Finally, This Is It!

We finally have an itinerary for our trip to Italy! We will spend 12 days visiting Rome, the Abruzzo region, Naples, Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast and the beautiful island of Capri as we travel from the Mediterranean coast to the Adriatic coast, and then south to the Campania area, and finally to the "Castelli Romani" area - the hills south of Rome where the Pope has his summer home and where our cousin Gabriella runs a bed and breakfast. You will have an option to arrive in Rome on Thursday, April 7^th or on Saturday, April 9^th. Gary, Gale and Dawn plan to arrive on Thursday. Danny and Margarita plan to arrive on Saturday. There is also an option to skip the family visit to Teramo and meet us in Rome on Monday, April 11^th. This option is for anyone who does not want to go to Teramo with us when we visit our family. You are all welcome to do that with us, but it is important to know that we will be in Teramo for the first 4 days of our trip and you might want to spend your time in Italy visiting one of the more touristy places or spending more time in Rome. We will not be renting a car while we are there so it will be a quiet, slow-paced visit. I don't want to discourage anyone, but I want you to know what that part of the trip would entail before you make your decision. If you have never been to Italy, Florence or Venice might be a good option instead.

The Itinerary below is what Gary and I will be doing. We have carefully planned what we think is a great itinerary but it also is flexible for anyone who might want to do things slightly differently. The itinerary lists some items that say "Optional" – these are things that Gary and I will NOT be doing mostly because we have already done it, but they are things we would highly recommend for others. If you choose to do one of the optional items, I would still be able to make all the arrangements for you. You will also notice in the itinerary that there are "private drivers" and "private tour guides" – these are services we will be using to make the trip much easier and comfortable by avoiding having to drag our luggage around - through the streets, on the trains and buses, etc. All our tours will be private, meaning we will be the only ones in the group. Once everyone has committed to what their intentions are, then I will be able to provide an estimated cost for the trip, including hotels.

Speaking of hotels, we plan on making our hotel reservations after we have purchased our airline tickets EXCEPT FOR our hotel in Sorrento. There are many choices of hotels in Sorrento, but most of them are either very expensive (think Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!) or small, cheap and somewhat questionable. There are limited reasonably priced hotels with good ratings, and these are already filling up fast for next April. So we plan on making our reservations soon – possibly within a week or two. I will send everyone the information when we are ready, and then you can decide if you want to reserve a room in the same hotel or if you would prefer to splurge for one of the higher priced (but worth it!) hotels with beautiful rooms with balconies and spectacular views overlooking the Mediterranean.

Here is our day-by-day itinerary of our trip to Italy:

Day 1: Wednesday: Overnight flight to Rome.

Day 2: Thursday: Arrive in Rome in the morning. Travel by private driver to Teramo.

Days 3, 4 & 5 – Friday, Saturday and Sunday: Teramo

Day 6: Monday: Travel from Teramo to Rome by private driver. Arrive in Rome late morning. Check into hotel and meet our private tour guide to get an orientation tour of Classics Rome which will include many of the major sights. We will have lunch in an outdoor piazza. The evening will be on your own. (NOTE: Meet us in Rome in the morning if you did not travel to Teramo with us)

Day 7: Tuesday: Rome on your own or OPTIONAL day trip to one of the surrounding areas of Rome and/or Tuscany or an OPTIONAL tour of more of the sights of Rome.

Day 8: Wednesday: OPTIONAL Vatican and Sistine Chapel tour. Evening on your own.

Day 9: Thursday: Pack your bags and say Arrivedirci to Rome because we are going to southern Italy to visit Naples, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. We will travel by private driver for approximately three hours to get to the Bay of Naples area. Our driver will take us on a tour along the scenic Amalfi coastline to the cliff-hugging coastal towns of Amalfi and Positano, then a ride up to the town of Ravello with breathtaking panoramic views. We will have lunch along the way in one of the small villages, and return to our hotel in Sorrento in time to enjoy the evening on our own in this lovely, lemon-filled Mediterranean town.

Day 10: Friday: A short walk from our hotel to Marina Piccolo will bring us to the Sorrento harbor where we will travel by ferry or private tour boat to the Isle of Capri. After a half-day of sightseeing, we will return to Sorrento to enjoy the rest of the day and evening on your own.


Day 11: Saturday: Time to say goodbye to Sorrento. Our private driver will pick us up at our hotel in the morning and drive us to Naples. If time allows, we will drive through the area where the Boleeno and Aurrichio families came from. After a short tour of Naples and lunch in one of their famous pizzerias, we will travel by train to Velletri, a small village in the hills south of Rome. For our last night in Italy, we will be spending a relaxing evening at our cousin Gabriella's bed and breakfast.

Day 12: Sunday: A private driver will pick us up in the morning to take us to the airport for our return flights to the USA.