We did a day trip to Sienna and San Gimignano from Florence with a car we rented for the day. It was

Hi all! My husband and I are planning our first trip to Italy. This is something hotels heathrow airport that I have dreamed of for years and means a whole lot to me. I have done a tour of the UK and Ireland in the past but I was really thinking about setting my own itinerary for this. The itinerary I have in mind:
I want to make sure that I don't feel really rushed and have the ability to follow my whims a bit. Ie, if we find that we want to spend more time at the Uffizi, we have the ability to do so, ect. I'd also like to have the opportunity to really explore each place and get less of a "cruiseship" experience.
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 hotels heathrow airport city center - Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps - the world-class museums, etc and many folks enjoy going out to the Catacombs hotels heathrow airport - ancient burial grounds with literally thousands of skulls and bones - so much to see in Rome - Florence's central hotels heathrow airport 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.
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.
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.
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 hotels heathrow airport Tours).
Frankly, hotels heathrow airport 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 hotels heathrow airport 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.
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:
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 hotels heathrow airport 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 hotels heathrow airport off doing it yourself.
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 hotels heathrow airport 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.
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 hotels heathrow airport 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 hotels heathrow airport 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, hotels heathrow airport so maybe not the best use of your time.
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.
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).
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 hotels heathrow airport 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.
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.
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.
We had very nice weather hotels heathrow airport 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