Italy: 9 days for Venice, Florence, Rome, and Amalfi Coast
 

I am thinking this is too much to do in 9 days, but I really want to make it happen somehow! This is my proposal, and I would like suggestions/recommendations please:

Day 1: fly into Venice (hopefully arrive early!) and explore
Day 2: Venice
Day 3: travel by train Venice to Florence
Day 4: Florence - The Uffizi and touring
Day 5: Florence - Siena
Day 6: travel by train Florence to Rome
Day 7: Rome - Colosseum, etc. (I've already been to Vatican, etc., so I have only a few specific places I want to see)
Day 8: Rome to Amalfi Coast (possibly Positano)
Day 9: Amalfi Coast (Positano)
Day 10: Amalfi Coast to Naples airport - fly back to US

I am thinking this will be too much in 9 days, but I can't seem to nix any of these cities. Advice? Suggestions?

I would remove either Venice or the Amalfi Coast. It is too much. If you're going in the hot weather I would remove Rome and keep the other two locations.

Traveling from the AC to the Naples airport the same day you have a flight out is a bit risky unless you have a car service.

You really have 8.5 days. Even if you arrive early in Venice you need to get your bags, get into Venice, check into the hotel, etc. That will take until about noon.

Day one will be a wipeout---you really need 3 nites in Venice.

Pick 3 destinations---but you really know that don't you.

Have you checked out flght options from Naples to your city? That may dictate your itinerary.

It's usually not possible to leave the Amalfi Coast early enough to get a flight home from Naples, unless you have a late afternoon or evening flight. You would have to leave the Amalfi Coast about five hours before your flight if you travel by public transportation. Maybe it could be done if you got a private driver.

Really, the only way you could see the Amalfi Coast on this trip is to drop something else. If it's hot, I would drop Florence rather than Rome. Florence is almost always hotter and more humid than Rome.

Yes, too much -- and I'm someone who crams more into trips than most people would. Better to see less in a way that lets you actually see something than travel to more destinations without time to breathe.

Have you check flights from Naples? Does a multi-city into Venice and out of Naples actually work for you? If so, and you really want to get to the AC, you could skip Siena and visit Florence on the way to Rome.
Day 1, arrive Venice
Day 2 & 3 Venice
Day 4, depart Venice as early as possible, train to Florence, drop bags at train station. See as much as you can. Have museum reservations. Have dinner or get sandwiches, etc to take with you. Take late train to Rome, taxi to hotel.
Day 5, Rome
Day 6 travel to AC
Day 7,8 Amalfi Coast

Sorry, something clicked too soon. To cont.
Day 9, travel to Naples in time for dinner (could go earlier and visit Pompeii on the way)
Day 10, fly home
At least you have no one nighters, except Naples. Florence would be rushed and you would miss Siena, but the rest isn't so bad. It comes down to your personal priorities.

This is another option I would strongly consider.
Depart Venice late in the afternoon of day 3 and spend one night in Florence. You would then wake up and have the whole day there. Head to Rome late that evening, same as first itinerary.

Sassafrass has given you an option but I still think it is WAY too rushed. For example, I think Florence deserves severel days, and I think the Amalfi Coast deserves at least 4 or 5 days (not counting time in Naples). But to each his/her own....

BTW, when are you going? When would the flight depart from Naples?

Totally agree with Kja about Florence. It is so filled with art and churches, etc. you could spend days and days.

Venice is the same, more churches and art than you can see in a life time, but people often go for just a day or so, to get a glimpse of San Marco, the Grand Canal and Rialto, and they go way out of their way to do only that.

For the OP, Florence is right on the way and an easy stop. The train station is only a five-ten minute walk to the city center and the center is so small, you can easily walk everywhere. It is worth stopping just to view the sculpture of David, walk around the Duomo and stand by the Arno and look up at Ponte Vecchio. If the OP spent the night before and timed things well and had reservations, they could also see Santa Croce and possibly spend an hour or so in the Uffizi and have lunch there.

Last September we had just 9 nights to spend in Italy and consequently picked destinations that we close to one another.

