apc

My husband and I have never traveled to Europe and we are planning to spend approx. 2 weeks exploring Italy this May. Although I love planning domestic trips, I am finding planning this trip to Italy a little overwhelming. I have so many questions.<BR><BR>First of all, we think we've narrowed down where we'd like to visit: Rome, Venice, Florence (or the Tuscany region in general), and EITHER Cinque de Terre OR Capri. I'd like the vacation to get a lot in, but I do not necessarily want to be running from one city to the next with only one or two nights at each place. In addition to seeing the major sights, I also enjoy getting a feel for the not-so touristy side of things.<BR><BR>My question: Should we book one of the tour companies and do a tour that hits all the cities we'd like to see, or should we take care of our own travel from place to place and book local tours when we get there?<BR><BR>In what order would you do this trip? Will 2 weeks be enough time, or should we cut something out?<BR><BR>Thank you in advance for your advice and help.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

Jan

A lot depends on your interests. We travel indenpendetly and love the freedom of it. You can easily spend 4-5 days in Rome, 2 in Venice and 3 in Florence. You can take trains from each of these cities and you can explore each on foot. You could take a day trip into Tuscany from Florence and several options on day trips in Rome. I'd save the other two areas for another trip. Capri is too out of the way to just go and see it. You'd want to see Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, Naples when you go there.

a

If you are not used to travelling in a tour, I don't see why to change this when you go abroad. You will be fine.<BR>I would stick to travelling to the three major cities you listed. At each city, I would take day tours to some of the outlying destinations. This way, you do not have to worry about renting a car. <BR><BR>I would save a trip to Cinque Terre and Capri for a different trip. Given your personality taste of not feeling like you are running around, I think you will feel that both are out of the way. <BR><BR>An alternative would be to go to two cities. At some point, renting a car to see Tuscany and Cinque Terre. In my opinion this will require a little more pre-trip planning.

tom

My wife and I did a similar trip last May (first trip to Italy) and had a great time planning and traveling on our own. We visited Venice, Florence, CT and Rome. It would have been nice to spend more time at any of the places we went to, but we are glad to have seen all that we did. Makes us look forward to a return trip!<BR>Including Capri in two weeks might be pushing it, because I believe it's somewhat south and away from the other four areas. <BR><BR>I made all our reservations in early February via email and found a fair number of places already booked. I know some people prefer to play it by ear, but for our first trip we chose otherwise. <BR><BR>The train system in Italy is quite convenient and very easy to use. We didn't go into the countryside in Tuscany, but I understand a car is essential there.<BR>Good luck and have a great time.

Dale

APC:<BR>I suggest that you join and post your request on the Slowtravler website. You will not find another more informative and polite source of just the information that you seek. Ciao.

Tom

apc - I topped an old post that may help you. See &quot;Planning Your Trip to Europe&quot;. Bob the Navigator has some good sound advice.

Lesli

I think you can easily do 3-4 days in each of the &quot;big 3&quot; plus 2 days in the Cinque Terre or Tuscany (Siena, Lucca, etc.) if you like. Plan to fly open jaw, Rome/Venice (or vice versa) to avoid backtracking. <BR><BR>You can travel between each of the major cities by train, and will not want a car once you reach them anyway. CT is only an hour and a half or so from Florence, also an easy train ride. You'll be able to enjoy the villages more if you stay overnight at least one night there.<BR><BR>Text search here for &quot;Italy and itinerary&quot; to get an idea of what others have planned and the feedback they received. <BR><BR>You might want to take a look at ricksteves.com and/or his guidebooks, particularly for the map re train travel time/distance/cost. For first-timers to Europe, his info can be very helpful re how to manage independent travel, even if you do not use his hotel or restaurant recommendations.<BR><BR>You could book a tour, but you will not get as much of a &quot;feel for the not-so-touristy side of things&quot; that way. A compromise might be an air/hotel package, which might or might not include train travel between cities. Check go-today.com, Gate 1 Travel, and Alitalia's sites to get ideas.<BR><BR>You will love Italy!

