annhig

actually, ekc, it's Rome that I suggest the OP misses out!

ekc

OK, so I agree with annh's suggestion to drop the day trip to Florence, but I would still include Rome! I wasn't looking forward to seeing Rome on my first trip to Italy and ended up loving it. It really helped fill in the Italy "puzzle" for me.

annhig

the trouble is, eke, that Rome is so huge, it can be overwhelming on a first trip. also, IMHO you really need a week to come to terms with it. i'd frankly rather not go, than just have a taste and feel dissatisfied.

same with Florence, a day trip is worse, IMO, than not going at all.

kybourbon

>>>Day 6: train to Siena, check-in, etc
Day 7: day bus trip to Florence
Day 8: train/bus/ferry to A/C, hotel check in, wander<<<

That really doesn't allow any time to see Siena. If you train from Bologna to Siena, you have to change trains in Florence which makes you go to Florence day 6 and day 7. Not an efficient use of time. Day 8 would be a very long travel day as you must either train to Florence (again! - 70 minutes) to catch a train to Naples (Siena/Florence 1 hour, Florence/Naples 3 hours) or bus from Siena to Rome (3 hours) to catch the train to Naples (1:10). You would still have another 75 minutes from Naples to Sorrento and then an hour or more to Amalfi or wherever you are staying on the coast. That's at least 6 hours on transport and not counting time getting to and from hotels, waiting for next train/bus, etc.

SnLTravel - Most people plan by number of hotel nights in a place. How many hotel nights do you actually have in Italy? Do you have 17 days total for your vacation (day 1 and 17 are travel days)?

JBX

What dates during August?

Do keep in mind an annual event, the Palio, is held in Siena, in July and again in August. In August, believe it's on the 16th. I've not been to Siena during the event ..... may want to search forum to consider if you do (or don't) want to adjust your schedule to be there around that time.

http://www.siena.world-guides.com/siena_events.html

Mimar

Actually there's another option Siena to Naples. You can train or bus to Chiusi and catch the train to Naples. We took this bus ride in reverse, having trained from Sorrento. It was like a scenic tour, up and around hills, past little farms and villages, all punctuated by columnar cypress trees. That bus ride was our introduction to the southern Tuscany landscape. We fell instantly in love and made sure to return.

So if you want to see something of the southern Tuscany countryside without driving, that bus ride will do it.

Admittedly that will lengthen a longish day of travel. But coming from Sorrento, it didn't seem that long.

kybourbon

>>>Actually there's another option Siena to Naples. You can train or bus to Chiusi and catch the train to Naples.<<<

You can't catch a fast train to Naples from Chiusi as they don't stop there and you would have to change trains in Rome. You would have to take a slower IC train which wouldn't save any time.