I'd suggest taking at least one day off Florence and putting it into Rome - you currently have only a day and a half there - considering travel time from Sorrento via Naples to Rome.

Rome has so so much to see - the Vatican takes most of a day and it ain't even in Rome! The Forum/Colosseum area another most of a day - plus wandering around the historic city center - Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps - the world-class museums, etc and many folks enjoy going out to the Catacombs - ancient burial grounds with literally thousands of skulls and bones - so much to see in Rome - Florence's central city where most of its sights are clustered is very compact.

No need to take a tour - getting around is so so easy, especially if you take Italy's ever increasingly modern and fast (up to nearly 190 mph between Naples, Rome and Florence. If you are certain of your travel dates go to www.trenitalia.com and score some deep discounted tickets but to do so you should book weeks in advance as they are limited in number - that is if you can get the trenitalia.com site to work - legions of Fodorites have not but there are always experts who have around to help you thru that morass.

anyways for lots of fine ino IMO on Italian trains check out these IMO superb sites - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id12.html.

If going first class on trains - and IME there is a world of difference, especially for folks with luggage to stow away - fewer people traveling in first class - seats are bigger, etc. then check out the Italy Railpass which if you want fully flexible decision making to decide which trains to take once you are there - full fare and fully flexible tickets then the pass may well be cheaper than individual tickets, depending on what type of day trips you may do from Florence perhaps. but have no fear ever of not being able to get on trains in Italy - so so many - rarely a problem so put any angst about that to rest.

If you plan well---and no reason you cannot with the help here--independent travel will be less--perhaps 20 to 30% less.

I would do this trip in this order:
Venice--3
Tuscany/Florence--4
Sorrento--3
Rome--4

You really need 14 nites in Italy to do justice to tjis itinerary. Be sure to fly open jaw to save backtracking.

I think that spending 2 nights in Sorrento just to visit Capri is not a good use of two days of your trip. Capri is a massively crowded island during the day, when the tourists come over, and I literally could not stand it. On the other hand, spending a day at Pompeii and/or Herculaneum - and the archeological museum in Naples - would be quite worthwhile.

Not enough time for Rome... there is so much to see and do in this city. Read up on ways to avoid standing in line for hours to get tickets for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.

Pisa is not in between Florence and Venice - it's to the west of Florence and Venice is to the east. The common wisdom is that it's not worth a day trip just to see the leaning tower.


For a first trip to Italy, I'd put together a basic tour of Rome - Florence - Venice. You can do it independently, with perhaps a group tour in each city (to cut down on the very expensive price for private guides), but there are also tour companies that give you a lot of flexibility in how you spend your time (Tauck Tours).

Frankly, although it's contrary to the common assumptions on Fodors, working with a travel consultant who is very knowledgeable about Italy can be very cost efficient - helping you avoid pitfalls, guiding you to where you want to be, and generally helping you make the most of your budget. I could make a recommendation, if you're interested.

Order your tickets in advance of your visit to the Sistine Chapel - you'll avoid the long lines to purchase tickets that way.

Sorrento is important to me as my grandmother was from there and I forgot to add Pompeii to the list.

Hi JF,

i see that you are new to fodors so welcome! you'll find many shades of opinion here about almost everything but we are united in wanting to help you have the bast holiday, even if we can't always agree how to achieve it!

but I think that most of us would agree that 12 nights isn't enough to do justice to your itinerary. What you have to remember is that every time you move, you lose at least 1/2 a day. so the itinerary that you posted probably amounts to this:

2 nights in Sorrento.

Day 1, arrive Rome in am. travel by train from airport then by train to Sorrento. arrive mid afternoon. rest of day in Sorrento.

Day 2 - in Sorrento/Capri - one or the other - not both.

2 nights in Rome

Day 3-4 - am train to Rome. arrive lunchtime. day and a half in Rome.

4-5 in Florence or Tuscany area-

Day 5 - early train to Florence - arrive lunchtime. rest of day in Florence.

Days 6,7,8,9, - if you do 2 day trips, that gives you 2 days for Florence. this is the most doable part of the trip.

