reddots

My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy in early Sept for our first anniversary. We have narrowed down to Rome, The Riveria and perhaps Florence.
Does anyone have any feedback on the following itinerary- too ambitious?
Thanks in advance!
2-3 Nights in Rome
3 Nights Cinque Terre
2 Nights Florence
1 Night Rome

Mimar

Investigate open jaws tickets, flying into one city and out of another. You could fly out of Pisa. This saves time and money backtracking.

Have you been to Rome before? There is so much to see there. Alloting only one or 2 days to Rome and as much or more time to the Cinque Terre seems unbalanced.

Are you arriving by a long overnight flight? If so, you will probably be jetlagged for the whole of your first few days in Rome. So you'll see even less of the Eternal City.

If you add it all up, you have 7 or 8 days and you have transfers scheduled on 3 of them. I think you need to cut down on your destinations.

Or suppose you fly into Pisa and continue directly to the CT by train. Spend 3 nights there, then take the train to Florence. Two nights in Florence, then another train to Rome and fly out of Rome.

annhig

oh, reddots, i feel so guilty saying this, as I am falling into the same trap with a trip I'm planning at the moment.

Never mind - just listen - DON'T DO IT.

they are not near enough to each other to make the travelling worth while - you wil lose at least half a day, every time you move.

make your minds up - you have max 9 nights - what 1 place do you most want to see out of your list?

if it's the CT, do the CT and Florence. If Florence, do Florence and either CT and Rome. if it's Rome, do Rome and ...well, umbria would be my choice, or possibly the amalfi coast.

remember, the ist day you may be wiped out by jetlag [assuming you're flying in from the US]. so you need to be allowing yourself extra time that day.

-I see that your plan starts and end in Rome -have you thought about open jaw flights?

you could fly into Florence, out of Rome. or for a first anniversay, why not fly into Venice [it may not be there much longer] stay 4 nights, train to Rome, stay 5 nights, fly home.

regards, ann

Jake1

5 Terre is very pretty, but I agree that with the short time you have in Italy, 3 nights there is out of proportion with what you're allowing for Rome and Florence. Once you've seen the pretty views and hiked a bit through the little towns, there just isn't much else to do. On the other hand, you could spend your entire time in Rome and not run out of things to do. If you just want a place to chill out and relax, 5 Terre is fine, but you could probably find places for chilling out a lot closer to home for a lot less money.

But when push comes to shove, it is your time and your money, so do what you want to do.

ira

Hi R,

My suggestion.

Fly into Venice for 3 nights.

Skip the CT.

Go to Florence by train.

Go to Rome by train.

Fly home from Rome.

reddots

Thanks for the advice. I have been to Rome, Florence and Venice but my husband has never been to Italy so I was hoping to see add something new to me into the mix while still covering the must sees which is why Cinque Terre appealed to me. I still would like to fit it into my itinerary.
Would this make more sense?
Fly to Venice
2-3 nights in Venice
2 nights 5T
3 nights Rome- fly out of Rome

reddots

Adding to that itinerary we might have time to extend to 4 nights in Rome!

KL467

Reddots,

My recommendation:

Fly into Venice.
Take train to Florence.
Take train to Rome.
Fly home from Rome.

I am not familiar with Cinque Terre.

Whatever you decide to do, have a great trip!

ira

Hi r,

>Fly to Venice
2-3 nights in Venice
2 nights 5T
3 nights Rome- fly out of Rome

Mimar

reddots, I like your latest itinerary, especially if you can add time to Rome.

I assume you're training between cities. Venice to the CT and the CT to Rome are not short trips. But personally I love riding trains in Europe. It's comfortable, roomy, the WC's at the end of the car, and the scenery just glides by.