Making the most of 48 hours in Florence
 

We are taking our first trip to Italy in the fall. We will spend 6 days in Rome and then we want to see Florence, Venice, Burano, maybe Ravenna. Would we best better off basing ourselves in Bologna or Florence? The trip is all adults and 2 have been to Italy before. Also, is this reasonable to try to see this much in the short time?

Hello, I think most fodorites will tell you to trim your itinerary.The most obvious destinations would be Florence and Venice , I would try to buy an open jaw ticket, if you are only visiting Italy, arriving in one city for instance Rome and then training the way up, or vice versa. And then flying back from the last city you are going to visit. For instance it will work fine to arrive in Rome train to Florence, Florence Venice, and then flying from Venice. THis way you will save both time and money. And time is gold, they say.

How many days do you have altogether?

We will fly into Pompei and stay 2 days, then train to Rome and stay 6 days/nights it here, then train to Florence staying 2-3 nights/days in Florence and see Venice and other suggested areas we can fit in, them fly home from Venice.

Hi,

Based on your post I am assuming you have already purchased your tickets. Is this correct? Also, you said. "...staying 2-3 nights/days in Florence and see Venice and other suggested areas we can fit in, them fly home from Venice." Are you staying any nights in Venice? Specifically how many nights are you staying at each destination, because 2 nights really means only 1 full day especially when you account for travel between locations.

I'm confused.

I'm also confused. You still haven't said how many days you have overall.

There are no flights to Pompeii. If you only have two hotel nights in that area, you only have one day to see anything.

It appears you only have 10 days. Does that include arrival and departure days? If so, you need to limit your visit to two locations only. If not, you can possibly stay in three places.

We're actually flying in to Naples to visit Ppei and Amalfi area. Then continue on to Rome.

How many days total is your trip?

It is awfully hard to respond to your first post since we still have no idea how many days you plan to be in Italy. Will you be in the Amalfi area before Rome? Will you go to Florence after Rome?

I'm not sure what doesn't make sense so let me try again. Day 1 fly into Naples arriving noon, see Amalfi that day and evening. Day 2 visit Pompei and take train to Rome that evening. Day 3-6 visit Rome sites, Day 6 depart early am for Florence by train. Remainder of day 6, day 7-9 visit Florence, Venice area. Day -10 depart Florence for home.

If you mean you plan to go to the TOWN of Amalfi on your arrival day, this would entail either hiring a private driver to meet your flight -or- getting to the Naples train station, taking a train to Salerno, then a bus or ferry to Amalfi.

Amalfi to the Pompeii ruins involves taking a bus from Amalfi to Sorrento (1:40 hours) and then taking a commuter train to Pompeii (about 30 minutes). After seeing Pompeii, it's back on the commuter train (30 minutes) to Naples and then the train to Rome (1+ hour).

If you mean you plan to go to Venice as a day-trip from Florence, this would entail taking a train to Venice (2+ hours each way) plus time to get from the Venice train station to the main sights by either vaporetto (40 minutes) or walking (30-40 minutes). So, travel time to and from Venice is approximately 3 hours each way. The last train back to Florence will not be very late. Perhaps 7:30p.

Day 1 - If you are arriving from the states after an overnight flight, you really want see much as you will be too tired by the time you reach Amalfi (several hours after your flight arrives).

Are you saying you have 9 hotel nights in Italy? You need to plot out your itinerary and factor in travel time between places. You don't want to spend all your time in Italy on transport. Staying 2 hotel nights somewhere only gives you one sightseeing day. The coast needs at least 2-3 nights, Rome at least 3-4.

Have you already booked flights? You don't have time for the places listed as they require too much travel time from the places you plan to base.

Thank you so much for your input. I haven't booked anything yet so this gives me food for thought. My daughter studied in Italy and she visited Florence in a day but that didn't I include Venice.

If you flew into Naples, you would have to transfer from the airport to Amalfi. Options are taking the shuttle bus from the airport to Sorrento (takes about an hour and you may have to wait an hour or two for a bus depending on schedule), take a Sita bus to Amalfi (about 1 1/2 hours).

Since you haven't booked flights yet, most major airlines will only have flights from the US to either Milan, Venice (not many), Pisa (seasonal), Rome. To fly into other cities will require a change of planes in Europe somewhere. Having to change flights somewhere in Europe means arriving later in the day.

Would we be better off flying I to Sorrento

Or would you recommend just flying into Rome, which would put us havi g 8 days in Rome. Then use 1 day for a day trip to Pompei and Amalfi?

