Please review my itinerary to Italy and Paris...thanks!
 

Hello! We're at the front end of planning a trip to mainly Italy with a stop in Paris at the end. We're two couples in our early 60s and one 41-year-old single (me!) This will be the first time to Italy and Paris for most, though all are good travelers in other parts of the world. Here's what we've got...would love to hear what you think!

3 nights Naples
3 nights Rome
3 nights Florence
2 nights in CT
1 (overnight) on the train from Nice to Paris
3 nights Paris

Thank you in advance for your fine-tuning and advice!

First, when are you going?

Is there a particular reason for 3 nights in Naples? Personally, I would take the Naples days and add them to Rome and Paris.

Are you driving to CT/Nice or taking the train ?

Again personally, I would be far less than satisfied with only 3 nights on my first visit to Paris!

Also: No Venice?!

I originally left Venice off our first trip to Italy. But at the urging of Fodorites we added it to the final itinerary.

It was our favorite city!

Rethink Naples - stay there one night then take a hydrofoil to Sorrento for the other two nights. Sorrento is a great base to see the Amalfi Coast, Ischia, Capri and a half day trip to Pompeii. The rest of your trip looks good.

Yes, the reason for NAples at three nights is to catchup from the flight...see Sorrento, Pompeii, etc. It's mainly where we're flying into...not necessarily meant to say we'll book a hotel there for three nights...thank you for the initial feedback!

And regarding PAris vs. Venice: our time and budget don't allow for both...so we picked Paris.

Should have mentioned: we are going late April/early May of 2008.

I like your name!

I loved Venice too, but I think that leaving it out this time is a good idea - at least you're traveling in a more or less straight line - and from warmer to colder is good as well. Never been to Naples/Pompeii, so I can't respond to that part.

Have fun!

I didn't mean to suggest replacing Paris with Venice. I would NEVER suggest taking Paris off a list!

I was actually suggesting going Florence to Venice to Paris---perhaps doing CT as a day trip from Florence. There is a MyAir flight that leaves Venice late afternoon and lands at Paris Orly around 6:30pm. We did that: had the day in Venice, were at the Paris hotel in time for our dinner reservation. Venice is easy to fly out of.

For my travel tastes, too much ground to cover in 14 days, too many hotels. I'll repeat the transfer mantra: Every time you move from one hotel to another in a different place, you lose at least half a day.

You're thinking of your intinerary in terms of "nights" in each place, when you should be thinking "days" and what you want to see/do. With your present plan, you'll have two full days (plus a few hours on arrival day) to see "Sorrento, Pompei, etc." There won't be much time to "catchup from the flight" if you hope to also go to Capri, see the coastal towns and perhaps get to the Naples archeological museum.

Likewise, your time in Rome and Florence will be limited to two full days plus a few hours in each city. You'll barely scratch the surface of all that these amazing cities offer, and you will be moving at a pretty fast pace at all times.

The time in CT is logical in a geographic sense, but it's another coastal destination when the weather could be a bit iffy.

I hate overnight trains, but that's just me. I find them the opposite of pleasant train travel: The arrival times are usually very early, sleeping is not restful, no scenery to enjoy.

Ah so much to see. Those are all wonderful places. Obviously you will pass by other great places on the way. One stop i would recommend is to stop in Sienna on the way from Rome to Florence.

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Chris Christensen
Amateur Traveler podcast
http://AmateurTraveler.com

We stayed in Rapallo rather than CT, and were glad we did. We did enjoy our day in CT, but it's just a bit too busy, imo. Lots of beautiful coastal places to stay and still be close to CT.annieladd