We are planning to go to Italy this summer (fingers crossed). We are 2 adults, 3 teens.
We will get 2 rooms (the whole apartment thing doesn't appeal to us). Can someone recommend hotels? Budget is $300 total for two rooms? Which exact area in the following cities should we stay at? Is this a good itinerary for a good balance between art/history/nature? And how do we travel within the city?

Rome: 4 nights (fly in)
Amalfi coast (sorrentino?): 3 nights
Florence: 3 nights
Cinque terre: 2 nights
Venice: 2 nights (fly out)

Thanks!

Did I really type sorrentino?? Of course I meant sorrento.

Wish i had exact answers for you. We just travel as a couple, but I will be following your thread since I'm doing research for a friend who will be going to rome with same size family as yours.

Check our venere.com and eurocheapo.com. Family rooms won;t help with 5 adults - so you really need to find a double and a triple for only about 100 euros each - a VERY tight budget.

You say that you aren't interested in an apartment, but that's a pretty tight budget for 5 people, especially in the summer months.

I also think you've got too many places on your list for a relatively short ( two week) trip. Everything takes more time than you think and you'll lose at least part of a day traveling to a new destination.

I would scratch Cinque Terre off your list for sure, and also look carefully at a map of Italy. Your current itinerary has you zigzagging back and forth all over the country. Just to give you an idea, Rome is about 90 minutes south on the fast train to Naples. You then need to arrange a private transfer or take a boat or the commuter train from Sorrento to get to the Amalfi Coast towns.

Florence is 1.5 hours on the Eurostar from Rome, and about- I'm guessing- 3 or 4 hours north of Naples on the Eurostar. Cinque Terre, as I remember, is about a 1.5-2 hour drive from Florence.

Venice is on the other side of the country, so nowhere near Florence.

Something else to keep in mind is that the cities are extremely hot in the summer. It's not unusual for Rome and Florence to hit the high 90s, even 100 degrees at times in July/August.

My best advice would be to rethink the itinerary and strip it down to three destinations that really matter most to you. Also definitely check out a map so you can logically plan the best way to travel between each place! Good luck!



Florence is in

I was just looking at hotels and I'm starting to think I should persuade hubby regarding apartments. Anyway, which specifically?

For the itinerary what about:
4 nights rome
4 nights sorrento
4 nights Florence
2 nights Venice