3 in Venice

Day 10 - train to venice. Arrive lunchtime. rest of day in Venice.

Days 11, 12 - Venice - that's one day for the islands, another for the rest.

Day 13 - fly home.

Give yourselves an extra few nights, and your original plan becomes doable. but if you are stuck with 12 nights, IMO you will need to cut out one of your destinations, and the obvious one, sadly, is Sorrento, as it is the furtherest one with the smallest reward. but only you know if that's a must for you. personally I'd rather spend that time in Rome - you would then have far less travelling to do at the beginning of your trip, and double the time in Rome. now 3 1/2 days in Rome is not a long time to see the eternal City but it's not a bad start. if you would rather spend your time in Sorrento then I would suggest dropping Rome - 1 1/2 days is such a short time there it's probably not worth doing. add the time to Sorrento and enjoy your time there to the full.

do you need a tour to do this? of course there are tours that will find you centrally located hotels, will not have you getting up at ludicrously early hours to eat uninspiring breakfasts so they can get you on the coach, and will find you pleasant restaurants where you aren't served lukewarm tasteless food very slowly. but generally if you want to spend your time in the places that you want to be in and to see the things you want to see, you're better off doing it yourself.

My husband, 16 yr old daughter and I did this trip on our own through all the help on this website - we spent 3 nights in Florence and 4 nights in Rome.
We did a day trip to Sienna and San Gimignano from Florence with a car we rented for the day. It was great. We bought a couple good guide books and with the help from our hotel hosts, we were able to see so much walking around the city ourselves.
We did take a train then to Rome - we used Angel Tours for the Vatican museum and St Peters - it was worth every penny and a half day. We did hire a guide on the spot at the colleseum and Forum - they are all standing around there trying to sell to you so you can definately bargain for the best price. That was worth it also but certainly doable without a guide also.
One thing I really wanted to do was see the Amalfi Coast - we trained to Naples for a day, driver picked us up at the train station and drove us around for an 8 hour day. Positano, Amalfi and the coast there are so perfect. Again it was worth it but it took an entire day away from our time in Rome.
We ruled out Venice, Bologna, Milan and Pisa - had to make some choices. Tough decisions.
I think sometimes you spend too much time changing hotels and getting from one place to another that you miss out on really wandering and feeling part of this amazing culture. Don't forget to make time to do that.
There is so much to see in Rome itself, we had to pick our must sees - but one advisor here on Fodors said something like "you'll be back". And I certainly hope that I can someday make that journey again.

My suggestion would be to start in Venice, and finish in Rome. Flights out of Venice (assuming that you are from the USA) leave very early in the morning. With only two days in Venice, I would suggest that you leave out Burano. It’s about a one hour ferry ride from Venice to Burano, so maybe not the best use of your time.

I concur with Anne, in that Sorrento may be a bit too far to be possible in a 12 day trip.

Think about Venice / Florence / Rome, and travel by train between these cities is very easy. Two hours Venice / Florence, and two hours Florence / Rome.

I think that with the advice that you will get on this forum, you won’t need an organised tour, and you’ll save money. It’s really quite simple.
Book your flights into Venice and out of Rome.
Decide how many days in each place.
Then book hotels – three, or four if you do Sorrento.
Train tickets – you can buy from vending machines at the stations, and it’s a good idea to buy your tickets the day prior to travelling. Sometimes the train you want is full, so it’s good to buy a day prior.

Then buy tickets for attractions to save time in lines – Vatican, Doges Palace, whatever.

I think you need to add a few days to your trip for your itinerary.

If Sorrento is a must, fly into Naples, take the airport shuttle bus to Sorrento. You will need at least 3 nights here to see Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii. That's still cutting it short and leaves out the Amalfi coast. It's often as economical to fly into Naples versus Rome as you aren't having to pay transport (train from the airport to Rome, train to Naples, train to Sorrento).

Rome needs at least 3-4 nights just to hit a few highlights.

Florence/Tuscany - You will have to narrow your list unless you add some days here.

Ky,
Thanks for the suggestion. I hadn't considered taking a shuttle bus to Sorrento. We were thinking of taking the local train.


