Rome / Sicily / Amalfi /Milan / Rome Sept 2019
Jun 21st, 2019, 03:01 PM
#1
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Rome / Sicily / Amalfi /Milan / Rome Sept 2019
Hi - please take a look at our itinerary and any helpful hints will be very much appreciated. Deb
We fly into Rome on Sept 8. I would like to get a flight to Palermo (haven't checked yet). When we get to Palermo we would pick up a car at the airport.
Sept 8 - and Sept 9 - San Vito Lo Capo (if possible can we stop at Monreale on the way to the beach? I would like to see it while we have the car.)
Sept 10 - Sleep Trepani - take cable to see Erice
Sept 11 Sleep Agrigento (Should we take the time to stop at Segesta on the way to Agrigento and Selinunte on the way to Taormina?)
Sept 12 Sleep Taormina
Sept 13 and Sept 14 Sleep Siracusa
Sept 15 Sleep Cefalu
Sept 16 Return car and Sleep 1 night Palermo
Sept 17 Take overnight boat to Naples - sleep Naples
Sept 18 - take train to Sorrento - stop at Pompeii on the way (and also Herculaneum?) I heard we can lock up our luggage in the Pompei train station – is there a place to lock it up in Herculaneum?) sleep Sorrento
Sept 19 Sleep Sorrento - take a boat to Positano for the day
Sept 20 train to Lake Como?
Sept 21 Lake Como?
Sept 22 Milan
Sept 23 Milan - we have last supper tickets
Sept 24 Rome
Sept 25 Rome
Sept 26 Fly home
We fly into Rome on Sept 8. I would like to get a flight to Palermo (haven't checked yet). When we get to Palermo we would pick up a car at the airport.
Sept 8 - and Sept 9 - San Vito Lo Capo (if possible can we stop at Monreale on the way to the beach? I would like to see it while we have the car.)
Sept 10 - Sleep Trepani - take cable to see Erice
Sept 11 Sleep Agrigento (Should we take the time to stop at Segesta on the way to Agrigento and Selinunte on the way to Taormina?)
Sept 12 Sleep Taormina
Sept 13 and Sept 14 Sleep Siracusa
Sept 15 Sleep Cefalu
Sept 16 Return car and Sleep 1 night Palermo
Sept 17 Take overnight boat to Naples - sleep Naples
Sept 18 - take train to Sorrento - stop at Pompeii on the way (and also Herculaneum?) I heard we can lock up our luggage in the Pompei train station – is there a place to lock it up in Herculaneum?) sleep Sorrento
Sept 19 Sleep Sorrento - take a boat to Positano for the day
Sept 20 train to Lake Como?
Sept 21 Lake Como?
Sept 22 Milan
Sept 23 Milan - we have last supper tickets
Sept 24 Rome
Sept 25 Rome
Sept 26 Fly home
Jun 21st, 2019, 03:54 PM
#2
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Deb,
I think you are vastly underestimating how far apart, and how much time it will take to get from place to place, check in/out your hotel, get to trains, buy tickets, eat and actually have time to sightsee. You are sleeping in at least a dozen different cities in a trip of 17 days.
I have not been to Sicily, so I won't comment, except to say, it's the biggest island in the mediterranean and I've learned from this forum that it would take 2-3 weeks to do it justice. I'm sure others with first-hand knowledge will comment.
However, I've been to Italy 8 or 9 times, and CAN tell you, you are spending virtually your entire vacation in transit. And zigzagging all around. When will you have time to actually enjoy the sights?
So, try this: look on Rome2Rio.com. It will tell you how long it will take from place to place, approx. cost, different methods of travel, etc. See if your plan makes logistical sense and is the best use of your time. (its a marathon)
Prioritize your wish list, you just don't have time to see everything in that amount of time. Look at some guidebooks, or YouTube, or videos to really zero in on the things that are most important to you.
Don't despair if your wish list is greatly reduced, just plan to return to Italy another time.
I think you are vastly underestimating how far apart, and how much time it will take to get from place to place, check in/out your hotel, get to trains, buy tickets, eat and actually have time to sightsee. You are sleeping in at least a dozen different cities in a trip of 17 days.
I have not been to Sicily, so I won't comment, except to say, it's the biggest island in the mediterranean and I've learned from this forum that it would take 2-3 weeks to do it justice. I'm sure others with first-hand knowledge will comment.
