Italy travelfilter: Venice vs. Naples/Amalfi Coast

August 4, 2015 8:46 PM

I have the awesome problem of deciding what I want to do with two and half days in Italy, in August.

The plan is to arrive in Rome on a Friday morning and be in Florence Monday afternoon. In between, I'll either go to Venice, or to Naples, with a day trip tour of Herculaneum/the Amalfi Coast. The Naples plan is baked, I'd just be showing up. I'm leaving in a couple of weeks and really want to at least get the hotels and train tickets sorted.

I went to Venice about ten years ago and *loved* it, and swore I was gonna go back someday when I wasn't a flat broke college kid. I'm pretty good at finding my way off the beaten path so I'm not that worried about dodging the most touristy crowds. And I saw (and loved) Cinque Terre on the same trip, so I already got a sense of the Italian coast, maybe?

But! It feels so weird to pass up the chance to go somewhere new. The Mefi consensus on Naples seems to be to skip it, but the Amalfi Coast looks gorgeous. And I was a classical history major in college, Roman stuff is awesome.

Other factors: the Venice trip would be by myself, the Naples trip would be with my parents (who love Naples, and who I'll be with for the rest of the trip.) I'll be taking trains. I can keep myself happily busy wandering around cities and towns for days, I love gardens and food and weird little offbeat places, I don't care that much about museums.

I'm leaning Venice, but am I overlooking something awesome down south? Other stuff I'm not thinking of?

Thanks Metafilter!

posted by jameaterblues to Travel & Transportation (11 answers total)

Pompeii.
posted by Freedomboy at 11:30 PM on August 4, 2015

If you were a history major, then you might want to do Venice with a day trip to Ravenna. The mosaic work in the early Christian churches literally made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Amazing, beautiful and not many tourists.
posted by frumiousb at 11:58 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

You do not have a lot of time in Rome, I would just skip all the travel and spend some more time there or more time in Florence. You will be traveling most of a day anyway, so you only actually have a day and a half.
posted by Akke at 12:44 AM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

There are a lot of other cities you can visit much closer to your locations - Ostia Antica, Tivoli, San Gimignano, Siena, Volterra, Monteriggioni.
posted by Akke at 12:47 AM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you plan to travel by train, I'd say stay closer to Rome so you have more hours to spend on your destination.

Tuscany would be a great choice. There are many very beautiful places. One option would be Siena which is a gem and only a good three hours train ride from Rome. Another beauty is Arezzo which is only a bit further. You could probably even do one day each. They are both perfect for exploring by foot.

Have fun! Italy is geourgous at that time of year if you can escape the touristy crouds a bit.
posted by Fallbala at 1:11 AM on August 5, 2015

The Amalfi coast is very nice, and I wouldn't pass up on the chance to see Pompeii again (or better still, Herculaneum). Naples has little to recommend it though - ongoing problems with waste management have made it quite unpleasant in parts. But a day trip covering both the coast and Pompeii is going to be very rushed.
posted by pipeski at 1:15 AM on August 5, 2015

While I usually agree with you that one shouldn't pass up a chance to go somewhere new, Naples is... not really worthwhile for such a short trip. I've tried to do the "day trip to Naples" thing, and probably wouldn't repeat it. Plus it isn't really a safe "wanderable" city in the same way that Rome and Florence are; the historic center is lovely, but relatively small.

I vote for Venice, or heading to Florence a day early.
posted by Pizzarina Sbarro at 1:30 AM on August 5, 2015

I'm not that worried about dodging the most touristy crowds

The only people you will see in cities in Italy in August are tourists. It is a holiday month and most urban Italians go to the country/seaside. Bear in mind 15 August is the most important holiday in the Italian calendar and a lot of restaurants, etc will be closed for at least a few days around that, if not for the two-week period around that.

There also is no way I would travel to the Amalfi Coast in August unless I was in a comfy guided tour where someone else had to deal with logistics. It will be extremely crowded.

Here is an earlier post about Venice in August which you may find useful.

If I were you I would stay in Rome for a night or two, and given that you've mentioned food, rely on Katie Parla to help me pick out some awesome eats to enjoy.

Since you're interested in Roman stuff you could do a day trip to Ostia Antica from Rome (plan to be there either early morning or as late as its open as it is going to be very hot to be outdoors during the day).

Akke and Fallballa are right - it is a good time to visit inland towns and if I were you I'd head towards Umbria/Tuscany for a night or two on your way to Florence. Orvieto and Siena come to mind in particular as great places to visit.
posted by bimbam at 7:35 AM on August 5, 2015

I *just* (yesterday morning) got back from Bologna - Ravenna - Venice for a few days. August is, yes, very touristy. I would say sure: go back to Venice for a day but consider Padua, Rimini, or Trieste along with Ravenna (a beautiful, quiet town) with (as mentioned above) lovely Byzantine churches (Chiesa di San Vitale). Trains are cheap if you're willing to see every whistle stop between Venice and Rimini, or you can pony up (from ~30 Euro) for the FrecciArgento and get from Bologna to Venice in an hour and change.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 10:20 AM on August 5, 2015

I've been thinking about this. August is very hot, and yes, the main holiday-month for most of Europe. You need to go either to the beach or the mountains, and regardless of where you go, there will be tourists.

What about Assisi? There are direct trains to and from both Rome and Florence. It's a beautiful small city with tons of interesting culture. Umbrian food and wine is good. There is nature, too, if you enjoy that - at least you should do what the Italians do: go on an excursion to one of the mountain villages and have a nice lunch and sample local specialities.
posted by mumimor at 2:31 PM on August 5, 2015

I would probably add more Rome time, but we couldn't get enough time there when we visited, even after restructuring our trip so we could add some extra days there.

As recommended above, Siena is very nice.

Ostia Antica was a decent day trip from Rome and easy to reach using affordable public transportation.

But honestly -- two and a half days is really not a lot of time if you need to travel to your destination, get established in new lodging, and then start sightseeing. I would opt for closer choices that involve less travel time (and thus more sightseeing time) unless you know you'll never get another shot at some place you've always wanted to visit.
posted by Nerd of the North at 6:51 AM on August 6, 2015