Italy itinerary HELP for 1st timers...overwhelmed
 

Need help planning 1st trip to Italy in early March, 2013 After much reading, below is the draft of the itinerary. I would appreciate ALL suggestions.
Day 1 (Mon) Leave NOLA for Rome
Day 2 (Tues) Rome - Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain
Day 3 (Wed) Rome - Ancient Rome
Day 4 (Thurs) Rome - Vatican
Day 5 (Fri) Sorrento - Pompeii
Day 6 (Sat) Sorrento - Rent car Amalfi Coast
Day 7 (Sun) Florence - Travel to Florence - afternoon Galleria dell'Accademia
Day 8 (Mon) Florence - Drive/Bus/Train to Tuscany/Sienna
Day 9 (Tues) Florence - Duomo & Uffizi
Day 10 (Wed) Venice - Gallerie dell'Accademia, strolling Zattere, fish market & gondola ride
Day 11 (Thurs) Venice - St. Mark's Doge's Palace (Secret Tour), Bell tower
Day 12 (Fri) Travel back to NOLA

My intention is travel by train between cities. I would like to stay at the Locanda Orseola in Venice. I would welcome all suggestions for 3 star hotels in great location for other cities.
Thank you!
Bonnie

I don't know why you are overwhelmed. It's a pretty good plan so long as you know you are going to be on the go most of the time and that rain may cause you to switch some things around. March is very early for an Amalfi coast drive.

Personally, I wouldn't book that leg of the trip until you get to Italy, and know you will have sunny skies. I know you are first timers and it sounds hard, but it isn't.

From Florence, it is better to take a bus to Siena and a train back. (By the way, both Florence and Siena are in Tuscany).

You need a reservation for the Accademia in Florence.

It's a nice plan. I hope you have picked purely on the basis on your heart's desire and curiosity, not just because people jabber on enlessly about these famous sights. Many people plan a lot of museum-going and ruin-tromping in Italy because they don't know what else to do. The places you are going are very varied in their delights, many never metioned in guidebooks, so if you are ever bored at a site, don't think twice about leaving and taking a walk someplace.

Just remembered: You may need a reservation for the Doge's palace in Venice too.

For hotels, go to venere.com and booking.com and plug in your dates for your cities and spend time looking at reviews and pictures and prices.

If you have not already booked tickets, I suggest flying into Venice and out of Rome, multi-city. Flights times are usually better out of Rome than out of Venice. Venice is also wonderful for a relaxing start and a good way to get over any jet-lag.

Stars for hotels in Italy are awarded on amenities, not quality, so don't pay attention to that. For example, having AC might boost the stars, but what do you care in March? You won't need it and they wouldn't have it on anyway. Location and comfort are mort important. Take recs from people on Fodors.

When I've been in both late March and early April, it has still been chilly and rainy, so coming from NO, take sweaters, jackets and umbrellas or raincoats.

Early March is not the best time for the Amalfi Coast. It's off season and many hotels and restaurants will still be closed. And,more importantly, the ferry schedule will probably be quite limited (seeing the coast FROM the ferry is, IMHO, much prettier than just driving along it).

I love the area - but probably would;t spend time in a beach resort off season.

I too would skip the AC this trip---too far to travel and not a good time for a beach destination. You really only have 10 days---I would give it Rome 4, Florence 3, and Venice 3.

Hi Bonnie,

I think you have reasonable plan even though you will be covering a lot of ground.

For your arrival day in Rome, walking around seeing the outdoor sights is a good plan. You might like to take along one of the recommended walking tours of Rome so that you can see a bit more if you feel like it. Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain do not take very long and you will probably be able to do more if you want. The Pantheon is a nice stop right between the two.

My first visit to the Amalfi Coast was at the end of March. Temps were pleasant during the day, perfect for visiting Pompeii (which was uncrowded in March but that was a long time ago). There were huge thunderstorms 2 nights out of 3 with very heavy rain. Luckily the days were dry.

I agree with the idea of visiting the Amalfi Coast unplanned.

It should be quite easy to add a day or two to Rome, Florence or Venice on short notice - as long as you are not going during the Easter time period!

Buon viaggio!

Just to elaborate on leaving the Amalfi unplanned:

I would go ahead a book lodgings but only make a reservation with a 24-hour cancellation policy. In the meantime, I would make a rainy-weather back up plan that you can substitute for short notice in the Amalfi in case weather forecasts in Rome show nothing but rain for the Amalfi coast.

Given that you already want to see Siena, my back up plan would be have picked out several large hotels in Siena whose price you like, pack their telephone numbers and e-mails, plus all the information you need on how to take a bus to Siena from Rome.

If you get rained out of the Amalfi, deploy the Siena plan. Easiest to do if you have a cell phone or e-mail device with you, but not impossible to get done through your hotel either.

If you end up in Siena for 2 nights, then you will have freed up time to do something else in Florence -- a different day trip (there are many ) or more time in Florence.

I agree that this trip would flow more easily if you fly into Venice and out of Rome: Venice, Florence, Rome, Sorrento then back to Rome.

Easter next year falls on the 29th March (Good Friday) so in early March not much will be open in Sorrento or on the AC. This does depend somewhat on the weather. The large cities won't be affected.

