Planning your own vacation to Italy?
Below is a timeline of the trip we took along with all the tips and planning helps that we gathered to put it all together. We like to travel on a budget and avoid crowds. We also move travel fast but in the end, we had a blast.
Enjoy the tips and plan your own journey off the beaten path.
Flight To Rome
March 7, 2018
As with our past trips on to Europe, they begin in California.
Since our flight was 12 hours long plus a 9 hour time difference our trip really begins on March 8th at 7:50 pm. We officially arrived around 8 pm in Rome. Security took longer than we expected but we still managed to catch dinner at Il Mercato Centrale and see some of the city in the evening.
March 8th, 2018 | Thursday
What we Did:
- Make your way through customs.
- Purchase and take the Leonardo Express Train to Roma Termini Train Station
- Check in with our host at In City Hotel – 3 blocks from the station
- Head out for dinner and see some sights in the wee hours of the morning
- Il Mercato Centrale
- Trevi Fountain
- Spanish Steps
Planning Helps:
An Evening in Rome
March 8, 2018
Planning Helps:
- Our Rome Visit A City Itinerary
- Restaurants
- Supplizio
- Colline Emiliane Menu – Reservation Required Via Phone Call
- Rome Restaurants by Telegraph.co.uk
- Pre-Book Tickets
- Colosseum Tickets – We booked timed entry which included Palatine Hill & Roman Forum
- Vatican Museum – 3rd option (Admission Tickets) Booking window 60 days out
One Full Day in Rome
March 9, 2018
Here is a list of all we saw on our Urban Hike of Rome. We relied heavily on Visit A City to plan our extensive walking tour of Rome and managed to see everything on the list. Make sure you purchase time entry tickets for the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums.
See Related ContentThings We Saw In Rome
March 9, 2018 12:00 pmIn one day with a good deal of walking and starting from Roma Termini you can enjoy:
- The Colosseum
- Palatine Hill
- Roman Forum
- Capitoline Hill
- Piazza del Campidoglio
- Victor Emmanuel Monument
- Piazza Venezia
- The Pantheon
- Coffee at Tazza d’Oro
- San Luigi Dei Francesi
- Piazza Navona
- Lunch at Supplizio
- Castel Sant’Angelo
- St. Peter’s Square
- St. Peter’s Basilica
- The Vatican Museums
- The Sistine Chapel
- Pincio Terrace
- Piazza del Popol
- The Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps)
- Trevi Fountain
- Dinner at Colline Emiliane
Florence in a Day
March 10, 2018
Saturday was planned to be a crazy day.
We started in Rome and ended up in Naples but in the middle, we enjoyed all that Florence has to offer.
We left Rome for Naples by way of Florence which on paper makes little sense. We took an early train north and spent the day in Florence before catching an evening express train to Naples where we spent the evening.
See Related ContentNaples to Amalfi
March 11, 2018
After seeing both Rome and Florence on the front end of the trip with long urban hikes the plan was to slow down and head to the Amalfi Coast via rental car and enjoy nature. Our time in Naples was always intended to be short and having arrived in the night and leaving in the morning we were glad that it was only a short stay.
On the way to Amalfi, we drove up Mt. Vesuvius, past Pompeii and took a scenic route to Ravello. After touring Villa Rufolo we headed to Amalfi to find out that our path was hindered by a rock slide. We spent the rest of the day driving back around to Pompeii to make it to our Bed and Breakfast in Agerola, Italy.
See Related ContentRoad Map | Naples to Amalfi
March 11, 2018 9:00 am
Two Days on the Amalfi Coast
March 12, 2018
We woke up to see that Orrido di Pino was in a cloud. The original plan was to go a high hike to a nearby mountain peak but seeing the current morning weather as being very damp and the fact that our visit to Amalfi was scraped from the previous day. We took our time getting ready. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and finally checked out around 11 am.
After checking out we went down into the town of Amalfi and wandered around. We then headed to our hotel for the next two-nights; Hotel Pellegrino, which we highly recommend. We hung out in Praiano that evening and the next day we finally got hiking on the Path of the God’s. The uphill climb starts only a short walk from Hotel Pellegrino and goes past a high hillside church. After the hike and a rest, we headed to Positano for dinner at La Cambusa under the recommendation of our host Luigi.
See Related ContentLeaving Italy
March 14, 2018 12:00 am
Saying goodbye is hard. Well driving through rush-hour traffic to get to Sorrento to catch a train to catch a plane was a lot harder. In the end, this short trip was worth it and as we flew north over the Alps we wondered when we would return.