Everyone~~
Everyone here seems so adamant about adding the extra time to Rome. I have heard/read mixed things about Rome. Basically all the good things that you all are saying but then hearing that it's very dirty and not as great a representation of Italy as some other places. On my must do Italy list in Rome I have Sistine Chapel, Forum/Colleseum, Trevi Fountain. I am not as into the catacombs ect.

Amy~ thanks for the suggestion about the tour company. We have been looking into other day trip tour companies as well. I hadn't heard of Angel.

Everyone~ any of the afforementioned day trip companies that you have used? What did you use them for?

Thanks again for the feedback!

JFtravels, what time of year is your trip?

My husband and I were just in Sorrento, Naples, the Amalfi coast in October. On the way home we took the bus from Sorrento to the Naples airport and it was 10 euros each, a big comfortable bus, a totally easy way to get there, I would recommend you do this.
If you can I would fly into Naples instead of Rome, or as someone else suggested, fly into Venice, then work your way down Italy and fly home from Naples.

We did a day trip to Capri and it was disappointing, it was literally wall to wall people and we felt like we had our hands in our wallets all day. We made the best of it by taking a taxi to Anacapri (20 euros) and it was less crowded there. We had a pleasant day as we made the best of it and it is very pretty for sure, and maybe very pleasant to stay there for a few days although how you avoid all the crowds during the day is beyond me. I think with your limited time in Sorrento I would forgo the day trip to Capri.

Independent travel is my preferred way of doing it although I have done one Western Med cruise (against my better judgement but it was a family thing). With the help you will get on this site and by doing your research you will have a great trip.

I have been to Rome twice and yes it is a big city but I did not find it dirty. There are some fantastic things to see there but again it depends on you, what your interests are, what you like and don't like. One of the things I like about Rome is that is a functioning, working city, not only there for the tourist attractions.

We did two tours in Rome with Context tours and they were great, especially as the docents had Art History degrees and made everything come to life. We toured Ancient Rome and the Vatican and St.Peter's with them.

Thanks for the input. We are thinking of an October trip as well.

We had very nice weather for our trip, there were a couple of days where it rained on and off but for the most part it was sunny and a pleasant temperature. We stayed five days in Sorrento and spent a couple of afternoons by the pool. We really enjoyed Sorrento and used it as a base for the day trip to Capri and also to Pompeii. We took the Circumvesuviana train from Sorrento to Pompeii and that was easy to do, the train was quite crowded on the way back so just be careful of your handbag and your husband's wallet as pickpockets are around any of the tourist spots but they have an especially easy time of it on a crowded train.

You got good advice upthread about booking some of your entrance tickets in advance online.Two years ago on a trip to Florence I booked the Accademia and was so glad I did as the line was very long and slow moving and we were able to go straight in.
This year in Florence we wanted to see the Uffizi and our tour fell through at the last minute so we went there to see how busy it would be and the line looked like it was three weeks long. LOL.
Needless to say we did not see the Uffizi. So definitely do this unless you are doing a tour and then the tour does that for you.

If you tell us your budget we will recommend favourite hotels for you.

Thanks Raincity. I was going to ask you about weather.

Our total trip budget is 6-7k. Is this reasonable?

Does that include air fare? If so, how much is left after air fare?

My advice is to listen to all the advice you get on here. I didn't and tried to do too much on my Italian trip. I've had to go back several times to get it right.

Yes, including air. I have found air for 2200 total for my husband and I. So leaves us with 3800-4800.

I think it is doable, it really depends on how you like to travel and what your expectations are in terms of the type of hotel you want and the type of meals you will eat.
Every Italian hotel I have stayed in included breakfast in the price so that helps a bit. Generally speaking this would be breads,pastries,yogurt,fruit,juice,coffee, cheeses, some sliced meats but in a couple of the hotels this last trip they had bacon and eggs as well.

For an example in Sorrento we stayed in the Hotel Mediterraneo for five nights and I prepaid in order to get a discount.( booked through the hotel's website), they also threw in a free dinner in their restaurant, and our bill was $787.00 Canadian dollars for five nights including a buffet breakfast and the one free dinner. (And it was a lovely hotel,we had a view out over the Bay of Naples and Mt.Vesuvius from our room,which gave me a thrill every morning when I opened the shutters.)

