euro cruiser

If you are physically able, walking is the best way to see the real Venice. Everywhere around San Marco will be wall-to-wall people (unless you travel in winter, but not during Carnevale), to see Venice you need to wander away from that area. With only one day I'd pick just one or two places (Doge's Palace and either the basilica or the campanile) to tour and spend the rest of the time wandering.

Personally, I would stay closer to Piazzale Roma, buses pick up either there or at Tronchetto. Piazza San Marco is lovely and important, but in my opinion there's no need to stay there, or near there, to get the full experience of it. The Sofitel Hotel Papadopoli is close to Piazzale Roma and quite nice: Hotel Papadopoli

There is only one ferry port on Capri, at Marina Grande.

La Spezia is the easiest option and offers you more alternatives for transport. The port bus drops you off at the cruise terminal (located at Largo Michele Fiorillo, 19124 La Spezia SP, Italy if you want to see it on a google map), from there to La Spezia Centrale is 1.9 km/one and a quarter miles on foot. You can sometimes get a taxi to take you, or there are public buses across the park on Via Vittorio Veneto (Piazza Europa), the google map location for the bus stop is here: 4R5H+32 La Spezia, Province of La Spezia, Italy At La Spezia Centrale you can buy an all-day train ticket that allows you unlimited use of the trains between the villages as well as access to bathrooms. You can read about the Cinque Terre cards (one includes trains, the other does not so read the details carefully) as well as purchase options on the national park's website here: Cinque Terre Card | Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (parconazionale5terre.it) Additional information on the train card is available on the Trenitalia website here: Travel around 5 Terre - Trenitalia Another option from La Spezia is to travel by ferry. It's a beautiful way to get there and more comfortable, in my opinion, but it's slower and more expensive. More information here: Navigation Golfo dei Poeti - Visit the Cinque Terre from the sea (navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it) There used to be a ticket that combined ferries and train but I don't see it on the site, although I only took a quick glance so you might find it with more diligent research.

Santa Margherita Ligura is a tender port but there is a train station within walking distance for those in reasonable physical shape. It's about 1 km/six-tenths of a mile from the port area where the tenders will drop off. From there to the villages of Cinque Terre is about 45 minutes - one hour by train (Trenitalia), depending on the train and the village chosen. It's easy to do on your own.

If seeing the Sistine Chapel is important to you, I would consider one of the before- or after-hours tours that allow you to be in there with very few others. I did it with Italy with Us years ago, when they first started these tours, and it was an amazing experience. Very expensive, but to me worth it to be in the chapel with just our group of twelve for a half hour. My first visit to the museums was a few weeks after 9/11 and it was crowded, but nothing like it was a year later and subsequent visits. I had no idea how good I had it the first time but even that was overshadowed by the private tour.

It's really hard to say, since you have one bus to the port exit, then another to the train station, unless the direct to the station bus happens to be running. You cannot count on that. The actual bus rides are short, each one is only about one mile. To make your life easier with luggage I would book Frecce trains for both segments, which limits your timing quite a lot. There are only a couple of Frecces from Civitavecchia to Rome each morning, at 9:16 and 11:16.

Regarding the on your own part, Venice is very easy to see DIY once you get there. I believe the OP is on NCL, which means porting in Trieste, 160 km/100 miles from Venice. I'm sure NCL will offer a transportation only package, then you can get around on your own.

I've been to a few of those glass blowing demonstrations on various trips, it's all the same thing. You get to watch them make a small horse (or something similar) and then the hard sell starts. You can imagine how excited the glass blower is to be making the 30th or 40th little horse of the day. Unless you are deeply into the art of glass blowing ...

The cruise ship shuttle drop off is at Piazza Municipio, a one and a half mile walk from the train station. NCL also charges for the shuttle to the drop off point, it was $10 round trip several years ago.

It's about 1.5 km/just under one mile from the basilica to the entrance of the museums. I personally prefer the basilica at opening time, 7 AM, before the tour groups arrive. In addition to the amazing art, it's also a place for reflection and that's hard to do with a couple of thousand people crowding the nave.

