re: 12 Days in Italy

This is a great suggested itinerary for a first visit to Italy. Rome, Orvieto, Florence, maybe a couple of smaller towns along the way....do it by train. Orvieto has a funicular up to the town on the hilltop. Tuscany is most people’s dream vision of Italian countryside.

Or, do Rome and south....Naples and Amalfi, taking in Vesuvius, Pompeii or Herculaneum, Positano. Be warned that many Americans loathe Naples, calling it dirty, criminal, graffitied, etc. I felt right at home there, go figure.

But I’d not pack Rome, Florence, and Amalfi coast into one trip, unless you’re crazy restless. Slow down and enjoy Italy, where lunch can take two,hours.

Also, stay longer in Rome. It is ridiculously full of art and history.....the Vatican museum takes the better part of a day, St Peters and the Square is worth a few hours....Capitoline Museum, the Forum, Trajans column and market, the Colosseum, la Bocca Verita, the Villla Borghese, countless churches full of spectacular art, the ancient Mithraeum temple under San Clemente church......and that’s not counting all of the coffee and gelato you’ll want to eat, plus strolling every evening to,see the monuments lit up at night.