One of the hotels in Florence I used which was very good value for what you got was the Hotel David, take a look at their website. They are located on the other side of the river from the historical centre but there is a bus right outside the hotel that will take you there. We walked and it was a 20 to 30 minute walk which I enjoyed but I love walking, you may be different.

Everyone here seems so adamant about adding the extra time to Rome. I have heard/read mixed things about Rome. Basically all the good things that you all are saying but then hearing that it's very dirty and not as great a representation of Italy as some other places. On my must do Italy list in Rome I have Sistine Chapel, Forum/Colleseum, Trevi Fountain.>>

you don't have to go to Rome if you go to Italy - I'd been to Italy at least 6 times before i actually got to Rome - but then i was blown away, and fell in love with it. Yes it is dirty, yes it is noisy, yes there is graffiti, but there are more things to see on every street than you can shake a stick at and its Roman heritage has the cornerstone of Italian culture for the last 2000 years. Which is why I say if you decide to go, give it a chance and stay a few days. you will need at least 3 to see the major sights - a day for St. Peters and the Vatican museums [you have to visit them to see the sistine chapel as it can't be visited separately], a day for the Colosseum, Forum etc., and a day for wandering round the wonderful centro storico - Piazza Navona, Trevi, spanish steps, the Pantheon, plus any churches and museums that take your fancy.

if that doesn't fit into your schedule, or you still prefer the Amalfi [and why not?] why not leave it for anther trip? Unlike Venice, it will probably still be there.

I agree with Annhig - dont depend on others opinions about a place. Do some research and then take the time to do it justice. If you go in thinking it is dirty and you wont like it then thats probably what you will take away - especially if you try to cram everything into a couple days. I would take the time to do what you want to see justice so you arent cramming things into a short period of time. Or like annhig suggest - skip it this time and focus on the other areas you are attracted to - no harm in that at all!

The shuttle bus from the Naples airport to Sorrento is Curreri.

http://www.curreriviaggi.it/inglese/E_index.html

Two nights somewhere really just gives you one day of sightseeing.

I am realistic. I am not expecting to stay in the Ritz the whole time. My expectations for hotel are clean and safe and not a hostel. Basically, I realize we more than likely won't be in the hotels for more than showering and sleeping. It's not like we are going to a sleepy little beach town or something like that

It's so hard to prioritize. I hope that we have the opportunity to come back, but don't want to bank on that. So unfortunately my mentality is this could be a once in a lifetime trip. Again, I really hope not!!!

Annhig, just out of curiosity, what was your itinerary the first few times you went?

Annhig, just out of curiosity, what was your itinerary the first few times you went?>>

JF, the first time we did a week's package tour in Sorrento, [that's what Brits did nearly 40 years ago] and we filled our time with sightseeing every day - Naples, Capri, Pompeii, and much, much more, and there were still things we didn't see.

the next time we were more adventurous, and after 4 nights in Venice, hired a car and toured Tuscany for 10 days, including a few nights in Florence - which was in the days when you could just turn up and find a room, and parking!

After that we had kids to take into consideration, so we had 2 weeks on Lake Maggiore, a week on Lake Garda, and once they got old enough to appreciate it, separate weeks in Rome, Venice and Florence. We have subsequently been back for shorter trips to those places, because there is still loads I haven't seen, but I would never consider spending less than 3 nights in one place, especially if I'd never been there before.

Yes, i know that we are very lucky to be able to get to Italy so easily. But i still think that you will enjoy your time more if you do NOT treat it as a once in a lifetime trip. you can't see it all, so make sure that you have enough time to enjoy the places that you go to.

less can be more.

I think that's where most first timers go wrong - assuming its a once in a lifetime kind of thing.

You will only be able to see x amount of things in the time you are there.

You can see these x amount of things either in a select few places - which means less money and time spent/wasted in transit.

Or running around trying to cover alot of ground seeing 1 thing here and 1 thing there and another thing over there.

