Need help determining best way to get from locations (desperate for help!!)
 

As of now our itinerary looks like this -
I need help learning how to travel in between these cities. And please, if you recommend flying in and out of somewhere please give me the exact airport name or city name! Thanks for any help. I am not excited about this trip right now, rather I am stressed out!

Arrive - London
London
Paris (via Eurostar 2.5 hours)
Paris
Florence (what's the best way/fastest way to get here from Paris?)
Florence
Florence
Sorrento (what's the best way/fastest way to get here from Florence?)
Sorrento
Sorrento
Rome (what's the best way/fastest way to get here from Sorrento)
Rome
Depart - Rome

How many people? What ages? Where in the cities do you want to go/stay? When are you going? How much do you want to be bothered ( I am guessing, not much) ? Depends....

For Paris to Florence, I would check airlines. For Florence, you might fly into Florence, Pisa, or even Bologna.

Train travel would be best for you trips within Italy.

Florence to Sorrento
National train system (Trenitalia) from Florence to Naples.
Then local Circumvesuviana commuter train from Naples to Sorrento.

Sorrento to Rome
Local Circumvesuviana commuter train from Sorrento to Naples.
Then train from Naples to Rome.

Italian train system:

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/

Paris to Florence. Fastest way Plane. Cheaper probalby to fly to Rome and take the hour train to Florence (A quick check shows one way Paris to Florence is $700! Don't know if there are any budget carrier options) 2 hour flight, 2 hour airport dealing. 4 hours total (if everything goes well :) )

Florence to Sorrento- Train, 4 hours to Naples change to Sorrento 1 hour. I THINK the total is around 5 hours, but maybe there's a faster model.

Sorrento to Rome - Train. 2 hours Naples to Rome, probably plan on an hour Sorrento to Naples.

However, on a more realistic note. Is there a reason for this schedule? It's a lot of jumping around and a lot of time wasted in transit. I think that this trip just looks "Stressful" You aren't going to have much time anyplace to see anything

2 people traveling, 28 and 30. traveling in July (so quite stressed right now ;)

My trouble is, even with the above post, when i go to that website and type in "Florence" to "Sorrento" to see how long and how much the train is, they do not recognize Florence so I have no idea what else to put in. Same thing for Ryan Air from Paris to Florence!

Its like someone trying to look up a NYC airport which aren't read as such when they are JFK, LGA etc!

"firenze" is florence in italian

ryaniar probably does not fly to florence but flies to nearby pisa.

I also do not see the point of the one day London and Paris stops.
Where are you flying from? Delta currently has sale fares from JFK to Rome.
Budget airlines like RyanAir often fly from smaller airports. Try http://www.whichbudget.com/ to see all options.

Yes, you won't find Florence as a Ryanair destination. Easyjet also flies to Pisa, I think.

I am having trouble myself right now getting any combo of "Florence" "Firenze" "Firenze S. Maria Novella" "Firenze Rifredi" to take in the Trenitalia website, so it's not just you. It's not the most user friendly website there is. Even if you get an answer, you may not get a price ( too far out ) and you almost certainly won't be able to buy a ticket.

There IS an English version of the Trenitalia site if you look for the English button at the top of the page and this will allow you to insert the English names for the cities. However, since you are traveling to these places, it might be a good idea to do a little research and consult any Italian guidebook or even the destination guide featured on this website. There you will discover the Italian names of the cities as well as the names of the local airports. (Simply googling Florence Italy airport would have brought up Peretola and its call letters.)

