Italy Itinerary 14 Days: A Realistic Two-Week Route, With Prices

The best 14-day Italy itinerary for a first trip uses four bases: three nights in Venice, three in Florence, four in Rome and three on the Amalfi Coast. Fly into Venice and home from Naples, take the train between the cities and a driver for the coast. Thirteen nights, four hotels, and enough time in each place to stop counting the hours.

On this page · 13 sections

1. Italy itinerary for 14 days at a glance
2. Days 1 to 3: Venice
3. Days 4 to 6: Florence and Tuscany
4. Days 7 to 10: Rome
5. Days 11 to 14: the Amalfi Coast
6. Is 2 weeks enough for Italy?
7. Travel times, door to door
8. Five other ways to spend two weeks in Italy
9. On your own or with a private driver?
10. How much do two weeks in Italy cost?
11. Seven mistakes to avoid on a two-week trip
12. Our private tours of 13 to 16 days
13. Frequently asked questions

I am Moreno Moretti. I was born in Le Marche, and since 2014 my team and I have planned private trips across Italy for travelers from the United States. Two weeks is the trip length I like best for a first visit, because it is the first length where you can see the famous places and still have time to sit down. This is the route I suggest, with the prices of the trips we arrange.

Italy itinerary for 14 days at a glance

Four bases, thirteen nights, north to south.

Here are the two weeks, day by day. Each row shows where you sleep, what you see and how you get there.

Day	Base	What to see	Getting there
Day 1	Venice	Arrive, a slow walk, cicchetti in Cannaregio	Fly into Venice Marco Polo (VCE), about 30 minutes by water taxi
Day 2	Venice	St. Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace, a gondola workshop	On foot and by vaporetto
Day 3	Venice	Murano and Burano	Vaporetto or private boat
Day 4	Florence	Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale Michelangelo	Frecciarossa train, about 2 hours
Day 5	Florence	Accademia for the David, then the Uffizi	On foot
Day 6	Florence	Chianti wineries and castles	Private driver for the day
Day 7	Rome	Arrive, dinner in Trastevere	Frecciarossa train, about 1 hour 30 minutes
Day 8	Rome	Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, Roman Forum	On foot and by taxi
Day 9	Rome	Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain at your pace	On foot
Day 10	Rome	Day trip to Orvieto	Regional train, about 1 hour 15 minutes each way
Day 11	Amalfi Coast	Pompeii on the way to the coast	Train to Naples, about 1 hour 10 minutes, then a driver
Day 12	Amalfi Coast	Positano, Amalfi or Ravello	Driver, ferry or on foot
Day 13	Amalfi Coast	A boat day to Capri	Boat
Day 14	Departure	A last swim or coffee by the sea	Driver to Naples airport (NAP)

Book the flights as an open-jaw ticket, into Venice and out of Naples, or out of Rome if the flight times suit you better. It rarely costs more than a round trip, and it saves a full day of going back.

This exact route is also our private tour Venice, Florence, Rome and the Amalfi Coast in 14 Days, from €8,900 per person, with the transfers, trains and private experiences arranged.

Days 1 to 3: Venice

Three nights, so the first one can be a quiet one.

Venice comes first because it is the easiest city for a tired first day. There are no cars to dodge and nothing to figure out: you walk, or you take a boat.

Most flights from the United States land in the morning. Take the water taxi or the bus from Marco Polo, sleep for an hour, and keep the first evening for a walk to Cannaregio and cicchetti, the small snacks served in the bacari, the neighborhood wine bars.

On day 2, visit St. Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace early, before the day visitors arrive. In the afternoon, step into a squero, a workshop where gondolas are still built by hand, on our gondola workshop visit.

Day 3 is for the lagoon: the glass furnaces of Murano and the painted houses of Burano, about 45 minutes away by vaporetto. Sleeping in Venice also means you do not pay the day-visitor access fee of €5 to €10 that the city charges on peak days between April and July. More on the city is on our Venice page.

Days 4 to 6: Florence and Tuscany

Two days in the city, one in the hills.

Florence gets three nights: two days for the city and one in the Chianti hills with a driver. The train from Venice takes about two hours.

On day 4, walk to the Duomo, cross the Ponte Vecchio into the Oltrarno and finish at Piazzale Michelangelo for the sunset. If you want to climb Brunelleschi’s dome, book the time slot before you leave home.

On day 5, see Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia at opening time, then the Uffizi Gallery: €25 on the day, or €29 booked ahead with a time slot. Both museums close on Mondays, so plan Florence around them.

Day 6 is the day a driver earns its cost. Most Chianti wineries are a drive from the nearest station, and with a driver you can taste the wine. Our Chianti castles day visits wine estates and castles between Florence and Siena. More day trips are on our Tuscany page.

Days 7 to 10: Rome

Four nights, the longest stop of the trip.

Rome gets four nights because it needs them. One day for the Vatican and ancient Rome, one at your own pace, and one for a day trip out of the city.

