monkeybutt

My husband and I are trying to schedule a trip to Italy. we are budgeting about 14 days and we hope to go to Venice, Florence, Rome and possibly Amalfi Coast (we initially thought about spending a couple of days in Naples but i hear it's not worth it). We've looked at the group guided tours that large companies like trafalgar and others offer, and we are also looking at booking this on our own. basically we are lost and we need some guidance...
1. guided tour v. traveling on our own? -- the guided ones we are looking at does provide days and/or afternoons of leisure time, but we are still concerned that we will feel rushed and we'd prefer to go around on our own (And find our own places to eat and take our time sightseeing) ; BUT, there's something about the fact that they take care of all your transfers from hotel to hotel, city to city and your tickets for sightseeing.... (neither of us speak any Italian)
2. How should we divide up the days in these cities? I've been told that Rome requires at least 3-4 days. we'd also love to go see near by areas while in Florence like going out to Pisa and maybe nearby vineyards.
3. If you recommend we travel on our own instead of the guided tour, What's the best way to go from City to City? should we take the trains? if so, do we need to purchase those tickets in advance before we arrive?
4. what's also the best way to go around and see surrounding areas of Florence? should we rent a car? my husband is a bit nervous about driving in Italy because we've heard that it can get very confusing...
those are the questions I have but i know there are things i shoudl be considering and i am not. please any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance!!!

Rosie7235

We are doing a similar trip in June and we booked on our own, but that was partly because we have 2 people joining us on day three. I would definitely have considered doing a guided tour if we could have since we are visiting so many places and this is our first real trip to Italy. This is our itinerary, which is not as efficient as possible because of the 2 people joining:

Day 1 Arrive Venice
Day 2 Venice
Day 3 Florence
Day 4 Florence (Day trip to Siena by bus)
Day 5 Florence
Day 6 Leave Florence for a food tour in Bologna, walk around Bologna for a bit after, then head to Rome.
Day 7 Rome
Day 8 Rome
Day 9 Rome
Day 10 Sorrento (see Pompei on the way)
Day 11 Sorrento (Day trip to Capri)
Day 12 Sorrento (Possibly Amalfi coast drive)
Day 13 Back to Rome to fly home

We are taking trains from city to city and purchased our passes in advance and also made our train reservations in advance. We want to take trains at specific times, so it made sense to get the pass. It would be cheaper if you are more flexible with train times to do individual tickets. It's not necessary to purchase in advance, but that's what made the most sense to us.

Not sure about driving, but I remember seeing posts about driving in Florence and it was not recommended. There are many tours of the surrounding areas of Florence though.

We have booked the tours and hotels/apartments on our own and it seemed fairly easy. We spoke with 2 travel agents to help us book everything, but it was significantly cheaper to book on our own. Hope this is of some help. There are many other people on here who have a lot more experience with Italy.

DRJ

If you are going "city to city", by all means take the train. they are mostly on schedule and you don't have to find parking, etc. For 14 days my choice would be five or six in Venice, two in Florence and the rest in Rome. I'd leave Amalfi for the nexr trip.

wayfinder45

I’m with your DH – I wouldn’t want to drive around – but the alternative doesn’t have to be a group tour. It is incredibly easy to travel by train in Italy (it's even easier if you pack lightly). You can always arrange for day tours (e.g., to a vineyard) to make things easier in that respect. There are numerous walking tours, museum tours, etc. as well that you can book to suit your schedule and interests.

You do not need to book your train tickets in advance, although you can use the Trenitalia web site and get discounted fares for booking in advance. If you don't buy them in advance, one good tip is to buy tickets for all the major legs of the trip once you arrive to ensure you get seats and the train times you prefer. This is easily done with a credit card at the automated kiosks in the larger stations. For side trips (like Florence-Pisa) there is rarely any need to buy tickets in advance. Local/regional trains stop at many small towns in Tuscany, and there is a convenient bus route from Florence to Siena.

For the places you are planning to tour, Italian is not needed. Most hotel staff speak English and most hotels will arrange museum and tour reservations and provide other advice and assistance.

kybourbon

Rosie's itinerary would be more efficient if Rome was at the end instead of going there twice (I think she was traveling with friends and has a specific reason for her itinerary). Most people would also choose another day or two in Venice by eliminating one from Florence.

Does your 14 days include your flight days? How many hotel nights do you have in Italy?

monkeybutt

Thank you so much for all your advice so far! It gives me the confidence to plan our own trip instead of a group tour.

Kbourbon - we are somewhat flexible on the number of days but we are trying not to go over 14 days including flights from the States (East coast) ....

also, these excursions and/or day tours (like to a vineyard) what's the best way to find them? through the hotel when we get there? or online before arriving? if so, what sites would you recommend? Thanks again!!!!

jgg

1. I would strongly recommend you do on your own - very easy to do, especially with all the info. on this board. No worries, many people speak English especially those working in hotels and restaurants in the major cities.

