How to travel to Rome, Venice, Florence and Amalfi Coast in 9 days
 

I am traveling to Italy between Christmas and New years (9 days). Iam flying directly into Rome and departing via Rome and want to hit the "tourist" high lights but I also want to visit Florence (leaning Tower of Pisa), Venice a full day if not a day and half and three days (because I hear I need that much time) exploring the Amalfi Coast/Naples. Is this doable? Should I book a tour company to travel outside of Rome in order to hit these highlights or can I/Should I do this on my own? I am traveling with my 20 year old Son. I'm not sure if I need to spend more than three days in Rome including arrival and departure. My flight arrives at 9:40AM so that should give me a little time to explore a half day and do the Vatican and stuff the following day. This is my first time traveling at this length in Europe for pleasure. Usually it's short work trips and I do hop on hop bus for my 24-48 hour lay over but I want to get a good sense of Italy and my dream is Venice but I keeping hearing about how beautiful and great the Amalfi Coast is so I am now considering it but not sure how to make this work logistically. I saw some great advice on the other travel topics so PLEASE HELP!

A magic carpet?

IF this is even possible, the first thing you need to do is book open-jaw tickets, not round-trip. But do the math, especially the math related to travel time between cities (plus the checking in to accommodations, getting to the train station/airport, time spent traveling, then repeating all that once you arrive).

There are only six days BETWEEN Christmas and New Year's Day.

I think this is an itinerary best done on a tour. It will relieve you and your son of planning and booking, arranging transportation and generally making the sorts of decisions you speak of in your post. There's nothing wrong with leaving it all to the professionals. Compare tours, read reviews and spend as much as you can afford to get the best quality experience you can.

>>How to travel to Rome, Venice, Florence and Amalfi Coast in 9 days<<

You can't. Not unless you join a fast paced coach tour and seldom get off the bus.

>>My flight arrives at 9:40AM so that should give me a little time to explore a half day and do the Vatican and stuff the following day.<<

Don't plan on much if any sightseeing Day 1. W/ a 9:40 arrival you might (if you are very lucky) be at your hotel by 12:30-ish. Then your room may not be ready yet. If it is't you'll have to drop your bags and go out for a couple of hours and come back. If your room IS ready you'll be checking in and cleaning up/unpacking. So <i>maybe</i> you'll have 3 or 4 hours and most likely jet lag. Then you'll use half a day to get to Florence/check in. Another half a day to get to Venice. Then a whole day to get to the AC (In Dec.?? ), then you'll need to be back in Rome the night before you fly out. As much time in transit as actually seeing anything.

Re the AC - Do you know the ferries don't run in winter and many places are closed?

If your entire trip is 9 days you will have 6.5 days free on the ground. So pick Rome and either Florence or Pisa.

If you have 9 days on the ground (11 day trip in total) you could squeeze in Rome/Florence/Venice but that trip back to Rome does screw things up a bit.

9 days?

Rome -4 nights - Christmas Day things are fairly shut.
Florence-2 nights inc day trip to Pisa
Venice - 2 nights
one day back to Rome (if you cannot arrange to fly out of Venice for return.

That's all that is remotely possible.

Book trains up to 90 days or so in advance to get discounted fares- www.trenitalia.com or www.italotreno.com -two competing trains running those routes. www.seat61.com has great advice on booking your own train tickets on line - for general info I also like www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

>>That's all that is remotely possible.<<

And that is ONLY if you have 9 days on the ground not counting travel days.

<<I also want to visit Florence (leaning Tower of Pisa)>>

You realize the Leaning Tower of Pisa is in Pisa, right?

The AC isn't a winter destination. And don't kid yourself - Rome is on the same latitude parallel as New York City, the AC isn't down by the Tropic of Cancer.

First, I would skip the Amalfi Coast in the dead of winter. The chances of bad weather are too high, and many (maybe most?) hotels and restaurants will be closed.

Given that, I would head straight to Florence by train when you arrive. If the only thing you want to see is the Leaning Tower of Pisa, that's in Pisa, not Florence, but it's an easy train ride from Florence. If that's pretty much all you want to see there, two nights in Florence will be enough. You can visit the Tower in half a day, and get a quick look at Florence on your arrival day and on the other half of the day you visit the Tower.

Next go by train to Venice, and spend two or three nights there.

Finally, take a train back to Rome and spend the rest of your time there. I would aim for at least four nights in Rome.

Rome's December weather is nothing like New York City's. That's not the way weather works.

I have traveled to Rome and Naples in Dec/Jan and had very good weather for sightseeing. More comfortable than it will be this week, that's for sure.

Ferries to Capri run year round. All of the Amalfi coast can be reached by road.

Personally, I wouldn't do this trip. But the only way I can see anybody doing it is landing in Rome, taking a train to Naples, getting a taxi to Positano. Next day, take the bus to Amalfi, look around, come back to Positano & get the luggage, get on a bus to Sorrento, train to Naples for the night. Tour Naples, end of day, go to Rome. In Rome, spend another 2 days (book some guided tours for Vatican, Forum), Then take something like this tour to see Florence, Pisa, Venice

https://argiletumtour.rezdy.com/8537...nd-pisa-3-days


Like I said, wouldn't do it.

