ooodsie

We are going to Europe this fall, and have already booked the plane tickets (F on Lufthansa), but not yet figured out hotels/transportation between each city. We would like some advice on the best way to get from each place to the next, and the amount of days in each location.

*** We are NOT looking for people to tell us to skip a city all together. We want a 'taste' of all of the cities we have listed. Yes we realize omitting one location would give us more time in another, but we want this to be a starter trip, where we can decide what we liked/didn't like and focus on places to go back for longer in the future or never need to return to***
Sept 27 - Arrive in Paris (flight gets in at 1pm)
Sept 28- Paris
Sept 29 -Paris
Sept 30- Leave Paris to head to Venice (easyjet.com? Flights are expensive right now. Or Train?)
Oct 1 - explore Venice during the day before leaving. Head to Florence (drive or train?)
Oct 2 - Florence
Oct 3 - Florence
Oct 4 - Leave to head to Rome, rent a car? Drive through Tuscany on the way to Rome - stop and sleep somewhere in the countryside at night.
Oct 5 - Arrive in Rome
Oct 6 - Rome
Oct 7 - Rome
Oct 8 - Leave Rome to head South - (train or drive?) to Almafi Coast
Oct 9 - Explore Almafi/Positano/Pompeii etc
Oct 10 - Same as above
Oct 11 - Head back to Rome to catch our flight at 2pm which is not an international flight, rather direct to Dusseldorf where we have a 1 day layover.

The one thing I am thinking might make more sense is to go straight from Florence to Positano, and then finish up in Rome since thats where we fly out of? Someone else had suggested that, and if so, we would swap Rome/Positano on the above itinerary.

Like I said - Our main question is how to get from pt a to pt b, and also if we should decrease/add days to any of the cities (NOT omit any, just change the order or change the amount of time).

Thank you in advance for your help!!

Aviatrix

Just a couple of comments, to get the ball rolling...:

1) Your time in Venice looks rather rushed

2) Car vs train: Driving round rural Tuscany is lovely (we did it a few years ago), but once you get into town (especially Rome!) a car is just going to be a hindrance. So, ideally, you'd want to be rid of the car before you get to Rome... or, alternatively, leave that scenic drive for another time (and perhaps spend an extra day in Venice instead)

ooodsie

I think we have decided today to make the following revisions:

1. Sleeper train from Paris to Venice instead of flying. Spend an entire day in Venice the morning we arrive by train, and sleep that night in Venice as well.

2. Do trains the remainder of the way instead of driving. I still would like to drive through Tuscany though - but we are thinking maybe during one of our Florence days we would rent a car just for the day, and do a day trip to the Tuscan countryside? Or does this sound stupid? Would it be better to check out of our hotel in Florence, drive through Tuscany and stay at a B&B that evening, and then the next morning go to the next train station on the way and get rid of the car? (and which train station would this be?) We would love to stay at a B&B near a winery.

3. Reverse Rome/Positano. Go straight from Florence to Positano, and then head back up to Rome for our last 3 days. Just to be safe since our flight leaves from Rome.

767400

I just got back from Italy in May and I would suggest all trains for your trip. Eurostar trains will get there right in the city and ready to go.

Take the E* train from Rome or Florence to Naples and then transfer to the Circumvesuviana train to get you do towards Sorrento. You didn't mention where your hotel was going to be for the Amalfi/pompeii days.

As for Amalfi, I actually thought Ravello was "gem" along the way. Amalfi and Positano were nice to see but they seemed more touristy. We hired a driver (Joe Banana Limos) that took us on a 9 hr tour that picked us up at our Sorrento hotel.

Almafi/Positano/Pompeii will be too much in 1 day to do. Depending how much you like Pompeii you can spend an entire day there.

We visited Capri and Ischia and both were great, we rented a scooter on Ischia and had a blast, highly recommend that!

Have fun!!!

xjessie007

Two days per city is very little. Do not forget you also need to travel between them. I would allow at least 3 days per city.
Prague is also nice, I was there.

b1513

The OP said that they did not want to be talked out of any city.

Welcome to FT, xjessie007.

mike2200

I believe what any amount of time you spend in a city you will get something special from it so enjoy!

Our paths will cross sorta speak we will be inFlorence Sept 26th till Oct 8th then Rome 8th till the 15th..rented Apts in both

We'll look look for you at the sights!!!

bpo26c

Great advice. It is often better to cut out a city and spend more in each of the cities that you plan to visit.

DaniD

To me it sounds like a good a idea to hire a car for a day and get a taste of Tuscany. Stop somewhere for a nice lunch an return the car in the evening. If you do it this way you save all the hassle to check in and out and have a more relaxed day.

xjessie007

I would like to add that a country is best known through food, so visiting local restaurants and eating local food is a must to get to know the culture.