yourself as some suggested.

To limit: or not to limit: that is the question!
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-too-much.cfm

kybourbon

>>>Otherwise, a high speed train from Sorrento to Rome would be awesome for our upcoming trip!<<<

Train service has not changed. It's still the slow commuter train between Sorrento/Naples where you can catch a faster train to Rome.