Italian vacation help, please!
 

Hi! I am desperate for some advice about an upcoming trip to Italy. All the various resources, blogs, opinions etc. are overwhelming me. Can you please help me sort out this trip to best suit my husband and I?
We are going in May 2020 and I'm wanting to get a jump start on where we want to go so I can slowly start booking hotels. I just don't know where all to go!

My husband was antsy to get it on the calendar, so he booked us flights in and out of Rome. We arrive about 7 pm on what I'm calling Day 0, then will have 13 full days, and on the 14th day leave at around 11 am.

So a little about us:

• We are ok to omit very northern Italy like Venice, or Lake Como and leave them for another trip.
• What we enjoy doing most on our vacations is not lounging on beaches or in spas, but exploring the area, hiking, checking out it's unique history, architecture, gardens, or it's beautiful scenery. And I love taking my DSLR and trying to take fun pictures of those things as we go.
• For this trip, my husband is pretty interested is some of the history. He's really looking forward to visiting the Colosseum and really likes the idea of seeing Pompeii. But this trip doesn't need to be all about historical sites.
• We do like to try the local, delicious food, but in Italy, I bet everywhere has great food!

The Amalfi Coast was highly recommended to me by a friend so it's piqued my interest. Florence/Tuscany seem to be can't-miss areas so I feel obligated to go there. Rome of course we will spent a few days in.

With that in mind, in your opinion, how would you best spend those 13 days?

One other question, Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast seem similar in that they are coastal, beachy regions. Is it redundant to visit both? If so, which one is better?

Thank you so much!!!

Well if it were me (which obvious it is not) I would just go by train, after a few days in Rome to get over jet lag, up to Florence, then again on to Venice, spending 4 days in each city, then back to Rome for a few more days at the end of the trip and your flight home. These three cities are packed with things to see and do. And to me has the advantage of no car rental needed. Easily done on foot (maybe a taxi or vaporetto or bus or public transportation occasionally) with the train journey in between.

Every single part of Italy has its advantages and people who love it. But you can't see an entire country in two weeks. So my focus really is ease of travel, and maximizing time in the three cities you visit.

I'd suggest Rome and the Amalfi Coast. While you technically could squeeze a little bit of Tuscany in, my preference is to do more in fewer places. With Rome and Amalfi, you get your history but also city fun in Rome and Naples plus gorgeous coastal scenery and hiking on the coast.
To maximize time, upon arrival in Rome, head straight to Naples (I realize with a 7pm arrival, that might not be possible). See what you want to see there, then see Pompeii, then spend a few days enjoying coastal hikes (late May is really nice), then return to Rome for your last several nights.
If you feel you have to fit in Tuscany, you can start in Florence, but you should allot at least four days to the Amalfi Coast area because of transport issues.

My take on Amalfi vs Cinque Terre. While there are other things to do in the vicinity, I find the Amalfi coast area more conducive to other attractions because of Naples and Pompeii. The coastal area is larger so I found it easier to escape the crowds, which Cinque Terre is drowning in. You can escape the crowd, however, bu doing more extensive hikes that cruise people do not tend to do.

I would be tempted to head to Naples after landing at FCO. There are trains until nearly 10:00 p.m., but I would book a private transfer. I would want to avoid having to check in/out of Rome hotels twice. So, two nights in Naples (for the city and Pompeii/Herculaneum) and 3-5 nights in an Amalfi Coast town or on Capri, then back to Rome for the rest. If that much time in Rome doesn't appeal, there are some easy day trips by train.

You mention Florence as seemingly "can't miss." I happen to agree, but you haven't listed interests (other than great food) that would make Florence imperative for you. You should read up on the sightseeing in Florence and then decide whether you want to include it in this trip. Like Rome, it's possible to stay in Florence and make easy day trips by train and bus to other towns. One of the many (too many!) possible excursions is Bologna. Great restaurants and food markets.

If you want fewer days in Rome, you could train from Naples to Orvieto or Chiusi, rent a car and explore Tuscany before heading to Rome for the last night or two.

Relax! Take your time! Why would yopu want to book hotels more than 6 months in advance? I wouldn't even think about booking hotels before next January, but booking 1-2 months in advance will be just as fine. This would give you months to read more about Italy and plan your trip slowly so that it won't feel overwhelming.

Using a guidebook also helps for planning., Instead of rambling blogs a guidebook is well structured giving you every information you need.

I'd probably want to book the Amalfi Coast hotels 6 months in advance, esp. if I had any special needs/wants. Depending on how late in May you'd be there and whether your dates would include a weekend, it might be fairly busy.

Just got back from a 10 day small group tour of the Amalfi coast and then 4 nights in Rome by myself. Just walking around different towns on the coast, down and up flights of stairs to restaurants, etc. is going to require some hiking. One of my favorite restaurants was: Lunch in Mount Pertuso overlooking Positano. I think it was 2 or 3 flights down to the restaurant. Restrooms were down another flight which was also where they had a terrace garden. They were growing their tomatoes in a garden "tunnel". It was one of those restaurants you can't see from the road because it's hanging off a cliff overlooking the water. I checked with a friend who visited in August and asked if they had rented a car. She said they did at first but then turned it in because driving was a nightmare. Keep in mind the roads are narrow with many switchbacks and a lot of crazy motorbike drivers. Our small group hired two vans and usually had the same two drivers to drop us off in different towns and then pick us up later in the day. Our last full day required them spending most of the day with us as we visited both Sorrento and Positano plus a tour of a ceramics factory then returning us to the small mountain town of Polvica late in the afternoon. Our lunches were huge so our dinners were very simple, sometimes take out pizza at our lodging place. Our day trip to Capri by boat ended with a simple supper at a restaurant at Sal de Riso (light lunch menu until 7pm) in Minori. Our visit to the most southern town of Paestum included the Greek ruins and a wonderful lunch/visit to the water buffalo farm.

You never know what you will encounter as you wander around. One person in our group was hiking up some stairs and met a man with a horse packing propane canisters coming down. I couldn't figure out how some restaurants had their supplies delivered due to steep stairs. Some towns aren't as crowded and others become more crowded when a cruise ship is in. Our original itinerary was re-arranged with the help of the driver who was also a licensed guide to avoid the busiest times. I had no trouble taking the train by myself from Naples to Rome. Hired a cab at the Termini to go to the hotel and then mostly used city bus to get around. One of the reasons why I wanted to go to Rome was to take a cooking class at In Rome Cooking School. This started off with a brief visit to buy ingredients at the outdoor market Campo de Fiori. What fun when I discovered there were only 3 of us in the class and our chef was a fun guy. We did a lot of prep work and some hands on cooking. This was from 9am to 1 or 2pm with a huge lunch and plenty of wine. It also gave me a chance to ask questions. Make a note that there are more seafood dishes at restaurants that specialize in seafood. I only saw deep fried mixed seafood at one restaurant we visited and that was in Naples. Living in New England I wanted to compare it to what we call a fisherman's platter. I gave away most of the deep fried anchovies but it was still a large plate. You might want to share a secondi with your husband so you also have room for a dessert and appetizer or pasta.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.