The beaches in Sept/Oct become womderful again as the horrible parasols and beds are taken away and replaced by natural sand and free access. Ny, over the years, has an opinion about European beaches which is, a little, on the odd side :-)

I was looking at flights to Venice and the best price from home arrives at 12:50pm.
Is that a really bad time to arrive in Venice and try to find transportation to your hotel or apartment from airport?

Is that the Delta JFK-VCE nonstop flight? I've taken it many times and love it. that arrival time is fine.

No it's not, it's Air Transat . Can I ask you whereabouts we should stay? Did you take a water taxi from the airport?

If you have lots of money you can take a water taxi. If you're on a budget then take the Alilaguna (water bus from the airport).

http://www.alilaguna.it/?lang=en

I'm not going to get into a debate about the beaches of Italy, but IMHO, people who go to Italy to sit on a beach and swim are kind of missing the point of going to Italy.

One's opinions on beaches are usually formed based on the beaches one grew up with.

I don't consider dingy sand and dirty water a beach of any use at all. Not do I consider a beach of rocks - or even pebbles - acceptable.

But then I'm not a beach fan anyway. Like swimming in a pool or walking along the beach off season - but I'm fair, don't tan and never sunbathe (not interested in melanoma).

Agree that going to Italy for a beach - versus 3 thousand years of history, culture, architecture and incredible food makes no sense at all. If you want great beaches go to the Carib or Hawaii - or whichever is nearest home.

Yes, your right. We are going for the culture, history, scenery and incredible food.
Don't need a beach. Thanks for the advice

Ok, so this is what I'm thinking now...this is just a rough copy...

Fly to Venice, around Sept.20th, spend three days
Train to Florence, spend two days.
Pick a car somewhere and visit Tuscany country side, not sure if we should have a home base there. Still reading on that...
Spend three days in Tuscany, drop off car and train to Rome, spend three days there.
Train to Naples , to visit Pompeii.
Definitely , want to see Amalfi coast but not sure where to stay in all these different towns or villages.
After this ,train to Rome to fly home to Canada.
Any suggestions on this itinerary are always greatly appreciated. Many thanks!

Nytraveler, I guess I mentioned beach cause my husband has only being to Paris .
I am the travelling fool...and when I visited Greece and stuck my feet in the Mediterranean Sea, I was so thrilled! No we don't sit in the sun anymore. We're seniors now and a little wiser.

With three days in the Tuscan countryside I would choose one location rather than moving every night. I liked staying in Pienza as it was in a beautiful area and there were enough places to visit within a 2 hour (or less) drive each day. I stayed at Il Giardino Segreto.

You need to realize that two nights somewhere only gives you one sightseeing day. I would book earlier in Sept. as I've been late Sept. and had quite a cold snap. Also, it gets dark early. You also need to check that things you want to see are open on they day you plan to be there. If you only allow two nights (one day) in Florence and that is a Monday, many things are closed.

>>>Spend three days in Tuscany, drop off car and train to Rome, spend three days there.
Train to Naples , to visit Pompeii.
Definitely , want to see Amalfi coast but not sure where to stay in all these different towns or villages.
After this ,train to Rome to fly home to Canada.<<<<

Put Rome at the end of the trip. It wastes time to backtrack and stay in the same city twice.

Drop the car in Tuscany and train to either Naples or Salerno (depends on whether you decide to stay on the Amalfi coast or in Naples - I would stay on the coast). After the coast/Naples/Pompeii, train to Rome (you need a minimum of 4 hotel nights here)and fly home from Rome.

Thanks to all for the great options...we now have planned our trip...Kinda!
We will finish in Rome for 4 nights and the fly home.
Right now I'm working on ...train from Florence to Naples or Pompei or Salerno ?
We have to change trains in Naples but I want to see the museum there, so not sure if we should spend a night there first before going on to Pompei by bus? And stay in Pompei for 2 nights ...
Is it complicated to go directly to Salerno from Florence, changing trains and all.
Staying all nights in Salerno and taking day trips to Naples, Pompei and if so ,do we do it by bus or train again? Again thank you all!

Do you still want to see the Amalfi coast?

Then this is the way I would include Pompei and the archeological museum in Naples if leaving from Florence and ultimately must be in Rome.

Leave Florence by train for Pompei. Take taxi from Pompei train station to entrance of Pompei. Store luggage, tour the ruins. Pre-arrange to have a taxi driver pick you up and take you a hotel on the Amalfi coast, 2 or 3 nights. At the end of two or 3 nights, have a driver take you the Naples train station. Put your luggage in the station. Walk or take a taxi or use the metro to get to the museum. (It's not far.) After the museum visit, go pick up your luggage and take the train to Rome.

If you no longer want to see the Amalfi coast, then I suggest you simply stay in Naples and see Pompei as a day trip from there. If you've heard things about Naples that make you think you wouldn't like it, then consider staying in Sorrento instead. I would not stay in Salerno unless you have a specific interest in Salerno and its historic sights.

PS. When I visited the archeological museum in Naples I was able to store my luggage in the museum cloakroom. I am not sure if they still permit this, and my luggage was a single carryon bag. But if they still have that service, then you can see the museum, as I did, passing through Naples (in my case, on the way to the airport) without the need to stow your luggage at the train station. You might be able to e-mail the museum to find out or if you book a taxi or hotel in the area, ask if they can find out for you.