Two weeks in Italy -- too much?
 

My wife and I (early 30's, active) are planning our first trip to Italy. We are trying to strike a balance between seeing a lot (we like being on the go, waking up early, eating late, etc) but not over doing it. We have about 12 nights. As of right now, our itinerary is as follows:

Night 1,2 - Venice
Night 3,4,5,6 - Florence and Tuscany
Night 7,8,9,10 - Amalfi Coast
Night 11,12 - Rome

My guess is that most will say 2 nights is not enough for Venice nor Rome but otherwise any thoughts or suggestions? I think we will be taking the train between cities with the exception of renting a car in Florence for Tuscany and in Naples for Amalfi.

I would plenty in Venice, not nearly enough in Rome. I would personally cut Amalfi a couple of days and use them in Rome.

Perfect in Venice.

Rome could use another day or two. But, it depends on what you like, rural or city? Nature or Architecture?

Either way, you will have a lot of fun.

BTW, make a sidetrip to Norcia and eat at the Trattoria dei Priori.

Other great Italian places: Fortezza di Montipulciano (Drink Brunello and eat Wild Boar and cheese)

San Gimmiano

OP - when (or at least what time of the year) are you looking to take your trip? This could influence some decision making.

I agree, I'd move some of those Amalfi Coast days and spend them in Rome instead.

As mentioned before, time of the year could impact your decision making.

Some additional details would help:
-Are museums your thing or would you prefer more of walking around the city and taking in the outdoor sites?
Venice, do you want to island hop (Murano, Burano) or stay on the main island?

Florence, try and make it up to Fiesole for dinner one night.

Tuscany, heading out to the countryside for anything in particular? A particular city (i.e. Siena, San Gimignano, Lucca, Montalcino, etc) perhaps? Toscana is a vast area :)

Amalfi Coast - I'd skip all together and roll those days into Rome, Florence and the countryside, especially if this is your first visit and you plan on going back. If you do head to the coast, IMO skip renting a car. You'll end up leaving it parked at your hotel for most of your stay - and driving along the coast is not for the faint of heart. Bus transportation on the peninsula is adequate, as is the ferry system (adequate by Italian standards). Frecciarossa train to Napoli and transfer to a regional train down to the coast. What town are you considering to set as home base?

Rome - you'll need more time, especially if you want to take in the basics. I think Rome has an underrated food scene as well that you'll want to explore. If you're going in 2016 please note it's a Jubilee year so you might see an uptick in population during your stay.

Feel free to PM me...

I don't know what, "I would plenty in Venice" means. It's not a city you can see in just a few weeks. Maybe you can get off of a cruise ship and see Piazza San Marco in two days, but you certainly can't see the world's most beautiful city in 2 days.

Four days Florence and Tuscany is also too much. That's just running around from place to place. I'd suggest staying in Florence and choosing one Tuscan town for a day trip. Tuscany is a region, similar to what is referred to in the USA as a state. Saying you'll visit Tuscany is like saying you'll visit California. No one knows what that means.

There are a lot of crappy fake villages around Florence that are open for 8 months out of the year and prosper by serving what peoples' images are of Tuscan life, but it's so theme park touristy. Definitely stay in Florence and choose a nice small town to visit outside, but beware of the italian theme park industry there. I find Tuscany to be the least authentic part of Italy.

I'd trim from Tuscany and Amalfi and add more to Rome. Rome, like Venice, is one of the world's great treasures and fascinations. Even when you are looking at it you can't believe what your eyes are seeing. Or, take a day off of Tuscany and visit Naples for one day. That's the real Italy. Naples is not a theme park. That's where you get to see real Italy.

Thank you all for your responses. I forgot to mention that we will be traveling in mid-May.

We are not really museum people - we'd rather be walking around/exploring.

I understand saying we are going to Tuscany is not specific however we are just at the early stages of planning the trip. We want to stay in Tuscany as opposed to visiting for a day trip because we this is really our only vacation this year so we're trying to balance adventure/activity with rest and relaxation and figure Tuscany is a good place for that. We certainly would be opened to suggestions to regions/cities to stay in. From some of my reading it looks like Chianti is a good base.

Good timing! I'll be over there in May as well...

