Finzie

My partner and I would like to go to Italy in late April to early May. We are planning to go to Rome for 4 days, Amalfi coast or Cinque Terre for 3 days, Tuscany for 6 days and Umbria for 6 days. How does this itinerary sound? What would a good order be to visit these regions? We would like to avoid hiring a car, but read that that would be challenging in Umbria. We like walking and cycling and are not sure whether Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre would be better at that time of the year. Any help or suggestions would be great.

Sassafrass

Usually, I would say do Rome last, but it would be a bit warmer on the AC if you do it last. I would give the AC at least 4 days. You can easily get by without a car on the AC. Since there is more to do inside if it is rainy, I would see Rome first.

Finzie

Thanks. Could you go without booking hotels from home and take a chance or is it advisable to prebook everything?

annhig

Hi Finzie,

where are you travelling from? if you're flying [probably from the US] you need to consider whether you are going to do a round trip [into and out of the same airport] or 'open jaw" - into one and out of another [often called "multi-city" on airline websites; it should cost no more than a round trip ticket] .

for example, for your trip, you could fly into Milan, [see the CT,] then Tuscany, then Umbria, [then the AC ]and end up in Rome and fly out of there.

I can't help you with whether you should pick the CT or the Amalfi - you need to do your research on that and decide what appeals most to you. but in either case, i would prebook accommodation, as I would in Rome. Where you might "wing" it would be Tuscany and Umbria - with just 2 of you, you'd certainly find somewhere to stay; whether it would be exactly what you want is another matter. We've done several trips like that and enjoyed it a lot, but I know that there are a lot here who would rather stick pins in their eyes than not book ahead.

if you decide not to rent a car, winging it is much more difficult, plus you are rather more restricted in touring the countryside, which IMHO is a large part of the point of going to Tuscany and Umbria in the spring. but you could easily spend a week on the amalfi without a car, and you could use the train to get from one town to another.

good luck!

isabel

The majority of your time is in Tuscany/Umbria. What is it you want to see there (country side, small towns?). That region really needs a car to see it well. Were you planning on Florence, Siena, etc - those are cities that are in Tuscany, and those you don't need or even want a car, but for the small hill towns you do. And while they are two separate regions they are very similar. Why are you giving so much of your time there compared to Rome and the Amalfi Coast?

If you tell us more about what you want to see/do we can give you better advice. I always prebook hotels because I hate wasting time on vacation looking for places. I also feel you get better accommodation, better value if you prebook. But in April you might be able to do OK. I certainly would not go without a car or hotels booked. If you have a car then at least you could drive to the next town if you can't find something. But to do it all by public transportation without prebooking I think is risky.

styrx

I second annhig's suggestion of flying in Milan and out of Rome. In this case you can easily do CT, the 5 towns are situated pretty close to each others, you can choose to hike in between towns or take the train. AC towns are further each other, so I would say hiking is out and cycling will be dangerous as the roads are really windy and there will be possibility of traffic.

And what are the places you intend to visit in Tuscany and umbria? As that will decide whether you need to rent a car. If you are going to Florence, Siena, Orvieto... these places are well connected by train and buses.

Once you have a rough itinerary, I will go ahead and book the accommodations. Choose those will cancellation options, it might be more expensive but you have the flexibility of altering your itinerary if you decide to.

You can read my trip report, there is section on AC. It might give you a rough idea of your itinerary.
http://www.travelathousandmiles.com/italy/

downtownbrown

Choosing between CT and AC is a matter of preference. For me, AC is better, especially at that time of year. That said, realize that AC is a bit more out of the way, in relation to the rest of your itinerary.

Finzie

We have to fly in and out of Rome and we are coming from South Africa. I have tried to look at the trenitalia site to see what the train timetable looks like but find it hard to understand - one site said that the train takes two and half hours but the trenitalia site seemed to say 6 hours. Thanks for your sound advise all - you have made some good suggestions.

annhig

Finzie - if you are stuck with flying into and out of Rome, I'd stick with the amalfi. it'll make the logistics of the trip a lot easier.

which train are you talking about? the trenitalia site is quite good, but there might have been a connection involved, it depends where you are going to and from. there are few direct trains that you would be interested in that would take more than 2 1/2 hours!

kybourbon

>>>one site said that the train takes two and half hours but the trenitalia site seemed to say 6 hours<<<

Which train? Which cities?

Amalfi coast is more suited to hiking than biking (unless you have a death wish).

There are a lot of biking rentals in Tuscany and bike tours.

Since you are flying in and out of Rome, I would end the trip there. What time does your flight arrive? Head either north or south on arrival day. You can train to Florence (90 minutes from Rome), Orvieto (1 hour) or Foligno (2 hours) if you want to start north and work your way south.

dwsnyder

Finzie:

We did almost this exact trip last year and it was excellent. We traveled with another couple and rented a car.

We flew into Rome, rented an apartment for a week in Rome without a car-not a problem at all.

Our last day in Rome we went to the Airport and rented a car. Drove to the Amalfi where we stayed in Praiano at the Hotel Margherita (~120 euro per night, and loved it!http://www.hotelmargherita.info/).

We stayed for 3 days and then drove to Tuscany where we stayed at an Agriturismo near Pienza - http://www.cretaiole.it/index.en.php (would stay there in a heartbeat again! You could do some biking around here.)

We didn't go to Umbria on this most recent visit but we did stay in Umbria in 2009. Todi Castle. Expensive but very cool! We had the entire castle to ourselves. That year we went from Rome to St. Argentario to Umbria to FLorence and then finally to Milan to fly out.

After a week in Pienza we drove to the airport in Rome and turned in the car there.

Hope this helps! End of April/beginning of May is a great time to be there. If you're in Rome on the Birthday of Rome (April 22nd last year) all of the state museums are free.

Good luck!

rosetravels

Finzie - I like dwsnyder's suggestions. It looks like you have 19 days?

You could do something like this:
4 days Rome (rent an apartment)
1 day transit: train to Naples, bus or car to Amalfi
3 days Amalfi Coast
1 day transit: bus or car to Naples, train to Rome then Spoleto. It's around 3 hours Naples to Spoleto.
5 days Umbria
5 days Tuscany
Return your car at FCO

Or, if you didn't go to the AC:
5 days Rome
Train to Spoleto. Rent car.
7 days Umbria
7 days Tuscany
Return car at FCO

We were in Umbria and Tuscany one year in late May and there were few people (in Umbria) and it was very nice. We also visited the CT on that trip and it felt a little off-season. My husband liked it but I wasn't crazy about the area. He's a geologist and the rock formation there is quite interesting. I do remember that the hiking was good. We walked to one town, took the train to another and then the boat back to the town we were in.

We were on the AC this past October and loved our 4 nights there. We stayed near Positano at Rifugio degli Dei and had a fabulous time hiking and swimming. The classic hike on the Pathway of the Gods really is amazing. There's a great book that details all the hikes. I also have the book 'Walking & Eating Tuscany and Umbria' and the walks between towns in Tuscany sound lovely. I'd really like to do that soon. Plus, if you can find an accommodation with bikes - that would be a fun bonus.

Sounds like you're planning a great trip!

ah123

Rosetravels - Might you be able to tell me how the location of Rifugio degli Dei worked out for you? It sounds wonderful, but we won't have a car. I'm thinking that it may be tricky to -- and return from -- restaurants at night, as they may be pretty far from the hotel. One review said that taxi drivers in Positano were resistant to driving to the hotel and another said it was a tiring 20 min. walk to the center of Positano from the hotel.

I apologize for hijacking the thread. I'm planning a similar trip and can't wait to get there!