Florence = Firenze
airport (Peretola = FLR call letters) (Pisa airport = Pisa = PSA)
main train station = Firenze SMN (Santa Maria Novella)

Rome = Roma
main train station = Roma TE (Termini)

Naples = Napoli
main train station = Napoli CE (Centrale)

As I mentioned earlier, the national rail system--Trenitalia--does not go to Sorrento. You travel by Trenitalia from Florence to Naples, then switch to a different train system that is not part of the national rail--Circumvesuviana. the Circumvesuviana departs from Napoli Garbaldi which is on the lower level of Napoli Centrale.

http://www.vesuviana.it/web/en

You might find this helpful for choosing an airline

http://www.whichbudget.com/

I have to agree with CarolA that you have an ambitious itinerary. You will lose at least half a day every time you move from city to city, possibly more, when you add in checking in and out of hotels, traveling to and from ataitions and airports, check-in times and waiting, and the actual travel. I would delete London or Paris from this itinerary to give you a chance to see more and have less stress.

ataitions = stations

you guys are great, thanks! PS- I live in DC not NY so those sales don't help me :(

I found that I can fly from Paris to Pisa and take the train to Florence.

I agree this itinerary is too ambitious as well.

London is the point of entry as this has been the cheapest approach to getting to Europe. So I figured, "hey, while in London why not stop in Paris before going to Italy". Neither of us have been to Europe before so I have been trying to squeeze it all in. I really did want to spend time in at least 2 countries, not knowing when we will be back.

Perhaps I nix Paris (tear) and do London 2 days with the rest of time spread in Italy. We can fly from London into Pisa for about $95 per person.

You don't have to have everything booked in advance. Trains in Italy area easy. You could wait until you are there and buy a ticket at the train station.

I agree with others, you have too many destinations!! 5 cities (spread out geographically) in 11 days is jamb packed to the point of almost un-doable.

Have you already bought plane tickets? If you haven't my suggestion would be drop London, and fly into Paris and out of Rome.

There's no need to be stressed out, regardless. I know many people on this forum love to over-plan, but you CAN do Europe with... a passport, cash, a plane ticket, and go from there!

Even if you have decided to fly into London because of price, you could skip it on your itinerary. Just book another flight directly to Paris from Heathrow, and 'start' your trip from there.

Are you flying overnight into London? You don't allow yourself any time to get over jetlag. I'd still be dozy on the second day trying to find my way to St. Pancras for the train to Paris.

In general, www.whichbudget.com is a good source for cheap flights. For instance, Easyjet flies from Paris Orly to Pisa. Orly is easy to get to by public transportation. From the Pisa airport you can take the train to Florence.

However, consider dropping both London and Paris, flying directly into Rome and immediately taking the train to Florence. Spend your extra days in Rome. You've got lots of time ahead of you for London and Paris.

I'm in DC too, and I got a great deal to Pisa on Delta, through JFK, so don't rule out flying elsewhere without checking. I was not finding any good fares to London and lucked out.

I definitely agree skip London and Paris...when thinking costs dont forget to add:

Price of train into London - about £30 into centre depending on what method you use - takes about 30 - 40 mins once you get on the train, you will likely have to wait, also time to check in at hotel etc

Price of transit in London for the day and to get to train staion for Eurostar (time = you need to be at the station about an hour before, plus transit time to staion of likely at least 30 mins, plus checking out of hotel)

Is it really worth it for a few hours in London when you will likely be a bit jetlagged?

Price of Eurostar + 2+ hours in time

Price of transit in Paris + likely 60 mins to get to hotel + check in time

Is it worth it to 'see Paris'

Price to get out to airport in Paris + time to get out to airport + check out time etc

You get my point :)

When you add up the extra costs of travel in $$ and time I always end up opting to pay to get to my original destination as quickly as possible. You will lose 1/2 day to landing/checking/travel in London, 1/2 a day travelling to Paris, 1/2 day travelling to Florence. Everything always takes longer than you think!

Skip London and Paris and add the time to Rome!

Happy Planning!

After I posted I was thinking as others are mentioning, it's not only the price of your plane ticket overseas that matters. Even if flying into London is a bit cheaper, if you really want to be in Paris or Rome, it might be better "value" to purchase a ticket directly to one of them instead.

I have seen several postings by travelers booking a round trip to an airport based on the price of that leg alone while spending a lot of money and time getting to and back from the actual destinations. I think it is best to lay out all the itinerary options and actually compute, as opposed to rely solely on a few rules, the total cost and the traveling time before making non-refundable decision.