However, first you need to figure out what you are going to do over Christmas. If you are arriving on Christmas or close to it, it might be best to get out of Rome. Go straight to Venice your first day, especially if the reason you are going to Venice is to see the town and a few churches, not museums.

Problem with trying to include the Amalfi on such a short trip is that rain could wipe you out & you don't have time flexibility.

It's true about the weather in Rome and south, was in Sorrento & Rome around Christmas and it was comfortable for being out & about, occasional light rain but not cold. That's not the reason this trip has problems.

Someone familiar with the territory might be able to pull it off, though most experienced travelers wouldn't bother. But for someone like the OP who is clearly clueless regarding a short trip to Italy, I think it could be a 9 day (or however many it is) confusion over logistics and what to see to make it worthwhile.

I was quite serious about the advantages, in a case like this, of a tour. Let someone who knows what they're doing haul you around. Problems solved. I don't know why they wouldn't.

Last year early winter was likely worse in Rome then NYC. You can't count on the weather being average.

"You can't count on the weather being average."

The perils of off-season travel. I'll be in Rome in November, another opportunity for research.

November isn't bad. At worst you get wet -)

Catch Christmas Eve services at Rome churches and Vatican?

I think Siena should be added to the list. It is not that far away.

There is a Trafalgar tour that might work for you: https://www.trafalgar.com/usa/tours/...+2018#Overview

It's too much for your time frame.

If you drop Amalfi Coast - do Rome (1 arrival day) to Florence, Florence (2 days) to Venice, Venice (2 days) back to Rome (4 days) - could be done by train in a 9 day time frame (you're still moving at a pretty good pace).

That time of year, IME, it's really better, if you drop anything, to drop the north and go south of Rome.

If you drop Amalfi Coast - do Rome (1 arrival day) to Florence, Florence (2 days) to Venice, Venice (2 days) back to Rome (4 days) - could be done by train in a 9 day time frame (you're still moving at a pretty good pace).>

Yup and think about going straight away from Rome Airport to Florence. Only about 2 hours by train from airport.

I thought about that PalenQ. But depending where they are flying in from may or may not be a good suggestion. No way would I want to to "straight away" to Florence after getting off an overnight red eye from Seattle when I haven't slept a wink in 24+ hours.

You'll need to figure out exactly how much ground time you have once you reach Rome, 6 or 9 days or nights. If only 6, then you really should stick to only 2 cities and forget any side trips. 9 days will at least allow you for 1 extra city. What is your interest in visiting the Amalfi Coast in winter?

Like others, I would suggest either heading directly to Venice or Florence after landing in Rome, and save Rome for your last stop so you won't have to back track. You already know the days will be short and probably dark by 5pm at the latest, so a full day of touring is almost half of what you'd have in the summer, when it stays light until almost 10pm. It's discouraging to have to limit your trip, but by doing so, you'll be able to see things other than the roadside between cities on the train.

Find out what will be closed on or around Christmas/New Year Eve/Day, or have abbreviated hours, as this will have a direct impact on your trip.

Weather may or may not affect your trip, as others have mentioned, and it's not uncommon for transportation strikes to be scheduled.

Ah, the joys of travel!

Even though a tour could get you from place to place, there are big issues with it.

First, they have a schedule to stick to and no matter the weather, they can't shift things around as you can if on your own. Example: on a tour which stopped in Rome, during a walking tour, a storm hit and there was nothing to do but take shelter and wait for the tour bus. Had I been on my own, I would have changed plans, caught a taxi and headed to a museum, cafe or hotel room.

Second, travel will be on a bus, during the day when you could be seeing things. On your own, you can plan travel for late afternoon or early evening when it is dark. In Summer when days are long, I wouldn't do that, but in winter, I would.

Cities and even small towns can be nice in winter, but the Amalfi Coast is really not a good winter destination. Sorry to say, but it is not a good choice for this trip.

Fly into Venice and out of Rome or do the reverse.

>>Fly into Venice and out of Rome or do the reverse.<<

Should do -- but apparently the OP has already purchased R-T in/out of Rome

Yes big mistake many folks make - not flying open jaw - into one city and out of another.

<flying directly into Rome and departing via Rome>

I also assume that means air tickets already purchased.

I assume for Christmas they have already booked plane tickets - do things like ad-on fares still exist? Be great to fly into Venice then Florence - Rome - save money on extra trains and time.

If your dream is Venice, then take a train to Venice upon arrival and spend the first couple of nights there (you will be jetlagged upon arrival so might as well use that day traveling), catch a train to Florence for 2 nights with a 1/2 day trip to Pisa (only if it's a must see), end your trip in Rome. You don't have time for the Amalfi Coast. That can be your next trip with some other points south or Tuscany and Umbria.

Could be a fairly miserable first day -jet-lagged and schlepping into Rome Termini - a hectic station - with luggage - 3.5 hour train ride - get to hotel in Venice - don't sound like fun to me - I'd stay in Rome- previously I said consider going to Florence first day but re-thinking that - just stay in Rome first days then bop up to Venice and back to Florence and Rome last night before flight.