I am bringing my husband, daughter (22) & son (20) to Italy (my roots) next late May/early June. I travelled to Italy 3 times in 71, 72, & 74 so it's been a while for me as well. For some reason I am totally overwhelmed trying to plan this trip. This is my plan. Land in Venice (3 nights), train to Florence (1 or 2 nights), drive to Siena (1 night), drive to Rome (3 nights), drive/train to Amalfi Coast (2 nights), drive/train Taormina (2 nights). We are not super into art or museums, more into culture, beaches, scenery type of enjoyment. I was thinking of cutting 1 night out of Venice as we arrive early morning which would still give us 3 full days. In Florence we only want to see Il Duomo and enjoy the city, can probably skip David. I really was intrigued by Siena and didn't want to give this up but might to give the 2 nights in Florence. We would like to see Pompeii but not a full days worth so I thought I could take a day trip when we are staying somewhere on the Amalfi Coast (I heard you wouldn't want to leave your luggage in your car while visiting Pompeei). We have to go to Sicily because that's where my father is from. My plan was to just see Mt. Etna, Taormina, and visit my family which is near Messina. Was thinking we could possibly do this staying 2 nights in Sicily instead of 3. We could add the 1 night to Amalfi Coast or to Rome. Logistically there will be one flight in there, either from Rome to Sicily and then drive/train up to Amalfi or drive Rome to Amalfi then train/drive to Sicily and fly back to Rome. I am worried that this trip is going to be scheduled so much that we are exhausted and don't enjoy it.
Thank you so much in advance for your help.

Hello jannibaby. I am a bit tired today but will try to throw out some thoughts.

You will be taking the train to Florence. That is good. You want to drive to Siena and drive to Rome. May I suggest that while staying in Florence you take the bus to Siena (unless you really want to spend the night in Siena of course) as the bus takes you into Siena. The train from Florence to Siena takes you to the outskirts of Siena. So if you did a day trip to Siena and return to Florence you could take the train from Florence to Rome and enjoy your time in Rome. If you want a rental car when through visiting Rome you could than pick up the rental car and go to the Amalfi Coast. I have never visited Sicily so am no help there but it seems to me that after you finish with the Amalfi Coast you could fly from Naples to Sicily and from Sicily to Rome. Unless you really want to have the rental car either getting to or departing from Sicily.

It seems to me that you have way to many hotels. One loses so much time changing hotels a lot plus the energy of packing, unpacking, checking in and checking out etc. Also, if you fly from Rome to Sicily you would be better off assuming there are flights to Sicily from Naples going to the Naples airport from the Amalfi Coast than back to Rome.

And think about the rental car. Do you plan on turning your car in (when you get to Rome) or paying for parking (expensive!) and than renting another car for your planned time getting to Sicily or returning from Sicily?

As I said I am rather tired so feeling a bit confused about your itinerary.

May I suggest in the kindest way possible that if you post another itineray rather than a real long paragraph that you use a format such as:

Day One: Arrive in Venice and stay there 3 nights.

Day Three: Train to Florence and stay there 2 nights.

It would be easier to follow, or at least it would be for me.

I am sure many Fodorite's will pop in here with some very good suggestions. Best regards and have fun fine tuning your trip.

You don't have time to do all the things you've listed. If Sicily is a must, you must drop some of your other cities. Going to and from Sicily will eat up a lot of time. I don't see a car being necessary either except for Sicily.

Fly into Venice - 3 nights

Train to Florence - 3 nights (day trip to Siena by bus - 1 hour)

Fly to Catania from either Florence (Meridiana/Eurofly) or from Pisa (Windjet) or to Lamezia Terme from Pisa (Ryan Air). Pick up car and visit Messina - 3 nights.

Fly to Rome 4 nights from either Catania or Lamezia Terme.

You really don't have time to add Amalfi if you intend to see anything in the cities you've listed. Even with 4 nights in Rome, you would really only have 2 days for sightseeing (perhaps 2 1/2 depending on your Sicily flight).

I agree that it's too much and you will be exhausted. For one thing, Sicily is a long way to go for only 2 nights. Since that seems important to you for family reasons, I would increase the length of time there. Venice to Sicily is a very long way, and you have too many stops in between.

Maybe 3 nights Venice, 3 nights Florence (and LoveItaly is right, it would be better to take a bus daytrip to Siena from there), 3 nights Rome and 4 in Sicily.

Even this is a lot of stops. I would actually probably consider staying south this time, 4 nights Rome, 4 nights on the Amalfi Coast and 4 nights Sicily (and add the remaining night to one of those).

Have a similar itinerary planned. Just wondering if you ever took this trip and what your itinerary turned out to be. Please advise.

bartsmom - why dont you post your own questions in a new post - you will likely get more information - jannnibaby hasnt posted since so its unlikely she will respond.

Some hints as I see you are new - use a specific title for your post so people with the knowledge will see it (i.e. Help planning first trip to Italy)

Lay out what your plans are in list form - not in a paragraph form and break out your paragraphs with spaces to make it easier to read.

If you are looking for hotels etc please give us a specific budget in euros so we can provide (saying something like 'reasonably priced' is too vague and means different things to different people.

Hope this helps!!

You can fly from Rome to Palermo--I don't know about Catania.