Help needed. I'm planning a trip to Italy with my daughter after her college graduation in May. We're both interested in going to Italy and I'm not even sure where to begin. I've been reading these forums for a few days and also bought a book to help me with the planning.

I was looking at the map and my first perfect looking itinerary would be starting in Venice then moving to Florence, Rome, Naples & then relaxing near the Amalfi Coast. We're planning on spending around 10 days there and are open for suggestions on other places to go. It looks as if there aren't flights from Boston/CT area that go into Venice I'd even consider flying out of NYC. I was trying to save time from starting either up north and heading down to Naples area or the reverse.

We're looking to take in all the sights but also relax some days. We're not looking to spend all our days in museums but don't want to miss anything that is a must see.

I know I have much research to do but was hoping for some suggestions on where to begin.
Help!

I'm sorry - but what you have described is more like 14 to 17 days than just 10 days. And does the 10 days include the day you land and the day you depart? If so - you really then have only 8 days on the ground.

I think you need to look at the sights that are your must sees - and then decide which you wil cover on this trip.

IMHO a minimum is 2 full days (3 nights) in Venice, 3 full days (4 nights) in Rome for the basics and 2 full days (3 nights in Florence) - more if you want to see some of the smaller hill towns in tuscany.

For the Amalfi Coast/Naples you will need at least 3 full days (4 nights) and possibly more if you want to relax. Do realize that most of the beaches here are not what you get in the US or carib - they are small, center of towns and pebbles or even rocks instead of sand. Very quaint towns - cut into the side of a cliff overlooking the seas - but NOT great beaches.

After you make some decisions people can give you better advice for specifics.

Thank you NYTRAVELER for the quick response. I was planning on 12 days with travel to and from so about 10 days to see everything. I'm still researching so I'll post back on what we don't want to miss.
Thanks!

we are also going in may with the same time frame. we are doing 2 days in venice 3 days around the amalfi coast and seeing Herculaneum- pompeii is also close- and 5 days in rome with a day trip in florence from rome. took awhile for us to decide that because there is so much to see! but this way we see a little of everything without needing a car.

I did some research after I saw your question and learned that the average water temperature in May in Amalfi is 64 F, about like the Cape. Would you swim on the Cape before Memorial Day?

I agree with nytraveler about perhaps leaving out this part of the trip to have more time elsewhere.

Are there still flights to Venice from Boston through Munich? It is a nice, modern, fairly relaxed airport, much better than backtracking to the madness that is JFK.

I find it helpful to make a day-by-day list of the proposed itinerary. For example, to fit all your requested locations into your 12 days would require an itinerary similar to below.

Day 1: depart home
Day 2: arrive Venice
Day 3: Venice
Day 4: train to Florence
Day 5: Florence
Day 6: train to Rome
Day 7: Rome
Day 8: train to Naples
Day 9: Naples
Day 10: train/bus to Amalfi Coast
Day 11: Amalfi Coast
Day 12: fly home (Naples?)

To fit your desired locations, you would be on the move every other day. To make each of these location changes will take at least half a day every time when you consider checking in and out of hotels, traveling to and from train stations/airports, and waiting at stations in additional to the actual travel time.

With this data in hand, I would decide if I wanted to be moving every other day. Also, I would prioritize my personal must-sees in each location. Are the must-sees actually open on the one day I will be able to visit? Should the order change in order to visit one of my personal must-sees? Are my personal must-sees all in one city, an indicator that perhaps I should spend more than two nights there and eliminate one location to allow that time? Only you can decide YOUR priorities.

Rather than randomly assigning a number of days to each place on your wish list, prioritize the list and then figure how much time you'll need in each place to see/do what interests you and how much time is required to move between cities. You'll probably run out of time/days after the 2nd or 3rd destination, so something will have to 'give.' Probably either Venice or the Amalfi Coast.

With a relatively short trip, I'd only consider non-stop flights on the front end which limits you to Rome. But you can land in Rome and train immediately to Florence (2.5 hours) or Naples (2-2.5 hours + time to reach your final destination).

Hi GinnyRom, congrats on your daughter's upcoming graduation. What a nice present you are giving her. You will enjoy visiting Italy, it's one of my favorite spots. However, I agree w/ the others that it is trying to cram too many places into 10 days. You could fly into Venice and spend two days there, then onto Florence, another couple there, then to Rome. There is so much to see in Rome that you could easily spend 4-5 days there. Fly home from Rome if you like.

Naples - we have been there and done the Amalfi Coast as well. Amalfi is gorgeous and you could spend a couple days there relaxing.

We fly out of Boston into Rome. I just looked up flights to Venice and Lufthansa flies Frankfurt to Venice (Marco Polo Airport) also. Luv flying on Lufthansa!

