this is what it looks like as of now:
(i have previously visited rome and london.)
may 13: leave lax
may 14: arrive LHR, travel to venice
may 15: venice
may 16: venice
may 17: venice
may 18: leave morning for Florence
may 19: florence
may 20: florence (day trip to sienna)
may 21: florence
may 22: leave morning for naples/sorrento/salerno
may 23: naples/sorrento/salerno
may 24: naples/sorrento/salerno
may 25: leave morning for rome
may 26: rome
may 27: rome
may 28: leave late for london
may 29: london
may 30: london
may 31: fly home

my only real decisions are regarding what to do in naples/sorrento/salerno. i'd like to see pompeii, pasteum, naples, vesuvius, and maybe herculeum. can that be done in the time i have allotted? i probably will stay in either salerno (get a small non touristy feel) or sorrento. if pasteum fits, then maybe salerno. i was also thinking of taking one day from florence and seeing bologna or verona...not sure. as i have visited london, i could take a day away from london if need be. i really only wanted to visit kens palace and windsor castle and some shopping.

Just a quick comment about London - if you have not seen Hampton Court, I would much recommend that over Kensington Palace. HC is, however, about 45 minutes via train, but there are a lot of trains to be caught.

Version numbers? someone hold me down before my mouth gets myself in trouble. b-( ...oh too late.
The invention of indoor plumbing at the end of the last century was a major source of misery in that it demanded much more control of defecation than was necessary in a world of chamber pots and outhouses. Large families such as Freud's (eight to ten people) had to share a single toilet, and Anna and Sigmund were evidently plagued by constipation. Attempts at early toilet training may have made things worse. As the number of toilets per person has grown and ideas about toilet training became more liberal (promoted not only by Dr. Spock but also the washing machine and Pampers), anal retention came to seem less central to psychological life.

got1tiel
You are too witty for the room. Too bad I can't attach my vacation spreadsheet to a post so you can see true anal-retentiveness.

actually i am an avid itiniarist, and local advocate here of detailed trip planning.

my problem is that i write before i think

version numbers are funny though

ucsun, your itinerary looks very good.

As for your time in the South, you really only have two full days. If you stay in Naples, you could do Pompeii and Herculaneum and possibly Vesuvius all in one day depending on how much time you spend at each site. Pompeii could taken an entire day alone. Herculaneum is much smaller and could be seen easily in a couple of hours. In fact, there is a combination admission ticket for all three of these sites if you decide to do all three.

Personally, after visiting two archaeological sites, I would not add another--Paestum--on this trip. I would probably go to Capri for the other day. Capril should be beautiful in May.

As for Salerno, we stayed there with a cousin back in March. It is a city and definitely does not have a small town feel to it at all. In fact, it was quite modern.

oh dear. sorry for my completely useless posts.

i am all sober now.

your florence to naples trip will take all day.that leaves you with 2 days to see
naples/sorrento/salerno. pompeii, pasteum, naples, vesuvius, and maybe herculeum.
pompeii or herc is an hour from naples. you will see vesuvius good from the train for the whole journey.pompei needs 3hrs for a quick visit, a whole day to not leave out all the good stuff.it is huge. most of the artifacts were moved to the musuem in naples.without a car you probably realize it is impossible to visit all of these items and even less possible to appreciate them.

your london objectives (kensign, windsor/shopping are very doable)
windsor castle can be done in a morning.it is not big and you are only allowed to visit a small section, even smaller if a funeral (or wedding!) is taking place.

dont go to windsor on the 29th as st george chapel will be closed (sundays) to non worshipers

many apologies for my demonstration of the effects of exceeding my beer RDA (you can imagine how my travel partner feels when abroad with me).

got1tiel, actually that was a pure random thing w/ the version 1.3. i just thought it would be funny...which it seems it may have. at first i was going to put version 2.5.14.3, but thought better of it...

JoeTro, did HC last year and quite liked it.

Lorac1127, two full days, but i should be at my hotel by 2pm at the latest given the ~4hr train ride from florence to naples/sorrento. so maybe i could get something done that day...see herculeum/naples...i will have long days in may (9pm + sunsets). i was thinking maybe going to capri for an afternoon and staying till sunset maybe. still a little unsure about that part of the trip.

Hi uc,

>i'd like to see pompeii, pasteum, naples, vesuvius, and maybe herculeum.<

You can easily see Mt Vesuvius from Naples. If you want to climb Mt. Vesuvius, figure 1/2 day at least.

Pompeii is another 1/2 day.

Paestum is a full day.

You should take a day to ride the Amalfi Coast from Sorrento to Amalfi and back.

Have you no interest at all in Naples?

You might find my trip report helpful.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451044

hi - just a thought (and this is without knowing your method of transport, but assuming train?) what about going from florence to salerno, spending a night in salerno to see pasteum, then spend a day travelling up the amalfi coast, then 2 nights in sorrento from where you can do pompeii/herculaneum/vesuvius?

when we hiked to the top of vesuvius last spring, we drove as far up as we could and parked, then did the hike - probably wasn't more than 1.5 - 2 hours max to do the hike & back (and we were jet-lagged....had just landed that day and stopped by on our drive from rome to sorrento!). Sothe length of time it will take depends how you're getting there and from where you are travelling.

ira,
i'd like to go to the Arch Museum and see Castel Nuovo in naples itself. definitely walk around naples for a bit and see some piazzas and the duomo.

i think maybe i'll skip the vesuvius climb...seeing it is good enough. pompeii is a must.

maybe: pompeii (like to spend a good half day), naples(museum, Castel Nuovo, walk around) probably a whole day, AC (capri) 1/2 day. that will probably be all i can fit in i think. the reason for staying in salerno was that i'd be closer to pasteum.

happy, interesting. but the hike up vesuvius is something i'd like to do, not a must do though. i would rather pick a good strategic location rather than packing and unpacking an extra time. maybe sorrento??? or some place smaller/less crowded.

i think i'm in reality looking at:
pompeii, naples, and AC/Capri (and herculeum if time permits). i think i'll skip paestum and wait to see greek ruins when i go to greece...been wanting to do greece/istanbul.

It looks like a great trip! Since you have already been to Rome/London, what about shaving a day or two off of one of those for another night(s) on the Amalfi Coast?

The ferries all depart Capri at 6 p.m. (I think), so staying for the sunset is out. I would recommend staying there for a night or two. Also, I agree with Lorac about Salerno -- it is not a charming small town and a bit more industrial. Have you also considered staying in Ravello or Amalfi?

awbaker, you make good points. shaving off a day in rome is easy..hate to but can be done. and a day off london isn't a bad idea.

with two extra days potentially, would a stop off at verona or bologna be doable. or use an extra day in AC as awbaker suggested w/ an extra day trip somewhere. bologna is an hour from florence. and verona 1.5 hrs from venice. i do also want to keep the moving about to a reasonable amount. dare i say...maybe even skip rome...blasphemy