Italia advice?

General Travel
1

It looks like the wife and I will get a chance to go to Italy this summer. Will probably stay 10-14 days. Tentative plans are to fly into Venice, then to primarily use the rail system to get around. We will probably depart from Naples or Rome at the end of the trip.

We will see the following for sure:

Venice
Florence
Vatican/Rome
Naples/Amalfi Coast/Sorrento

Here are some of the other places we are considering:

La Spezia/Cinque Terre
Capri
Sicily
Sardinia

Looking for input from people that have spent at least a few weeks in Italy. Obviously, we can’t see it all in a two week trip, and we aren’t all that concerned with checking a ton of places off the list. Like I said, we will use the rail system and possibly the ferries to get around. If needed I’ll use taxis or rental cars. Will use AirBnB to find places to stay. That way we can save some money and have laundry facilities occasionally so that we can pack light.

OK, let’s hear your suggestions and input. Thanks.

If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.

2

My advice would be to stay in Florence and take day trips to Rome, Venice, and Tuscany. Capri sounds incredible but we didn’t get there on our trip. Naples isn’t worth it in my opinion. Venice is great, but my wife and I fell in love with Florence more than any other place we visited. It just had that romantic historical feel to it. Plan for a solid two days in Rome. Lots of history, but it has gotten very touristy. Everyone had their hands out. Depending on the time of year and weather Venice can have an unpleasant odor in the air, not much different from the paper mill smells you get in North Charleston occasionally. It was horrible when we went. It’s worth it for the gondola ride alone. I’d plan on spending most of the time in Florence if we were doing it again.

To do it right, I think ideally you need to take two trips. One for northern Italy and one for the South. Congrats on taking the trip. It’s certainly one that we always talk about and reminisce about often.

Feel free to pm me if you need specifics or have questions. I’ll be glad to help out.
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3

Take the Hydrofoil over to Capri! Nice day trip! Mount Vesuvius and a guided tour of Pompeii, were well worth the trip!

4

23, what time of year did you visit? I am going to think about the idea of using Florence as a home base for a portion of the trip. Lots of places within an hour or two train ride.

I mentioned Naples, but it’s not Naples we really want to see as much as Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, Mt. Vesuvius (thanks to Easy’s recommendation), Pompeii, and Capri.

I’d probably skip Rome, but I just have to see the Vatican. I know I’d enjoy other things in Rome as well, but I’ve seen lots of ruins living in the Holy Land.

Wish I could go spend 2-3 years exploring southern Europe/northern Africa.

Thanks for the input, gentlemen!

If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.

5

SFL, when in Pompeii make sure that you ask about the little arrows cut into the curb stones! I found that pretty interesting:smiley:

6

Married Nov 20th, spent 12 days there through the first week of December. You won’t be disappointed with Florence. Our next trip will be in the summer time as I’d love to explore the coast more than we did then.

You owe it to yourself to take the Coliseum tour. It’s smaller than I imagined in my mind but walking through there was incredible. But I’m a history nerd and love all that stuff.

The historical significance of the Ponte Vecchio bridge in itself is amazing to me too. It’s right there in Florence, has been since Roman times. It was the only bridge not destroyed in WWII.

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7

We also took a bus ride to Pisa, I think it was only about an hour from Florence. The leaning tower is pretty amazing in person too. You can go up in it, but you have to plan ahead and there’s a charge of course. We didn’t do it. There’s only a few things to really see in Pisa, but if you go to Italy, you kind of have to go see it. Go watch all the Asian tourists taking pictures and acting like they are pushing it up. It’s fairly entertaining. The wife and I got gelato at a street vendor there and just people watched there for about thirty minutes. One of my best memories from Italy…

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8

We went for 2 weeks for our honeymoon.

We stayed in a vineyard in Tuscany, went to Florence, then down to the Amalfi Coast, day trip to Capri, Naples for pizza, then back to Rome for the rest of the trip. I think we stretched ourselves thin a little bit, so it’s good you’re not trying to see everything at once. Some of my observations:

1st. Naples is a **** hole. Avoid it.
2nd. Florence is overwhelmingly beautiful. I wish we’d stayed there longer. Depending on the time of year you go some of the lines can be pretty (**() long.
3rd. Amalfi coast- stay in Positano. It’s such a neat little town carved into the side of the mountain, nice beach, ferry to Capri is right there.
4th. Trains list the final destination on the billboard, so learn some geography. IE we flew into Rome, took the train to Florence. You have to get on the train to Bologna to that stops in Florence. Nowhere on anything does it say the word Florence.
5th. Rome is amazingly cool. If you stay near the Spanish Steppes you can literally go for a stroll and you’ll just stumble upon ancient sites like the Pantheon, Trevi fountain, etc. Familiarize yourself with the metro before you go, because it’s the easiest way to get around. Basically two rails in a “t” shape.

9

Did a little more research. Will stay in Florence a few nights, then down to Positano or Sorrento for 2-3 nights. We’ll take a day cruise from Positano to see the Amalfi Coast.

Is 2 days in Rome enough?

If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.

10

You could spend a week there, but a day for the major Rome attractions plus a day for the Vatican at least.

If you have extra time, spend it in Florence.

www.baturinphotography.com

11

we stayed in Lucca for 2 weeks and either day tripped or did a couple of overnighters to Florence, Rome, Pisa and Sienna…you def have to see Rome just because it is Rome…and Florence because it is Florence…the museums alone in Florence could take a couple of days…I’ve also been to the Amalfi coast and it is beautiful…Pompeii is an incredible place…never made it over to Venice, but if you will have the capability to move around via car or train then the Tuscany region could offer the best bang for your buck…we were there in May and the weather was really nice, not hot at all…

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12
quote:
Originally posted by SurfFishLife

Did a little more research. Will stay in Florence a few nights, then down to Positano or Sorrento for 2-3 nights. We’ll take a day cruise from Positano to see the Amalfi Coast.

