What to see in Italy?
 

Hello All...well my wife and I are more comfortable with "Do it yourself" trip to Italy as opposed to a coach tour. With our teenage boys it sounds like it is do-able. Thanks to everyone for their advice and suggestions.

Now the hard part..if we are the for 12-14 days and want to do some of the touristie things how many nights in each city. What should we not miss? My wife desperately wants to visit Pompei. We are thinking Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan and Pompei. Is this do-able in 12-14 days? I look forward to everybody's suggestions. we have both Fodor's and Frommer's travel books and will scour them for thing to see and places to stay. Any suggestions on a travel company to help with our trip..or should we do that on our own as well. Thanks Jboz

You can certainly lay out your trip on your own. First, get a table sized map of the whole country, so you can rough out your travel path. This kind of map is NOT detailed enough for driving, but a great way to get a feel for where you want to go.
A few things to nail down early in your planning:
Can you get an 'open jaw' flight? This way you can fly into Rome and out of Venice (or whatever). This will have a big impact on your travel route.
Will you be renting a car, or just using public transportation. As wonderful as the cities of Italy are, the real charm of Italy (IMHO) is the countryside. To really enjoy the countryside, you probably need a car. On the other hand, you don't want a car while in the cities.
Once you make these decisions, your planning will fall into place much easier. Hitting 4 cities in 14 days is doable, but you'll be spending a fair amount of time in transit. I would try and cut out one city, perhaps Milan.

<<Any suggestions on a travel company to help with our trip..or should we do that on our own as well(?)>>

You can get any help you need on this board - there are a LOT of folks here who would rather share their knowledge about Italy than do their "real" job.

You'll need 14 days for your trip. Even with 14 days (13 nights?), you might consider doing just the "big 3". Many first timers to Italy make Venice/Florence/Rome (w/ day trip to Pompeii) a two-week trip.

If you go that route, then I would split your thirteen nights:

3-5 nights in Venice
1-3 nights in Florence
7-8 nights in Rome

If you really want to see Pompei then you need to be based in Sorrento. A day trip from Venice Florence or Rome will be a complete waste of time. You need at LEAST a full day to get a feel for Pompei.Unless you are likely to visit Italy again soon I would NOT miss Pompei!!

Plan 3 trips in advance since you will return and plan geographically. I like Venice, Lake Como, and Florence for a first trip.

Hi jb,

>My wife desperately wants to visit Pompei. <

In that case, make Pompei the center of your visit.

You also have to visit the cousins in Rome.

I suggest:

Fly into Rome - 7 nights - visit Orvieto as a daytrip

Train to Sorrento via Naples or Positano via Salerno - 3 nights on the Amalfi Coast

Train to Naples - 3 nights - See Pompeii and the Archaeological Museum.

Fly home from Naples.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

Find my trip report.

Rome, Florence, Venice are great. We did 6 nights, 3 and 3. Have the boys read "Angels and Deamons?." If not, that is a good way to get them engaged in Rome.

With Rome, I think what you have to figure out is how many of the churches are "must sees." If you only want to see St. Peter's (and the Pentheon), your time in Rome can be much shorter than if your must see list has 27 churches on it (like mine did).

My 15 year old son loved Florence. It sparked such an interest in Dante that he came home and read the Divine Comedy.

I think it is fine to take a day trip from Rome to Pompeii; I have done it twice. If you leave early in the morning you can have plenty of time to explore Pompeii. The trip can be made on your own by train to Naples and the commuter train Circumvesuviana from Naples to Pompeii Scavi. Alternatively, you can take the shuttle bus operated by www.enjoyrome.com between April and October.

However you divide your time, I would try to make the Rome stay the longest. There is more to see in Rome than any place else I have ever been.

I agree with Ira - if Pompeii is a must see, then you must make one of your stops nearby. Before I visited Italy, the one thing I wanted to see there was Pompeii, and I was not disappointed. If it is the history of Pompeii that interests Mrs Jboz, then there are a host of other things in that area that might interest her as much. I don't think 5 days would be too much in the area alone.

Pompeii without seeing the archaeological museum in Naples is only half the story. Herculaneum is a smaller, more intimate version of Pompeii - In many ways I prefer it to the larger site.

Along the coast, past Salerno is the Greek temple complex at Paestum - well worth a day trip if this sort of thing interests you.

