10-days in Italy...Rome and where else would you choose??

zweton wrote: »

Hi, thinking of 10 days in august/sept. have decided on rome for 4 or 5 days. Where else would you recommend? If theres nice beaches thats a bonus

Take a trip to pompeii and see vesuvius. The volcano itself and the ruins are a vision..Not far by train from Rome iirc.

I cant recommend the isle of capri highly enough. It means travelling to Naples(not that bad) and a short ferry ride. You can also take in the islands of sorrento and ischia which are close by. On the journey between naples and rome theres a seaside resort of serapo in frosinone iirc which has plenty of beaches etc.

Done Rome, Florence and Venice for 10 days once.
Started in Rome and got the train up to Florence, stayed a few days and on up to Venice on train. Flew out of Venice. (Or an airport close by with Ryanair:) )

zweton wrote: »

anyone done italian riviera? amalfi coast supposed to be nice too. decisions decisions:)

Amalfi is stunning, beautiful villages, spectacular road trip (up there with the Antrim Coast road on a good day).
But Capri is spectacular, all these and pompeii etc are in the same locale. Don't listen to the naysayers re napoli, the place has to be seen. I wouldn't stay too long there though😉
One thing I think u said u were travelling in August, all of these places (bar Napoli) will be absolutely choc a block, it'd the Italian holiday month, city dwellers take the month off and depart en masses to the seaside, Amalfi will be undriveable, bumper to bumper. Rome also has a pretty bad rep in august for crowds, half day waits to see Vatican museum etc.
An alternative could be sardinia or even better, Abruzzo or Puglia on the other side of the country, they have coast and weather, definitely not as popular, we'll worth looking into for the other part of the trip.

I see u are planning aug/Sept, as per above, avoid august I'd possible, certainly the first 3 weeks should be avoided.

Italian here. I can only agree with what other people already told you. After Rome simply don't waste your time in Naples and go take a look at Amalfi and Capri! If you've got some spare time, stop by Pompei or in Caserta to see the Reggia. I'd describe it as a mini-Versailles, but it's still impressive.

zweton wrote: »

Is it easy get around to all these places by public transport or would i need a car?

Everything is well serviced around there, don't expect immaculate buses or trains though. You might need to take different means of transport, for example from Rome take the train to go to Salerno, then a bus to Amalfi. But I think there are direct buses from Rome to Amalfi, too. Same for Pompeii.

The offer is quite wide, especially during the summer when new bus routes are activated and trains are more frequent. I'd suggest you Google a bit when you're closer to your trip and see all the options yourself.

edit:

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

http://www.amalfishuttle.com/rome-fco-shuttle-bus/

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/our-trip-to-rome-the-amalfi-coast-with-all-transportation-logistics-included.cfm

A car is not necessary at all because of the choice of public transportation available. If you wish to get one for your convenience though, be extra careful because it can be dangerous if this is your first time with a car near Rome and Naples.

JackHeuston wrote: »

ahh sorry. Uhm well that's a quieter area and I don't know any specific place, but really no worries because Sorrento is also small enough you'll definitely see where people go party at night! After dinner (9-10pm) just go out in the town centre and you'll see. I'm not too sure about Amalfi though.

If you get a chance to do this, try also taking a look at the chalets along the beach you'll see in your trip (avoid beaches near Rome, anywhere else's good). Some of them usually organise parties every night on the beach. They are free entry as they are not really nightclubs, you only pay for the drinks.

Sorrento is the liveliest town in amalfi area, from talking to local youths when I was there, it's the happening spot on the peninsula, not especially nuts though, so depends on what ur looking for.
Re car or no car, I trained from Rome to napoli, local train to sorrento and eventually hired a car to drive the coast, not required, but gives some flexibility. For the Rome downwards option though, train is very convenient.

To be fair, ten days could easily be filled just with Rome, it's a fantastic city with loads to see, do, eat and drink.

If you get the chance while in Rome try and make a trip out to Ostia Antica, it's an old port town about an hour out from Rome that's well worth visiting. It's a self explore place but, certainly when I was there, there weren't big crowds so it felt a bit surreal to walk around the ruins (some of which are very well preserved) completely alone.

It is easy to get a ticket on the day. You can use the automated machines in the station or queue to go to the window.

I have pre-booked a ticket before only to find out the seat and carriage did not exist on the train. They may have fixed this issue but as I said the trains are very easy to use in Italy.