Here's a nice website I found w/ map of places you mention.
http://goeurope.about.com/cs/italy/l/bl_italy_map.htm

http://goeurope.about.com/od/europea...l-planning.htm

When you look at the map you will get a good sense of where the cities/towns are in proximity to each other.

You and your daughter should sit down and decide what places you want to visit and what attractions. Then you will get a better idea of an itinerary and where to fly in/out of.

When we visited Rome for 1st time I used www.venere.com for a guide as it divides the different parts of the city for you and what hotels are located in that section. Makes it a bit easier if you aren't familiar w/ the cities. Good luck and have fun planning.

GinnyRom,

I strongly suggest that with the time you have available you do a Venice-Florence-Rome trip and stop there. Whereas the Amalfi coast is lovely, I think you will regret moving around so much to be able to accommodate it. Moving every other day wastes too much precious time.

Pick 3 max and have fun !

Thank you to all who replied! After reading the suggestions we've decided that we'll skip the Amalfi Coast and go to only Venice, Florence and Rome for this trip. Now I need to look info the best way to get there.

Planning this is all so new to me. I can tell you anything about the Caribbean and cruising but not a darn thing about Europe.

I think you are trying to see too much in too short a time. You will not relax. At any rate I always suggest starting in the south in the spring and moving north and the other way around for the fall. I would highly recommend flying into Venice and then flying home from Florence and checking out Tuscany for your first trip. Do Roma and the south in your next trip. Open jaws, into one airport and out of another is an excellent way to make use of your time. I must let you know that this is coming from someone who usually spends 9-10 weeks at a time in Italy (or France, Sapin, etc.).

I would suggest you limit your trip to Venice, Florence and Rome.
These cities have enough culture, art, history, food and architecture to overwhelm you.
Naples is about 150 miles from Rome and the Amalfi Coast is another 50 miles south of there. It's just might break the camel's back.
Travel in Italy is best when taken slowly.

let the train take the strain check out seat61.com and the slightly harder trenitalia.com

I know that Delta flies directly into Venice from NYC, I am doing that in April!

The Delta nonstop flight to Venice is seasonal--used to go March to November, but now doesn't start going until April and I'm not sure when it ends for the season. Delta does not fly every day of the week, so you have to pick the day carefully. The current fight numbers are Delta 474 for JFK to VCE and Delta 475 for VCE to JFK.

I would suggest a plan similar to ellenem's, except possibly leave Naples out of it since it's your first visit.

Day 1: depart home
Day 2: arrive Venice
Day 3: Venice
Day 4: train to Florence
Day 5: Florence
Day 6: train to Salerno / ferry to amalfi coast destination
Day 7: Amalfi coast
Day 8: amalfi coast
Day 9: ferry/train back to Rome
Day 10: Rome
Day 11: Rome
Day 12: fly home

What a wonderful graduation celebration for you and your daughter!

The first thing you need to do is either get more time off or pick three destinations at maximum. There is a lot to see in Italy, but you can't see it all. You will have to make some hard choices, otherwise you will spend more time in a train than actually enjoying the beautiful country.

Maybe it would work for you to do:
Fly into Rome
Rome
Venice
Florence
Depart from Milan

I know getting flights in and out of Venice can be tricky. But I think it is not too hard to get the train from Florence to Milan to depart from there, so that could work for you.

Ok. I'm guessing you get the idea, fewer destinations, more time in each. I will have to agree. I can say I love museums and enjoyed the majesty of Italy's gorgeous churches ,but things tend to blurr together quickly and you may find you just need time to wander. If I could do a first trip over again, I would do less. I know that's tricky when you want to see everything.

Things that impressed my DH and I.
Venice - St M ark's square at night and the cathedral, the kindness and warmth of the people, just being there, concert at Chiesa San Vidal
Not our favorites - Palazzo Ducale, ca Rezzonico

Florence- loved David( this was not on my list of must sees, but I'm glad we did) , Il Duomo, Santa Croce, Oltrarno district

Nice but... Medici chapel, Bargello , Opera del Duomo( this was mostly under construction)

Rome - can I just say Borghese Gallery and Bernini. after hours Colosseum tour impressed my DH, Sopra Minerva

I wish we'd waited for another trip- Pantheon, the Vatican

We saw all of these and more, but I wish we'd had more down time. I know it's hard to choose if you haven't seen any of them, but I highly recommend narrowing it down to 3-4 must sees per location and then leaving some time for " hey, what is that? Let's go check that out."

I also agree with the advice to make sure the sights of interest to you are open on the days you wish to see them. It can greatly effect how efficiently you use your time. I know you will have a wonderful time amd make lasting meaningful memories with your daughter.

Also we flew direct from Charlotte direct to Venice and then home from Rome.