We took a look Albergo del Senato in Rome and plan to stay there next visit. It is at the same piazza as the Pantheon, so it's close to so much! We know a few people who have stayed there and love it. Take a look at it.

THANK YOU all for your helpful comments! We're definitely taking your advice to either postpone AC for another trip or visit unplanned if weather permits. Hiking the Path of Gods is high on my bucket list.

Trying to decide between 4 nights in Rome, 4 in Florence & 2 in Venice OR 4 nights in Rome, 2 in Florence, 2 in Sienna & 2 in Venice. We want to travel to Tuscany maybe 2 days by car but not sure if we should stay in Sienna 2 nights. We're also thinking about visiting Cinque Terre...could this be a day trip from Florence?

We are still thinking about going to Pompeii on Day 5 as a day trip from Rome. I know it would be a long trip, but since there are 4 of us, we might consider hiring a transfer company if the price works.

Thanks again for your comments. I truly appreciate them!!!

It is a 3-hour trip from the center of Florence to le Cinque Terre. In early March, the sun sets somewhat early.

You can sort of split the difference about staying in Siena in March if you pick a location that is just outside the walls but on a farm. If you arrive and it is rainy, you can enjoy Siena and skip touring the countryside with a car. But if it is sunny, you can easily °carpe diem° and rent a car in Siena (so long as it is not a Sunday). One place that is like this is Agriturismo Marciano.

I don't think you need a private transfer to Pompei. It won't be any faster than taking the train from Rome to Pompei. In March, I don't believe the site opens until 9am anyway. It closes around 5. I think you will have more flexibility with weather if you don't book a car service in advance. Just by train tickets when you know it won't be a rainy day in Pompei.

Sounds like you are planning a nice trip. A lot of people don't like to switch hotels to much, and you should poll your group about that. But if you are packing light, it is not that big a deal to switch hotels, and it can be nice to spend the night in a place like Siena, when most of the tourists have left. However, it is very quiet there, so if your group likes a little nightlife, Florence has it and Siena not much.

Multiple 2 nights here, 2 nights there, would not be my choice. Two nights in a place means only one full day there, so make sure the things you want to see are open on that specific day. One full day may be enough for you in Siena, but IMO it isn't enough time in Florence or Venice, especially if you start talking about a day trip to the Cinque Terre.

Not only can you not rent a car in Siena on a Sunday, forget Saturday afternoons too.

I think you have to decide between driving/staying in Tuscany for a couple of days or going Venice.

My advice, after traveling to Italy many, many times, is to minimize the # of cities. Every time you change cities, you essentially lose a day. A mid-morning train gets to your next city early afternoon or so, and then you locate your hotel and the room may not be ready, and so by the time that it is, it is cocktail time and the day is shot. Just my experience, though, and you may have other thoughts. I would also think about a car service (or the SITA bus) if indeed you choose to go to the Amalfi coast. Having a car deprives the driver of enjoying the sights. A couple of years ago, we flew into Naples and had a driver meet us and drive us to Amalfi; we could concentrate on the scenery and leave the driving to him. The rest of our four days there, we took a bus or ferry to the nearby towns.

I, too, would leave the Amalfi Coast for another trip. This will allow you a bit of time in Florence and Venice. As it is, they are way too brief.

Just one note. Looks like you won't get to the Venice fish market (Rialto?) until late in the day. Plan it for a day when you can do it first thing in the morning to get the full impact.

Enjoy Italy!

i am in the minority-- but would actually leave in the amalfi coast-- and scratch one city. (especially if you are definite on pompeii.) i like to alternate between big city and countryside/coastal view spots. however, i would not rent a car for the amalfi-- definitely take the bus along the coast. better view, less stress, no parking problems. now, which city to scratch.... that's a tough one!

In your Op, you said this was a draft, so I assume that you haven't booked air tickets yet? If not, then you need to be less ambitious for what you see on this trip. The more you try to cram in, the less you'll see and remember. My stab at the itinerary would be:

Fly into Venice, 4 nights
Florence 2 nights
Rome 4 nights
Fly home from Rome

Forget the AC and Cinque Terre until your next trip, it's the wrong time of the year. Yes I know that everyone "had great weather" when they were there in February or March, but they were lucky and it doesn't mean that you will. You just can't rely on the weather at that time. You can do some sort of justice to the three cities above by cutting down on transfer time to other locations and you'll remember places that don't blend into one.

Jean is right that you also couldn't pick up a car in Siena on Saturday afternoon, so if you end up deciding on an itinerary that has 2 nights in Florence and 2 nights in Siena, keep that in mind.

Your plans for Florence don't seem very extensive. If you overnight there, you open yourself up to unplanned discovery, but if what is drawing you to that area is really hilltowns and the Tuscan countryside, you might just want to see what you want to see in Florence, rent a car and stay somewhere near Siena. You can drive the car to Venice and drop it off there.

But I agree with the suggestion of not having a car on the Amalfi coast unless one person is really eager to drive it. If you end up with a car there, and want to drive it to Tuscany, then you could put Florence at the very end, dropping off your car, seeing what you want to see there, and then taking the train to Venice.

For days 5 and 6, maybe stay in Naples and visit Pompei?