My husband & I are planning our first trip to Italy. We plan to go April/May 2010 & will have 13 nights. A little about ourselves - we are mid 40's, love to travel. Our travels have been mostly to the caribbean & around the US. We've done cruises and land vacations. We tend to get "tastes" of places when we travel. For example, we did DC in a day.

I've been been doing lots of research on the internet. I don't have any books yet. I am trying to get a very basic plan in place & was hoping for some feedback/suggestions. Here it is:

1: Arrive in Venice (afternoon)
2: Venice
3: Florence/Tuscany (by train)
4: Florence/Tuscany
5: Florence/Tuscany (day trip to Cirque Terre)???
6: Florence/Tuscany
7: Florence /Tuscany (day trip somewhere)
8: Florence /Tuscany
9: Amalfi Coast
10: Amalfi Coast (day trip to Rome) ???
11: Amalfi Coast
12: Amalfi Coast
13: Amalfi Coast
14: Depart from Naples or Rome (whichever closer; cost is the about the same)

How does the above sound? I know a day trip to Greece might seem crazy to some people, but I am thinking I would just want to see the absolute highlights. I am certainly open to suggestions. Of course, we are wanting to maximize our time without burning out. I appreciate your feedback!

Way too busy, and you will mostly get a really good taste of the Italian rail system. One day in Venice is not really smart, unless you just want to see San Marco, the Piazza and possibly the Doge's Palace. Give yourself more time in Venice, say three nights.

Here's what we thought about Venice. It's long, a bit personal in places. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...st-verbose.cfm

You have 3 destinations and 13 nites--that part is good.
I would allocate my days differently:
Venice--4
Florence--4[ with day trip to Siena--CT is too far]
Amalfi coast--4
Last nite near FCO for departure

Good luck---you will have fun.

That's a little bit vague on the itinerary since it is not clear if you plan to spend each of those 6 mights in Florence, day tripping through Tuscany (that appears to be the case) and each of your nights on the Amalfi coast in the same, or a different, place.

If you do plan it is 6 nights Florence and 6 in the same place on the Amalfi Coast you are certainly keeping the moves down - something most people in here support tremendously.

I think that cutting down a day or from Florence and maybe a day from Amalfi and adding it to Venice would be worthwhile. The "feel" of Venice is something you don't want to let go.

Florence to Cinque Terre is about 2.5 hours driving, a little longer by train, I think because of the "remoteness" to a major centre.

Positano to Rome is about 3.5 hours driving - since you are training that makes it even longer, again, I think. You would need to get to Naples first. You would be better off either stopping for a night in Rome on the way to Amalfi, or ending your Amalfi portion a day earlier and coming back to Rome before departing.

Where did Greece come in? Is that Day 7? Florence to Athens is virtually impossible in less than 7 or 8 hours with connections through somewhere else. Florence is a VERY poorly connected airport. That is why everyone ends up flying into Rome, or Milan to get to Florence. Consider popping over to Capri, or into Naples, for a day trip from Amalfi.

So, my opinion is that you are stationing yourself for long enough, maybe even a day too long in Florence and Amalfi, too little in Venice, and your selection of Cinque Terre, Rome and Greece (especially) as day trips, is too ambitious for where you will be starting form.

Wow - I didn't see the other 2 response as I was typing but that is pretty much 3 for 3 on the advice, at least in the same general bits.

OK, MykidsMom, you asked.

The above schedule is guaranteed to BURN OUT, plus it's just plain nuts.

Now that we have that out of the way, start with a map. You will see that the Amalfi Coast is south of Naples, therefore Naples would be closer for air departure. Day trip to Rome from Amalfi? Consult that map and read some trip report here.

Second, you have never flown this far and don't know how well or how badly you will do with jet lag. Don't count your arrival and departure days - they don't count.

You really have 12 days IN Italy. 3 destinations would be best, 4 at the very max - no day trips. Don't even THINK about "doing" Rome in a day....

