Post cruise Italy itinerary - help!

[h-sar]

My niece (21) and her BF are planning a 3 week land holiday in Italy after a Greek islands cruise on one of the smaller, local cruise ships in May. I’m hoping (as is she) that the great CC community will assist with the planning of this adventure.

 

Itinerary, in this order:

Venice

3.5 days, staying near Rialto Bridge, Air B n B

 

Cinque T

2.5 days, Air B n B five minute walk from train station in Levanto

 

Florence

4 days

Air BnB, couple min walk from Duomo

 

Rome

4.5 days

Air BnB, few min from Piazza Navona

 

Amalfi area

4 days

What area best to stay?

 

Naples

1 night, basically to sleep after Pompeii and catch flight to Canada next morning.

Where to stay? I’m assuming something as close to airport as possible? Suggestions?

 

They’re in each area long enough to see the major sites. Will be doing 3-4 hr guided walking tours in Florence, Rome, and possibly Venice to get their bearings and some history on the first full day in each place. Also, will be doing a 1/2 day sunset bike tour in Rome. Will follow Rick Steves ‘walk through the heart of Rome’ stroll. They have a full day bike tour out of Florence to the Chianti region planned with stops at a castle/vineyard for olive oil and wine tasting, and lunch at a restaurant on a hilltop overlooking vineyards.

 

They will get tix in advance for Collosseum underground guided tour, Vatican guided tour, Doges Palace, skip the line tix for Accademia, Pompeii guided tour - hopefully find a larger group to split cost, Pisa Tower pre-booked entry. All other major sites they will do on their own, on the spot.

 

Anything they’ve missed which should be reserved?

 

Day trip suggestions from Florence: San G? Lucca? Siena? Somewhere else? Would have to be easy access via train/bus.

 

When should they do Pisa? On way from CT to Florence? What about their suitcases? Or do Pisa from Florence instead?

 

What about Pompeii? From Amalfi? Or on way from Amalfi to Naples? Suitcases?

 

Appian Way bike tour? If yes, with a bike rental or guided bike tour?

 

Baths of Diocletian? If yes, anyone have first hand experience with transportation?

 

If they want a relaxing beach day, where best in Amalfi area?

 

Capri - Yay/nay?

 

Italian SIM card suggestions for their unlocked iPhones? First hand knowledge of good companies, plans etc? They’ve done a lot of reading online about it, but if you have personal experience, please do share.

 

Thank you so much on DN’s behalf!

[euro cruiser]

Wow, take a breath! You've overwhelmed us (well, me anyway) with so many questions.

 

I realize that they are young but that's quite a pace, they're not leaving themselves a lot of space to simply discover along the way. However, as they are young they'll probably be back many times and they'll learn what pace suits them.

 

Assuming that they plan to travel by train, have they factored in the time to get from place to place? I'm afraid that their assumptions about the actual amount of time in each place is overstated because they are underestimating how long it will take to get from place to place and check in. Also note that when choosing Air BnB accommodations they often have a very small window of time for check in and check out, so their schedule will likely be further constrained by that.

[euro cruiser]

When should they do Pisa? On way from CT to Florence? What about their suitcases? Or do Pisa from Florence instead?

 

What about Pompeii? From Amalfi? Or on way from Amalfi to Naples? Suitcases?

 

If they want a relaxing beach day, where best in Amalfi area?

 

Capri - Yay/nay?

It would make sense to stop at Pisa on the way from Cinque Terre to Florence. There is a left luggage office at Pisa Centrale where they can leave their things while visiting the tower area.

 

Pompei is not an easy day trip from Amalfi, once on the coast they should place to stay there. It's easy enough to see Pompei either on the way there or on the way back, there is a left luggage facility inside the Pompei Scavi Circumvesuviana station where they can check their things.

 

Nowhere along the Amalfi Coast has great beaches. They have beaches, but they are small and most are pebbles, not sand, so they should probably plan on visiting whatever beach is closest to their accommodations, there aren't any that are so wonderful that they warrant traveling to get to them.

 

Whether or not to go to Capri depends on their interests and time constraints, as well as budget. The plan you've laid out sounds pretty expensive so maybe budget isn't a huge issue.

[h-sar]

Wow, take a breath! You've overwhelmed us (well, me anyway) with so many questions.

 

I realize that they are young but that's quite a pace, they're not leaving themselves a lot of space to simply discover along the way. However, as they are young they'll probably be back many times and they'll learn what pace suits them.