However, I've been to Italy 8 or 9 times, and CAN tell you, you are spending virtually your entire vacation in transit. And zigzagging all around. When will you have time to actually enjoy the sights?
So, try this: look on Rome2Rio.com. It will tell you how long it will take from place to place, approx. cost, different methods of travel, etc. See if your plan makes logistical sense and is the best use of your time. (its a marathon)
Prioritize your wish list, you just don't have time to see everything in that amount of time. Look at some guidebooks, or YouTube, or videos to really zero in on the things that are most important to you.
Don't despair if your wish list is greatly reduced, just plan to return to Italy another time.
Jun 21st, 2019, 04:48 PM
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Like Calabria62, I think this trip is so ambitious that it could be unpleasant. It would be for me, but YMMV. Do check rome2rio, block in time to either side of any move for the many challenges and tasks of relocating, and make sure you know what you want to do in each place and will actually have time for those priorities. I believe you said, on another thread, that you and your wife travel faster than most. IMO, there's a difference between traveling fast and traveling in a way that means you spend a disproportionately large amount of your time in transit rather than seeing the places where you alight.
Two other thoughts:
First, if you don't already have your airline tickets, consider open-jaw -- into one city and out of another.
Second, if there any chance that you will have jet lag on arrival then please don’t drive for a day or two! Although many people are not aware of it, there is mounting evidence that driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourself and others -- as driving drunk, and nothing you can do will prevent the microsleeps (which you might not even notice) that are the apparent culprit. Seriously -- NOT a good idea, no matter your other constraints and no matter your prior experience! And please be patient with me if you think I’m being overly adamant, but I know too many people who have died or been seriously injured in accidents to which jet lag was a contributing factor, and I know too many people who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with the knowledge that they were responsible for accidents that resulted in multiple deaths, including those of children, all because they were too confident in their ability to drive safely with jet lag. The issue has become a bit of a cause célèbre for me….
Two other thoughts:
First, if you don't already have your airline tickets, consider open-jaw -- into one city and out of another.
Second, if there any chance that you will have jet lag on arrival then please don’t drive for a day or two! Although many people are not aware of it, there is mounting evidence that driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourself and others -- as driving drunk, and nothing you can do will prevent the microsleeps (which you might not even notice) that are the apparent culprit. Seriously -- NOT a good idea, no matter your other constraints and no matter your prior experience! And please be patient with me if you think I’m being overly adamant, but I know too many people who have died or been seriously injured in accidents to which jet lag was a contributing factor, and I know too many people who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with the knowledge that they were responsible for accidents that resulted in multiple deaths, including those of children, all because they were too confident in their ability to drive safely with jet lag. The issue has become a bit of a cause célèbre for me….
Jun 21st, 2019, 06:39 PM
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There are a number is issues and it would take a lot of studying to sort through them. There is a lot of backtracking. Some, given the things you want to see, especially Sicily, can’t be helped.
However, the worst is you are landing in Rome, departing for Sicily, returning to Naples just South of Rome, then going way North to Como, then returning to Rome. Costly and time consuming to keep backtracking. It would be much better if you can do multi-city tickets, Into Rome and out of Milan. It would be better if you could do into Milan and out of Palermo or into Milan and out of Rome, etc. Probably can’t change your Last Supper tickets though, so try for something with less travel time.
Can you fly into Naples?
There are many possibilities.
Consider:
Arrive Rome
Rome sightseeing
Amalfi Coast (Sorrento, Pompeii, etc.)
Ferry from Salerno to Catania, Sicily
Sicily
Fly from Palermo or Catania to Milan (Como)
Home from Milan
Or
Arrive Rome, straight to Naples, do the AC
Ferry to Sicily (Catania or Palermo) from Naples
Sicily
Fly from Catania or Palermo to Milan
Fly or train from Milan to Rome
Rome
Home from Rome
Also, consider cutting Como and add time to the AC, Sicily or Rome.
However, the worst is you are landing in Rome, departing for Sicily, returning to Naples just South of Rome, then going way North to Como, then returning to Rome. Costly and time consuming to keep backtracking. It would be much better if you can do multi-city tickets, Into Rome and out of Milan. It would be better if you could do into Milan and out of Palermo or into Milan and out of Rome, etc. Probably can’t change your Last Supper tickets though, so try for something with less travel time.
Can you fly into Naples?
There are many possibilities.