In fact you are likely to see less of the sights if you move around more because you will spend the time you could have spent seeing where you are actually seeing trains and trains stations.

Just something to think about - covering more ground trying to see everything potentially means not seeing more but seeing less.

I hear what you all are saying! It's so hard to narrow down!! I thought I had done such a good job- you should have seen my first itinerary! Yikes. I think I was trying to go EVERYWHERE. So everyone seems to be saying no less than three nights per place?

The good news is, I have decided NO TOUR! If the general feedback is that my itinerary was too quick then a tour would be way too fast. It's progress people!

JF - as you say, that's progress.

the sense i get from your original post is that Venice and Florence are calling to you most - you have included the most detail about what you'd like to see there.

isn't that where to start?

you could fly into Venice, spend 4 nights [gives you a really good time to see things including the islands] then get the train to Florence and finish your trip there. There are plenty of day trip options in Florence - bus to San Gimignano or Siena, the train to Bologna, a day out with a driver doing a private winery tour, [look at TA for more ideas] - plus all the things to see in Florence itself of course.

fly home from Pisa. [less than 2 hours on the train from florence and the train goes right to the airport]

That is progress indeed! You can definitely do this on your own. I so agree with the above posters that you are trying to see too much in one trip and will spend more time packing up and moving around than actually enjoying yourself.
The first thing in my opinion that will help you narrow it down is to lose the once in a lifetime idea. Plan a great trip with the idea that this is the first of many.

With only 12 nights I would do a maximum of 3 places and even that would be pushing my personal comfort level. ( I hate packing up and moving on so usually like to have 4 or 5 nights per place at least, but that is just me)

That is a very good idea annhig.
So check out the Hotel David in Florence JF, I think it offers a lot of bang for your buck.

It's true. However Sorrento is really important to me as well because my maternal grandmother was from there and I grew up seeing her black and white pictures of the area. So while there isn't as much on the list there other than Capri, which I have seen her old pictures of, it has a lot of sentimental value to me. Which makes it difficult to leave that out. Honestly, Rome I could take or leave. I know, I know. When in Italy how could I not do Rome? But it isn't calling to me the way the other places are with the exception of the Vatican (oh darn Catholic upbringing!!). That is truly what I am struggling with.

When I think about this trip, I have these very romantic notions about it. Touring the Italian countryside, seeing the old cities, gondola rides, dramatic views. I just don't know how much Rome fits in to that as much as I want it to fit.

I am most interested in the food, the culture of some of the more rural areas and the art. I am not a huge history buff as much as my husband is, but he is content to let me plan the trip as I see fit because he knows this is my dream trip.

Also, Venice and Tuscany have been my dreams. I was supposed to spend a semester in Tuscany in college but didn't do it. Oh the regrets!!!!

Honestly - feel free to drop Rome! You could fly into Venice, train to Florence/Tuscany and then go to Sorrento. That would be so much better than trying to cram too much in. Fly home from Naples and you are good to go!

What about the idea of doing a day trip from Florence to do the Vatican? Feasible?

Just an aside, I went to Italy without seeing Rome. The more that I read here, the more I would like to go, but you can't do everything.

Someone said to leave Burano out of your Venice stay. Personally I loved Burano. I found it enchanting and would like to have spent more time there (poor planning on my part). But I did see it in a short afternoon.

I understand about wanting to see your grandmother's hometown. It would be fun to copy a few of her old pictures to take and see if you can find the spots from where they were taken. It would be interesting to take your own photos there and compare then and now. If I had a grandmother who had grown up in Europe, I would want to see their birth places. (One of mine grew up a quarter of a mile from where I live now and I was in and out of the house every day as I grew up. The other lived about 8 miles away. Grandfathers grew up a mile away and 12 miles away. Boring perhaps but special as a kid.)

I agree. The pictures I see of Burano are amazing. I would love to see it for myself.

