italy2012

I am planning our return trip to Italy after a 4 year absence. What I know is that we are flying into Rome. The must sees this trip are: Venice, Emilia Romagna (foodie tours), Ascoli Pisceno ( visit with family) and the Amalfi Coast. We are planning a month's stay and the airport we fly out of depends on where we end up. We would like to stay a week on the AC and perhaps a week in southern Tuscany. We spent 4 days in Florence last visit and while we loved it, we could forego a return visit this trip. I am thinking we will spend about 4 days in Rome once we land. The dilemma is do we then go to the AC, then move north or do we do the northern route and then head to the AC.? I see a car while in Tuscany and know we will definitely need a car to get to Ascoli. We will only spend about 48 hours in Ascoli. I guess the main question is the trip from the north to the AC or from the AC to the north. If we do Tuscany we might drop the car for the ER and Venice portion. We would then need a car to drive from Venice to San Marino (another must) to Ascoli. We could then drive to Rome( 3 hours) then take public transport and fly out of Naples). If we start the trip on the AC, I am having trouble figuring out the rest of the route. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

bvlenci

I'm a little confused. I don't see any Tuscan destinations among your must-sees, but then you say you'll need a car for the Tuscan part of the trip.

As far as the order, I don't think it matters much where you begin and end. You could head to Venice from Rome, then pick up a car and drive to your destination in Emilia Romagna, then drive to Ascoli Piceno (note the spelling), and then drop the car in Naples and continue to the Amalfi Coast, returning to Naples for the flight home.

Or you could head to the Amalfi Coast from Rome, pick up a car in Naples, drive to Ascoli Piceno, then Emilia Romagna, and drop the car in Venice, flying out of Venice. This might be somewhat better than the first option, because you'd end up in a city that has a major airport instead of having to get to Naples from the Amalfi Coast for the flight home.

sandralist

Hard to give advice about whether to proceed north to south without knowing which month you are traveling. Also, if you are planning on a "foodie" tour of Emilia-Romagna, be aware that very little is open in the months of July and August.

Given Italy's many regional airports well connected to the rest of Europe, and its high-speed train system, it seems to me you can begin in Emilia-Romagna or Tuscany if that suits the overall itinerary better. Even if you fly into Rome, it takes just about the same amount of time to be checking into a hotel in Bologna after landing in FCO as it does to be checking into a hotel on the Amalfi coast. Depending on weather consideration, you might want to put Rome at the end rather than the beginning of your trip.

italy2012

Sandralist--We will be in Italy in September. Bvlenci--thank you for picking up my misspelling. While Tuscany is not on the must sees, with a month in Italy, I did not want to be changing hotels every few days. I thought a week in Tuscany and a week on the AC would give us plenty of opportunities for exploring. As I firm up the plans, I am sure I will have more questions. Right now, I was just trying to figure out the flow of the trip so I could book my return flight while there were still award seats available.

dwdvagamundo

In September, you'll probably want to go north to south and end up in Rome. Rome and Amalfi would be pretty hot even in early September.

italy2012

Dwdvagamundo--good point about the weather! I live in an area that is very similar to Rome in temperature but somehow blanked on that in my consideration of the trip itinerary.