monica007

Based on comments from a previous posting and more input from my 12 and 14 year old daughters, here's what my itinerary looks like now.

Aug 2: arrive Rome, stay for 4 nights (can't spend any more nights in the apartment we have in Rome.)

Aug 6: rent car, leave Rome, drive to Sorrento, stay 2 nights Sorrento. (kids want to really see Pompeii, not sure if Capri/Blue Grotto is worth the trip.)

Aug 8: drive to Sienna, stay 4 nights Sienna (use car to make day trips to other towns).

Aug 12: drive to Cinque Terre (stop off in Pisa), drop off car, stay 3 nights Cinque Terre.

Aug 15: take train to Florence, stay 3 nights in Florence.

Aug 18: take train to Venice, stay 4 nights in Venice.

August 22: take train to Lake Como area, stay 3 nights

Aug 25: fly home from Milan.

Sher

Monica. Here is my two cents for what it is worth.

Do you really need to get a car to go from Rome to Sorrento? You could easily take the train. Everything you want to do can be done by public transportation.

Are you driving just you and your two children? The trip between the Amalfi coast and Siena is very long by car. You could also take the train there. Then pick up your car.

In fact, maybe you should consider grouping all of the Tuscan area together.

Then move on to Cinue Terre, Venice, Lake Como.

This is just MHO. It seems you are backtracking to Florence by sticking Cinque Terre in the middle.

Have a wonderful trip.

Mimar

Glad to see you spending several days at each stop.

If you're going to Sorrento, I'd add a least one more night and take the bus along the Amalfi coast. My inclination would be to steal the day from Florence but that's a personal prejudice. Florence is very hot and crowded in the summer. And you could do a day trip into Florence from Siena.

Have you laid out this route on a map? You're crisscrossing the country. Try www.mappy.com or www.via-michelin.com for drive times and instructions.

I'd drive from Siena to Venice and drop the car there. From Venice I'd train to Florence. From Florence to the Cinque Terre, then to Como and Milan.

jjkbrook

First, definitely ditch the plan to pick up the car before heading to Sorrento. The train from Rome - Naples then the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento is perfectly easy and probably faster, too. And you dont want a car in Sorrento.

Second, It seems to me that you could ditch Cinque Terre and add another day or two to the Sorrento-Amalfi Coast bit. I havent been to Cinque Terre but it seems to me that you probably dont need two small-towns-on-cliffs-by-the sea parts to your itinerary. Add a day trip (maybe by boat?)over to Positano-Amalfi-Ravello, for example. and a day in Capri. Pompeii is going to be a full day.

You could day trip to Pisa and maybe florence from your Siena base then head straight to Venice, thence to Como - Milan, making your route more rational.


Think too about visiting Verona between Venice and Como. There are a lot of other cities worth visiting in Emilia Romagna and the Veneto but I think Verona might be most likely to charm your girls. Its just lovely.

I havent looked at a may but you might also want to consider going to Como on the way from Tuscany to Venice - you could then drop off your car when you arrive in Venice and travel to Milan by train.

bobthenavigator

Good start !
Drop one of the coastal destinations IN AUGUST ! Too crowded and you do not have time to do justice to the AC.
Overall, very nice trip.

tinamidon

Since Ira is out of town....he recommended to me to take the train out of Rome to Salerno and then Ferry to...in your case Sorrento...in my case, Positano. I have read posts from others that much preferred this mode of transportation as well...

annhig

hi, monica,

asssuming you have your flights fixed, this is what I'd do to tweek your tour and cut down on travelling/cutting back on yourselves:

4 days Rome,

3 nights Sorrento

7 nights tuscan countryside

3 nights venice

4 nights lake garda

home

i have taken particular a/c of your kids' ages ; I think that in august you wil have come very grumpy kids if they don't get regular swimming/fun.

you could rent a villa for a week in tuscany - you can have fun with day trips and so can the kids with down time at the villa.

You will then have re-charged batteries for venice, which they wil love, but only for a few days.

Finally on garda there are shops!!! water parks, a theme-parc [gardaland] and shops!!! [my 19 year old DD still asks about the shops]

IMO the CT is esssentially an adult destination. leave til they are aolder [and you/they are travelling separately!]

regards, ann

monica007

This is Monica again. How difficult is it to day trip into Florence? I guess I got paranoid reading about traffic fines if you mistakenly take your car into the center of Florence.

If I don't pick up the car until after Sorrento, what would be the most logical place to pick up the car to travel to the Siena area?

bobthenavigator

Get the car as you leave Sorrento.

Jean

A day trip to Florence in August? Don't bother.

jgg

I have to disagree with the recommendation to spend a week in Tuscany. Last June we spent 3 weeks in Italy with our kids ages 11 and 14. We spent 5 nights in Piedmont, 4 nights on the Ligurian coast, 5 nights in Tuscany and 5 nights in Rome. Tuscany was the kids least favorite, there was just so much driving to see the little towns, and after awhile they got tired of one more small town. We had already been to Florence so didn't go as a daytrip from our place in Castellina. However, our host said that she recommends not driving all the way into Florence, but close to it and then taking the bus.

Our kids did love the Ligurian Coast, we stayed in Lerici and did a daytrip to Cinque Terre by boat. We really enjoyed our stay in Lerici and wish we had done 5 nights there and 4 nights in Tuscany.

We have not been to Amalfi Coast or Lake Como (can't wait to do them), but you will all love Venice.

jgg

Meant to give you a link to my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34830020

monica007

OK, back again. I think I might have to give up on Cinque Terre. Took a good look at a map and decided we are crisscrossing back and forth.
4 nights Rome, may try to add on one or two more nights in Rome.
3-4 nights Sorrento
1 week Tuscany with day trip to Florence, Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano, Orvieto, Cartona. I think I'm going to be stuck with a 1 week Saturday to Saturday stay for this time in August.
4 nights Venice
3 nights Lake Como area
fly out of Milan

bobthenavigator

I like it !

Have fun !

daveesl

Hi Monica,

I know I talk about this place alot, but if you are spending several days in Sorrento, you should really consider seeing Paestum. It is amazing, the Greek temples are among the best in the world.

As to Pompei, have you considered going to Ostia Antica? It is a short train ride out of rome (using local trains). Pompei has better frescoes, Ostia has better mosaics. Ostia is in this beautiful park and best of all, very few tourists.

have a great trip,

dave

LivedinItaly

Hello Monica,

Have you made online reservations for sights like the Sistine Chapel and Villa Borghese in Rome, The Last Supper ("l'Ultima Cena" or "il Cenacolo) in Milano and Uffizi Galleries and Accademia in Florence? One site you can use is InItaly.com (http://www.initaly.com/flrrmlnk.htm) and http://www.cenacolovinciano.it/html/eng/home.htm for il Cenacolo.

Bon viaggio e auguri!

monica007

Hi everyone,

Here's my new and improved revised itinerary:

3 nights Sorrento
5 nights Rome
3 nights Montalcino or Montepulciano
3 nights Greve in Chianti
2 nights Florence
4 nights Venice
3 nights Lake Como.

I have all the hotel/apartments fixed except for the 6 nights in Tuscany.

The hotel owner in Florence has inquired whether I need him to make reservations for the museums.
Thanks for the links for the other places.

bobthenavigator

Can I tag along?