2. Our first trip to Italy was two weeks and we did 5 nights Rome, 4 nights Venice and 4 nights Florence - I thought it was ideal. If you want to include Amalfi, I would take one night from each spot and have 3 nights in Amalfi.

3. City to city definitely just take the train. Easy. You don't have to book until you get there, but if you feel more comfortable, book before you go.

4. We have driven in Italy on two trips, and found it not too difficult, particularly in the countryside (though driving through the center of Milan was definitely a challenge!!). A GPS is extremely helpful. However, with your trip, I would suggest either just taking the bus to Siena, or booking a day trip guided tour to areas around Florence that you would like to see. We had the car because we were staying in the Tuscan countryside, but if you are staying in Florence, you do not want to have a car. With only 3-4 days there you will probably only have one day to do the countryside, so not worth having a car for.

gh21

I also recommend booking yourself. In Oct my DH and I are doing a similar trip to jgg's item 2 above. Based on research here, guidebooks and Internet, we have booked hotels, a few tours ( Vatican, colosseum). Will book train tickets in advance to take advantage of MINI fares-- check out the Trentitalia website for tickets. For wine tasting tours, a google search of Tuscan wine tours or chianti wine tours will give you lots of info for day or half day tours from Florence. We will also prebook timed admission to Borghese Gallery in Rome and museums in Florence to avoid lines. Website Roninrome.com ( Ron in Rome) will help answer many of your questions and offer many suggestions on topics such as buying train tickets, museums, reserving Vatican tours etc etc.

monkeybutt

Thank you guys for your responses.
Whats the best way to go from Rome to Amalfi? and if we are doing Venice, Florence, Rome and Amalfi, where should we fly in and out of? initially we were thinking that we'd fly into Venice, then train to Florence, then train to Rome, then somehow to Amalfi (is there also a train from Rome to Amalfi?) then back to Rome to fly out? is that really the most efficient way to do this? or should we try to fly out of somewhere else closer to Amalfi? or even just change the order completely? Thank you guys for all your help.

ekc

IMO it is too much to see Venice, Florence, Rome and Amalfi in 12 days. You say you can't go more than 14 days, which means you really have 12 days in Italy (losing 1 day traveling each flying to/from the US). Each time you change cities you lose at least half of a day (packing, checking out of hotel, getting to train station, train ride, transport to new hotel, check in). So with 4 cities you lose another 2 days, so now you are down to 10 days. Not enough to truly see and experience all 4 locations. So stick to the Big Three, flying into Venice and out of Rome, taking the train from Venice to Florence and Florence to Rome.

kybourbon

>>>is that really the most efficient way to do this?<<<

No, it wastes time checking in and out of hotels in Rome twice. It would be more efficient to fly out of Naples, but usually those flights are much more expensive. To not backtrack/waste time if it's a lot cheaper to fly out of Rome:

Fly into Venice - visit

Train to Florence - visit

Train to Naples or Salerno - visit (train depends on where you choose to stay on Amalfi coast)

Train to Rome - visit

Fly home from Rome.

>>>then somehow to Amalfi (is there also a train from Rome to Amalfi?) <<<

No trains in Amalfi. Trains from Rome go to either Naples or Salerno. In Naples you switch to the local train line to Sorrento and then the Sita bus to Amalfi. In Salerno, you would take either the Sita bus or a ferry to Amalfi.

mamcalice

WIth 13 days on the ground, I would consider skipping Amalfi for this trip and spending 4 days in Venice, 4 in Florence and 5 in Rome. Fly into Venice and out of Rome. If you do decide to go to Amalfi, fly into Venice (3 days), train to Florence (3 days, train to Amalfi (3 days) and then to Rome (4 days) and fly home from there.

What time of year are you considering?

monkeybutt

Hmmm. it sounds like getting to Amalfi isnt the easiest! It's our first time to Italy and who knows when we will be back there? There are so many other places in Europe that we also want to experience. (i hope that our next trip to Europe will be Athens and the Greek Isles!)
That's why we wanted to add Amalfi but we also dont want to waste our precious time in Italy just moving around from hotel to hotel or leave thinking we didnt get to really experience the cities because we didnt give ourselves enough days in each.

>>>>What time of year are you considering?<<<<
we are looking to go during the first two weeks of October. We can also do during end of august or beginning of September but i thought October would be better as it may not be as hot or as crowded....

wayfinder45

October is ideal IMO.

nytraveler

I believe you're trying to pack too much into too few days. 4 places in 12 days is spending a large amount of time in transit - and really cutting short some major sights. IMHO there are a lot of times when less is more. By not rushing so much you will have the chance to understand italy better - and relax a little - versus always be on edge about getting to the next sight or the next city.