 

Assuming that they plan to travel by train, have they factored in the time to get from place to place? I'm afraid that their assumptions about the actual amount of time in each place is overstated because they are underestimating how long it will take to get from place to place and check in. Also note that when choosing Air BnB accommodations they often have a very small window of time for check in and check out, so their schedule will likely be further constrained by that.

 

Yup, no question I wouldn’t be able to keep up with their pace!

 

The number of days given for each city do not count the travel days, just simply their actual time in that city.

[h-sar]

Thank you, eurocruiser! Just the type of information they needed.

[cruisemom42]

If they are already doing one day trip out of Florence, I'm not sure that I'd plan another one.

 

Also, one thing I realized anew about Florence (having just spent some time there with my son) is that there are so MANY small venues to visit. I would highly recommend that they purchase the Firenze Card which is good for three days and gives you skip-the-line access to virtually every key site within Florence -- including the Accademia and the Uffizi: http://www.firenzecard.it/?lang=en

[cruisemom42]

 

Baths of Diocletian? If yes, anyone have first hand experience with transportation?

 

 

Not sure I understand your question about the Baths of Diocletian. They are near Termini; they can walk from Piazza Navona or grab one of the several bus lines that will take them to Termini.

 

But are you sure you mean the Baths of Diocletian? Or do you mean the Baths of Caracalla. The former have been completely reshaped into several different buildings including a church (designed from the ancient caldarium by Michelangelo) and part of the Museo Na*ionale (created out of the frigidarium). You can trace parts of the structure of the baths, but it isn't really easy to see.

 

The Baths of Caracalla, on the other hand, are not far from the Circus Maximus and are extremely well preserved -- they still look much like the baths they were built to be. Recently they've added a Virtual Reality component to their tour (they already had a very good audioguide) so you can presumably see a full immersive view of how they would have appeared.

[h-sar]

If they are already doing one day trip out of Florence, I'm not sure that I'd plan another one.

 

Also, one thing I realized anew about Florence (having just spent some time there with my son) is that there are so MANY small venues to visit. I would highly recommend that they purchase the Firenze Card which is good for three days and gives you skip-the-line access to virtually every key site within Florence -- including the Accademia and the Uffizi: http://www.firenzecard.it/?lang=en

 

Good suggestion, thank you.

[h-sar]

Not sure I understand your question about the Baths of Diocletian. They are near Termini; they can walk from Piazza Navona or grab one of the several bus lines that will take them to Termini.

 

But are you sure you mean the Baths of Diocletian? Or do you mean the Baths of Caracalla. The former have been completely reshaped into several different buildings including a church (designed from the ancient caldarium by Michelangelo) and part of the Museo Na*ionale (created out of the frigidarium). You can trace parts of the structure of the baths, but it isn't really easy to see.

 

The Baths of Caracalla, on the other hand, are not far from the Circus Maximus and are extremely well preserved -- they still look much like the baths they were built to be. Recently they've added a Virtual Reality component to their tour (they already had a very good audioguide) so you can presumably see a full immersive view of how they would have appeared.

 

I think you’re right in that I may have meant Caracalla.

[h-sar]

If they are already doing one day trip out of Florence, I'm not sure that I'd plan another one.

 

Also, one thing I realized anew about Florence (having just spent some time there with my son) is that there are so MANY small venues to visit. I would highly recommend that they purchase the Firenze Card which is good for three days and gives you skip-the-line access to virtually every key site within Florence -- including the Accademia and the Uffizi: http://www.firenzecard.it/?lang=en

 

Did you spend any time in the Mercato Centrale? Wondering if it’d be a better, more authentic experience than Eataly.

[cruisemom42]

Did you spend any time in the Mercato Centrale? Wondering if it’d be a better, more authentic experience than Eataly.

 

We loved Mercato Centrale. We ate lunch on the top floor one day. Quite a few Italians (including a table full of cute young women university students who flirted with my son!)

 

I would rate it over Eataly.

[h-sar]

Thank you both for the replies - greatly appreciated.

 

Does anyone have first hand knowledge of public bus/ferry for a day trip to Sorrento/Positano from Amalfi? The Amalfi Air BnB apparently has a bus stop about 150 steps up.

-can both places be done in one full day?

-I'm assuming ferry would be about half the time as bus?

-Ferry both ways or bus one way?

-Sorrento first, then Positano?

-or better to break up in two half days?

-other than visiting those two places and Amalfi, any other considerations in that area?

 

DN and her BF have done a lot of research on various sites, but I do find that there's also a lot of great first hand information on CC as well. Thank you for assisting!