Trip to Italy- 14 days end of Sept - beginning Oct
 

THANK YOU for the many suggestions we received this weekend regarding possible COSMOS Tour. 25 yr old daughter and I will take on challenge to travel independently through Italy. We WELCOME travel suggestions regarding top 3-4 cities to visit and central hotel locations to stay. Any other tips from luggage to local private tours are also appreciated. Is it urgent that we reserve hotels and tours in the next week or do we have a little time 2-3 weeks to plan this out with some thought. Plan to do some homework but your experience is very helpful.

I would not tarry to book.
Tell us more---how many nights to sleep in Italy.
Do you have air bookings as yet? If not, consider open jaw booking---into Venice and home from Rome from instance.

Set the itinerary and timing first---all else will follow.

I followed your original thread and am interested to see this one. We are ready to help you and would love to help you create the best itinerary for YOU.

Therefore, keep in mind-- our "top" cities might not be your top cities. Tell us your ideas and interests, just to get us started. Do you love/hate . . . art museums? hiking? food? shopping? moving around a lot? history? ancient ruins? scenery? Also, tell us any specific Italy dreams you have . . . "We MUST include Venice" . . . "I've dreamed of seeing the David statue."

We want to make the best plan for YOU.

How much do you want to spend per night on hotels?

Hi, THANK YOU for offering to assist us!!! We are probably seeking balance between museums and scenery...
Of course Rome is on top of list- Vatican & Ancient Rome sites, Trevi fountain
Florence - David, the Duomo and Uffizi, Jewish ghettos?
Venice -Grand canal, Basilica, Gallerie dell Academia
We are interested in art museums and ancient room but equally like scenery,hiking, swimming to erase the calories collected as we enjoy the good food, espresso and gelatos.
We would like to go out at night to locations close to where we are staying but not "all" nite and will rise early in AM.
Wish to overnite at least one nite in southern Italy..Sorento? Swim? We can easily walk 4-5 miles daily...prefer local shops next to large. Willing to travel by bus or train. Plan to do a little shopping too for clothing, small items we can carry in our luggage not glass or heavy items.

Our original budget with Cosmos exceeded $300/day for the two of us. Would like to stay within this budget. Do not mind 3 star hotels and small quarters as long as bed and bath are clean with functional shower. We can share a bed but hope we aren't laughing so hard we keep our neighbors awake.

On your other thread, I already posted one hotel suggestion. It is for Hotel Casci in Florence, only about three blocks from the Duomo. It is a simple, small, family run place. Our room was spotless, quiet and had a big tub. The staff was wonderfully helpful and an older lady who organized breakfast (and other things) was very kind.

We were in Lucca and I felt slightly unwell so decided to go to Florence with which I was more familiar, so more comfortable. We called and got a room at Hotel Casci. The hotel clerk was starting to give us a room key, when the lady came out. She took one look at me, put her arm around my shoulder and told him to give me a differnt room, one with a big bath tub. She took us to the room and was back in only a few minutes with hot tea. This place is not at all fancy, but I sure felt cared for and would stay here again.
Pictures on the web site are accurate.

Just a suggestion but since you will be in the northern half of Italy, why not spend a night or two in the Cinque Terre instead of Amalfi Coast?

Did think about Cinque Terre rather then Amalfi Coast... This is our first trip to Italy becoming a reality. With so little time, looking for the pros and cons of this suggestion and others. We are GRATEFUL for your tips.

With 14 days I would recommend picking 3-4 bases max. Does your 14 days include travel days to and from Italy? If so you really only have 12 days and I would pick 3 bases with day trips.

If you have 14 days (13 nights in Italy)
You could fly into Venice spend 3 nights
Train to Florence 3 nights with a day trip to Siena, or Pisa/Lucca
Train to Rome 4 nights
Train to Sorrento 3 nights
Fly home from Naples

Keep in mind changing locations eats up about 1/2 day by the time you pack, check out, get to the station, wait for the train, travel, get to the next hotel, drop bags etc.

Also 3 nights = 2 full days, so I wouldnt do less than that. A 1 nighter means you lose 1/2 day on either side getting to and from your next location and not really any time to experience Italy.

Its hard to narrow down when you want to see everything but we all have to make choices about what to see. Perhaps you and your daughter should sit down with a guidebook and narrow down 3-4 places and go from there!

Enjoy!

Jamikins has a good itinerary above except I would reverse the last 2 and finish in Rome---more flight options.

But, I say again, set your itinerary and timing first. Will you have 12, 13, or 14 nites to sleeep in Italy? It makes a difference.

Very good point Bob! Much better idea to end in Rome!

And, if you're arriving after a long, overnight flight, allow time to get over jet lag at your first stop. Venice is the perfect place to do this: wandering around in a semi-daze getting lost, is appropriate sight-seeing there. (It's a small place; you can't really get lost.)

A general recommendation is to get centrally located hotels; you can waste a lot of valuable time getting into and out of the center by public transportation. Your $300/day includes lodging, meals, admission fees, and all transportation? A very rough guess would be $50/day for admission fees and transportation, $100/day for food, leaving $150/night for a hotel room. Does that sound right for you? What do you think, Fodorites?

A slight quibble with jamikins suggested itinerary: you can't train direct to Sorrento. You must train (from Florence or Rome) to Naples, then switch in the train station to the commuter train, the Circumvesuviana, to Sorrento. There are alternatives, like training to Salerno and taking a boat to Amalfi town and ataying there. Assuming the boats are still running at that time of year.

I hesitate slightly to recommend you go to the Amalfi Coast/Sorrento -- because the transportation is a bit more tricky. The Cinque Terre would be easier and make more sense with your itinerary.

Congratulations on your decision to do this yourself. You'll get so much more out of your trip.

I realised there was a change in Naples (have done it myself) - my point was it can be done using public transport (the Circumvesuviana is a train afterall) :)

Cinque Terre would work as well and is lovely too!

According to a poster on Thorntree the hiking trails between the towns in the Cinque Terre are still closed. FYI in case that is something you wanted to do.

Forgive me but what is the issue regarding the closed trails in Cinque Terre, sundried?

It means you can't hike between the towns...which is the main reason for some to visit so may impact whether you want to visit...

In choosing between CT and the AC, one factor would be how much you would like to see Pompeii. For me, seeing Pompeii (and Herculaneum) would tip the scale towards the AC.

Training to Naples and catching the local train to Sorrento is actually very, very easy, not anything to worry about.

Gale storm, the OP said in post June 11 @7:14 that hiking, swimming etc are interests of hers/his and daughter's.

Friend recently returned from trip stating we need to be careful about central hotels to stay in...seeking all suggestions for hotels in Rome, Florence, Venice and probably AC coast that mother and 25 yr old daughter might stay in...