tammychicago

I know this schedule might sound insane, but is it feasible (and could it be enjoyable as a first time smorgasbord of Italy?) FYI it’s our first time in Italy traveling with 2 teens, 16 and 17 (their first time in Europe). My husband and I were always ‘3 towns a day’ crazy travelers prior to kids:

Rome - 2 days
Pompeii/Amalfi coast /Naples/ - 1 day
Florence - 1 day
Cinque Terre - 1 day
Venice - 1 day
Tuscany hill towns - 1 day

We would base ourselves in Rome and Florence with day trips. Realistically, we’re probably going to cut Venice and/or Cinque Terre….but could it be possible? We always want freedom and options and possibilities.

Traveler_Nick

Crazy? Na. Crazy people would never do that list in seven days. That's before you factor in jet lag. Time lost traveling.

bilboburgler

It depends a bit on the time of year, in November I'd not go to the CT but in August that would be one dumb trip

Then I'm not sure about two bases, which would be your base for Venice for example? If you took the train that is a 3 hour super fast visit. So if we imagine that you leave your Florence hotel at 8, catch say the 8:30 train you get to Florence at 11:30, if we assume you eat an early supper in Venice say 7pm, and catch the last train back (not looked just doing numbers) you would be back in your hotel by midnight. That gives you roughly 7 hours in Venice. Unfortunately, if this is July or August your main competition will be from the Disney Mouse Eared idiots off the fat boats who roll out of their breakfast and block the alleyways of town from 10-6 (when they roll home for supper). I really don't like the idea of this trip.

The great thing about Italy is it is not going away, while a young country (100, 150 years I forget) the geographical/political entity has been here for more than 2000 years and it isn't going away. So less can really be more.

I do fast trips, I cycle town to town so I move on each morning, but Venice deserves at least 36 hours even at a rushed pace and you just gave it 7

Then again, how many Tuscan hill towns can you mention, without really thinking about it I can list of St Gim, Volterra, Siena, Montelcino, Montepulciano, Pienza and (to check spelling) I have another 6 in my head. Then there are all the valley bottom towns and the abbeys, the grand-vistas, Roman spas and Etruscan museums. Tuscany (up in the hills away from the Arno valley) is a good two weeks for me.

Sassafrass

Just re-read your post and see it includes Venice. Not feasible. Perhaps not really possible. You for sure would see nothing much.
When are you going? Is this for Spring break in a month or so, or Summer? In Summer, doing day trips is not good because you will be with crowds every day. Even cutting one place, not enjoyable, especially in Summer.

Are those 7 days whole days on the ground or do they include arrival and/or departure days, so only 5 full days on the ground? You could almost do it with 7 whole days by cutting Venice and the CT, or cutting the AC and Venice. Can you stretch it to 8 or 9 days?

Do you mind spending more time with your bottoms in train seats than you do seeing things?
From Rome, it will use 1/2 day each way to the Amalfi Coast. You could perhaps see Pompeii or Naples or take a tour of the AC, but all three are not possible in one day RT from Rome.
Venice and the CT are not good day trips from Florence.

Choose one coastal area, the Amalfi Coast or The CT, not both. Even if they are done as day trips, It is a total of a day’s worth of travel in between, either two part days or one whole day, the time adds up. Adding up the travel hours, you would use approximately 20-30 plus hours on the train, about 3 of your 7 days. That will be an expensive 4 days of sightseeing and the teens might appreciate more roaming by foot time. They might even enjoy a swim on a hot day.

Are you flying in and out of Rome, so would have to return there from Florence for departure? You would need to be in Rome your last night, so your last day would require 1/2 day of travel. Whatever you come up with, if you arrive in Rome, go on straight away to one of the other destinations. Put all time in Rome at the end.