That was what I was thinking Irishface about the pictures

What about 3 nights Sorrento, 5 nights Florence, 3 nights Venice?

wonderful, JF, if that's what you want to do.

if that's a plan you like, you need to start looking at the logistics - have you worked out what your flight times will be, and how long it will take you to get from the airport to your destination? and to transfer from one place to another [eg you have 3 nights in Sorrento which is probably only 2 1/2 days - might you want to borrow a night from florence perhaps?]

as someone mentioned above, sometimes for transatlantic travellers it can be better to fly into venice rather than out, because some airlines have really early departure times out of Marco Polo. and Venice is a very good place to recover from jetlag, as well as being stunning when you arrive. you could play around with which way you are going to travel, depending on the differing arrival and departure times.

PS -yes Burano is lovely, but if you go there you shouldn't miss Torcello and its Cathedral, which was last renovated about 1000 years ago. [yes, that's the correct no. of 000s!]

That sounds good, you could fly into Venice and fly home from Naples. The reason I say fly into Venice is because most flights back to North America leave Venice at a very early hour in the morning. If you fly home from Naples you can get the bus from the Sorrento train station which will take you straight to the Naples airport.

You should have the trip that you want and pick the things that speak to you. I wanted to see Burano as well and in two trips to Venice haven't managed it. We went to Murano which I enjoyed, we bypassed the glass blowing show and all the hard sell and found a fabulous shop and the glass museum which was very interesting. Had intended to go on to Burano but ran out of time.

3 nights in Venice will give you 2 days, you could spend one touring the islands and one wandering around Venice. If St.Mark's and the Doges Palace are priorities for you I would book a tour or at least book entry tickets online. In my two trips to Venice I have not been inside either of those places as we did not do that and the lines and crowds were just too much for us.
Once you get away from St.Mark's in Venice the crowds thin out and it is really a magical place.

Delta has afternoon flights from Venice to the U.S. I've flown twice from Venice to New York leaving around 1pm. Last year it was 1:05.

I think Burano is charming; I must have taken at least 100 photos there of the multi-colored houses and tilting campanile. On a small alley I even found what looked to be the community ladder propped against a house and completely covered in paint spatters in probably 100 different shades; it made for a good photo. They have a nice store on the main "street" (Piazza Baldassare Galuppi) called Dai Freddi that sells all different types of packaged Italian foods and beverages and, of course, gelato. There is a big gelato cone in front.

Burano is nice but still heavily touristed at times but sleep Torcello (see anhig's comments above) rarely IME of going there several times have much more lurking about than its legendary herd of feral cats! some really different from Venice proper.

And to go this far across the lagoon by boat is great - one can imagine being in the shoes of ancient mariners who first glimpsed what was then one of the wonders of the world from afar across the water - and how their anticipating of finally getting to this Valhalla increased the nearer it gets.

not sure about Torcello being that sleepy - there were school parties there the time we went, but it was pretty peaceful after hey'd left. You get the boat to Burano from the Fondamente nova and then a little ferry from the jetty next to the Vaporetto stop on Burano - it stops at lunchtime so if you get there before noon, you have to decide whether to go to Torcello straight away and have lunch there, [we ate at the Trattoria Attila which we enjoyed] or to have lunch on Burano [lots of nice places to eat] and go to Torcello afterwards.

[if you have time, before you get on the vaporetto at the fondamente nova, walk round the corner to the church of the Gesuiti and have a look at the curtains - hard to believe that they are carved from marble, so realistically do they fall. the church is only open in the morning, which is why I say to do it before you go to the islands, not afterwards.]

And if you do go to Venice first, that's a good place to get over jet-lag and get in tune with the Italian experience -- without having to dodge Vespas and cars.

Jet-lag affects different people differently but generally you will be sleepy and disoriented the first day or so, maybe wake up wide awake at 3 AM. To deal with jet-lag, I always add an extra day or so to my first stop. And I make that stop a city where there's lots to do day and night so we can be flexible about our sightseeing. (Maybe go back to the hotel for a siesta.)

The idea of skipping Rome this time is excellent, demonstrating exactly the virtue of independent travel. You could never make this kind of personalized choice when on a guided bus tour.

>>>What about the idea of doing a day trip from Florence to do the Vatican? Feasible?<<<

You could stop on your way to Florence. You can store your luggage in the train station (downstairs), hop the metro (also downstairs) to the Vatican (6 stops from Termini), tour the museums or visit St. Peter's, retrieve your luggage and continue on to Florence.