My suggestion:

Venice 3 nts
Florence 2 nts
Tuscan countryside or Cinque Terre 3 nts
Rome 4 nts

If you decide you must visit the Amalfi Coast, skip Florence/Tuscany and save it for a trip all it's own.

Remember, you have never been to Europe before (it sounds like). It will take you longer to do everything than you think and you have a little figuring out to do. Allow time to get a bit lost and find your way....

Back to the drawing board. Read trip reports here, they are invaluable. Zillions of first time visitors plan a trip with the same amount of vacation time you have. Learn from their experiences!

Happy planning, buon viaggio!

You say you don't have any guide books yet and want to get a basic plan in place [first]. I think you're going at it backwards. Study the guide books and decide what interests you where, and then figure out how much you can do/see in two weeks. Check train schedules to understand how long it takes to get around, and try not to do any backtracking (i.e., day trip from AC to Rome when you already went to Rome to get to the AC).

Thank you for the costructive feedback. As I mentioned, we are still in our very preliminary planning stage. I do have a general idea of the places we want to go (Venice, Florence area, AC). Rome actually isn't at the top of my list but I guess a 1st trip to Italy wouldn't be right without a visit to Rome! I didn't have Greece anywhere. It I did, it was a typo.

From reading the posts, I learned that keeping a minimum number of hotel transfers is best, even if it means a little backtracking.

I have read on this forum about day trips to CT from Florence, and also about day trips from Rome to AC. I guess this is just personal preference.

So, a more reasonable option might be:

Days 1-3 Venice (includes arrival day)
Days 4-6: Florence area
Days 7-9: CT
Days 10-13: Rome

I really wanted to work in the AC but I'd have to give up CT or Florence. Does anyone have any better suggestions? I appreciate your feedback!

2 days might suffice in CT since it has no major museum, architectural, or other "culture" sights - all mood.

I don't know the train connections well, but look into going to CT from Venice and then on to Florence. It is far more direct and would save hours of backtracking if driving.

If you want ot hit the AC, then do it. There is no rule that says you must visit Rome on your first trip to Italy. I have been three times and never seen it yet - I will finally get there this fall. If you cut one day from CT, you could easily get to the AC for days 9,10,11 and then back to Rome for a day and a bit before you depart.

By "easily" - I mean it's about 5 hours driving from Florence to Sorrento - train, not sure. If that seems to far for one day, toss in your two Rome days on the way down from Florence, then do the AC, and leave from Naples.

For people who are interested in the history and architecture of the Cinque Terre area, there is in fact, quite a bit of "culture" to see. It's not "all mood" unless you never bother to read the history of the area or invest in a guidebook that tells you where to see the Roman ruins, historic castles, medieval borgi, important freschi and baroque architecture.

The mood is le Cinque Terre itself is generally touristy, and it is fine place to relax among vinyards as a respite from cultural sightseeing and urban noise. But cultural sightseers can find many fascinations in the towns or just minutes away by train. Get a guidebook dedicated to the region if you are interested.

But if you're not, please don't go around posting there's nothing there of cultural interest and it's all "mood".

Zeppole;

'no major museum, architectural or other "culture" sights' is not the equivalent of "nothing of cultural interest". It's not going to be news to anyone that there are sites worthy of fascination in virtually every region, town, and village anywhere. The scale is a relative one. Perhaps "all mood" was my error, if any, but I think that a complete and reasoned reading would get most even tempered folks to the essence of the reply. Your second paragraph is pretty much supportive of the point I was trying to make and the reason that most (I said "most", not "all" so don't even think about it) people are anxious to visit CT.

I encourage you to continue posting what you want, even when you accuse others of being "uninterested", generalize about and misquote their comments, and presume to have the intellectual clout to direct whether others are fit to respond.

If you would like to post your email I, and other interested posters, can consider providing you with previews of our proposed responses on all of the topics on which you feel you are best qualified to respond. We will need a list of the topics, too.

Good idea !
Why not have Zeppole screeen and edit our posts in advance. It will help to develop her contrarian attitude.