Is 2 days in Rome enough?

If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.

You’ll see a heck of a lot of the Amalfi coast just driving to Positano. Road of a thousand turns is no exaggeration it’s so cool. 2 days in Rome is enough to hit the big stuff, but as previously said you could stay in Rome for a week and not see much of it.

13

I went for work for a few days in Northern Italy. Stayed a few days after in a little hidden gem of a place called Lake Como. It is perfect for a couple to spend a couple of nights. There are little towns all around the lake and there is a boat shuttle that takes you to each to look around. Not so much of history as in landmarks like in Rome, but it is just old Italy with churches and market places and such. It is a quaint little place. It is said to be where a lot of celebrities go to vacation. Milan did not impress me. Seemed more of a westernized party city and thus more dangerous. Have a good time!

14

I’d love to see Lake Como, but will probably skip it on this trip. We really need about a month in Italy, but that’s not likely to happen anytime soon.

Bonzo, a friend of mine mentioned Siena; said he loved it.

Thanks for all the ■■■■■■■■, guys. Keep it coming.

Anyone been to Cinque Terre?

If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.

15
quote:
Originally posted by SurfFishLife

Anyone been to Cinque Terre?

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part of our group from Lucca went there for a few days…their pics and stories were awesome, they thoroughly enjoyed it…it looks like pretty mountainous coast right down to the water…

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16

I spent a couple days around lake garda at the foothills of the alps. So so beautiful and relaxing. My wife and I will go back to torbole and stay a week sometime in the future

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17

With all you’re wanting to see, you’ll be stretched too thin to enjoy it in 10-14 days.

Rome itself could easily take several days to see everything, you could spend two days just going through the Vatican and the Vatican museum. I haven’t been there since the early 90’s, but check before you go, used to be you weren’t allowed in if you were wearing shorts. And check the museum times, it was only open a few days a week.

Subways get you around Rome, be VERY aware of pickpockets. Crowded subway cars make you a target, and if you take the subway to the Colliseum you have to walk through a narrow “funnel” where the gypsy kids waited. They’re not cute little kids, they’re predators…if they crowd towards you singing and waving newspapers, you’ve been targeted. Keep your hand on your wallet/ valuables, they’ll slit your back pocket with a razor so your wallet falls out. I had zippered pockets on cargo pants emptied on a crowded subway car and never felt a thing, even being aware of my surroundings. Luckily I didn’t lose anything valuable.

You can easily spend a couple more days just walking in Rome, seeing the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and the various fountains.

Naples, as noted, is a pit. But Pompeii is well worth visiting, and you’d enjoy taking the hydrofoil to Capri. But it’s all going to be difficult to fit into 10-14 days combining it with Florence, and anywhere else you want to see up North. Pompeii itself you’d want to be there early just to make sure you see it all, particularly if you want to see Vesuvius up close. Same deal with Capri, you’d want to be at the hydrofoil early just to be able to spend time there.

To see all you’re mentioning you’d almost have to base yourself in that particular region (Florence, Rome, Naples) for 4 or 5 days each, figuring in travel time. Your flight will probably land in Italy in the morning, a big chunk of your first day will be spent just getting out of the airport to wherever you’re staying.

With everything you’ve listed, I think it’s too ambitious, even

18

With all you’re wanting to see, you’ll be stretched too thin to enjoy it in 10-14 days.

Rome itself could easily take several days to see everything, you could spend two days just going through the Vatican and the Vatican museum. I haven’t been there since the early 90’s, but check before you go, used to be you weren’t allowed in if you were wearing shorts. And check the museum times, it was only open a few days a week.

Subways get you around Rome, be VERY aware of pickpockets. Crowded subway cars make you a target, and if you take the subway to the Colliseum you have to walk through a narrow “funnel” where the gypsy kids waited. They’re not cute little kids, they’re predators…if they crowd towards you singing and waving newspapers, you’ve been targeted. Keep your hand on your wallet/ valuables, they’ll slit your back pocket with a razor so your wallet falls out. I had zippered pockets on cargo pants emptied on a crowded subway car and never felt a thing, even being aware of my surroundings. Luckily I didn’t lose anything valuable.

You can easily spend a couple more days just walking in Rome, seeing the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and the various fountains.

Naples, as noted, is a pit. But Pompeii is well worth visiting, and you’d enjoy taking the hydrofoil to Capri. But it’s all going to be difficult to fit into 10-14 days combining it with Florence, and anywhere else you want to see up North. Pompeii itself you’d want to be there early just to make sure you see it all, particularly if you want to see Vesuvius up close. Same deal with Capri, you’d want to be at the hydrofoil early just to be able to spend time there.

To see all you’re mentioning you’d almost have to base yourself in that particular region (Florence, Rome, Naples) for 4 or 5 days each, figuring in travel time. Your flight will probably land in Italy in the morning, a big chunk of your first day will be spent just getting out of the airport to wherever you’re staying.

With everything you’ve listed, I think it’s too ambitious, even

19

Good info. However, if I have to skip any points of interest, I’d probably skip Rome. That would also mean missing the Vatican, which would disappoint me but I’d get over it. We tend to avoid crowds when possible, and the crime in Rome is a turnoff for me. I’m sure everywhere is crowded, but I’m guessing Rome is doubly so.

If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.

20

When going to the Vatican try to be in line at 7:30 AM and be the first group in! There is so much to see! On my next trip I’ll be staying in Venice, Love the place.