Very glad that I posted this. I actually feel pretty good with the decision to do Rome as a day trip rather than spend a couple nights there this time around. You all helped me really narrow down what I want out of this. Thanks!

I'd appreciate other hotel suggestions for Sorrento, Florence/Tuscany and Venice.

Thanks!!

We stayed in the Hotel Corallo in Sorento and it was lovely. A lot of the rooms have windows or balconies overlooking the bay.
www.hotelcorallo.com
Your trip sounds great!

Oops. The correct website is
www.hotelcorallosorrento.com

Put what is most important to you at the top of your list and work around it. What others consider top sights might not be important for you. Obviously Sorrento, with the connections you have with it, is very important. In June, I went to Italy for 5 days (4 nights). This amount of time in a single city was fine since I travel slower at 65 yo and was returning from a demanding trip in East Africa. What was important was to see Florence (very noisy) and Piza. Everything I read said Piza wasn't worth the day trip or time but I loved it! The architecture is so much more than is reflected in photographs. And now I have my own photos. For me, it was a highlight. See what inspires you!

Sorrento in any case makes a convenient base - easy to get to Pompeii or Ercolo by train or Capri, Ischia by ship or Naples by ship or train and buses to the Amalfi Coast villages.

Not the most romantic of cities since it is not that old looking nor really right on the sea - every few sea views it seemed when I was there but a nice watering hole with streets alive with strollers at night, etc. and lots of good hotels and restaurants but most of all great transportation links for day trips - the very best located of any town in the area.

Sorrento not on the sea? That large body of water called the Gulf of Naples doesn't count? PalenQ, maybe you've confused Sorrento with some other place. I found Sorrento rather pretty, lush with volcanic-ash-enhanced foliage. And we lucked out with a saint's day celebration when we were there: decorated streets, a parade, a band.

Well I was just in Sorrento for five nights in October and I can assure you it is on the sea! Every morning when I opened the shutters, there it was, the most amazing view of the bay of Naples with Mt. Vesuvius in the background.

Sorrento is definitely on the water (our hotel room balcony overlooked it) - but if you want to be technical it is the Bay of Naples and not actually the sea itself.

And, IMHO, Sorrento is charming - esp if you have a hotel with good views and beautiful gardens.

JF,
You will love Italy!! Our first visit we went with a group Untours (Untours.com) In a nutshell, they offer apartments, local help, planning guides etc., but you are on your own for the day to day planning. We spent one week in Rome and one week in Venice. The next time we went on our own. Spent 3 days in Rome, 2 weeks on a farm in Tuscany, from which we took day trips with a car, and then 4 days in Florence. Our hotels in Rome and Florence were 3 stars and very well situated for where we wanted to go. Check out Untours. They will help you if you are hesitant about being on your own.

If you can fly into Venice, you will have a bit more time in the city than if you leave from Venice, as it takes less time to get to the train station to go to Florence, than to the airport.

In Venice, you should book in advance either a tour or tickets to the Doges Palace and tickets to St Marks. There is a lot of art in Venice, do some reading in advance and decide what interests you the most. Venice will probably be the most expensive city to stay in, but its well worth it.

You can go to Burano for a few hours and then head back to Venice. So if that is what you want to do, go for it.. its your vacation.

In Florence you can book in advance your tickets to the Uffizi and to the Accademia. Its worth having timed tickets in advance. You can do a day trip either by renting a car; taking a bus or the train, depending on where you want to go.

Rather than a day trip to Rome, I think the suggestion by kyburbon makes more sense... make Rome a stop on your trip to Sorrento.. store the luggage, take the metro a few stops and then go to the Vatican.. it will take a few hours but you will get to see the Sistine Chapel. Once you firm up your plans make sure to book tickets online for the Vactican/Sistine Chapel.. the Vatican has an official website for this.

The reason I am suggesting getting tickets in advance is to save time so you wont be standing in a line waiting to purchase tickets and you wont find out too late that all the tickets have been sold to group tours or other individuals.