First Timers Traveling to Italy - Help!
May 22nd, 2017, 01:35 PM
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First Timers Traveling to Italy - Help!
Hello Fodors Community!
My two friends and I (29 year old ladies) are traveling to Italy for the first time in late August for 7 nights. We've chosen Florence and Rome as our destinations (we fly home from Rome) and I'm wondering how much time we should allocate in each city. We were thinking of spending 4 nights in Florence and 3 nights in Rome as there are more options for day trips out of Florence (Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Sienna, Lucca, etc.), in addition to Rome being slightly less enjoyable due to the heat. We definitely want to see as much as we can, but don't want to be rushed jumping from one place to the next. Our interests are to sightsee, explore, eat, and drink (we absolutely love wine).
Any help and/or suggestions would be fabulous. Other questions:
-Tour companies to recommend? Has anyone heard of these?
---> https://www.viator.com/tours/Florenc...ia-auto3-15260
---> https://www.walksofitaly.com/florenc...-from-florence
---> https://www.viator.com/tours/Florenc...d519-6367TOUR7
Thank you in advance!
My two friends and I (29 year old ladies) are traveling to Italy for the first time in late August for 7 nights. We've chosen Florence and Rome as our destinations (we fly home from Rome) and I'm wondering how much time we should allocate in each city. We were thinking of spending 4 nights in Florence and 3 nights in Rome as there are more options for day trips out of Florence (Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Sienna, Lucca, etc.), in addition to Rome being slightly less enjoyable due to the heat. We definitely want to see as much as we can, but don't want to be rushed jumping from one place to the next. Our interests are to sightsee, explore, eat, and drink (we absolutely love wine).
Any help and/or suggestions would be fabulous. Other questions:
-Tour companies to recommend? Has anyone heard of these?
---> https://www.viator.com/tours/Florenc...ia-auto3-15260
---> https://www.walksofitaly.com/florenc...-from-florence
---> https://www.viator.com/tours/Florenc...d519-6367TOUR7
Thank you in advance!
May 22nd, 2017, 01:45 PM
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Where are you flying into -Rome also.
I'd spend the first day in wherever you land. And the night before too. Rome has so much to see you'll need all of those 3 days there. Florence yes some day trips - like to CT - though a longish one - probably 3 hrs each way on train and in August a complete zoo - negating much of their inherent charm - I'd rather do a day trip by bus to nearby Siena a classic hill town or Pisa for the Tower.
Anyway trains are great -good info on them - www.trenitalia.com - official site of Italian Railways - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.
ManyI think may say spend 4 days in Rome and 3 in Florence and stay in the city - travel between them will take half a day if relocating even though the train ride is but 1.25 hours now.
I'd spend the first day in wherever you land. And the night before too. Rome has so much to see you'll need all of those 3 days there. Florence yes some day trips - like to CT - though a longish one - probably 3 hrs each way on train and in August a complete zoo - negating much of their inherent charm - I'd rather do a day trip by bus to nearby Siena a classic hill town or Pisa for the Tower.
Anyway trains are great -good info on them - www.trenitalia.com - official site of Italian Railways - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.
ManyI think may say spend 4 days in Rome and 3 in Florence and stay in the city - travel between them will take half a day if relocating even though the train ride is but 1.25 hours now.
May 22nd, 2017, 01:46 PM
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Due to being located in kind of a low area, Florence can also be very hot and humid in Summer.
You do not need tours to Siena, which is good by bus, or Lucca, which is easy by train. Cinque Terre is really too far for a good day trip, IMHO.
There are also some great day trips from Rome: Ostia Antica, Orvieto, Hadrian's Villa.
You do not need tours to Siena, which is good by bus, or Lucca, which is easy by train. Cinque Terre is really too far for a good day trip, IMHO.
There are also some great day trips from Rome: Ostia Antica, Orvieto, Hadrian's Villa.
May 22nd, 2017, 02:18 PM
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How many nights in each place? If you will have three nights in Rome, you really only have 2 1/2 days.
While you might have time for a day-trip or two out of Florence, if you only have two and a half or three days in Rome, you will not have time enough for day-trips. It takes a minimum of three days to see the bare basics of Rome: one day for ancient Rome, one for St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums, and one for as much of everything else as you can cram in.
I agree that the Cinque Terre makes a poor day trip. It will be literally shoulder to shoulder tourists in very small villages (and utterly packed standing room only on the trains), and you will have little time there. At night, the villages can be very nice, but during the day, especially in August, not at all.
While you might have time for a day-trip or two out of Florence, if you only have two and a half or three days in Rome, you will not have time enough for day-trips. It takes a minimum of three days to see the bare basics of Rome: one day for ancient Rome, one for St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums, and one for as much of everything else as you can cram in.
I agree that the Cinque Terre makes a poor day trip. It will be literally shoulder to shoulder tourists in very small villages (and utterly packed standing room only on the trains), and you will have little time there. At night, the villages can be very nice, but during the day, especially in August, not at all.
May 23rd, 2017, 08:34 AM
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Pisa and its Tower and Lucca can easily be seen on the same day trip - Tower area has a train station that is about 20mins by train from Lucca -then Lucca to Florence by train. Make a timed booking if you want to climb the tower as lines can be very long.
May 23rd, 2017, 02:05 PM
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Florence can be just as hot or hotter than Rome.
If you really love wine, then take a wine-focused tour out of Florence. None of the ones you list go to wine country. Look up wine tours from Florence that go either to Chianti or Montalcino/Montepulciano.
As a group you probably need to have a serious talk about (a) which sights none of you really want to miss or leave Italy without having seen and (b) whether all of you need to be together doing the same things all the time. Maybe one of you doesn't want to get outvoted about not seeing Pisa, etc.
In general I would say Florence is an easy town to split up and do different things (you don't mention shopping, but Florence can be easier than Rome for that). In Rome, might be easiest if you could come to a basic agreement about a sightseeing itinerary, or invest in a guided walking tour to make it most efficient.
If you really love wine, then take a wine-focused tour out of Florence. None of the ones you list go to wine country. Look up wine tours from Florence that go either to Chianti or Montalcino/Montepulciano.
As a group you probably need to have a serious talk about (a) which sights none of you really want to miss or leave Italy without having seen and (b) whether all of you need to be together doing the same things all the time. Maybe one of you doesn't want to get outvoted about not seeing Pisa, etc.
In general I would say Florence is an easy town to split up and do different things (you don't mention shopping, but Florence can be easier than Rome for that). In Rome, might be easiest if you could come to a basic agreement about a sightseeing itinerary, or invest in a guided walking tour to make it most efficient.
May 23rd, 2017, 02:18 PM
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I will be arriving to Florence from Barcelona, and after spending time in Florence, will be going to Rome and flying home from there.
From what I gather from the above:
-Cinque-Terre is too far away for a good day trip and will be too crowded with other tourists to be enjoyable.
-Don't need organized tours to visit Sienna, Lucca, and Pisa; both can be done independently and aren't too far away.
-Going to look into a wine focused tour. Can anyone recommend a good tour company for this?
-Definitely going to look into "Walks of Italy" for organized tour in Rome.
Thanks all!
From what I gather from the above:
-Cinque-Terre is too far away for a good day trip and will be too crowded with other tourists to be enjoyable.
-Don't need organized tours to visit Sienna, Lucca, and Pisa; both can be done independently and aren't too far away.
-Going to look into a wine focused tour. Can anyone recommend a good tour company for this?
-Definitely going to look into "Walks of Italy" for organized tour in Rome.
Thanks all!
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