Two Week Honeymoon to Rome, Sorrento, Athens, & Santorini in May
 

We’re planning our May 2012 honeymoon and have a few questions about our itinerary -

Any other “Must See” or “Must Do” things we are missing for these cities?
What tickets to these places need to be purchased in advance (admissions, train/ferry/bus)?
Any recommendations for guides/guide books/audio guides to these sites? I’ve been to the colosseum before and the guided tour was excellent, but I’ve heard other sites, such as Delphi, don’t have as much information available onsite.

Rome - 3 Nights (2 Full days plus afternoon after international flight from US) Staying near Repubblica Metro Station
Plan to see Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Fountain of Trevi, Spanish Steps, one of the catacombs (which one is best!?), Vatican City Museums & St. Peter's Basilica

Sorrento - 2 Nights (going mostly for views along Amalfi Coast
Seeing Pompeii on the way to Sorrento, then Sorrento for dinner
One day seeing and hiking through Amalfi, Atrani, & Ravello. Second day ferry to Capri, then Positano in afternoon before returning to Rome. Anything specific to see in these towns?

Rome 1 night then flight to Athens

Athens - 3 Nights (staying in Plaka area)
Interested in Acropolis, Acropolis museum, and day trip to Delphi by bus.

Santorini - 3 Nights (staying in Imerovigli area)
Interested in views, ending our trip relaxing, walking through Oia, & ferry to volcano

IMHO, you do not have enough time to see everything you want to see in Rome - especially since the first afternoon will likely be wiped out due to jetlag.

You want to book tickets to the Vatican Museums in advance.

On your second day in Sorrento, you say "ferry to Capri, then Positano in afternoon before returning to Rome." So are you checking out of your hotel in Sorrento and will be dragging your luggage through Capri and Positano? How are you going to get from Positano to Rome? You need to check the ferry schedules to see when the ferries between Capri and Positano are running - it may be impossible to see both in the same day.

IMHO, you are trying to cram too much in - but then I don't like being exhausted when I get back from vacation, especially my honeymoon!

Right now your itinerary seems to be:

Day 1: arrive Rome - Rome, Night 1
Day 2: Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Fountain of Trevi, Spanish Steps, catacombs - Rome, Night 2
Day 3: Vatican City Museums & St. Peter's Basilica - Rome, Night 3
Day 4: travel to Sorrento; stop Pompeii - Sorrento, Night 1
Day 5: Seeing and hiking through Amalfi, Atrani, & Ravello - Sorrento, Night 2
Day 6: Ferry to Capri, then Positano in afternoon; train to Rome. - Rome, Night 4
Day 7: Fly to Athens - Athens, Night 1
Day 8: Acropolis, Acropolis museum - Athens, Night 2
Day 9: Day trip to Delphi by bus - Athens, Night 3
Day 10: travel to Santorini - Santorini, Night 1
Day 11: views, ending our trip relaxing, walking through Oia - Santorini, Night 2
Day 12: ferry to volcano - Santorini, Night 3
Day 13: Travel home

I think Day 6 is unrealistic and your Rome days are very full. I have never been to Greece so can't say if you have alloted your time well. It may ease some of your travel time if you can rearrange your schedule this way, so that one hotel change is eliminated:

Day 1: arrive Rome; travel to Sorrento - Sorrento, Night 1
Day 2: Seeing and hiking through Amalfi, Atrani, & Ravello - Sorrento, Night 2
Day 3: Ferry to Capri, then Positano in afternoon - Sorrento, Night 3
Day 4: Train to Pompeii; afternoon train to Rome; Fountain of Trevi, Spanish Steps - Rome, Night 1
Day 5: Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Pantheon, catacombs - Rome, Night 2
Day 6: Vatican City Museums & St. Peter's Basilica - Rome, Night 3
Day 7: Fly to Athens - Athens, Night 1
Day 8: Acropolis, Acropolis museum - Athens, Night 2
Day 9: Day trip to Delphi by bus - Athens, Night 3
Day 10: travel to Santorini - Santorini, Night 1
Day 11: views, ending our trip relaxing, walking through Oia - Santorini, Night 2
Day 12: ferry to volcano - Santorini, Night 3
Day 13: Travel home

We will be checked out of our hotel in Sorrento. In my experience, most train stations have lockers where you can store your stuff for the day. Is this not the case w/ Sorrento? Still playing around with how much of the Amalfi Coast/Capri we can see. We’ll be training back to Rome that evening.