The Amalfi coast is rightly famous for its scenery, and Sorrento would make a good base.

After that, then you probably would want to look at two of Rome, Venice and Tuscany. All are superb in their own. Personally, I would choose Tuscany and Venice - but only because I feel Rome should be given much more time than you have.

If you take a little time over Italy, and don't try to do the whole country in two weeks, you may find, as many others have, that it gets to you. You find yourself yearning to return, and start planning your next trip almost as son as you arrive home.

Fly into Rome
5 days Rome
1 day Sorrento/Pompei
2 days Florence
1 days Milan
5 days Venice
Fly home from Venice

How about flying into Milan and out of Rome?

Milan (1 night)
Florence with daytrip to countryside(3 nights)
Venice (3 nights)
Rome with daytrip to Pompeii (5-6 nights)

Alternatively, you could fly into Venice and out of Rome. Or into Rome and out of Venice or Milan. But an open jaws flight will save your valuable time -- and not cost much more if any.

Certainly a daytrip to Pompeii is not ideal, but probably works best, given your time limits. Have you read about Ostia Antica? Ruins of the old Roman port, easily accessible from Rome.

And train is best for your itinerary.

I would up the time in Naples/Pompei/Sorrento and drop Milan

Look the Duomo is great but once you've seen one bishop's corpse in a glass cabinet you've seen the lot. The traditional shopping mall is ok. All the brand shops you already have in USA (ok these are head office but who cares) the museums are good but they are better in Rome and Florence.

So drop Milan and try to fit Capri or a bit of the amalfi coast into Pompeii. After all it is why you are going there.

Parking a car in Italian city. Take care, needs secure parking, the guys drive like Belgiums (why not attack two nations at a time) and some streets are a little narrow.

I took a two week trip very similar to yours some years ago. This worked for us.

I would suggest either flying to Naples, or flying to Rome and immediately taking the train to Naples. Spend three nights and visit Pompeii, the Archaeology Museum maybe Herculaneum.

Train to Rome. Five nights.

Train to Florence. Three nights.

Train to Venice -- Three nights. Fly home.

If you haven't anything of particular interest to see or do in Milan, I'd skip it.

Skip Milan. It's one of those cities that you either have to devote some time to see the sites (Duomo, Last Supper, La Scala, Brera, etc.) or skip it altogether. There's not much point being there for only a day.

Assuming 2 of your 14 days is spent flying, fly into Rome and spend 5 nights (one day as a day trip to Pompeii), 4 nights in Florence including a day trip into Tuscany, and 3 nights in Venice. Take the express train between cities - it's the fastest and cheapest way to maximize your time. Fly out of Venice. In most cases, open jaw flights are not any more expensive or only a little more so than flying in and out of the same city.

Another alternative - skip Pompeii on this trip and plan a second trip which includes Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, and Naples. Although Pompeii can be done as a day trip from Rome, it's better to include it on a trip through southern Italy. Do 3-4 nights in Rome (which could include a day trip to Ostia if you are hungering to see Roman ruins), 2-3 nights in Florence, take a car for 3 nights in Tuscan countryside (very easy to drive), and 3 nights in Venice.

Some suggestions for your day trips in Tuscany:

Siena (video)
http://tinyurl.com/yychz7

San Gimignano (video)
http://tinyurl.com/tobea

Both are easy to reach from flornce (about 1,5 hour away by train/bus or car)

Well, Jboz1, are you overwhelmed with all the suggestions? As you can now tell, everyone has a different opinion on the "best" places to go and the "best" way to do it.

I would print this thread out and then discuss it with the family, then plan what you really want to do and then the Fodorites will help you.

With 12-14 days of travel, I highly suggest no more than 3 destinations (maybe 4 if you have the extra two days). Otherwise you will spend more time trying to get from place to place than soaking up the local atmosphere. I would say take Milan out of the equation (IMO this would be the place the boys get the most bored). You could do Pompeii from Rome but it is a long day and would need to be done with a driver and guide. Venice, Florence and Rome are a great combo...

I actually think the boys might be more bored in Florence (unless they're Renaissance buffs). Ordinarily I would be in the "Big Three" crowd: Rome Florence Venice.
But, considering the boys' ages, I suggest...