I know how personal this question is, and how inculcated tipping is in all Americans. Somehow it just feels pejorative, like a throwaway, to hand someone ten or twenty euro when you've just spent 1,000 euros (or not far from that amount) on their service for three days. I'd feel more comfortable offering nothing vs. one or two percent. Your sincere thanks, plus excellent reviews posted to whatever sites the driver deems important, are more valuable and demonstrate your appreciation more than a token amount of money. The reviews help him/her build their business and have a longer lasting impact.

Tipping is not the culture in Italy. That said, Rome in Limo is an American company so who knows what they tell their employees. However, by law in Italy the drivers are either private contractors or they are paid a full wage with benefits. Tipping is absolutely not required.

If you're considering the both/and solution, I would price out a simple transfer from Salerno to Positano vs. the cost of a tour. In normal traffic at 7 AM I would expect it to take about two hours (🤯I know, it's only a little over 25 miles, but that's what it takes), which would get you to Positano between 9 - 9:30 AM. There is only one road that cars can travel on in Positano, in one direction. Anything more than that must be on foot anyway, so a traditional tour means you'd be paying for the driver to sit somewhere while you see the village. Ferries from Positano to Amalfi begin at 10:00 and there's at least one every hour or so.

You might want to consider doing a both/and solution, using a car service in the morning to get you out along the coast, but then transitioning to the ferries as the traffic builds later in the day. The ferries don't get going that early in the morning, so it would be an efficient use of your time.

Well, they have a Facebook page but the last post was in 2020. You might want to reach out to them and see: Via Zara Wash & Dry

Ferries run throughout the day but don't start that early. While there are several ferry companies, most are run by TravelMar. They are shut down for the season but you can the times and prices here: Orari traghetti Travelmar - Traghetti veloci in Costiera Amalfitana Most of the ferries to/from Salerno use the Concordia dock, about a mile and a half walk along the waterfront promenade from the cruise port. If the timing works for the Molo Manfredi ferry that's quite close. However, the only departure is at 8:40, wasting the first few hours of your port day. The returns to Molo Manfredi are too late for you, but it's easy enough to make the walk from Concordia. If you decide to wait and take the ferry from Molo Manfredi, do purchase tickets ahead of time directly from TravelMar, as this one ferry does sell out. The Concordia ferries generally don't need advance purchase, though I would buy my return ticket in the morning rather than wait since you must be back at the port at a specific time. To make the most of your day, you could walk from the cruise port to villa comunale (public park) and get the SITA bus from there to Amalfi. It's less than half a mile on foot, an easy walk. There is a bus around 6:40 that gets you to Amalfi at 7:45: Salerno-Amalfi SITA bus schedule The bus fare is just 2,60 euro and you will pass a couple of bars (coffee shops) as you walk from the port where you can purchase the tickets.

Uber in Italy is not how you understand it in California. They do not have amateur drivers using personal cars, the app works as a connection to a professional driving service. In some places it's a taxi, in others it's a car service. You can get to Tarquinia by bus, the biggest issue is from the agriturismo into town. I would reach out to them and ask what they suggest.

That looks lovely, the issue will be getting to and from the train station, which is about two and a half miles away. Perhaps they can help arrange transportation?

I wouldn't describe Civitavecchia as quaint. Maybe utilitarian is more apt. A smaller but, to my mind, nicer option is just down the road a bit at Santa Marinella. It's on the same train line about 10 km/6 miles south of the port.

She'll need to be at the airport by 10 AM, which shouldn't be a problem with a 6 AM arrival. Even if they don't start letting folks off until 7 or so you'll be fine if you use a car service directly from the ship to the airport.

The regular train is perfectly safe and allows you more time in Rome. However, if the times for the Civitavecchia Express feel okay to you, use it on the first day to gain experience and comfort with the trains then use the regular ones on day two.

Lucca and Siena are the easiest to reach using public transit, San Gimignano requires a bus (or a train-bus combination). Lucca is smaller than Siena, if size matters. Siena is better for views, as it's up on hill while Lucca is in a valley and is flat (although there are interesting views from the city walls, which you can walk on).

Certainly a private car service is the easiest way to do this.

Take a look at Google maps street view, the main roads are from October 2022, you're probably not going to find more recent pictures than that.