I consider a message board a free and open space. Say what you like. Expect response in the same spirit.

Aramis,

You're responses to places like Venice and le Cinque Terre are more subjective than you seem to be aware of. You're directing somebody else that they spend more time in Venice for "the feeling" (of what? mass tourism?) and less time in Cinque Terre because it's "all mood" -- ? You can't imagine why even reasonable and even-tempered people might think some correction is order? I don't consider this a great intellectual challenge to point out that there is more to le Cinque Terre than that. And I'm not the bully. You are when you post things like "post your e-mail." Right?

bob, i'm not a contrarian. I live here. You're a sorehead because I take issue with your posts a lot.

Of course they are subjective. Are you arrogant enough to think that yours aren't? For real? Wow, I think we found the source of your issues.

Now, since you are fact challenged, let's deal with specifics;

Posting - You were the one to suggest I not post in your first response. Now you say "say what you like" Please explain the diametrically opposed concepts therein.

Subjectivity - See above. People are subjective by nature. Please explain how people's opinion and reaction to travel is anything other than subjective, or alternately how yours is objective.

Bully - Who called you a bully? I implied arrogance and an snobbishness, and I stand by that. Please demonstrate my use of the word bully or, alternately, your exhibition of a classic case of "transference".

Posting your email address - Please look up "facetious" and discuss it's relation to the implication of your arrogance.

"i'm not a contrarian. I live here" - Huh? I think that means you think you have more of a right to express you opinions (see subjectivity) than us Auslanders ( or whatever the word is in Italian.) Please refer back to arrogance.

"Sorehead" - I will let bob deal with the name calling (Shame, shame, that does not look nice on such a worldly individual, or should I say "resident of Europe". We have a saying in our house "Use your words"

And finally, these are my opinions (making them subjective in case you missed that point) of you and your approach to this forum. Some will agree with me, some won't.

Meh!

Please keep coming back.

It ain't just me---you do it to everyone who has a different opinion. I think it must be to demonstrate your vast knowledge, which is impresssive but misguided.

Aramis,

I want to personally thank you for your constructive comments and feedback. When I made my initial post yesterday, I was a little shocked at some of the snappy responses people made. If I were an expert European traveler, I wouldn't be soliciting advice on travel boards!

It is people like you that really help those of us who are just out here trying to learn and make the most of our travels. Sometimes newbies ask really stupid questions & I appreciate those who are understanding & don't go out of their way to make a person feel completely dumb.

I like your idea of cutting back CT to 2 days. I've read several trip reports that mention a 2 night stay in CT.

There is a lot of controversy over the AC area. Some people love it, others think it is a waste of time. I have a natural love for the coast which is why I am drawn to that area.

I am still researching & will surely have more questions soon. I will look forward to hearing from you!!

Hey mykidsmom99, it can all get a bit willing here sometimes. People are passionate about travel.

You are lucky to have lots of time to plan your trip - almost a year - whereas some people come on here with the question, "I'm off to Italy next week. Arriving in Rome. What should we see. We have six days, and would like to see Sicily and Trieste, along with the major attractions". They can receive a slightly snappy response - do try and avoid the Rick Steve's approach to travel, which, to my mind, seems to be about sight seeing.

Planning can be the best fun, and you have the time to read more than just guide books - you can read novels, histories, and have an idea of culture as well as things to see. I read heaps before we visited Venice six months ago, and the anticipation of the trip really contributed to our enjoyment.
Pin a map of Italy on the wall and put post-it-notes on it, plunge into Italian food (Mario Batali's? cookbok is good, but the portion sizes are gigantic), learn a little Italian and practice it at home. Get into the habit of calling parsley presemolo, and basilico for basil. Get "Francesco's Venice" on DVD and have a look at it, and the BBC DVD series "Rome" is brilliant. There's a reading list at the bottom of my somewhat wordy trip report, but it's Venice-centric.

You can move your head to Italy now, and follow later with your feet.
Ciao

Peter