jerry

we just returned from italy last week. four days in rome at the intercontinental, four in florence at the westin excelsior and two in venice at the danieli. we set up train reservations in advance which was easy and comfortable. worth the extra money for first class. took half day tours in rome for antiquities and vatican, day tour in florence to siena . two days in venice was enough. recommend the first two hotels highly, stay away from the danielli. you can tour as much or as little as you want when you get there. people are great,

Kay

My husband and I had 5 weeks in Italy last year in March/April and loved it. We had been before, doing a 3 day tour to Sorrento/Pompeii/Capri and a 6 day tour to Rome/Siena/Florence/Venice/Milan but we much preferred doing things on our own this time. On your own, you are forced to look at a map, find your hotel yourself, look for somewhere nice for a meal, it makes it all more personal and enjoyable. You also don't have to spend time at places you have no interest in. <BR><BR>I booked all our acommodation over the internet before we left (you should book now for the main centres like Venice which get very busy) and although this meant we were 'locked in' it also meant when we arrived at a new town we just went directly to our hotel with no fuss and no time spent wondering which hotel to choose and how much they cost. Don't depend on the tourist info offices for accommodation booking once you are there, we found them often closed (for siesta for 3 hours for example) or not very helpful.<BR>I'd suggest 3 days each in Rome, Florence and Venice and the rest of the time down on the Amalfi Coast. That gets you away from big cities for a while. To get to Sorrento, you catch a train to Naples from Rome, then a different train to Sorrento. From Sorrento it's an easy ferry ride to Capri, or a bus ride to Positano, Amalfi, Ravello etc. All lovely coastal villages. Ahh, I wish I was going again!<BR>We also visited Cinque Terre when we were there, which is great for hiking but not much else there. Feel free to email me if I can help in any way. <BR>Kay

apc

Thank you so much for the informative responses. Reading through them all has sold me on the idea of planning our own trip. I will just take little bites at a time in planning. I really like the idea of the open jaw trip so as not to back-track.<BR><BR>Many of you mentioned the convenience of taking the train between the cities. Is there a website where you can book the train tickets ahead of time, or do you just show up at the time? <BR><BR>Again, thank you very much. I know I am dealing with very experienced travelers here and I am asking very basic questions.

Patrick

I also think you can do the big three plus include two nights at the Cinque Terre (all you need there and a real change of pace, especially if you stay in Manarola or Vernazza). It would be a shame to travel all the way to Capri without more time to explore the entire Amalfi area.<BR><BR>I personally favor just a couple nights in Florence itself, but spending a couple nights out in Tuscany -- my favorite being San Gimagnano if you have a car, and doing a couple day trips from there.<BR>Three or four nights in both Rome and Venice will give you a good taste for either and a desire to return for more.

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Hello APC, You can do it--just take it one step at a time. You already know it is May for 2 weeks--that is a start. Next step is sequence &amp; timing. I would do 4 destinations--open jaw--north to south. For instance:<BR>Into Venice--3 nites<BR>Train to Florence/Tuscany--4 nites<BR>Train to coast--3 nites<BR>To Rome---4 nites<BR><BR>You can tweek that if you want. The next step is booking airlines--you need to set specific dates before booking hotels. Now, you can start to look at the trip details. Go to slowtrav.com and find my articles on budget and tips.<BR>You can always get tons of help here on hotels in your price range.<BR>It is not hard if you do it one step at a time. Get your dates and timing down first, then the detail will fill in.

apc

Thank you Bob the Naviagator. I'm totally going to take your suggestions and work from there. I needed help with picking the right starting point and now I have the confidence that with lots of research I can plan the rest of the details.

