toma12

I'm in the beginning stages of planning a 10 day family trip to Italy next year. We would really like to spend time in Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast, as well as see Rome. We are thinking of renting Villas somewhere in Tuscany and at the coast. My questions:

1. Are we asking too much for what will essentially be 8 days in Italy?
2. How much time do we need to get a feel for Rome?
3. Is the distance between all three too far? Will we be spending too much time traveling or is this easily doable?

Thank you everyone for taking the time to help me out.

nylilly

In my opinion, that’s far too ambitious. If the purpose of the trip is to enjoy time with family, I’d suggest no more than two destinations, either Rome and Florence or Rome and Naples. Dashing from place to place doesn’t sound fun to me.

AJPeabody

Your numbers don't work for the places you want. Eight days over three places means two days each, since getting from one place to the next will use a day. Attempting to rent a "villa" for only two days will also be difficult. What do you expect to actually do in each of the three places? You will see that 8 days is good for at best two places (4 plus 3 plus a travel day).

Sassafrass

When are you going? Crowds and temperature to consider for travel and specific locations. Example: heat of Summer, you will want a pool.
How many people? Transportation to consider. Trains, car rental, driver, etc.
Ages of people? Children, teens, older, mobility? Activities to plan.
What kind of trip does your group want? Seeing some of the great architecture and art in Italy, historic Roman ruins, archeological sites, amazing natural beauty? Are they thinking hang out, chill, relaxing vacation?

Tours sometime make a fast day or two in Rome, but personally, I think three days (four nights) is minimum to “get a feel” for Rome. Even that is rushed, but doable if your group wants to be on the go..

Getting to Naples and on to either Sorrento in the beautiful Bay of Naples or on to someplace on the Amalfi Coast takes time. Besides soaking up the natural beauty, your group would probably want to see places like Pompeii, Herculaneum, Capri, Positano, perhaps museums in Naples. Absolute minimum for the AC is three days (four nights)

Florence (Tuscany) is so different from the Amalfi Coast and Rome, it would be great to do all three if you can extend your trip by at least two days. There are so many places to see, walled cities like Siena, the Art and architecture in Florence, vineyards, Pisa. If really well planed, with no time to relax, you can see a good bit in three days (four nights).

Do not book flights or lodging until you have finalized your itinerary. People do that (thinking they have found a bargain flight) and are then stuck spending a lot of time and extra money getting to the places they actually want to be.

mbrevitas

I like fast-paced trips more than the average Fodorite, I suspect, and I'm fine with visiting some highlights and moving on without attempting to be comprehensive in my exploration (which is a futile effort anyway, usually). That being said, yes, I'd say that's far, far too ambitious.

Tuscany is quite a big place, and a villa somewhere in the countryside means a long journey to get there from the airport and from there to the next stop. (Well, not a super-long journey, but it's not like flying directly to Florence and then taking the high-speed train to Rome). For a couple of days or so I'd say it's not worth it, unless you're already in the area and have seen other places in Italy.

The bay of Naples is also fairly big and full of interesting places to visit. You could ignore Naples, all the islands, mount Vesuvius, Herculeaneum and Pompeii, Sorrento etc. and just head to the Amalfi coast, but it'd be a shame not to stop in at least one or two of those places, especially those you have to go through anyway when travelling between Rome and the Amalfi coast.

For Rome, I'd say three days is the bare minimum to get a feel, unless you absolutely do not care about art or about ancient ruins (but then, perhaps Rome is not the best destination...). Five days is perhaps ideal for a fast-paced trip of the world-class stuff. A week or so is advisable if you want to take it a bit (not a lot) slower or go a little bit off the beaten path (by Rome standards, we're still talking about sights that would be the highlight in most other cities).

If you really, really want to see Tuscany, Rome and the Amalfi coast, you could do it, with a couple of days in Florence, three full days in Rome, and a couple of days in Amalfi or a nearby town, but I recommend picking only Tuscany (one or two towns, or a villa and daily trips), only Rome (with day trips), or only the bay of Naples (arranging the 8 days depending on interests). Alternatively, you could do both Rome and the Amalfi coast, visiting Naples and Pompeii/Herculaneum along the way, and it'd still be fast-paced. Also consider visiting Rome and then staying somewhere else in Lazio for a couple of days to scratch the rural/small-town itch, instead of going all the way to Tuscany (which is undeservedly much more famous than Lazio internationally, anyway, in my opinion).

Jean

How big is the family? It's pretty easy for one or two travelers to maintain a fast pace for 10 days. Traveling in a group/family with differing stamina levels, interests, priorities, etc., can be like herding cats. If one or two people have trouble adjusting to the time change, the first day or two might be slower if you all want to stay together.

KTtravel

I agree that two locations are the most you should attempt.

annw

I'm with those urging focusing on 2 rather than 3 locations, but if you must:

Fly into Florence, or any Euro hub with high speed train connections to Florence.
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Stay at an agriturismo in a small town outside Florence with good connections to the city (bus or train). I like Impruneta, but many other options, about a half hour out. Look at Villa Monteoriolo and Villa L'Olmo. Go into Florence for the day by bus or taxi. If you have a car, though, the country side driving is lovely. Stop for lunch, or wine/olive oil tasting. Three of the 8 days. (If you stay in Florence I recommend Hotel David.) A nice breaking-in for the trip.

I'd take high speed train Florence to Rome. I would spend time in Rome if you are at all interested in the historical sites. We stay in Trastevere neighborhood but somewhere more central would be near the Pantheon (Albergo del Senato has been good, but not inexpensive) or Campo de Fiori. 2 of the 8 days to get a feel for Rome. Forum, Colloseum, Pantheon; swing by the Vatican, maybe?

From Rome there are trains to Naples/Sorrento or Salerno (south of the AC) and drivers/taxis from there. We prefer to stay in Ravello, up in the hills, but many like Sorrento--not exactly on the AC but very accessible with ferries, buses and many like to stay there. Positano is on the AC, as is Amalfi, which is kind of a transportation hub for ferries/buses/taxis with a walkable center. 2-3 days. Positano is a quite vertical town, BTW. Amalfi less so and possibly the best hub. Some smaller towns (Minori, fpr example) are south of Amalfi and north of Salerno.

If possible, fly back from Naples or Rome to avoid backtracking.

toma12

Wow! Excellent recommendations. Thank you all very much. I believe we need to limit our trip to two cities rather than three.

Tom

stokebailey

It took me 3 full days to start appreciating Rome. That evening, no longer burdened with must-sees, we could walk quiet streets and enjoy the lights reflected on the river.

If we'd left that afternoon, I'd have come away thinking I didn't much like Rome.

annettehol5561

We flew to Rome and spent 3 days there and then hired a car to drive to Tuscany where we stayed for a week in a villa relaxing but had a few trips out. There is so much to see in Tuscany it would be a shame to spend less time there. We loved Florence,Sienna and San Giminagno. I haven't been to the Naples area so can;t compare. We then flew back home from Pisa.