hahahoney

I believe staying for just 4 days in countryside would not give that flavour rather I would stay in Florence and may be tour with a car for one day, also getting villa for 4 nights would be a difficult job, let's see but what should be the preference ?

hahahoney

Spending another day in venice is better or using that day in florence/tuscany region. Venice will be lot cooler than florence and this could be one of the factors.

PalenQ

Venice will be lot cooler than florence and this could be one of the factors>

<cooler> meaning really cool like super nice

or weather cooler - i guess that was the meaning and true but i also think Venice just about the coolest - sweetest - city in the whole world IMO - do not give it short shrift - get away from the tourist mobs and wander around many areas that are rather void of tourists - that is the Venice i love.

hahahoney

@PalenQ , so should I take out one day from Rome and add it to Venice, which would be better. I believe I would not want much of sightseeing , so 3 nights would be enough for Rome.

And specifically I would want to ask you , given you are one of the supporters of AC even in december, others have not recommended it but I still want to do it , rather do a 3 night stay and try visiting , pompei, positano , capri/ischia.
I would be using public transport fro travelling and base in sorrento.

hahahoney

tickets booked finally, would be flying into rome and flying out of venice.

Now next step would be booking hotels. Just wanted advice on this , given december would be off-season , should we book hotels now or wait for last minute deals until say , one month ago the travel date.

PalenQ

hahahoney - i recently visited the Cinque Terre in early January and found it was worthwhile - actually since there were so few tourists there it was in some ways more delightful than in summer when some of the towns here and on the AC are way way to crowded for my tastes

And Sorrento is the perfect place - will still be some tourists there and easy to hop buses from it along the AC- say to Amalfi, the town itself and to Ravello, a few miles up from Amalfi- and ferries to Capri and the little CircumVesuviana train right to the gates of Pompeii

Sure days are short, etc in December but the towns are just as nice as they are in summer - the looks of the towns, etc.

3 nights in Rome IMO lets you see the 'must' sights that bring you to Rome in the first place - and another day in Venice will allow you to take a boat say to Murano for the glass blowing shops or Burano, etc.

justshootme

hahahoney, I just want to chime in and say go to the AC. I know I advised against it earlier because of the weather (which is not ideal in Dec). Why do I say go for it now, simply because you are determinatied to include the AC in your plans on your Dec trip. Sounds like you've dreamt of Italy for sometime and those dreams include the AC. Having read your posts on this thread I feel if you do not include the AC you will be disappointed. Go for it. Consider Pompeii and Capri as day trips from the AC, but remember to check the weather and ferry schedule for Capri before you leave the AC.

As for Rome, I would not spend only 3 nights there, which really is only 2 full days for sightseeing. Even if your flight arrives at 9 am, FCO is far from Rome and you will not have the full day for sightseeing. Also, remember you maybe tired from the long plane ride so much of what you do/see on the first day depends on how you feel. It's possible to see the main sights at a brisk pace in 2 days but I think Rome deserves more time. Consider buying the Rome Pass if you want to visit at least 2 of the included attractions as this will save you $ and time standing in entrance lines. The Rome Pass also includes the use of buses/subways, etc. Look at the website, www.romepass.it to determine if you will get your money's worth buying the pass. Remember the Vatican sights are not included in the Rome Pass and if you plan on visiting the Villa Borghese you need to book in advance. Visit the two most expensive attractions first, and then you can use the pass for discounts at other attractions.

As for Venice, I do suggest a day trip to Murano and Burano. Venice is easy to get around using the Vaporetti, but it can be time consuming. Given you have an early flight from VCE, I'd look at accomodation from where it is easy to get to the airport at that time of day. You definitely want to avoid an expensive water taxi ride to the airport.

Whether you should spend an extra day in Venice or Florence really depends on what you want to see in each place. Definitely try to get off the beaten track in Venice. Florence is a compact walkable city, do a search on this forum for posts by ira he has posted a good walking tour/itinerary for people who wanted to visit Florence as a day trip. His directions are spot on.

One thing you may want to consider is to visit the AC first, this way once you arrive at FCO, you can claim your baggage/clear immigration and take the train to Termini and then travel to the AC. Remember, each time you move from one city to another you'll spend half a day travelling. Why not travel to the AC the day you arrive since you haven't settled into Rome. I think it would make the remainder of the trip easier.

hahahoney

@palenq, so we fix on sorrento for AC. Hope for sea remain good , so that Capri would be possible.