Fly into Venice: 3 nights
Fly AlpiEagles
To Naples: 4 nights Pompei/Amalfi
Train to Rome: 5 nights

I couldn't find an english page on AlpiEagles. But it appears they currently offer VCE to Naples for 13.50 euros inclusive, 7:50-8:55am. I don't know when you're traveling...just an example.

I just spent 18 days in Italy. My only advice-if you fly out of Venice, do not book an early morning flight as reaching the airport for a 7:30 a.m. flight can be a problem.

dhwhitt - I just read your comment about an early morning flight being difficult in Venice. What difficulties did you encounter. We have a 6:50 am flight out of Venice that I am dreading - please tell me what I am in for....?

We also had an early morning flight. For some reason, early morning flights out of Venice seem to be common. In our case, it was the only flight available. We also hit a slight difficulty in that the lagoon was fogged in, and the water taxi we had planned could not take us to the airport. Instead it dropped us off at the Piazzale Roma, where we caught a land taxi to the airport.

Taking teen age boys changes what you would normally do. My husband and I go every year by ourselves and take my teenage son and friend every other year. In Italy, they love Rome. We always rent an apartment which gives them more freedom to come and go "like locals". They also enjoy hiking the towns of CT and a few relaxed days in a small town. Positano is another favorite of theirs with a day on a boat out on the water. Definitely do the Big 3 - Rome, Florence and Venice. Planning on your own is so much better than using a travel company and is more flexible.

Not a criticism, but a comment: If I were to say "I want to visit America for the first time, and I desperately want to see the Grand Canyon", would Fodorites all comment that I should rather see New York, New Orleans and San Francisco ?

Jboz has said that his wife "desperately" wants to see Pompeii, but half the post's here either ignore it, or advise against it.

I am quite happy to admit that everybody has the right to their own opinion, but is Pompeii really so disappointing to some people that the would recommend against going ?

You have gotten some excellent advice so far. However, I do believe that traveling with teen boys may (and should) influence your decision making. What are their interests? We took our two slightly younger boys (12 and 15) to the Swiss Alps and Northern Italy this past summer, and it was a wonderful trip. We find that it works well for our family to divide time between the big cities (for this trip, Milan and Venice) and smaller towns (in this case, Wengen for hiking in the Swiss Alps and Limone on the northern end of Lake Garda for swimming, boating, windsurfing and independent strolling through quaint villages). We loved it all, but if the boys had to leave out one of those, it would have been Milan. If you are having to make tough choices and want to make sure to spend time south of Rome (ie. Pompeii), then I would cut out Milan for this trip.

My husband and I were in Rome, Florence and Tuscany without the boys 2 years ago - we are very eager to bring them to Rome and probably head south from there to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast, but feel they wouldn't love Tuscany. Florence would be fine, just unlikely to be their favorite due to summer crowds and the abundance of museum time. Again, it really depends on their interests -missypie's son loved Florence!

The most common first trip to Italy would be to the "Big 3" of Venice, Florence, and Rome. However, that may or may not be the best choice for you all. With 12 days, I would say 3 locations is ideal, but if you have 14 real days, then a fourth location would probably be fine. What are your boys interested in? It sounds as if Pompeii is a "must see" so plan on that. Also, Rome is fantastic with tons to do and see - it appeals to most interests (except if you really dislike big, busy cities) with its ancient Forum and Colosseum, Medieval and Renaissance churches and statues, and vibrant modern society. Venice is beautiful and unlike anywhere else - just be sure to explore areas away from just St. Mark's Square which is very crowded with tourists - definitely worth it to visit San Marco and the Doge's Palace, just don't limit yourselves to that area or you will miss much of the magic of Venice. Florence may have the most amazing collection of Renaissance art and architecture of anywhere in the world - it is charming and accessible, and the Ufizzi, Michaelangelo's "David" at the Accedemia, and the Duomo are spectacular as is the Pitti Palace, the Medici Chapels, and much more....However, I believe that my boys would prefer Venice and Rome to Florence.

If I were choosing, I would spend time in Rome, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. If I wanted to see another big, famous area, I would choose Venice, but it is further away....Florence might work better. Maybe something similar to what ira suggested. Or, Venice then train to Rome then Amalfi Coast with stop in Pompeii? Or, Florence, Rome, Pompeii, Amalfi? Again, my preference is to blend cities with the outdoors and that is good for my boys as well. Sure, they miss a few musuems, but they love soaking up the culture as they hang at the beach or whatever.