It's one thing to say that all of these destinations "deserve more time;" of course they do, as do most places. It's entirely another thing to think about the amount of ground you are trying to cover in a short time and the fact that the Amalfi Coast just isn't that easy to get to.

I would drop the northern or southern half of the trip.

Sometimes you squeeze out a little more time by playing around with order of your trip. And taking evening trains rather than morning trains, and flying out of a close-in airport rather than one that takes a long time to get to. The devil is in the details about what flights are available to you, and whether you are willing to spend money on taxi transfers.

But one possibility might be:

Fly to Naples, car transfer to Positano
Car transfer to Naples train station, travel to Rome
Fast train to Venice
Fast train to Florence, fly home from Florence

I like Rome at night, but if you a very limited number of things you want to do there, you could park your luggage at Termini Station and sightsee, and go back to Termini about 8pm to pick up the luggage and take the last fast train to Florence (generally leaves a little before 9pm)

You are getting some great advice from people like Sassafrass and sandralist who (I think) approach questions with the viewpoint of "how can we make this work?" That's admirable! On the other hand, I ask, "Does it make sense to find a way to make this work?" And in this case, my answer remains NO. But is is YOUR call, and your options have now been laid out for you. Best wishes, no matter what you decide1

Well, I noticed the OP had said twice in the original post that he or she was thinking it was too much, but was looking to see if there was a way to make this wish list work for himself or herself. I figured the OP didn't need to hear what trip to Italy I would prefer to take.

sjohns100,

If you wanted to park your luggage at the station in Rome, but make Venice your next stop after Rome rather than Florence, it would probably be best to be on a train to Venice by 7pm unless you were willing to book an accommodation in Venice within easy walking distance from the train station.

The biggest reason a lot of travelers try to avoid making Venice their last stop before flying home is that workable flights from Venice tend to leave at the crack of dawn, and getting to airport from the city means getting up really early to make it. If you fly back from Florence obviously you can't get a non-stop (but I don't think you could get one from Naples either) but it is a very short trip to the airport so an early morning departure is easier.

And here yet one more idea for your wish list in 9 days

fly to venice
train from venice to florence
train from florence to naples, taxi to ferry docks, 1 night in Capri
ferry from Capri to Positano .. 1 night in positano (or 2 if you still have time)
car transfer from Positano to Naples train station, on to Rome for 1 night
fly home Rome

Ok, Sandralist triggered one more creative attempt at a solution to what the OP wants to make happen. You can have most of the day in Venice and Florence by taking late afternoon or evening trains rather than waiting until morning, and you can rest on the train after a day of walking. Day 4, a bit more time on the AC or in Venice, depending on flights.

Day 1 arrive Naples, transfer to AC
Day 2 & 3, AC
Day 4, fly to Venice from Naples (If you take a late afternoon flight, you could see Pompeii on the way - easier if you hire a car service so you could go directly on to airport)
Day 5, Venice
Day 6, Venice for the day, then very late afternoon or early evening train to Florence
Day 7, Florence (I would still skip Siena, but you could take the bus there for a few hours if it is a must)
Day 8, Florence for the day with early evening train to Rome
Day 9, Rome
Day 10, fly home

So, still skipping Siena, you have
3 nts, AC
2 nts each Venice, Florence & Rome.
Yes, it is still rushed, but would give you the most usable sightseeing time in Venice and Florence.

That would be rushed! I had posted on your other thread that you might want to break this up into more than one trip. Plan to come back!

Italy is a big place and when you move around this much you see less and it costs you more. The other post was more explicit about your budget and you could easily go over budget with all the extra transfers, trains, cabs, flights, etc.

2 bases (or 3 if they are close enough) gives you LOTS of things to see, including amazing museums, and will meet your partner's desire to really enjoy Italy.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice. I have decided to restrict it to 3 cities only. We will probably fly into Venice, take a train to Florence, and then another train to Rome where we will fly out. Hopefully, we will get a chance to go back to Italy to see the coasts, etc.

I really appreciate everyone's opinions on what is best as well as ideas on how to make all 4 cities work.

sjohns100, I'm glad you've made that decision. We all know how difficult it is to make the cuts. But you spend all that money traveling to Italy, you'll want to actually see it/enjoy it.

Buon viaggio!