I know the trip will be busy, but we’ll have a nice relaxing few days in Santorini at the end!

I think ellenem's re-arranged schedule makes much more sense. Brava!

If you insist on sticking with your original schedule, checking luggage at the Sorrento train station is a fine idea (assuming there is one - I know there is one at Pompeii). But I think you need to drop Positano and just stick to Capri that day. You will be riding through Positano on your way to Amalfi the previous day.

No lockers in Italian train stations. Lockers are considered a security risk. Some of the larger stations (Rome, Florence . . .) have Baggage Deposit rooms. The Sorrento station is a small commuter rail station. Hotels are usually happy to hold your luggage for you after you have checked out.

In any case, if you planned to travel "Ferry to Capri, then Positano in afternoon; train to Rome," you might plan a route that works better and does not actually pass back through Sorrento. Possibly Bus/ferry from Sorrento to Positano in the morning, afternoon ferry to Capri, evening ferry to Naples to catch train to Rome. As I said, this is a very unrealistic day--it could all go well or horribly wrong depending on the weather conditions and whether or not the ferries are running. My rework of your itinerary made your return to rome much simpler--Sorrento to Pompeii to Rome-- a direct route. There is luggage storage at the entrance to Pompeii.

I have been going back and forth between my posted itinerary and your reworked itinerary for a few weeks. My thinking in doing Sorrento second is that it will be a nice way to break up the busier Rome and Athens portions of the trip. Pompeii, Rome, Athens, & Delphi all back to back, simply put, seems like a lot of ruins in a row. I imagine the Amalfi Coast portion of the trip to be more mentally relaxing ... it will be about enjoying the scenery and the hikes through towns rather than getting to the major attractions.

No luggage storage at Sorrento train station.

I also think ellenem's revised itinerary is better, but it's still a little too fast-paced for me. The time in Rome feels especially short, and the schedule in the Sorrento/Amalfi Coast area is going to have you checking your watch all the time.

I reworked the itinerary for fewer hotel changes but included the same locations, but I doubt I would ever choose to take such a trip--Too short a time in each location for my taste.

Another way to think about it is that you will arrive in Italy and be jet-lagged for a day or two. Better to have modest activities out in the sunshine of Sorrento to adjust your clocks rather than a quick-march through Rome. Your clock and energy levels will be adjusted by the time you reach Rome so you'll be ready for the busy days you have planned.

You're only going to get an overview of Rome and the Sorrento/Amalfi Coast area. You should investigate the ferry and bus schedules for the Sorrento part.

FWIW, some people prefer to start in a more relaxing area than being plopped jet-lagged into Rome.

I never have liked the trips that try to combine Italy and Greece. Both deserve 2 weeks or more---I would pick one.

We are pretty much set on our itinerary (save maybe switching the order in Italy). As far as Sorrento goes, I don’t necessarily have to see every city on my list. Although I have no doubt each town has their own unique charm, I really am just hoping to see the views and walk through a few of them. I kind of expect to play the Amalfi coast part of the trip by ear, seeing how the weather is for ferries etc.

That being said, my real questions about my itinerary were:

Any other “Must See” or “Must Do” things we are missing for these cities?

What tickets to these places need to be purchased in advance (admissions, train/ferry/bus)?

Any recommendations for guides/guide books/audio guides to these sites?

In Rome, day 2, In order to accomplish all on your very ambitious list, go to www.customtoursrome.com and have Emilio Menastre take you everywhere in comfort. He has a special access pass to drive into restricted areas and you'll have a wonderful day. He is worth it.

k_traveler - Have you ever traveled in Europe before? I don't think you are taking into account how long some things can take (getting to and from train stations, bus stations, ferry ports, buying tickets, etc.). There may only be a few ferries at that time of year so you have to work around their schedule, not yours. Buses on the coast can sometimes be full making you take the next bus which puts your schedule behind. I really can't see how you would have time to get to the catacombs.