Ira

Hi<BR> You can find train schedules and, sometimes prices, at www.trenitalia.com. <BR><BR> www.railsaver.com allows you to compare railpasses to point-to-point tickets.<BR><BR> The fastest trains, ES*, require reservations. Usually, you can make a reservation the day before. It is less expensive in Italy.<BR><BR> www.railsaver.com can book a train for you.<BR><BR>

Myer

Everybody has their own ideas. That's what makes the world go round.<BR><BR>While it's nice to think in terms of open jaw, when it comes time to book, it might work out better (and cheaper) in and out of Rome. So I'll think in those terms.<BR><BR>1. Arrive in Rome. Spend 2 1/2 days (half for day of arrival).<BR><BR>2. Leave for Florence. Spend 2 1/2 days there including half day on arrival.<BR><BR>3. Leave for Venice. Spend 2 1/2 days there including half day on arrival.<BR><BR>4. Take sleeper train to Naples (buy Eurostar ticket for return to Rome in four days) and take either commuter train or boat from Naples to Sorrento. <BR><BR>Spend 4 days. Capri, Pompeii, Sorrento or boat to Positano, Amalfi coast bus ride with time in Ravello, Amalfi or Positano.<BR><BR>5. Get to Naples (reverse of above) and then Rome on Eurostar. Spend last couple of days in Rome.<BR><BR>Return home from a great vacation.<BR>

Patrick

I always think in terms of number of NIGHTS in a location since that's how hotels are booked. If I'm reading <BR>Myer's post right, then I'm guessing he's talking either 16 or 17 nights total? Two and a half days is three nights. Looking at that itinerary, it still seems like a lot of moving around, and I'd still leave Sorrento/Naples/Amalfi out of the mix.

Myer

I think I had an extra night in there. I could drop a day from Florence.<BR>I don't think I was that high Patrick as I allowed for 1/2 day travels and a night on the train. In any event counting comes in the next step.<BR><BR>The reason I picked these four locations for a first time trip to Italy:<BR><BR>Rome: History and sights.<BR>Florence: Culture<BR>Venice: The feeling<BR>Sorrento area: Spectacular<BR><BR>

Barbara

I'm not an Italy expert, but my husband and I took our first trip to Italy last May. Sounds like we have similar interests. We still reminice about our trip all the time. We flew into Venice (pay the Xtra $ for a taxi boat into town!! What a way to arrive, especially after an overnight trip). Venice 3 nights (one was a very drunk night in a very small dance club, the only one in Venice, I think). Then we took the train to Florence for 2 nights. Then, rented a car (didn't plan on it, but getting the car took 3 hours) and drove to Tuscany. One night each in 3 lovely B&amp;Bs, chosen from Karen Brown's book. Sienna, San Gimingnano and Orvieto. Our absolute favorite was Locanda Rosati in Orvieto. We actually blew off Rome to stay there 3 nights. By that time I wanted to slow things down and enjoy the countryside. Beautiful place that you could stay for much longer and take day trips (40 min. by train) into Rome. I'd be happy to share more. Best thing to do, without a doubt, buy Rick Steves' Italy. He is an expert and he has great passion for Italy. Have a blast!!

rar

Trenitalia.com has a schedule for Italian trains. But I personally prefer the Swiss railsite, rail.ch, which has a much easier interface to use (has all the train times in Europe basically).<BR><BR>I suggest you see at least one small Italian town. There are plenty near Rome and Florence to choose from.<BR><BR>Since you have two weeks, I would do somethin like this..<BR><BR>4 days Rome<BR>3 days Florence<BR>1 day Siena (or daytrip it from Florence)<BR>1 day in any Tuscan town (do a search on those for more info)<BR>3 days Venice<BR>1 day Verona (can do this as daytrip from Venice easily)<BR><BR>And I would say do your own travel booking. Much more rewarding and fun than taking a tour, imo.

Debby

We too went last year for the first time and I had all of the same questions you did too. We flew into Milan out of Rome 17 days later. <BR><BR> I wanted to see it all, too. I listened to some sound advice from this board. We spent 2 nights in Bellagio<BR> 3 nights Venice<BR> 2 nights Florence<BR> 1 night San G<BR> 2 nights Siena<BR> 4 nights Rome<BR><BR>For some that is too much moving-for us it was great. We loved Rome and even 4 days was not enough. We're going back next Oct to do Rome and the Amalfi Coast.<BR><BR>This first trip will wet your appetite for more. Anything you do will be wonderful!<BR><BR>Debby<BR>