Italy: Florence/Rome/Positano/Trevisio etc

[flexible Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close flexible]

We are trying to decide about the first two resorts:

Dimore la Vecchia Firenze (#4270) - Florence - the only one I could put a hold on is 99,000 points for a two bedroom. The points seem really high but maybe because it is June? If I give up this Florence it is very unlikely to get the resort a week or two later. A review mentioned there are only 10 units.

OR

Domina Home Royal (#2809) Positano on Almalfi Coast - 25,000 points for a one bedroom

we can't figure out if if we'll need a car. We stopped in Sorrento, Italy this April and took a train to Pompeii. Since it says the bus stops near the hotel, I am wondering if it is easy to get back to Sorrento for the ferry to Capri and train to Pompeii.

from RCI Resort Details:

under Directions
"Public transport - by bus from Napoli to Sorrentoand then change for the coast road and Positano. The bus stops at the top of the village and from there it is approx. 300m to the hotel."

under Additional Information
"A car is essential to enjoy the area. Parking is at a premium in Positano - the Hotel Royal has 13 spaces and there is a charge per day."


---------------
Our current plans are:
22 Apr 2009 - arrive Dublin, Ireland
?
2 -9 May 2009 - Club 1, Nice, France

9-16 May 2009 -Le Barchesse Di Villa Corner (#1649) - Trevisio, Italy - this is one we might cancel the reservation because it looks like it is time consuming & expensive to get around the area even though it is about 20 miles from Venice. However the Venice week mentions you need to contact them 5 days in advance and arrange receiving the room key. So we thought it might be easy to go from Trevisio to Venice to pick up the key in advance.

15-22 May 2009 - I Gioielli del Doge (#3577) - Venice apartments scattered around the city.

22 May - we thought we'd spend the night in Florence if we don't use the first week above

23-30 May 2009:
Carpediem Roma Golf Club (#4267) - East of Rome, reviews state resort has free shuttle service twice a day to a Metro stop.

30 May - 6 Jun - either Florence or Positano at top of this thread

6 Jun - 19 Jun - hopefully Paris

19 Jun - cruise from England


THANKS in advance for any advice.

[Laurie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Laurie]

Wow, what a great itinerary - what kind of points, RCI points?

You can get a ferry directly from Positano to Capri and back:
Capri - Ferry & Hydrofoil schedule

I don't think you'd need a car in Positano if mostly you wanted to get to Sorrento for Pompeii once, and then to some other Amalfi coast towns - buses run regularly.

If I were you I might have to go for the Positano because of the points difference, depending on which location is most important to you. Both locations are worth a week.

And I would probably cancel the Le Barchesse Di Villa Corner, based on reviews I've read, and since you already have a week in Venice. You can arrange your key details for I Gioielli Del Doge by email, just tell them what time you'll be arriving and they'll meet you at the boat stop closest to your apartment. Maybe you can get a Florence week in that slot instead - or another Italy resort with better reviews.

[flexible Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close flexible]

Wow, what a great itinerary - what kind of points, RCI points?

You can get a ferry directly from Positano to Capri and back:
Capri - Ferry & Hydrofoil schedule

I don't think you'd need a car in Positano if mostly you wanted to get to Sorrento for Pompeii once, and then to some other Amalfi coast towns - buses run regularly.

If I were you I might have to go for the Positano because of the points difference, depending on which location is most important to you. Both locations are worth a week.

And I would probably cancel the Le Barchesse Di Villa Corner, based on reviews I've read, and since you already have a week in Venice. You can arrange your key details for I Gioielli Del Doge by email, just tell them what time you'll be arriving and they'll meet you at the boat stop closest to your apartment. Maybe you can get a Florence week in that slot instead - or another Italy resort with better reviews.

Laurie,

Yes, all the Italian weeks are with RCI points.

THANKS for the advice and link to the Positano-Capri ferry.

I am really torn on what to do. It would be great to replace 5/9-16 for Trevisio with Florence but I can't count on it.

Most of my searches for Italy cities and Paris come up empty. So I grabbed Positano when I saw it. Then I saw Florence and grabbed it.

It would be fantastic if another couple wanting a similar itinerary would split some of the time. We could go to Rome to Positano for 3 days, then go up to Florence for 4 days. A lot will depend on what I can find for June 6 - 19. I am holding reservations for Paris & a few other places with our Marriott Rewards points, but it would be nice to get another week either Rome/Florence/Sorrento area before going to Paris. If it were in Rome then we could fly from Rome to Paris.

Thanks again.

If anyone else has advice I'd really appreciate it because I only have 3 more hours to decide to cancel either Florence or Positano.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I have been to the on in Positano and I would go back in a heart beat. Saw Florance for a day or two but if I had to pick Positano hands Down.

[flexible Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close flexible]

I have been to the on in Positano and I would go back in a heart beat. Saw Florance for a day or two but if I had to pick Positano hands Down.

THANKS. I appreciate your opinion very much.

[flexible Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close flexible]

I couldn't bring myself to cancel either the Florence or Positano last week. I am hoping to find a week for June 6-13 that makes sense. Then maybe drop one of the 30 May - 6 June weeks.

Then, if all goes well I find Paris about June 12/13 to 19. If not, I have Marriott in Paris Neully reserved with Marriott points.

I am still trying to figure out the Italian train system. Am I better off with an Italian rail pass or a France/Italy rail pass?

Also we plan to get a one or two week National Trust Pass or British Heritage Pass to use about 25 April - 2 May. I am hoping Italy has something similar on a national scale. I have read about some local bus/heritage site passes like in Padua outside of Venice.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

If you want to, you can keep both and use both. I would spend 4-5 days in Positano then finsh the week off in Florence. I spilt a week the same way sortof, I used the room in Rome for 2 days 1 night and the rest in positano. We hated the room in Room so we only used it to sleep on the sofa for and early flight out of rome,

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

We found individual rail tickets so inexpensive in Italy that buying a pass would have been a total waste of money.

We originally planned to use Eurorail, but then discovered we would save a great deal of money by using low cost European airlines. We liked the idea of using the Europass, but couldn't see spending twice as much to have it.