My wife and I are taking my daughter (20) to Italy for Spring Break in March of 2011. We have 5 1/2 days and 6 nights. Not very long I know. We are planning on staying 3 nights and 2 days in Rome and then a train trip to Venice for a day and night. We would then like to go the Amalfi coast. We will only have about a day and a half. What is the best way to get from Venice to Amalfi and what do we need to focus on to get the most out of the Amalfi coast? Would you recommend the Amalfi Coast over Siena and Tuscany in March? We are open to any suggestions. Thanks.

You will be spending the built of your time traveling form one place to another. If it were me I would do just Rome - but if you want to add ONE other place that can be done - although a stretch. To do Venice and Amalfi makes no sense at all.

And don;t fly in and out of Rome. You will save time and backtracking by flying into Venice and out of Rome - and it shouldn;t cost any more.

John, unless you live in a Europe country which I doubt you and and your family are flying from the US and will no doubt have jetlag when you arrive in Rome.

You say that you will have 6 nights. If it was my trip I would spend the 6 nights at a hotel in Rome. There is no way I would consider taking the train to Venice as that would take up a good part of your precious days considering packing up, checking out of your Rome hotel, getting to to the train station, taking the train to Venice, getting to your Venice hotel etc.

I cannot conceive how with the time that you will have in Italy that you could enjoy Rome, Venice and than to the Amalfi Coast which is south of Rome and than fly home from Rome.

Again, if it was my trip I would either fly in and out of Rome and have the hotel in Rome for the six nights and take a day trip to say Orvieto (one hour by train) or even to Florence (90 minutes by train) or fly and in and out of Venice and take a train for a day trip to Padova or Verona perhaps.

We all have different methods of travelling but seriously I do not comprehend how your itinerary would work out considering the time that you will have in Italy.

Do, if you do not have one, get a map of Italy and do check the train schedules etc. And I sure wish you two and your daughter a lovely week in Italy.

With 6 nites a max of 2 destinations.
Or, save your $$$ and go when you have at least 10 days tp spend.

Rome to Venice to Amalfi Coast in 6 nights is not-do-able. As others have suggested, either spend the entire time in Rome (and maybe take one or two day-trips) or go right to the Almafi Coast from the airportfor a couple of days, then go back to Rome. And if you stay in Rome for awhile, consider renting an apartment rather than staying at a hotel.