Arrive on day 7 by train, about an hour and a half from Florence, and cross the Tiber for dinner in Trastevere. On day 8, visit the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica in the morning, and the Colosseum and the Roman Forum in the afternoon. The Colosseum ticket carries your name and goes on sale 30 days ahead. The Vatican Museums close on Sundays, except the last Sunday of the month. Our private Vatican and Colosseum visit covers both with timed entry.

Keep day 9 free: the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain, where stepping down to the basin costs €2 since February 2026. On day 10, take the train to Orvieto, about an hour and a quarter away, for the cathedral and a lunch above the Umbrian countryside. More on the city is on our Rome page.

Days 11 to 14: the Amalfi Coast

End the trip slowly, by the sea.

The coast comes last because it is where you will want to slow down. Three nights in Positano, Amalfi or Ravello, and a short drive to Naples airport on the last morning.

On day 11, take the train to Naples, about an hour and ten minutes, and meet a driver who takes you to Pompeii and then to the coast. The Pompeii ticket costs €18, and a guide makes the ruins much easier to read.

On day 12, walk the terraces above the sea with our Amalfi foraging and cooking experience, or move between Positano, Amalfi and Ravello by ferry. Day 13 is a boat day to Capri, if the sea allows it. On day 14, the drive to Naples airport takes about an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half. Our Amalfi Coast page covers where to stay.

Is 2 weeks enough for Italy?

Enough for four regions, if you count nights.

Two weeks is enough for four bases with three or four nights each. It is not enough for six or seven, and that is where most two-week plans go wrong.

Count your trip in nights, not days. A 14-day trip has 13 nights, and every hotel change costs about half a day: checking out, the transfer, the train and checking in again. Here is what that does to two weeks.

Bases in 14 days	Hotel changes	Time spent moving	Average nights in each base
3	2	about 1 day	about 4
4	3	about 1 and a half days	about 3
6	5	about 2 and a half days	about 2
9	8	about 4 days	1 or 2

With six bases, most stops get two nights, which means one full day. With four, every stop gets at least two full days. If you only have a week, our 7-day Italy itinerary covers Venice, Florence and Rome, and the 10-day itinerary gives each of them three nights.

Travel times, door to door

The timetable is not the whole story.

The train between the cities is fast, but the trip from hotel to hotel takes longer than the timetable says. Count the walk or the boat to the station, being early for the train and the transfer at the other end.

Route	On the train or in the car	Plan for, hotel to hotel
Venice to Florence	about 2 hours by train	about 3 and a half hours
Florence to Rome	about 1 hour 30 minutes by train	about 3 hours
Rome to the Amalfi Coast	about 1 hour 10 minutes by train to Naples, then about 1 hour 15 minutes by car	about 4 hours, or most of a day with a stop at Pompeii
Amalfi Coast to Naples airport	about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes by car	allow 3 hours before an international flight

Book the high-speed trains on Trenitalia or Italo as soon as you have dates. Booked early, Rome to Florence starts at €19.90.

Five other ways to spend two weeks in Italy

Same rule: four bases at most.

If you have seen the big cities before, or you want a slower trip, these five routes keep the same rule.

Northern Italy: lakes, mountains and Venice

Fly into Milan. Four nights on Lake Como, four in the Dolomites and four in Venice, with a driver between the lakes and the mountains. It works from late May to September. Our Three Italian Lakes and Italian Lake District Gourmet tours spend two weeks in the north.

The slow version: a villa in Tuscany and Umbria

Three nights in Florence, then five in a villa in the Val d’Orcia and five in Umbria, near Orvieto or Assisi. Only two hotel changes after Florence, a driver for the hill towns and long lunches. Our villas are the base for this kind of trip.

The south: Puglia, Matera and the Amalfi Coast

Fly into Bari. Five nights in Puglia, two in Matera, in Basilicata, and four on the Amalfi Coast, home from Naples. You need a driver for most of it. Our Highlights of Apulia tour covers the first week.

My route: Rome, Umbria and Le Marche

This is the trip I would plan for a friend on a second visit. Four nights in Rome, four in Umbria and five in Le Marche, the region where I was born, with hill towns, castles, the Adriatic coast and truffle season in the fall. You meet very few tour groups, and the hotels cost less than in Tuscany. Our Secret Italy: Abruzzo and Le Marche tour is a good start for the second week.

Sicily

Sicily alone fills two weeks. It is large, the distances are long and you need a driver or a car. I do not recommend adding it to a two-week trip through the north. Our A Taste of Gourmet Sicily tour spends nine days on the island.

On your own or with a private driver?

Trains between cities, a driver for the countryside and the coast.

On this route, take the train between Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples. A private driver is worth it for the Chianti day, for the Amalfi Coast and on the two airport days.

