14 days in Italy: itinerary

Fourteen days is the first length at which Italy stops being a checklist. The country's high-speed line runs Venice–Padua–Bologna–Florence–Rome–Naples, so a route along it costs you almost no travel time and no airport days. The plan below gives three nights to Venice, three to Florence, four to Rome and four to the south, ending at Naples airport.

The trade-off is depth against breadth. Four stops in two weeks means one hotel change every three or four days, which is comfortable. Five or six stops means half your mornings are checkout mornings. If the Lakes, Cinque Terre or Sicily matter more than the Amalfi Coast, swap the southern block rather than adding to it — see Variations.

Book the fixed pieces before you fly: Vatican Museums, Colosseum, Uffizi and Accademia timed entries, plus high-speed seats for the long legs. Everything else can stay loose.

The route is a single line south, with one branch at the end. Venice and Florence sit on the northern high-speed section; Rome is the hub; Naples and the Amalfi Coast are the southern extension. You never double back, which is what keeps 14 days feeling longer than it is.

Treat the mornings as the sightseeing slots and the late afternoons as travel or rest. Venice and Florence reward early starts; Rome rewards a long lunch and a late piazza.

High-speed trains are the backbone. Frecciarossa and Italo both run the Venice–Florence–Rome–Naples line, and booking 2–8 weeks ahead usually cuts the fare sharply. Regional trains cover the rest, including the Circumvesuviana from Naples to Pompeii, Herculaneum and Sorrento.

Inside cities you rarely need a car: Venice is boats and feet, Florence and Rome are walkable with metro or bus for the long hops. For the Amalfi Coast, ferries beat the road in summer — the coast road can jam for an hour between towns. If you plan to drive in Tuscany, pick up the car in Florence and drop it before Rome.

Strikes (scioperi) are announced in advance and can cancel a train or a ferry for a day. Keep a buffer before an international flight and check the operator's site the evening before.

Stay inside the historic centres in Venice, Florence and Rome — the premium buys you mornings and evenings without crowds, which is most of the point. In Venice, San Marco and Cannaregio are the practical choices; Mestre is cheaper but adds a train each way. In Florence, the Duomo–Santa Croce area keeps everything within 20 minutes on foot. In Rome, Monti, Prati and Trastevere each put a different set of sights on your doorstep.

In the south, Sorrento is the easiest base: ferries to Capri and Amalfi, the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii, and a flat walkable centre. Amalfi and Positano are prettier and harder — fewer rooms, more stairs, and buses that fill up. Book 3–6 months ahead for May–September.

Figures below are per person for 14 days, excluding flights, at 2026 estimates. Two people sharing a room lands near the lower half of each band; solo travellers pay more per night.

Swap the south for the north in shoulder season. Replace days 11–14 with Lake Como (Varenna) and Milan: train Rome → Milan → Varenna, two nights on the lake, fly home from Milan. It suits April–June and September, when the lakes are calm and the coast is busiest.

Swap the south for Tuscany if you want countryside rather than coast. Base three nights in Siena or the Chianti hills with a car, then return it in Rome. This keeps the hotel count the same.

Shorten to 10 days by dropping the southern block entirely: Venice 3, Florence 3, Rome 4, fly home from Rome. Stretch to 21 days by adding Bologna between Venice and Florence and Sicily at the end.