How old are the two of you? If you’re 26 or under its probably cheaper to go by train. Go to www.railsaver.com or one of the other railpass places to see what kind of railpass deal you can get. As far as the itinerary goes…that’s too much to see in two weeks. You’re covering a minimum of 7 cities. I would cut some of that out if possible and stay at the places you really want to see a little longer. Spend more time in Rome maybe. Are you guys in college? Try flying into London or Berlin & taking Ryan Air to wherever you want to go first (Rome for example).

I agree.  You need one more day in Rome as the first will be mostly shot by travel.
Siena – beautiful but doesn’t require two days – maybe not even one – you could leave Rome early and see it on the way to Florence, get in late for Florence and spend two days there before heading to Cinque Terre.  But two days is short for Florence too.

Not sure why you’re going to Munich – you can’t see it in 24 hours, really.  You’ll probably be napping all day from your whirlwind Italy itinerary.

I haven’t been to the Amalfi Coast, but it looks like something needs to go somewhere.  If you drop it, don’t add anything else!

Hey, thanks for the replies … we’re both 26.  And we’re going to munich just b/c that’s how our plane fares worked out… our goal is not really to see it in 24 hrs.

We’re definitely doing Rome and Venice … but if people had to choose two out of amalfi coast, cinque terre, and florence, which would you choose?

Keep it coming!

Cinque Terre is definitely one of the keepers……………pesto to die for

I think we may have to fly into Rome and not Naples …
still not sure which of the three we’ll cut (between florence, amalfi, and cinque terre)

but right now we’re thinking:
day 1: fly into rome
day 2: rome
day 3: rome
day 4: rome
day 5: most of day in rome -> sleep in sorrento
day 6: Amalfi coast
day 7: Capri
day 8: Pompeii / Herculaneum
day 9: -> Cinque Terre by early afternoon
day 10: Cinque Terre
day 11: ->  Pisa -> Venice
day 12: Venice
day 13: Venice
day 14: -> Munich

does this look more manageable?

Do you plan to get to the Cinque Terre from the Amalfi Coast in one day by train? Or driving?
I guess that’s doable…if exhausting.
We drove up from the Amalfi through southern Tuscany, but we did spend one night in Tivoli on the way. That was just a 3 hour drive. You might enjoy the Maremma, there are some really nice hot springs in Saturnia. After we left Tivoli, we stopped at the hot springs, then drove to Siena. From Sorrento to Siena is about 5 hours.

Of Cinque Terre vs Amalfi, I give a slight edge to the Amalfi because it will be warmer and probably less full of hordes of backpackers. For your particular itinerary, I would probably drop the CT.

And I would not drop Siena, but that’s just me, I think it is visually stunning and I enjoy its walkability.

IMHO: Don’t skip the Amalfi. And if you do go, don’t rent a car until you leave. You don’t need or want a car there.
Most young people enjoy staying in Sorrento, and it probably has the most affordable lodging. But you can easily take the blue SITA buses all over the Amalfi. I really enjoyed the town of Amalfi. Positano is more beautiful to look at (preferably from Praiano) than it actually is to hang out in. Capri is well worth a day trip, as is Ravello.

Thanks for your thoughts Cil!

I’m not sure if we would be driving or train-ing.  Any thoughts on which would be more convenient, which would be cheaper?  Are directions difficult?  Is parking tough in CT / Siena / Florence?  Did you feel having a car was a plus?

I will try to read more about Maremma and Tivoli =)

BTW — did you mean Ravello?  or did you mean Ravenna?  I looked up ravenna and it’s near Bologna?

heh
That’s the second time I’ve made that mistake. I just came back to fix it!
Sorry about that!

what do you guys think of the feasibility of day-tripping to cinque terre from florence?

I think it is probably doable. But you’d probably be doing more driving than hiking. It’s a couple hours there and back.
If you got an early start it might work out okay. If your heart is set on it, do it.
Other day trip towns are enchanting, an hour or less away: Siena, Arezzo, Lucca.

I know that you can fly into Pisa…….it’s a budget airlines airport.  From there it’s an hour train ride to Cinque Terre.  Whereever you end up going, travelling seems to suck up potential quality time you will have in Italy.  Ergo, you can’t visit every destination. 

Some people day trip Cinque Terre……but it means getting to one of the end towns in the am, hiking through the 5 towns with food somewhere in there, (this will take you 3.5 hours to hike and 1 hour to eat i think) then take the train back to the town where you started  – to get your backpack that you’ve checked at the station) and go to your next town. 

My experience with Italy is pretty much Cinque Terre and Rome. Didn’t have time for other places on that trip.  I was there in June. Really warm, bordering on hot.  Not sure how April is.  But if you can, sleep there. Awesome views, cheap food (at least in Manarola where my favourite hostel is) and hiking that makes you want to hike more.

Hope you get to experience it.  If it was June, I’d cut out a day in rome to chillax in Cinque Terre……

hey all im gona be in italy for six days end of may to june time i am going to rome obviously but there are so many great places to go cities besides that. I want to do sight seeing and partying with alittle bit of relaxing at the same time any body have any suggestions of the best places to go in italy besides rome?

does it make more sense for me leaving from florence to go back to rome and take a flight to greece or go to milan and take a flight to greece
basically wat is closer to florence