Hello, everyone! It's my turn to ask for help. <BR> <BR>In October, we are making our first trip to Italy and are heading to Rome. We leave on the 6th and return home on the 15th. I'm thinking that we devote the entire trip to just Rome as I can remember spending a week in one city (on several occasions) and not seeing everything that we wanted to. <BR> <BR>With that said, would it be worthwhile to venture out to maybe Sorrento for two days? There will be six of us and we are saving Florence and Tuscany for a future trip. Just want some opinions on the feasibility. <BR> <BR>Thank you for the assistance on this one.

Lee, you could make a day trip to Sorrento if you wished - although your time there would be short. Several people have indicated that Sorrento hasn't much to do; I just had a late afternoon wandering around after a day in Pompeii. Pretty and interesting, but expensive. Just another one of those coastal Italian towns - Flowers, hills, intriguing byways, beautiful blue Mediterranean. I think it would be a great place for a longer, relaxing visit. But you might want to consider combining a couple days there with a visit to Pompeii. Frankly, I'd rather have the time in Pompeii although folks have said overnighting there isn't too great. You'd have to consider packing up and leaving Rome and then packing up and going back to Rome, either to the hotel for a couple more nights or to the airport. I'd be nervous about leaving Sorrento to get to the airport on time; and spending the last night at an airport hotel doesn't seem like much fun. Rome has so much to see and day trips are possible. It's that checking in and out that can cut into the fun time. Whatever you decide, I hope you love Rome as much as I do - I'm going to Paris this year, but Rome just keeps calling me!

I would suugest you go somewhere else besides Rome for a couple of days - not that you couln't find things to do in Rome for the full 9 days, but I think it will be worthwhile to explore a smaller place as a contrast. As the above poster said - there are not many real "sights" in Sorrento, but is is quite a pleasant place on the coast. You can get from Rome to Sorrento in about 4 hours on mass transit - train to Naples, then Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento. From Sorrento, it would be easy to get to Pompeii, or go to Capri.

Lee, We just returned from Rome and like you wanted something different after the 4th day. On the spur of the moment we decided to take a tour using local co. called Vastours. For about $200/pp we did the overnight tour to Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, Anacapri, which included hotel and all meals, guided tours and a boat trip to the Blue Grotto. We were so glad we did as it was delightful. The tour bus drive back to Rome was long due to bumper to bumper traffic on the coastal road on a Sunday night. Since we had checked out of our original hotel, we were dropped off at a taxi stand. There we took a taxi to an airport area hotel since we had a return flight the next morning. It worked out very well. You don't get extensive time at any place, but for us, it was enough to get to see and experience all these other places. Sorrento and Capri and Anacapri are lovely towns with lots of pretty scenery and I thought Pompeii was awesome. Have lots of fun.

I am planning a day trip from Rome to Orvieto on my November trip. I have never been there but have read terrific things about this town which lies approx. 50 miles north of Rome. It seems that it's small town feel is a good contrast to the hustle of Rome. <BR> <BR>There are quite a few mentions of Orvieto if you're willing to do a search on this site, or perhaps someone would be willing to post a quick review on this thread for out mutual benefit. <BR> <BR>Have a great trip. <BR> <BR>j.

Lee: <BR> <BR>I highly recommend a trip to Ostia Antica - a full day trip from Rome but easily do-able by public transportation. If you're looking for other day trips, I can recommend several that you'll need a car for, but none that you'll be able t o do with public transportation. <BR> <BR>

St Cirq, <BR> <BR>Eagerly await your day trip recommendations. Heading there in Sept/Oct with car.

If you're an art nut like me, 8 days in Rome will just scratch the surface of this extraordinary city. If not, other nice day trips which haven't been mentioned are Tivoli/Villa D'Este/Villa Adriana (Hadrian's villa)with the wonderful fountains--they're about an hour out of Rome by public bus; and Assisi. I took a one-day guided tour by bus from Rome there several years ago and fell in love with this beautiful and serene medieval city--and, of course, the Giotto and Cimabue frescos in the cathedral. The Assisi trip is standard among the bus tour companies and I'm sure your hotel concierge could arrange one for you.

My husband & I just returned from Italy. We split our time between Rome and Sorrento. Both places were great but considering we were only there for 9 days in hind sight I don't know if I would do it again. We used the trains and it takes about 5 hours to get between the two cities. It seemed like we wasted 2 days - one each way. If you do go to Sorrento I would recommend just relaxing there instead of trying to cram to much in (like we did!). I thought it was a lovely, relaxing town with beautiful views. I can recommend a great hotel if you're interested.

Excuse me, please, for popping into this conversation, but it seems like a good place to ask this question: we want to see Pompeii, but aren't sure of the best place to stay for a couple of days while we are there. Would Sorrento be a better place to stay for 2 or 3 nights than Naples? The things I read about Naples make me a little nervous. Thanks, <BR> <BR>Libbie

3/4 days then go elsewhere - Amalfi is a 2 hour train trip - lovely

Rhonda: We really enjoyed Gaeta, Lago Bracciano, Terracina, and Sperlonga. That's about all we managed to see in a week's trip staying south of Rome, while also managing to get to know the town we were staying at, hang out at the beach, etc., and it certainly didn't turn out to be my favorite part of Italy, but it was historically and culturally interesting and even beautiful in parts. If you want more details, let me know.