My recommendation would still be to skip the AC and distribute those days among Florence, Tuscany and Rome - especially if you plan on returning to Italy. With that said, do some research and see what's right for you and what you two want to do.

Re: a Tuscan base, the Chianti region offers an excellent choice. However, plenty of switchbacks and some deceptively long drives between places. If you're staying in Chianti country I recommend spending each day visiting a new portion of that particular region, as you'll spend a great deal of time getting to say, Lucca, and getting back.

My suggestion, take a look at the Tuscany region in its entirety. You'll notice a diversity of options - Arezzo/Cortona, 'Montalcino area' (includes Montepulciano, Pienza, San Quirico d'Orcia, the Maremma), Chianti (Siena could be included here), west of Florence (so San Miniato, Empoli, Livorno, Lucca, Pisa, Viareggio, maybe Pistoia). There's plenty more area to cover in Tuscany but those are some areas to think about off the bat. See what each has to offer and if that fits into what you want to do. For example, if you're into wine then the Montalcino/Montepulciano/Maremma and Chianti areas will garner greater attention.

As for car options, feel free to use whatever you're comfortable with. I prefer to rent from Maggiore (Italian company) for their prices and fleet availability. Autoslash is a great website to use that will assist in finding the best prices for you.

FYI - More than happy to meet up if you'll be in Florence or the Tuscan region at the same time (looking at May 9-16). Be in Rome on the 17th...

For two weeks, I'd pick three cities. If it's your first time, there's nothing wrong with the well-worn path of Rome, Florence, Venice. My first trip to Italy was ~12 days. We flew into FCO, Rome for 2 days, Florence for 4, Venice for 3, and then back to Rome for 3 more and then back out of FCO.

Now that high speed trains go directly to/from FCO (without transferring at Termini), I'd suggest this:

Fly into FCO, train to Venice. 3 nights. You might be tempted to fly to VCE, but I personally find a direct flight from the US to FCO and the train right to Venezia Santa Lucia much easier than flying one stop to VCE then figuring out how to get to the mainland to my hotel. Personally I think 3 nights is plenty in Venice, but you DO want nights - the tourist crowds thin out after dark considerably, since the city gets a lot of cruisers and day trippers.

Train Venice to Florence, 5 nights. Rent a car or take trains as needed for day trips if you want to do them. If you're into art or sitting around and eating/drinking wine, you could conceivably spend 5 days in the city itself.

Train to Rome, 5 nights, fly home. Rome is spread out. Get a map and zone off the city, and see one area each day based on the things you really want to see and tour.

Two weeks in Italy -- too much?
 

I was in Italy for a month in May w/many posts on my blog philatravelgirl -it's a good time of year. Check dates for venice as Vogalonga race weekend made it hard to find room (I have great Venice flat rental suggestion!) Venice is my favorite city so I'm partial to more time there - I even learned to row a gondola out to the lagoon this trip.

For the Amalfi Coast, I used a private guide for two days for a photo safari as I've been before and wouldn't even attempt to drive it. While others say to skip AC I combined with the Island of Capri which I'd recommend to see Blue Grotto - it's a lovely island IMO - quiet and relaxing.

For Florence, if not museum folks then think you don't need that much time. I did a fun little Fiat500 tour of city and suburbs, a food tour and wandering in three days.

For luxury Tuscany look at new Rosewood property.

DM with any queries

Capri? The Capri? :confused:

It's not possible to row a gondola. No gondoliere will lend or rent one to you, and you must be licensed in any case. There is an non-profit organization called Row Venice run by Nan McElroy. They will take you out and let you row a batellina. This is boat that to the untrained eye will look enough like a gondola for someone to call it that, but it is not. Far from it. It is much wider, flat bottomed, and stable.

Sorry I wasn't clear yes I did a Row Venice experience in the flat boat not a "gondola" - thanks for clarifying that point in detail. I rowed through the side canals and out to the lagoon.

Still a great suggestion. I've paddled with the woman of Row Venice, and this is a fantastic way to experience part of the city. It's so much more fun than inching through the packed crowds on the shopping streets around San Marco.

They told me they've never had anyone tip over or fall in yet!

http://rowvenice.org