I have 9 nights like you and taking my parents along for their first European trip. In my eagerness to show them as much as possible, I started planning so much like you and realized it is not possible with the number of nights and with the sound advice from Fodorites. My usual travel mode is to stay put in 1 location but I figured as a first time trip for my parents they should see the top 3. Flying into Venice -2N - deal with jet lag. 3 Nights Florence and 4 nights Rome. Fly out of Rome. If I had an extra night, I would have tacked it onto Florence. I suggest saving Pompeii/Amalfi for another time or skipping Amalfi and doing a day trip from Rome to Pompeii for the day, albeit a long day. If you have an extra night, add to Florence, you can spend 1 1/2 days seeing what you can of Florence, day in Siena/San Gimignano and a day in Lucca/Pisa or another hill town and still base yourself in Florence. I decided based on my short stay, I will take the Tuscany in a day tour that goes to Siena, San Gimignano , wine tasting/lunch in Tuscany and then a short trip to Pisa. It will be a long day but from what I read, well worth it for someone who doesn't have a lot of time. You can always return and spend more time in a location. If Pompeii is a must and you have only 9 nights, I suggest saving Venice and Florence for another visit and splitting your time between Rome and AC. Good luck!!

Thank you. JP

I'm still a bit confused about the OP's plan.

BUT, the OP could get right off the plane and take a trenitalia train to Salerno. Then walk 200 feet and board a ferry to Amalfi that takes perhaps 30 minutes. Amalfi is a neat town but really not that much to see.

Spend one night in Amalfi and then take the ferry and then train to "New Pompeii." Store your luggage at the station or the entrance to the ruin. After touring Pompeii take a fast train to Rome.

I personally think three nights in Rome is plenty unless there is a list of things you want to see and do. Since you are arriving late this will give you two full touring days.

This leaves the OP with five days. All of these can be spent in Florence and the OP can take side trips to Pisa and Sienna. One CAN do a day trip to Venice, and I think it's better than nothing. But the OP can also spend three nights in Florence and then leave early for Venice on Day 8 and spend the last two nights in Venice before flying out of VCE.

Everyone seems to want to spend time and spend time and spend time in Rome. For me personally, once I've seen the Coliseum, the Vatican, and a few other sites I'm ready to go elsewhere.

>>>BUT, the OP could get right off the plane and take a trenitalia train to Salerno. Then walk 200 feet and board a ferry to Amalfi that takes perhaps 30 minutes.<<<

Maybe, but the OP said she wouldn't arrive until noon. It would depend on how long it takes to clear the airport (retrieve luggage) and get to the train station in Naples (there is no train station at Naples airport) and whether a ferry is available at that time. Ferries don't run anywhere near as often as the Sita buses and you may have a two hour wait for a ferry. The train station in Salerno is not within 200 feet of the ferry.

>>>>Spend one night in Amalfi and then take the ferry and then train to "New Pompeii." Store your luggage at the station or the entrance to the ruin. After touring Pompeii take a fast train to Rome. <<<

Not practical and some of it not possible. If you take a ferry from Amalfi to Salerno, you have a trek with luggage to reach the train station from the port. There is a gap in Trenitalia train service in the mornings to "new" Pompei and there is no luggage storage at the Pompei train stations. The Pompei station on this line is not close to the entrance of the ruins (it's about a mile away). The closest entrance doesn't have luggage storage either. You would have to get transport to the other Pompeii entrance farther away (by the Circumvesuviana train station Pompeii Scavi) if you wanted to store luggage. There is no fast train from either Pompei station to Rome. That would be a very tiring first two days after overnight flights.

If Pompeii is a priority then you should leave it in your itinerary, but you really need to add some time to the area if you plan to visit the Amalfi coast also.

It would be simpler to take the Alibus from the Naples airport to the port and catch a ferry to Amalfi (check ferry schedules!). That way you could see the entire coast area as you would pass Sorrento and Positano on the way .

Kybourbon is right about the distance from the train station to the ferry. It's more like 900 feet based on Google maps. I remember it being closer. In any event, it is a very short walk.

Certainly the better way of seeing Pompeii is with the Circumvesuniana commuter train between Sorrento and Naples. But one can use the train stop for the new city and I would presume take a cab and thus make use of luggage storage.

I could make it work for me, but it obviously requires some research into train and ferry schedules. Of course it might be easier to start in Rome and take a day trip to Pompeii. Not a quick trip, but perhaps easier than trying to work in a one-night stay just to see Pompeii.