@justshootme, atleast someone supported me with the decision on AC. But now I would be arriving FCO around 4:30pm , so that day is completely gone. I would keep in mind to search a place so that airport is easily reachable.
Would add murano/burano to trip I have been there last time I was in venice and place were awsome.
So now on decision whether to go to AC directly or not, I believe going to AC on the first day now, would not be helpful . So I guess I would start from rome then AC then florence/tuscany and finally venice.

hahahoney

I have a quick question regarding car rental. over here driving is on the left side of the road and so steering is on the right side of the car whereas in Italy it would be opposite.
So how easy or difficult it could be to manage the same.

I am again trying to change the iter a lil bit.
I would be flying into rome and landing at around 4:30pm, so planning to take a bus/train to sorrento same day and rech till say 8/9pm. Is this feasible, this would save me long travel and give full day everywhere else.

franco

Well, for me, it's the other way round (used to sitting on the left and driving on the right), and it's certainly a challenge to change the side of the road. But it's also certainly manageable. It does require attention, though. The last change in your itinerary seems reasonable to me, but I can't comment on the feasibility of getting to Sorrento in time.

hahahoney

I guess its possible , though we might need to drive at lower speeds certainly.

I will try to find something on reaching to sorrento directly. I believe the direct buses from Airport to sorrento are only twice a day(found somewhere on the web). So either I take a train to termini , go to naples and change to reach sorrento.
How much would private transfer cost for two people from FCO to sorrento ? Any ideas.

hahahoney

Just a small question regarding stay in venice,
given I will have to take the bus from piazzle roma (no other option I guess) at around 5 am. So I am planning to stay around there.
Is it a good place to stay for all 3 nights or should I stay for 2 nights near to centre and then move in for the last night here.

Please advise

Peter_S_Aus

Even at 5:00 AM you could get from San Marco to Piazzle Roma in about half an hour, maybe a bit more.

I’d not choose to stay near Piazzle Roma. Pick a hotel near Rialto.

hahahoney

I am still worried about hwo to reach airport on time. I already asked this , but again , given my flight departs at 7am frm venice. I would be supposed to reach by around 5 5:30.
Also another problem , given it is a sunday , so atvo only have hourly service starting 5am.
So assuming I stay around rialto bridge , I might have to start earlier to reach piazzle roma at 5 am.
Any other option than water taxi , I read there is road taxi , which is around 35 euro or something.

franco

There's no need to worry. Who said you should be at the airport at 5 am? Marco Polo is a small airport, if you arrive at 6 am, that's definitely early enough, so you don't even have to take the first bus. No taxis, just go by vaporetto and bus whenever they start to go. And if you arrive at 10 minutes past 6, still fine. This is Italy! A blissfully non-highstrung country, particularly when it comes to punctuality...

hahahoney

@franco ,thanks a lot for your advice. It comes as a big relief, I am planning to take vaporetto/walk to reach piazzle roma and try to catch the atvo bus which runs at an frequency of an hour. If I lose the bus somehow , I can catch the taxi (30-35 euro). So it should be ok.

franco

Even if you miss the ATVO bus, you won't need to take a taxi. ATVO is only the second company running busses to the airport; the first is ACTV, the same company that's also responsible for the vaporetti.

PalenQ

would be flying into rome and landing at around 4:30pm, so planning to take a bus/train to sorrento same day and rech till say 8/9pm. Is this feasible, this would save me long travel and give full day everywhere else.>

OK - take the Leonardo Express train to Rome Termini - 20 mins with about a 15-min walk to the airport train station (where you buy your tickets to Termini and Termini to Naples)

train to Naples - 1.5 hours - leave twice an hour

in Naples about 7pm - hop CircumVesuviana train from Naples Centrale station (5 min walk thru corridors to this train) arrive Sorrento 8:30-9pm and there are many later trains as well.

hahahoney

@palenQ, the plan looks reasonable , but can be a bit tiring on the first day itself. I am not worried much about jetlag, when the last train on CircumVesuviana from naples.

Still can be given a shot at. Let me rethink over it, before finalising on anything.

PalenQ

I would say that last train would leave around midnight from naples.