chrisliz21

My boyfriend and I will be traveling through Italy for about a week starting in Florence to Rome then to Sorrento. We are both in our early 20's and just needed some advice on tickets and must-sees. We are staying 2 nights in each city,

Florence-- we definitely want to travel to Pisa for one day most likely by train but any suggestions on what to see/do the second day?

Rome- We want to go one day to the Colosseum
Second day Vatican

what can you suggest for purchasing tickets?

i saw something about the Romapass but not to sure if you then buy tickets when you get there?

and any suggestions of must-sees in Sorrento would be super!

Thanks so much! =)

Andrew

Two nights in Florence is almost nothing. It's an easy train trip up to Pisa and back but there is much to see in Florence art-wise (which may not hold much interest to you - I'm not a museum person myself). The Leaning Tower seems like a must-see for Americans, but I'm not sure it's worth an afternoon of your limited time in Florence.

What's your interest in Sorrento - why are you going down there? It can be used as a jumping-off point to the Amalfi Coast but also many people use it as a staging city for visiting the ruins up in Pompeii. I didn't care for Sorrento much myself (spoiled by tourism in my opinion) but Pompeii was outstanding.

You don't need a whole day in Rome at the Colosseum; it's adjacent to the Roman Forum and all the old ruins, all of which is a "must see" in Rome for a first-time visitor but it's still all something you could do in a long afternoon.

You can buy a Romapass at the train station in Rome when you arrive, if you want one that gives you bus and metro rides plus museum discounts. Train travel in Italy is easy and terrific (and fairly cheap!). You can buy all your train tickets at self-service kiosks at any train station, using your credit card (instructions in English). Note that if you really need to be on a specific reserved train (Eurostar or IC train) you should book ahead as they can sell out at various times, but regional (cheapest) trains without reserved seating can be booked at the very last minute. (I love traveling by train in Italy!)

I suggest you browse a guidebook (e.g. Rick Steves) and see what appeals most to you in Rome and Florence, since there are many more things to see in just two nights in each city than you could possibly do. If you know how to watch videos on Hulu on the web, go there and dig up Rick Steves's Europe specials from PBS, specifically the ones about Italy. Or search this forum for "Rome" and "Florence" - there are tons of old posts with lots of ideas. Then ask specific questions after you've read through many of those.

anothertravelinsong

Is there a reason you're going to Florence? I also would not waste the time going to Pisa when there are sooo many things to see in Florence that you won't be able to cover in 2 days.

The Roma Pass is not valid for the Vatican. You should purchase your tickets for the Vatican directly on their website with a reservation to avoid the line.

Jean

Two nights in a place does not equate to two days. You need to consider travel time between cities, time needed to check in/out of hotels, get to/from train stations, etc. As a general rule, you lose at least a half day moving from hotel to hotel in different cities.

If you can't add any days to your trip, I'd skip Sorrento and concentrate on Florence and Rome.

madamtrashheap

What time of year are you planning to travel? That will help determine if you should remove Sorrento or Florence as you have too little time to spend in 3 cities. If you could, as already mentioned, let us know what interests you and your boyfriend have, that will also help determine best suggestions for you.

jamikins

In a week I would choose 2 locations so you actually get to see some of the places, rather than just trains and train stations. 2 nights = 1 full day, and some portion of the day before and after.

I'd personally skip Sorrento, but depends on your interests...

franco

Sorry, but this is quite amazing. You want to go to Florence just because you really want to go to Pisa, and have no idea what to do on the second (!) day?? So why exactly do you want to go to Florence? For lovers of art and architecture, there's so much to see in Florence that it's not even worth thinking about spending just one single day there (no chance to even scratch the surface), but if you are - obviously, since you have no idea what to do or see there - not in that group of art lovers, what draws you to Florence, of all places? Other than art and architecture, there's not much else there, and if it's really only Pisa that you wish to see, why don't you stay in Pisa instead of Florence? Just because "everyone" says Florence is one of the "big three"?

ira

Hi C,
One week to visit Florence, Rome and Sorrento?

You are skipping Venice?

Do you have any idea of why you are spending money to go to Italy?

You really, really need to do some homework.

I suggest you start with Italy under "Destinations".

chrisliz21

thanks for the suggestions, the reason I chose those 3 cities was because we have both traveled to Italy before and been to places like Venice. This is also my second time to Florence and Rome, my boyfriend on the other hand is studying architecture and has never been to Florence or Rome that's why I was interested in going to Pisa as well as the Colosseum. My main questions were more for

what is the best way to purchase tickets for the Colosseum or Vatican (which was answered to buy Vatican ones from their site)

and what is the Romapass all about?

Since we are interested in art and architecture maybe there is somewhere else that could be suggested in Florence as a nice place to go see

We are staying another week but in Naples with family so that's why the first week is slightly cut short.

Thanks for the suggestions

Jean

I'm guessing a student of architecture would find climbing to the top of the Duomo in Florence incredibly interesting. The construction of the dome on the cathedral is one of the greatest architectural achievements of the Renaissance. It's the first octagonal dome to be built without a supporting wooden framework or buttresses. The climb to the top takes you through the inner (ceiling) dome and the outer (roof) dome, and you can see the 600-year-old building techniques up-close. Buy your guy "Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture" by Ross King.