Delphi is I think three hours from Athens so that would be six hours on transportation in one day. IMO, Delphi is better enjoyed staying overnight there.

>>>What tickets to these places need to be purchased in advance (admissions, train/ferry/bus)?<<<

With your limited time and rushing about, I suggest you book a combo tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's through the Vatican. They don't book more than a couple of months in advance.
http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-In...zi_Visite.html

The Colosseum/Palantine/Forum combo ticket can be purchased on Pierreci. Ticket should be good for two days.
http://www.pierreci.it/home-page/en/.../colosseo.aspx

You will need to buy ferry (or hydrofoil) tickets when you get to Sorrento and see what's running. You might consider taking a ferry from Sorrento to Amalfi where you can catch a bus up to Ravello. Take the bus back to Sorrento from Amalfi. Depending on how much you plan to ride the bus, you might want a day ticket.

Most sites have audio guides you can rent. Rick Steves has free audio guides of St. Peter's, Vatican Museums, Colosseum/Forum/Palantine, Pantheon and Pompeii on ITunes.

Regarding the catacombs, you could do the Catacombs of Priscilla which are in Rome instead of going further outside of the city. Or, how about seeing St. Peter's tomb on the Scavi tour at St. Peter's Basillica?

FWIW, we spent the better part of a day the first time we went to Pompeii and a half-day combined with a half-day at Herculaeneum on our second visit. The real "treasures" of Pompeii are housed in the archeology museum in Naples.

Rome must-sees for me would include:

Galleria Borghese [reservations required]
Scavi excavations under St. Peter's [reservations required]
Ara Pacis
Castello Sant'Angelo
Several churches (some for Caravaggio paintings, some for mosaics, some for the excavations below)

why would you not include Positano when you are already along the Amalfi coast hiking and going to Ravello?

If you go to Positano that day, the next day you are only doing Capri, and then you can catch the train to Rome that night without stressing.

Thanks for all of the advice! I will definitely look into Vatican/St. Peter’s combo tours and Colosseum/Palantine/Forum combo ticket. Do you know if the Colosseum ticket gives you access to the dungeons too, or do you have to pay for a tour of that (and is it worth it)? I don’t think we’re interested in doing a driving tour where we have a guide showing us around all day, it kind of makes it feel like a cruise excursion then ;)

I put Positano on the different day from Amalfi/Ravello because it looked further away and harder to group. We’ll definitely consider seeing all the Amalfi Coast towns on our list that first day to allow for a fuller day at Capri. What are people’s favorite things to see in any of these towns? And is it worth cutting time on the coast shorter to be able to se Capri?

I would rearrange ellenem's itinerary as follows:

Day 1: arrive Rome; travel to Sorrento - Sorrento, Night 1
Day 2: Seeing and hiking through Amalfi, Atrani, & Ravello - Sorrento, Night 2
Day 3: Ferry to Capri, then Positano in afternoon - Sorrento, Night 3
Day 4: Train to Pompeii; afternoon train to Rome; Fountain of Trevi, Spanish Steps - Rome, Night 1
Day 5: Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Pantheon, catacombs - Rome, Night 2
Day 6: Vatican City Museums & St. Peter's Basilica - Rome, Night 3
Day 7: Fly to Athens and on to Santorini- Santorini, Night 1
Day 8: views, ending our trip relaxing, walking through Oia - Santorini, Night 2
Day 9: ferry to volcano - Santorini, Night 3
Day 10: Ferry or fly back to Athens - Athens, Night 1
Day 11: Acropolis, Acropolis museum - Athens, Night 2
Day 12: Day trip to Delphi by bus - Athens, Night 3
Day 13: Fly home
Day 13: Travel home

This intermixes city and relaxation stretches and uses that first jet-lagged day to get to Sorrento. It's always safer to be in your departure city the day before a flight, so with this itienerary you in Rome before flying to Athens and in Athens before flying home.

BTW, you can store your luggage at Pompeii, then pick it up before you continue to Naples.

Got to agree you're cramming a lot in here.

You are not going to have time to...ummm.....ummmmm

Never mind, you'll have the rest of your lives for that.