AJPeabody

When someone asks if a potential itinerary is crazy, the answer is usually yes. Six places in seven days is worse than crazy. It is all travel and no visiting.

nylilly

I understand that we each have our preferred pace when traveling, but attempting to visit 6 locations in 7 days sounds dreadful to me. Of course, I find the term "doing," when it comes to vacation, as in we're doing Paris, Rome, and London, annoying. When I travel, I want to "be," not "do." Good luck!

KTtravel

I suppose some of this is possible but the words enjoyable and fun do not come to mind. What time of year will this be? You will be spending an awful lot of time on transportation and not much time sightseeing. Also, transportation can be quite expensive. I highly recommend spending more of your time and money enjoying the sights of two or three of your proposed destinations.

dfourh

Instead of listing days, the more important thing is to think about nights and particularly transport time. Then chart it out like below. Here is the worst case scenario if I read you correctly - - though you would have to dig out rail and bus schedules to plot it exactly (which might make things worse - - you still have to eat, too). Still, since the transport can be at least 3 or 4 hours many times, it looks like you have 1 1/2 days to see Rome; maybe 4 or 5 hours Sorrento/Positano; an afternoon & evening in Florence; maybe 4 hours for Cinque Terre; an afternoon in Venice, and more like a fullish day in Tuscany if you rent a car, but public transportation could be a real slog:

coral22

Congratulations on your first trip to Europe with your teens!
We were once the hopping all over type of travelers, not wanting to miss anything and operating with the aid of the adrenaline rush of new travel. Those days are long gone! You mention you traveled like this before children, for you, that was a LONG time ago. Travel is also a lot more crowded and crazy now with all of the post-Covid travelers. Delays and cancellations also seem more frequent making tight schedules frustrating.

You have a lot of questions to consider:
What time of year is this? Italy can be unbearable in the summer heat.
Do you have your airfare yet?
What type of your travelers are your children? A lot of teens are slow movers in the morning. Also, traveling with four, is a lot less spontaneous.
What are your priorities? Something is going to have to be dropped from this list.

janisj

Welcome to Fodors. dfourh's chart is helpful . . . but IMO/IME it makes your plan look (barely) feasible. It isn't. Even without Venice.

Please clarify -- is the whole trip 7 days home to home? Or is it nine+ days (1+ days in transit to and 1 day in transit home)? Which ever it is this is just a LOT of travel/cost to spend a few hours sightseeing. Some of those days you would actually spend more time sitting on trains and/or buses that seeing/doing anything.

This would be difficult traveling solo, but with a group of four you've crossed over to just about impossible.

Best case - that the trip is 9-ish days - that nets you 6.5 days free on the ground and the arrival day at least some of you may be jet lagged. Pick two bases Rome/Florence or Rome/Venice or Florence/Venice - or even Rome/Naples. Fly in to one and home from the other, and stick to just the two cities/surrounding areas. That would give you about 3 days in each area which is still pretty rushed.

. . . If the entire trip is 7 days (thus 4.5 free days) - then pick one city with maybe one day trip . . .

shelemm

I wouldn't go on that trip if you paid me.

tammychicago

We are going the last week of March, so any trip to Amalfi would strictly be to see if we are interested in it for next time, and a longer trip. We do have airfare and we are coming in and out of Rome. We have one travel day before and after the 7 days (total 9 days). We are doing a 12 hour layover in London to start where we will be exploring that as well (see we are crazy).

tammychicago

Thank you all for your feedback. I appreciate all the reassurance that this is too much...I do know that, yet I wondered if anyone else traveled that way with success. Whether or not we'll end up doing most of that...we'll see how we are when we get there. Hopefully we can slow down a little and enjoy while still exploring locations we might want to return to as part of future trips (at a slower pace)
.

Peter_S_Aus

On the ten point Richter scale of crazy, your trip scores about 15.
It is like living on a diet of exclusively fast food.

janisj

"We do have airfare and we are coming in and out of Rome. We have one travel day before and after the 7 days (total 9 days)."