Consider:
Arrive Rome
Rome sightseeing
Amalfi Coast (Sorrento, Pompeii, etc.)
Ferry from Salerno to Catania, Sicily
Sicily
Fly from Palermo or Catania to Milan (Como)
Home from Milan
Or
Arrive Rome, straight to Naples, do the AC
Ferry to Sicily (Catania or Palermo) from Naples
Sicily
Fly from Catania or Palermo to Milan
Fly or train from Milan to Rome
Rome
Home from Rome
Also, consider cutting Como and add time to the AC, Sicily or Rome.
Jun 21st, 2019, 06:55 PM
#7
Sorrento to Varenna on Lake Como will take 7 hours, and that's assuming you get a fairly early start in Sorrento. If you don't catch the 8:40 or 9:40 train from Naples (Sorrento is an hour away plus time to connect) and end up on the 11:00 train, the journey will take more than 7.5 hours. Is that what you had in mind? If so, at a minimum, I'd take a day away from Milan and spend it at the lake.
Jun 22nd, 2019, 04:28 AM
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Oh My! This itinerary needs serious rethinking unless you want to spend pretty much all of your time in transit instead of actually being anywhere. And the rest of your time packing and unpacking. I don't even know where to begin, but if my reckoning is correct, you have 18 days, including arrival and departure days, so 16 days for actual travel. With that amount of time, I'd pick 4 destinations at most. Even then you will lose a couple of days off the total in travel time.
Jun 22nd, 2019, 12:27 PM
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Italy 9/19
Hi
We have already booked flights into and out of Rome. We have also booked a visit to the Last Supper in Milan. Assuming that we visit the places that Deb is set on, would it make more sense to take a train from Rome south to the Amalfi coast and then a boat to Sicily and fly to Milan? This would eliminate the driving on the 1st day.
Jim
We have already booked flights into and out of Rome. We have also booked a visit to the Last Supper in Milan. Assuming that we visit the places that Deb is set on, would it make more sense to take a train from Rome south to the Amalfi coast and then a boat to Sicily and fly to Milan? This would eliminate the driving on the 1st day.
Jim
Jun 22nd, 2019, 02:48 PM
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Jun 22nd, 2019, 03:15 PM
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If you generally follow the original plan (even if you re-order the destinations), you have 17 days not impacted by arrival and departure, and you're contemplating staying in 12 different hotels. I know at least one poster who will come along and think this is very "doable," but for me this wouldn't qualify as a vacation. It's too fast to appreciate each destination.
For me, overnight ferries are like overnight trains. I don't sleep well and arrive knackered.
There is train service between Messina and Salerno that can take as little as 3:45 hours, and there is public transportation between Salerno and the AC towns and Sorrento, and there's train service between Salerno and both Naples (40 minutes) and Rome (90 minutes). I would give the entire itinerary a second look.
For me, overnight ferries are like overnight trains. I don't sleep well and arrive knackered.
There is train service between Messina and Salerno that can take as little as 3:45 hours, and there is public transportation between Salerno and the AC towns and Sorrento, and there's train service between Salerno and both Naples (40 minutes) and Rome (90 minutes). I would give the entire itinerary a second look.
Jun 22nd, 2019, 05:29 PM
#15
You need to do this over as Italy will be an unpleasant blur! You have two and half weeks. Stay longer in Sicily, slow down and see some of it without hopping all over the place quickly..Include Palermo. Add Rome if you wish.
Or drop Sicily and go to Naples,Amalfi Coast and Rome, Milan
Or Rome and Florence and Lake Como, Milan.
Is this trip for September 2019? Or 2020? We found some hotels were already full in Sicily when we booked our trip nine months ahead.
And as mentioned up thread, go to Trip Advisor’s Sicily Forum and ask expert poster Vagabonda for some help.
Or drop Sicily and go to Naples,Amalfi Coast and Rome, Milan
Or Rome and Florence and Lake Como, Milan.
Is this trip for September 2019? Or 2020? We found some hotels were already full in Sicily when we booked our trip nine months ahead.
And as mentioned up thread, go to Trip Advisor’s Sicily Forum and ask expert poster Vagabonda for some help.
Jun 27th, 2019, 05:59 PM
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Just FYI, I am headed to Amalfi Coast in September (2019) and put off booking accommodations until last week. Seems to be about 80-90% booked. We did end up booking two very nice hotels but blew our budget in the process. In case that helps you decide where to trip this itinerary...
