I was wondering if anyone could give me any tips on a sample itinerary. I am going to Italy for the first time. I am 28 and pretty versatile person.

Friday night: Roma
Saturday: Roma
Sunday: Vatican St. Peter's
Monday: Train to Napoli
Vesuvio
Train to Sorrento
Tuesday: Bus from Sorrento to Amalfi Coast
(Should I go to Capri?)
Wednesday: Train from Salerno to Venice
Thursday: Venezia
Friday: Train from Venezia to Firenze
Saturday: Firenze
Sunday: Firenze
Monday: San Gimignano
Tuesday: Siena
Wednesday: Firenze
Thursday: Cinque Terra
Friday: Milano (visit a friend)
Saturday: Milano
Sunday: Milano
Monday: Milano a Philadelphia

I am open to any suggestions you may have.

Hi J,

I am so exhausted by your itinerary that I will have to go lie down for a while before I can answer.

2 days in Rome?

>Thursday: Venezia !!!!!!!

You are spending too much time visiting secondary sites for the short time that you have.

Assuming that you have to visit your friend in Milan, I suggest skipping the AC and the CT.

They will be there on your next visit.

I agree with Ira--skip Cinque Terreif only for a day. Plus try this reroute for less backtracking:

Friday night: Roma
Saturday: Roma
Sunday: Roma (Vatican St. Peter's)
Monday: Roma
Tuesday: Train to Napoli>Vesuvio>Train to Sorrento
Wednesday: Sorrento
Thursday: Sorrento (Bus to Amalfi Coast)
Friday: Train from Sorrento>Napoli> Firenze
Saturday: Firenze
Sunday: Firenze (San Gimignano)
Monday: Firenze (Siena)
Tuesday: Train from Firenze to Venezia
Wednesday: Venezia
Thursday: Venezia
Friday: Train from Venezia to Milano (visit a friend)
Saturday: Milano
Sunday: Milano
Monday: Milano a Philadelphia

And you are doing alot of back tracking,north from Salerno to Venice, back down south to Florence, then further south Siena, back to Florence, over to the coast to CT, then Milan. I realize that this is your first time to Italy, but take it easy, you have many years ahead of you to explore. Rome to Siena to Florence to CT to Milan is enough!!!

Good Lord, someone bring on the smelling salts - I'm positively faint after reading that!

You may be 28 and versatile, but if you tot up the amount of time you're planning to spend getting places as opposed to being places, I think you'll see that you're overreaching.

I'll chime in and say SLOW DOWN and smell the wine!! WOW! Maybe you could fly over Italy and look at everything with binoculars; you'll see about as much as you will with that itinerary.
I would cut it way back to maybe 4-5 cities or areas and maybe do a daytrip or two. Spend more time in Rome and Florence, they're really worth it.
Forget CT on this trip, save it for the next one.
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Thank you everyone for your tips. So far I am going to eliminate the Cinque Terra, but I do want to stay a week in Florence, taking side trips to San G and Siena. And I probably will eliminate the back tracking from Salerno to Venice, then Venice to Salerno.... but I did want to see the east coast by train though....but that is not a big deal. I think I am going to follow a similar itinerary posted by ellenem.

You views of scenery along the Amalfi coast will be similar to those in Cinque Terre, so you won't totally miss that kind of scenery.Glad your trip is coming together.

I would try to follow the geography of the country - in other words, I would not go from the south (Amalfi Coast) to Venice, then back track in a few days to see Florence. Either choose a route that goes North to South:
Venice
Milan
Florence
Rome
Amalfi
then out of Rome home

OR go South to North
(Reverse the above)

Criss-crossing around the country is not as efficient. If you stay in Florence a week, you can see much of Tuscany and that is a good plan.

I think that you might consider adding 2 days to the southern part (Sorrento/Amalfi) and making Florence only 5 days. That way you will be able to spend a day in Sorrento, perhaps an excursion to Capri (it is beautiful and we were glad we spent the day there) and have time for the drive down the coast, perhaps some time at Pompeii...

The main thing is, you will see many places you will want to revisit and explore in depth. That is why I have been to Italy so many times and will be going again this fall. I've been to Rome 8 times and have spent an accumulation of weeks there - and still am finding things to explore. Same holds true for Milan and Florence. The villages are wonderful,

Lucca
Cortona
Pienza
Assisi
San Gim.
Ravello


the list is endless.

Have a great time and remember you can always return in the future on another trip. If you take this trip a little slower, you can truly savor your first experience of Italy.