esklader

Thanks for all the great help so far. I think I've got our family's Italy itinerary just about nailed down. We are leaving on June 22 (arr Rome 23rd), starting out with 5 of us (2 adults, 3 kids - 20, 15, 8). LThe 20 year old leaves after Rome. We return home from Rome very early the morning of July 6th. Here's what I have so far:

June 23 - 28 - Rome (have apt booked)
June 28- July 1 - Tuscany
July 1 - July 5 - Sorrento (back to Rome on the 5th)- probably going to book Settimo Cielo)
July 6 Leave from Rome

I felt like this gives us a good mix of city, country and coast, with different types of things to do in each place.

Here are my qeustions: are the number of days in Tuscany/Sorrento about right?

Would it be better to switch Sorrento and Tuscany for any reason?

I was planning on staying in Siena and have the Hotel Grondaie booked currently (anyone know about this place?), but that was before we decided not to stay for the Palio. Is that still a good place to base ourselves? Do any of the agriturismos offer stays shorter than a week, and do any of them have air conditioning (a must for us!)? If anyone has suggestions, that would be great.

Anything else I'm not thinking about? Yes, I'd love to leave from Naples, but it would cost us $400 to change the tickets now, and I doubt anything is even available for 4 of us.

Thanks a lot!

ira

Hi e,

Looks OK, as long as you realize how much time you are losing moving from town to town.

Since you arrive Rome in the AM of the 23 and leave on the 28, you have only 4 days in Rome. Likewise, you have only 3 days in Tuscany and only 3 days in Sorrento.

tcreath

Ira, if they are flying in the morning of the 23rd they would have at least half of that day as well. Sure, they may be jetlagged but they should still be able to get some sightseeing done.

I think your itinerary looks fine. Definitely consider the travel times, as on average you lose about half a day traveling from one area to another (checking out, train, finding hotel, checking in).

Tracy

sandi_travelnut

Some of us like to move around, so do whatever seems comfortable for your family. will you have a car or travel by train? I would base out of Siena and do side trips.

esklader

Thanks for the responses. Do you think we'd be better off just doing Rome and Naples/Sorrento? I really wanted to see Tuscany, but maybe I should stay an extra day in Rome and a few extra days near the coast. Would there be enought to do? My guess is we are not going back any time soon...

StuDudley

I think there is a WHOLE lot more to do & see in Tuscany than in Sorrento/Amalfi Coast. The diversity of things to do in Tuscany is greater also. Positano is quite nice, but I don't think Sorrento is nearly as charming as about a dozen or so cities in Tuscany. The town of Amalfi gets too crowded with day-trippers for me to enjoy - especially in early July when you will be there. Capri is quite lovely - after the day trippers have left. Personally, I get a little bored with the Amalfi Coast (we stay in Positano), after a few days - not so in Tuscany - in fact, we never get bored in Tuscany. If you want to spend a day workng on your tans, the Amalfi Coast would have an added advantage. Otherwise, I would suggest that you skip Sorrento and add a day to Rome, add days in Tuscany and split your time in Tuscany with 2 days in Siena (see San Gimignano, Volterra, and Chianti from there) and the remainder in the countryside or a small village in Southern Tuscany near Pienza.

Any reason you chose to stay in Sorrento instead of Positano???

If you want to visit all three locals, I would add 1 day to Tuscany & subtract 1 day from Sorrento.

Stu Dudley

esklader

You know how they say sometimes too much information is dangerous? I'm really driving myself crazy with this trip...!

Stu - I chose Sorrento as it seemed like an easier place to get to other places from. My husband was interested in seeing Pompeii, and I thought the kids would enjoy Capri and the coast.

I was concerned about doing Tuscany for too long based on the comments I've read about teens being bored there (I will be taking 8 and 15 year old girls). Would you be concerned about that?

Now, I'm also concerned that we are going to be spending too much time getting from one place to another (especially Siena to Sorrento).

So...I'm still open to suggestions. If we went to Siena and surrounding towns, where else could we go to keep everyone happy? The kids would love to do a sandy beach, but I'm not sure where there is one, either north or south. If we went to Sorrento and cut Tuscany, is there someplace else, maybe further south, we should be looking at? AARGH!!!

(thank you)

ira

Hi es,

If it were me, I would do Rome, Florence and Venice.

If you are locked into RT from Rome,
take the train immediately to Venice (4 days), train to Florence (4 days with a daytrip to Siena), train to Rome.

In a choice between the AC and Tuscany, I would flip a coin. You can't go wrong either way.

travelgirl2

We spent about 6 days in Rome, 7 days in Tuscany and 3 days in Sorrento. With regard to Sorrento, once we saw the town, visited Capri and did a day trip to Pompeii, we weren't interested in seeing anything else.

For your trip, I think I would cut 1 day off of Sorrento and spend it in Rome or Tuscany. My 12 year old son would have liked to stay longer in Rome. We've spent a week in Tuscany 2 times and it is really our favorite. The hill towns are charming. It is relaxed and you feel like you are living the Italian life. We always stay in Castellina in Chianti at a farm-type place (can't recall the name, hmmm). We have a swimming pool that we share with a couple of other apartments, although we never see anyone else at the pool. The kids like to wander the vineyards. We go touring the towns during the day and have either lunch or dinner out. Then back to the villa to relax.

You are going the exact time period we were there in 2004. One thing I didn't realize was how H-O-T it would be in Rome. Although we loved Rome, it was a relief to leave the city. I'm not sure if the countryside is cooler, or if it just seems that way. Tuscany was the coolest area during our stay.

Good luck. You really can't go wrong in Italy, no matter what you choose.

ssachida

If you do decide to spend some time in Tuscany, Borgo Grondae is a great hotel. It is outside the city walls though and is easier to get around i you have car.

If you decide to drop Tuscany, you could extend your stay in Rome a bit and do some day trips to Orvieto or Hadrian's Villa. You could even day trip (a long one) to Florence.
Spend a half day or a day in Naples on the way to or from Sorrento. Pompeii and/or Herculaneum is a "must see". The Archeological museum in Naples will enhance the experience of either excavation.

All that said, I definitely recommned spending some time in Tuscany. I do like your original itinerary.

esklader

After reading everyone's input, I've been thinking that perhaps I should try to extend our stay in Rome for an extra day so we can do a day trip to Pompeii or Ostica (sp?), then focus the balance of our time in the North. Would going to Cinque Terre make sense for a couple of days, then to Siena or some other town in Tuscany for the balance? I'm under the impression there are (sandy?) beaches in Cinque Terre, which I think the kids would like, and we still get the wonderful views. Is there anything else to do there (I don't know how much hiking the 8 year old is going to want to do in the heat...)

Thanks for any advice. Also, any recommendations for lodging would be appreciated.