Lulu

Planned a 2wk trip next May for 4 ladies. As designated trip planner, I'm feeling Lots of responsibility here, but have used this board for EVERYTHING. Goal is to *comfortably see as much as possible, so I've created this itinerary for a *taste of the essentials. <BR><BR>Days 1-4: Flying into Rome, staying at Due Torri. Scale Reale orientation walk+ancient Rome tour 1st day, St. Peter's + possibly Scavi one of the others, deciding the rest as we go. Day 4 of Rome, taking train to Orvieto for the day.<BR><BR>Days 5-6: Train from Rome to Naples, car p/u + drive to Villa Rosa. Ravello for lunch on 2nd day.<BR><BR>Day 7: 9:30 train from Naples to Assisi (change trains in Rome), arrives 1:30. Taxi to Hotel Umbra, 1 night stay.<BR><BR>Days 8-10: Train from Assisi to Florence, taxi to Hotel Casci. (Packing light. Read they have laundry service.) Ship our purchases home from Florence bfr we leave. <BR><BR>Days 11-13: Train to Venice, water taxi to Hotel Ala.<BR><BR>Day 14: Fly Venice to London for 1 night, staying in Knightsbridge.<BR><BR>Day 15 (Thurs): Fly home to LAX.<BR><BR>Sound ok???

Rex

I would remove one night from Florence, and give it to London.<BR><BR>And it used to be that the standard answer on shipping stuff home is that it would cost you 5 times what it costs to bring it home in your luggage.<BR><BR>Airlines are not so generous nowadays with what you can pack home, so I am less confident on the comparison.<BR><BR>Any recent &quot;shippers&quot;?<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Rex

Oh, I didn't quite notice the 1 and 1/2 to 2 day car rental for Ravello. That may cost you dearly.<BR><BR>Hard to find good deals for car rentals of less than 3 days. Hope someone can make some helpful suggestions to you for that.<BR>

Karen

Sounds fine, except at the end. Why would you fly from Venice to London for 1 night? The rest of your trip is in Italy, I'd just fly home from somewhere in Italy.<BR><BR>I guess you have a reason for doing this, but since you won't have time to really do anything in London, I'd skip that part. Save London for the next trip!<BR><BR>I loved Italy when I went 2 years ago, you will have a fabulous time!<BR><BR>Happy Travels,<BR>Karen

Nan

Re: Shipping. It is better to have the store ship directly, I would have spent too much time and money shipping things from the p.o. on my own. <BR>Re: Intin. I think you are spreading yourselves too thin, bear in mind that trains, getting to and checking in and out of hotels, etc. all take time and a good chunk of each traveling day.<BR>Also you have to leave time for things to go &quot;wrong&quot;. <BR>I have stayed in most of the hotels you mentioned and they are good choices, but I would cut out Assisi for this trip, as getting to the train station in Naples from the coast is not easy feat.

Nan

PS: I would cut out London too. Getting into town is too much of a hassle for just the one night.<BR>I would do Rome days 1-5, day four going to Orvieto.<BR>Days 6 to 8 on Amalfi coast.<BR>Days 9 to 11 in Florence.<BR>Last of trip in Venice, then fly out of Milan to home.<BR>I have done this trip many times myself and it works without getting yourself in a constant rush.

Holly

Nan - what's difficult about getting to the train station in Naples from the coast?

Lulu

Rex, regarding plan for Ravello, I read that we can bus to Amalfi, then change buses for Ravello. <BR><BR>Maybe taxi back to our Villa Rosa Positano base? (I have no cost info yet on that)<BR><BR>Thank you for your help.<BR>Lulu<BR><BR>

Eye Spy

I agree with the general consensus. Unless there is a very specific reason all of you MUST go to London on this trip, I would completely cross that one off. Why? Because you are going to be enchanted with Italy in the first place and also because, as the others posted, travel times, check ins/outs, things to go wrong, etc. can cut down on your quality vacation time. You are hopping about a lot already. Why add London unless you absolutely have no other choice.<BR><BR>Is it possible for you to combine Naples/Orvieto/Assisi in one day? Personally I think you're travelling a lot that day for starters but going up to Orvieto only to come back down to Rome again on your 4th day seems superfluous. You may be able to combine both Orvieto and Assisi in one day. Nevertheless there's the luggage issue. Find out first if Orvieto Cathedral is still in scaffolding or not. If it is, skip it for next time. This could give you an extra day in Rome, Florence or Venice.<BR><BR>I believe once you get to Rome and figure out all there is to see and do, you will decide staying in Rome for the 4th day instead of going up to Orvieto would be better.<BR><BR>It's nice you're going to Naples and Ravello. There must be a reason because for all the travelling on that trip too plus connections, etc., you are not going to have a lot of time with your friends to relax in Ravello.<BR><BR>Could you consider doing less of the up and down thing thereby concentrating on where you are rather than your next stop?<BR><BR><BR>

Lulu

Karen &amp; Nan: The other 3 *really want to see London, go to Harrod's. That's why a Knightsbridge hotel 2 blks from Harrod's. <BR><BR>We already have our plane tix, though, or I'd change that. <BR><BR>Nan: The same car service that'll be picking us up at Naples t.s. + driving to Villa Rosa on Day 5 will be taking us back to t.s. on Day 7. <BR><BR>I'm still taking notes. Thanx!

