Italy
 

I need help planning my trip to Italy and France. Too much to see and not enough time. I acknowledge that it might be bit ambitious.

I am in italy from 11 june to 24 June...I land in Rome and exit from Rome to go to Germany on 25th, than off to france on 3rd and exit Europe via paris.

ITALY
I want to see Rome, Florence, Cinque Terra, Venice, Rome, Naples, Amalfi and if there is time, anything in between. I want to see Michelanglo's work where I can.

France, Definitely want to try a winery or two. Nothing else on the agenda.

Can anyone offer some advice? I will most certainly appreciate it.

Cheers,

okay, most people here are going to say this, so I might as well:
You can't see the entire mainland of Italy in 12 days, not in any way that will not resemble an old Chevy Chase Vacation movie.

Florence is Michelangelo's city; if that is your main priority, then have that help you make your other decisions.
For example: 4 days Florence, 4 days Rome, and then one other destination in Italy.
Since you are going in and out of Rome, there's no point imo in considering Cinque Terre or Venice on this trip. From Rome,
do a short visit to Naples and maybe Amalfi, go back to Rome to leave for Germany.

From Germany to France: Do you land in Paris? In France, a winery or two in what area? How many days in France? Have you been there before?

Also on this whole trip, you want to travel via public transportation, trains and buses? (as opposed to driving any part of it?)

More details and narrowing this down, would generate more help.

Agreed, way too many locations in just 13 days. It's very tempting to want to see everything, but you'll spend the entire time traveling.

Like Elaine said, narrow your itinerary way down and go from there.

Make a list of how long the train rides take from place to place. That will help in prioritizing locations.
There are many great sample itineraries on this board.
Good luck!

I agree as well. To try and pack in so many places in Italy in less than two weeks will resemble the Amazing Race more than a vacation IMO. 7 different cities/areas in less than 14 days is simply too much.

How did you decide on those spots? As suggested already, get out a good map of Italy and map out the cities on your list. Use the trenitalia.com site to calculate travel time then add in checking in and out hotels as well as getting to and from.

Read up on all the cities/areas on your list in books and on the internet. Read the many trip reports and sample itineraries on this site.

Then narrow it down to 3 or 4 places, ones that make sense in terms of both geography and what you really wish to experience. I agree with elaine: "For example: 4 days Florence, 4 days Rome, and then one other destination in Italy."

You have designed a fairly good tour of the train stations of Italy. To see more than that you need to allow much more time in each place. IMHO Rome needs at a minimum 3 days (4 nights) but 4/5 wold be better. Florence needs at least 2 days/3 nights - but more if you want to do any day trips into the Tuscan countryside or see hill tows.

Or - if you just want to check off items on a list stick with your plan.

While usually I would be the first to agree that all those places in 13 days is too much... I will play devil's advocate on this one. My sister has been living in Sicily for 3 years, and swears by flying between cities. (I'm using blu-express on my upcoming trip; tickets from Rome to Sicily start as low as 15 euro and go up as they're sold out. There are other discount airlines as well.) She's been able to see an amazing amount this way.

I will be in Italy for 2 weeks (volcano permitting) starting Monday. We have kept our itinerary to approx. 4 days each in 3 cities, which will enable us to do day trips along the way.

However, given all the places you'd like to see, you could do something like this, still get a good taste of Italian life even though abbreviated:
- Rome: 3-4 days (short, but passable)
- 2-hour train ride to Naples. Naples proper is really only a day at most; if you want to see Pompeii or Herculaneum, add a half day
- Day trip from Naples via ferry to either a spot on the Amalfi Coast or Capri island
- Fly from Naples to Venice: 2-3 days
- Fly or fast train from Venice to Florence: remainder of time in Florence
- Fly or fast train from Florence back to Rome for your flight out*

*I'm not headed to the north on this trip, so I don't know details on flights from Florence to Rome. I would say though that it would be preferable to try and make your return to Rome be at the airport and with enough time to make your flight out but not much more: If you train into Rome, you'll still need to get from there back to the airport, which isn't difficult but unnecessary.

I realize I've omitted Cinque Terra: you could swap out Venice and go there instead, closer to Florence and so less traveling.

OK, I am going to take a stab at this. This is just one itinerary out of so many possibilities. It is four bases with day trips: hoping it gives you something concrete to start working with. I am listing nights, so you know the first day in each place is partially taken up with getting there.

Nights:
June 11: Land in Rome. Go straight to Florence. Chill, Walk around. Have dinner. Get over jet lag.
June 11,12,13,14: Florence - two days of sight seeing, one day trip to Sienna on the 13th.

June 15: Train to Venice.
June 15,16,17: Venice - Two and a half days of sightseeing.

June 18: Fly to Naples & train to Sorrento. Not actually on the Amalfi Coast, but I am choosing Sorrento for convenience as well as beauty.
June 18, 19, 20: Sorrento - Relax first night. Visit Pompeii one day and take a boat to Capri, Amalfi or Positano the second day.

June 21: Train to Rome
June 21, 22 23 24: Rome - three and a half days of sight seeing.

You could substitute Cinque Terre for Amalfi Coast, but I don't think both are reasonable. Also, I would choose Venice and one coastal area over doing two coastal areas. Which you choose depends on how much you want to visit the AC and Pompeii, or if you are dreaming of lots of hiking in CT.
I haven't personally done this, but you might take a night train from Venice to Naples on the 17th, giving yourself another whole day to see more of the Amalfi Coast or to visit Naples or Herculaneum, etc. Other posters can tell you more about that.

I am one of those people who really love Naples. The more I visit, the more I like it. However, unless there is something you really want to see there, the area is so beautiful, I would spend most of it outside at that time of year. It is a personal liking, but I would certainly choose sitting outside at a cafe looking at Vesuvius and the sea, or being outside at Herculaneum. over being inside a museum.

You fly to Germany and then to France only for a winery or two? You are in Florence, Tuscany, homeland of great red wines (Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Brunello di MOntalcino, and many others). Why don't you visit a winery there?

Thankyou everyone. Your response have given me bit of a perspective. As per everyone's suggestion, think I might have to leave out Venice and Cinque Terra... I do like Sassafrass and ggreen itinerary, but would reconsider my visits to cinque terra and venice. I am happy to spend bit more time in Tuscany or Naples.

As for France, I am there from July 3rd to July 16th. Wineries were just an option. I am not aware of what I could do there beside spending few days in Paris, bit ignorant in my knowledge of France. I am open for suggestions. I am not too fussed about what I get to see or do. As long as I have good time, I am happy to minimlise # of cities I visit.