	On your own	Private, arranged by us
Arrival in Venice	Bus or water bus from Marco Polo	Private water taxi to the hotel
Between cities	High-speed train, from €19.90 booked early	High-speed train in first class, with a driver at each station
Chianti day	Bus to Siena, wineries hard to reach	Driver for the day, wineries booked
Rome to the coast	Train to Naples, then the Circumvesuviana train and buses or ferries	Train to Naples, then a driver with a stop at Pompeii
On the coast	Crowded SITA buses and ferries	Driver and a boat day
When plans change	You call the hotel or restaurant	Our team in Italy rebooks for you

I do not recommend a rental car for this route. Venice has no roads, the centers of Florence and Rome are closed to most traffic, and the Amalfi Coast road is narrow and busy in summer.

How much do two weeks in Italy cost?

Our numbers, per person, before flights.

Two weeks in Italy cost about $3,400 per person on the ground in comfortable hotels if you plan the trip yourself, and €7,000 to €14,000 per person, about $7,800 to $15,700, as a private trip with drivers and guides. Economy flights from the United States add $600 to $900 per person.

Style, 14 days	Per person, per day	Per person, 14 days	What it buys
Comfortable, self-planned	about $240	about $3,400	4-star hotels, trains, good restaurants, museum tickets
Private, arranged by us	€500 to €1,000	€7,000 to €14,000	Chosen hotels, drivers, private guides, experiences
Our tour on this route	about €640	from €8,900 ($9,970)	Thirteen nights, transfers, first-class trains, five private experiences

Dollar figures use the exchange rate of October 26, 2026: €1 = $1.12. The comfortable daily budget comes from Tourlane, January 2026.

Is $5,000 enough for two weeks in Italy?

Yes, for a comfortable trip you plan yourself. About $3,400 on the ground plus $600 to $900 for an economy flight comes to about $4,000 to $4,300 per person. It does not cover private drivers or 5-star hotels for two weeks.

Is $10,000 enough?

For a private trip, it covers the lower end. Our 14-day tour on this route starts at €8,900, about $9,970 per person before flights. With 5-star hotels on the coast, or a private boat for more than one day, the total goes higher.

What a private trip pays for

Hotels take the largest share. Then come the drivers on the arrival days, the Chianti day and the coast, the private guides in the Vatican, at the Colosseum and in Pompeii, and the experiences, such as the boat day. Every proposal we send lists each line, so you can see where the money goes and change it. The full breakdown, with food, trains and the 2026 fees, is in our guide to how much a trip to Italy costs.

Seven mistakes to avoid on a two-week trip

Most of them come from trying to see everything.

These seven mistakes come up again and again in two-week plans on the travel forums.

1. Six or seven bases. Keep it to four. Every extra base costs half a day.
2. Counting days instead of nights. Fourteen days are thirteen nights, and the first and last days are travel days.
3. One-night stops. A single night gives you one evening and one morning, mostly spent with your luggage.
4. Zigzagging. Venice, then the Amalfi Coast, then Florence means crossing the country twice. Go north to south, or south to north.
5. Driving in the cities. Florence and Rome close their centers to most traffic, and the fines arrive by mail months later.
6. Booking the coast late. For May to September, the best small hotels in Positano and Florence sell out first. We book 6 to 9 months ahead.
7. Forgetting closing days. The Uffizi and the Accademia close on Mondays, the Vatican Museums on Sundays except the last Sunday of the month.

Our private tours of 13 to 16 days

Ready itineraries, adapted to your dates.

If you prefer to start from a finished plan, these six private tours last 13 to 16 days and start at €5,900 per person. Each one can be changed: a night more in one place, a different hotel, a day added at the end.

Private tour · from €8,900 per person

Venice, Florence, Rome and the Amalfi Coast in 14 Days14 days · Veneto · Tuscany · Lazio · CampaniaSee the tour →

Private tour · from €7,900 per person

Private Tour of the Three Italian Lakes14 days · Lombardy · Piedmont · VenetoSee the tour →

Private tour · from €6,500 per person

Italian Lake District Gourmet Tour14 days · Trentino · Lombardy · PiedmontSee the tour →

Private tour · from €6,900 per person

Self Drive Gourmet Sardinia15 days · SardiniaSee the tour →

Private tour · from €7,900 per person

A Journey Through Italy16 days · Veneto · Liguria · Tuscany · Campania · LazioSee the tour →

Private tour · from €5,900 per person

North Italy Fashion and Gourmet13 days · Lombardy · PiedmontSee the tour →

All 21 itineraries, from 5 to 16 days, are on our Italy tour packages page. To start from a blank page, see our bespoke Italy tours.

Frequently asked questions

What travelers ask us about two weeks in Italy.

So, two weeks in Italy: four bases, three nights minimum in each, north to south, the train between the cities and a driver for the hills and the coast. Send me your dates and who is coming, and a travel designer on my team will turn this route into a plan with real hotels and real prices.

Sources: Italy Charme itinerary and bespoke prices (October 2026), Tourlane (daily budget), Seat61 (train fares), Untold Italy (Colosseum tickets), Uffizi Galleries (tickets), That Travelista (Pompeii ticket), Turismo Roma (Trevi Fountain), The Local Italy (Venice access fee), Rick Steves and TripAdvisor travel forums (traveler advice on bases and nights).