That does complicate things because you arrive in Rome and should be in Rome the night before your flight home. Sooooo - assuming you have seven nights and not six, what you should probably do is immediately upon arriving, travel to Florence (or Naples if you decide to head south instead), spend the first three nights there, then travel to Rome and spent the final 4 nights there.

bilboburgler

March, stay in cities, do not include 5 Terre and Tuscany as they are both sort of country, rather than Urban (Urbano is another matter but just ignore I mentioned it).

Drop Venice because it is way off East.

Focus on Naples ( first) and Florence. You have to visit Rome to get home. If Florence bores them eat the last night there and transfer it to Rome at the end
Bring umbrellas for all and hope your family forgives you ;-)

alandavid

Its too much (I think you know its too much). Unless your kids are art freaks, I'd skip Florence, Venice, & CT. (Save it for next time)

Here's my suggestion:
Day0: Arrive Rome in PM? (after 12 hours in London following an overnight flight?, you'll all be shot)
Day1: May be a mess because of your day 1. Stay outdoors and hit the short visit stuff: Pantheon, Trevi, Spanish Steps, etc.. Early dinner and to bed early.
Day2: Prebook a Colloseum tour that includes the underground & Palantine Hill. Trastevere for dinner
Day3: Prebook the early morning Vatican tour. It will end up in St Peter's. Before you leave, climb the dome. Grab lunch nearby & hit Castel St Angelo.
Day 4: Sleep in. Train to Orvieto to see a really neat hillltown. Get a good meal for your final night in Rome
Day 5: Sleep in. Train to Naples, then on to Sorrento for 2 nights Get a hotel with a pool, take a swim before dinner.
Day 6: Hire a car service to take the family down the Amalfi Coast (affordable for 4 and only way to see it in a day)
Day 7: Store your bags at Pompeii Scavi station while you visit the ruins. Back to Rome by train and stay near the airport or Termini Station prior to flight home.

IMO, most teens will list the Colloseum and Pompeii as their top priorities. Venice only works if you're flying openjaw.

janisj

Oh -- jeeze -- I completely forgot about the 12 hour LHR layover!!

This is crazy nutty. Is your flight to Rome from LHR too or from a different London airport??? If both flights use LHR . . . Say you arrive at LHR at 6 or 7 AM (after a sleepless night for at least some of you) two hours or so for immigration/customs/logistics at LHR. Is this on one booking or separate tickets? The reason I ask -- if on one ticket your luggage will be checked through to Rome and all you'll have to deal with are your carry-ons. But if it is on separate tix, then you must retrieve the bags - but the problem then is that most airlines won't et you check bags 12 hour before a flight. In either case you'll need to queue to leave either your carry ons or all of your luggage at LHR Left Luggage. Then into the city for a few hours (still sleepless), then trek back out to LHR 3 hours before the next flight. Retrieve the bags and check then to Rome. Arriving in Rome late in the evening . . .

If it was me - I'd just get a day room at a LHR hotel (or at your departure airport if it is different than LHR)

dfourh

I'm somebody who likes to cover a lot of territory and see many different places in a short amount of time. That's because I don't enjoy museums (for me, you can see most everything in museums online), but I like physical geography, being in unique cityscapes, moving among a variety of people (and lots of tasty foods). I have virtual photographic memory for places and spatial relationships, and capture and hold vast scenes (as well as whole museum rooms) with one quick scan (and then habituate/ get bored with them quickly), so staying in Bologna while doing one day to Ravenna, another to Parma, another to Modena - - that's fantastic, as they are mostly one-hour jaunts. Although I tend to cover a LOT of territory to satisfy that kind of urge, and don't mind 6 locations in 7 days, spending six hours a day or more in a train day after day for a week would be totally enervating - - those trains in turn would quickly become sensory deprivation tanks. I've enjoyed many seven hour train rides - - they are a great way to relax and to organize/edit all the pictures - - but those kind of journeys need to be few and far between.

tammychicago

Going carry on only. Coming into and leaving from LHR.