Italy Itinerary- Advice Needed
 

Hello,

My fiance and I are planning our honeymoon to Italy. We are interested in just about everything. We want to experience the food, history & art, beaches, and different cultural areas. We are in the early stages of planning and have so many questions but I will begin by asking for suggestions on our basic itinerary.

10-Aug Fly to Naples (leave around 6pm)

11-Aug Arrive in Naples around noon

12-Aug Amalfi Coast

13-Aug Amalfi Coast

14-Aug Amalfi Coast to Rome (4 hrs)

15-Aug Rome

16-Aug Rome

17-Aug Rome

18-Aug Rome (Travel to Cinque Terre at night: 5 hrs)

19-Aug Cinque Terre

20-Aug Cinque Terre

21-Aug Cinque Terre to Florence (3 hrs) in morning

22-Aug Florence

23-Aug Florence

24-Aug Florence to Venice (2 hrs)

25-Aug Venice

26-Aug Venice

27-Aug Travel home

My most important questions for now:

1. Does this seem like too many places? If so, in your own opinion, which would you leave off the list?

2. We are flying into Naples and want to see Pompeii and spend the next few days in the Amalfi Coast. lWhere would you suggest we sleep that night? Most guidebooks seem to recommend Naples, Sorrento, or Positano. Are there any places to safely store luggage in Naples or Pompeii so we can see a bit on the day of our arrival and then sleep in Sorrento or Positano?

I realize these questions are not easy to answer without knowing us, but we generally like and want to experience everything so are just looking for some outside opinions. I appreciate any help you may be able to offer. Thank you!

going by train? It is the best for cities and goes to all those places. Baggage storage in both Naples Centrale station and near the entrance to Pompeii (accessible by commuter train from Naples Centrale).

For lots on Italian trains check www.trenitalia.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. www.seat61.com has great advice about scoring discounted tickets on long-distance trains.

Do you have to fly into Naples (have you already bought the tickets?) IF not I would fly into Venice and then do CT, Florence, and Rome (fly home from Rome).

You will have a better trip if you cut one place and while both the AC and the CT are amazing, for this trip I would cut one of them. Slightly less transit time if you do what I suggested. But if you already have the tickets into Naples, or if you just decide the AC is more important to you than the CT, then do as you listed but cut the CT and add the nights to the other destinations.

My major concern about your trip is heat. It may not bother you, but it will be miserably hot all over Italy. Not saying not to go, but be warned. The heat can wear you out. Get hotels with pools so you can sightsee in the mornings and swim in the afternoon.

Your itinerary is better than many because you at least allowed for travel time.

Forget trying to see anything on the day of your arrival. With intense heat and possible jet lag, it would be a bad way to start. Go straight on to your base on the AC. Be sure your hotel has a pool and great views.

Stop in Pompeii as early in the morning as possible (coolest part of the day) on your way to Rome. There is luggage storage at Pompeii. Consider staying the night in Naples rather than going on to Rome and going to the archeological museum in the afternoon.

Re-think doing two coastal areas. Rather than both the AC and CT, why not one of the lakes in the North where it is cooler?

If you do keep the CT, reconsider going at night. Not good to arrive there in the dark.

Go to Florence from Rome, then the rest of the trip.

Are you planning day trips from Florence or have a big interest in Art?

I would cut something, but what to cut depends on your interests.

I would cut the Cinque Terre in favor of the Amalfi Coast. In August, the CT villages will be jammed with people. There is a lot to do in the Amalfi Coast area beyond Pompeii (Herculaneum, hike up Vesuvius, Paestum, Capri, not to mention Naples itself), and you will not regret more time there.

You can leave your luggage at the Pompeii site and spend a few hours before continuing on to the Amalfi Coast. Pompeii is something of a pain to reach from the AC - Sorrento is much closer.

It does seem like too much to me. Don't underestimate the stress and time involved in getting to and from cities, to and from hotels, and packing and unpacking. This is your honeymoon and you will have SO many opportunities prior to your 50th anniversary to get travel around the world!