Nan

Getting from Naples train station to Positano where she is staying takes some maneuvering, unless she hires a driver, otherwise it would be the circumvesuviana train to Sorrento then the bus to Positano, maybe there is a bus that goes the whole way, but I dont know about it.<BR>Then she needs to get from Positano to Ravello, unless she rents a car or a driver, she is in for more waiting at bus stops, the busses are not always on time.<BR>It is not a part of the trip to rush, you just have to get into the swing of the attitudes of time in that area and flow with it, or you will be stressed.

Nan

Good, things will be easier with a driver.

Done That

I hope you are all really close friends, because your trip sounds too rushed and you have too many places to visit, and this causes freyed nerves and short tempers and hard feelings if you dont know and respect each other very much.<BR>I write from experience and a ruined trip.

Lulu

Just to clarify one thing:<BR><BR>It's a car service that's picking us up at Naples train station, driving us to Villa Rosa in Positano. Bus or taxi(cost?) to Ravello for lunch 2nd day. Then same car service picking us up at Villa Rosa and taking us back to Naples train station.<BR><BR>Do you really think day of training to Assisi (leaving Naples 9:30, arriving Assisi 1:30) is just too much to make it worth it?<BR><BR>

Lulu

Dear Done That: I'm not doing so well with this planning, huh? What would you suggest changing?<BR><BR>4 ladies going consist of mom + me, my best friend and one easy-going friend. But I don't want to be uncomfortable, so that's why the car services, train and taxis.<BR><BR>Hmmmmmm.

Eye Spy

Lulu, I think your interest in staying in all these places is admirable but way too fatiguing (as I've implied earlier).<BR><BR>On my next trip, I am now willing to squeeze in Assisi finally (and then again, only after much hesitation since I love the big cities and their museums almost to the point of being obsessive). That being said, now I am going to Assisi just for the day (from Florence on the very early train) to see the basilicas and take in the atmosphere. You are staying in so many places already. You can always go back to Assisi on another trip. I am most certain once you get to Rome or Naples or Florence, you are going to feel fine enjoying where you are instead of wishing you could get to Assisi too. Sure it would be nice to see it, but you don't want to be going here and there all the time either. Enjoy where you are!

Done That (really Sharon)

Lulu, I share your enthusiasm for planning so I know what you are going through. I always plan to see too much because everything sounds so good on paper.<BR>I would narrow the trip down to Rome, Positano, Florence and Venice and even that is pushing it, but it can be done with drivers like you will have.<BR>I would do four nights in each place, because, like others have said, it takes so long to get to a place that a whole day is taken up usually by the time you arrive and check in, etc.<BR><BR>I would do Rome, Florence, Venice and then end up in Positano so you dont backtrack. Do you fly out of Rome too? <BR>I have done this trip myself and it was fun. I flew into Rome trained to Florence, trained to Venice and then trained to Naples, and stayed in Sorrento and day triped along the Amalfi coast. <BR>Have fun and relax, planning should be a fun part of the trip. Go take a breather and then start again.

elaine

Unless each of you has a different #1 priority and everything MUST be accommodated, I'd eliminate one of the stops in Italy, it just all strikes me as too rushed, and I don't see it as &quot;comfortably see(ing) as much as possible.&quot;<BR><BR>I'd try to reschedule the Ancient Rome tour for the first day, the Orientation Walk will be quite enough, assuming you're arriving after a transatlantic flight. I've done both tours with Scala Reale and the Ancient Rome tour is fascinating but long and demanding. I can't see you'll really appreciate it all on the first day. This is supposed to be a vacation, right?<BR><BR>I haven't been there, but just for logistics I'd eliminate the Naples piece.It's just a lot of moving around, packing and unpacking, and you'll have less time in each place than you think.<BR><BR>From Florence,or from Rome for that matter, you can daytrip to Assisi if that's a must. I'd take the Naples days and add one on to Rome for sure, and one on to Florence or to my beloved Venice, depending on whether you want to daytrip from Florence.<BR><BR>I'd also add a day on to London, because you will basically end up with one afternoon there at best. As long as you're going, might as well see something besides Harrods, I think.<BR>Harrods is good for souvenir shopping, they have lots of items with the Harrods logo, but imo the shopping there is generally quite high-priced, and, especially, not that interesting.<BR><BR>I think if you eliminate some of the travel in the middle you will actually gain 3 days overall, certainly 2.5 at least.<BR><BR>good luck<BR><BR>

zzz

<BR>Much too much rushing and packing and unpacking. Drop the Naples, Assisi and Orvieto parts. Add a day in Rome, Florence, Venice and London.

xxx

I think Elaine has the right idea. Eye does too. You can't be everywhere in the time you want to allow yourself.<BR><BR>Add on another day to Rome because Rome is fascinating. You don't necessarily need the tour either. The first day of your arrival, you can walk around at your leisure, we all know the Colosseum, while interesting if you have time to go inside, is not a priority to explore in depth (I mean, you can see the thing from many a vantage point throughout the city). The Vatican Museum and St. Peter's basilica can barely be seen in the most hurried of fashions in only one day. You probably would get much more out of strolling instead of following a tour for the entire day and not being able to retain all you are seeing.<BR><BR>If you can, drop Naples. It's heartbreaking, but you can do that on another trip. Stay longer in Rome or Florence or Venice. Stopping in London just to see Harrod's basically given your time schedule is really a pity. And after seeing the food halls, it isn't all that. I mean, a pair of Calvin Klein socks for $12? No thanks. Italy has by far the more interesting purchases.