Hope that helps! Good luck and have fun!

JeanneB's plan looks great, too! :-) Actually, all the plans have their merits - it is just sorting through the priorities and interests of your family as there are many good ways to do this trip. Have fun!

Good morning from Italy, I would like help you suggesting this nice tour, of course you could make it also for yourself without our services, it's only to give you a scheme to follow

DAY 1
Rome - Tivoli
Your personal driver-guide collects you from Rome international airport. Short drive to Tivoli. Visit Villa d'Este (palace, gardens, fountains). 2 nights in Rome. LDA*

DAY 2
Tivoli - Tarquinia - Tivoli
Short drive to Tarquinia. Visit Museo Nazionale Tarquiniam, Necropolis and Ara della Regina. Return to Tivoli and visit Villa Adriana: Teatro Marittimo, Canopo, Pecile and Terme. 2nd night in Rome. BLDA*

DAY 3
Tivoli - Naples - Positano
Short drive to Naples. Naples city tour by chauffeured limousine: Castel Nuovo, Teatro San Carlo, Piazza del Plebiscito, Royal Palace, Porto di Santa. Lucia with Castel dell'Ovo. Visit hill of Posillipo with view of Bay of Naples and Parco Virgiliano with splendid views. Amphitheatre of Flavius (one of the largest in Italy). Lunch in Naples. Scenic drive to Positano. 4 nights in Positano BLDA*

DAY 4
Positano - Capri - Positano
Ferry crossing to Capri. Boat tour to blue cave (weather and tide dependent). Capri township. Anacapri: Monte Solaro cable car, Villa San Michele. Afternoon ferry back to Positano. 2nd night in Positano BLDA*

DAY 5
Positano - Amalfi coast - Positano
Visits in Amalfi: Duomo S.Andrea, diocesan museum. Amalfi coast: Positano and Vettica Maggiore villages, Vallone di Furore Gorge. 3rd night in Positano. BLDA*

DAY 6
Positano - Sorrento - Ischia - Positano
Short drive to Sorrento. Sorrento historic city walk. Public gardens with view of the Bay of Naples. Boat cruise to Ischia. Scenic drive around the island with several stops. Monte Epomeo. Boat cruise back to Sorrento. 4th night in Positano BLDA*

DAY 7
Positano - Ravello - Paestum
Visit Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone in Ravello. Scenic drive down the coast to Paestum. Visit Temple of Neptune and Temple of Ceres in Paestum. 2 nights in Sorrento area. BLDA*

DAY 8
Paestum
Take a short day trip to visit the Grotte di Castelcivita and wander one mile through the labyrinth of chambers, shafts, stalactites, and stalagmites. View the magnificent waterfall, Grande Cascata. Visit the wildlife sanctuary (optional) and learn more about the wetlands and birds of the natural environment. 2nd night in Sorrento Area. BLDA*

DAY 9
Paestum - Herculaneum - Mt. Vesuvius - Caserta - Rome
Trip to ancient Greek settlement Herculaneum founded by Hercules. Visit the ancient Ruins that contain Casa di Aristide, Casa d'Argo, Casa del Nettuno ed Anfitrite, Terme del Foro and others. A scenic drive on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius with panoramic views. Visit Palazzo Reale in Caserta. Overnight in Rome. BLDA*

DAY 10
Rome
Shopping in Rome. Drop-off at Rome airport or in Rome city. You might want to spend a few days on your own in Rome. This is the end of your tour. BL*
* B = Breakfast | L = Lunch | D = Dinner | A = Accommodation

Buon Viaggio!!!
Gianni

I was in italy this summer during may. IM not sure what time of year, but if in warmer weather, you must go in Florence to Bobli Gardens. If you do, bring a blanket, and a nice book, its quite enjoyable. Also in florence, cross the river and hike (or bus) up the hill to michelangelo road. It overlooks all of Florence and is simply Bella at sunset. Enjoy lots and lots of gellato, mmmmmmmmm

we did Rome, Sorrento, Pompei,Naples, overnight train to Venice for 2 days and overnight train to Nice France, and Monaco with our then 13, and 14 years old teenagers all in 13 days but it must all be planned in detail for all the train schedules and everything else. very much doable.