There are also practicalities like doing laundry. You will probably want to do laundry at least twice in 14 days. Hotels can sometimes help you with that. But you may have to go looking for a launderette. Laundry takes time but it's a chance to hang, drink wine, share the folding of dainty dimities. All kinds of honeymoon story potential there.

You are also traveling in August and all these places will be mobbed with tourists. That is something to think about, too. One reason I myself would avoid Florence.

Someone asked if you already had tickets taking you into Naples. I would repeat the question.

And of your list, given that you have 16 days which is really 14 days at best, I would suggest something like the following:

4/5 days and 5/6 nights in Venice (and maybe include the boat trip that tours you through the Palladian villas in the Veneto, or take a day trip by train to Padua or Verona).

4/5 days and 5/6 nights in Rome, with a day trip to Naples/Pompeii, or an excursion around the Amalfi Coast).

3 days and 3 nights along the Cinqueterra. Or in the Naples/Amalfi area.

You may prefer hotels, but I adore staying in apartments. Just something to think about.

In the end, I really favor two stops, Venice and Rome. And Rome and Naples work conveniently as a pair.

Draw big circles around both, see what is "further afield" and look at day trips by train for added romance. If you fly into Venice or Rome (or Naples for that matter) and out of one of the other cities, you will minimize problems associated with getting to and from airports.

Congratulations to you both!

Your routing is not bad. A few comments.
Do understand the crowd situation in CT. It is ... unbearable... during the day. Taking transports between towns during the day is like traveling during the rush hour on a subway in a major city. It is that bad. It is a pleasant place between 6pm-9am.

Do look at return flight from Venice. If it is an early flight, it is a hassle because extracting yourself out of Venice early is both time consuming and expensive. It is FAR easier to fly back from Rome even for early morning departures.

Yup more time in Amalfi for Capri, Pasestum as well as along the coast like Ravello and some walks.

What is the home airport?

Re: CInque Terre in August...does this appeal to you?

http://images.google.fr/imgres?imgur...PoDuUQ9QEIMjAK

You have 16 days...my suggestion:

4 or 5 days Venice - with day trip to Padova (which we liked better than Verona) and Lagoon day-trip (Murano, Burano and Torcello).

3 or 4 days (minus 1/2 day train) in Florence with a day-trip to Siena

5 days in Rome (minus 1/2 day train) with a day-trip to Ostia Antica

That leave 2 to 4 days for CT or AC or any other single place you can research...put it in the order that minimizes travel time.

You can also limit yourself to those three cities 5/3/8 days for a more leisurely Venice visit and/or an extra day-trip and more time in Rome.

Train travel in Italy is a breeze, but you'll want to buy tickets ASAP (though I can never remember whether they become available 120 or 90 days in advance) to get really, really cheap fares. (Buy at www.Trenitalia.com and print out the PDF files for your tickets.)

Flying into Venice and out of Rome is probably the most convenient way.

BTW...Ravenna with its other-worldly mosaics is an easy day-trip from Bologna (which is a nice city for a day or two visit and is on the rail line between Venice and Florence):

Venice - 4 days
Bologna/Ravenna - 3 days (-1/2 day train)
Florence - 3/4 days (-1/2 day train)
Rome - 5/6 days (-1/2 day train)


ssander

I think that the probable heat and crowds in Italy during August are something to keep in consideration. I would skip the Ct and add a day to Amalfi , Rome and Florence. Getting to the airport in Venice is not that difficult in the morning if you take a water taxi.

>> Getting to the airport in Venice is not that difficult in the morning if you take a water taxi.<<

True, and not a bad idea. Just be aware of the cost (100-110 euros) and whether it fits into your budget.

A water taxi in Venice is a total extravagance, which is fine if you want to shell out many, many euros.

Getting to/from the airport in Venice with ease depends on two factors:

(a) Where you are
(b) What time is the plane

Alilaguna has boats directly to the airport that stop at a variety of (but not all) vap stops. The time the trip takes can be short (37 min) or quite long (~1:15) depending on where you are:

http://www.alilaguna.it/en

The downside is they only run at most every half-hour (and only every hour early in the morning).

The upside is the cost: 14€/25€ (one-way/return) if you buy online in advance.

ssander