Help!! First time to Italy

Personally I'd spend more time in Rome. You'll be jet lagged on arrival and it has so much to see that I think you should spend at least 5 nights there. I'd spend less time in Florence as it's much smaller. One or two nights would be fine.

Trains in Italy are excellent and so I've not driven there.

Hi tastenyc,
Will you take the train from Rome to Florence, then get a car there for Tuscany/Venice? Too bad you don't like trains. You won't need a car in Venice and there is good connection between it and Florence.

Hold on to your hat for lots of suggestions including mine. I would make Tuscany either a separate trip or just add days to Florence and day trip from there.

Also, remember that you can fly into Rome and out of Venice (or vice verse) so you don't have to backtrack and lose precious tourist time.
Have a magnificent first trip. You'll be back!

What is it you don't like about trains and were you talking about Italian trains or some other country? Have you driven in Italy (or Europe) before?

My suggestion is to pick up the rental car when you are leaving Florence. You'll need it to get around Tuscany. It's an easy drive from the Tuscany area (where will you be staying?) to Venice. Just drop the rental car at the Venice airport and take the Alilaguna into the city. We did this in November (Montepulciano to the Venice airport) and it was a very easy drive.

Thanks everyone!! I think we will pick up the car in Florence as suggested. what is an Alilaguna?
Ha Ha I really don't know anything at all about Italy and no we have never been to Europe at all, this is the first time. Any more suggestions?

No need to drop it at Venice airport--drop at Piazzale Roma at the end of the causeway--much easier.
I would drop a day from Florence and add it to Venice.

tastenyc

Here are my suggestions:

I would decrease the number of days in Florence by at least 1, or more, depending on your interest in art and museums (yes, I know Florence has more than art and museums). You might choose to not stay IN Florence at all and just do a day trip in from the countryside.

Decide what part of Tuscany you want to see, it'a a big region. This will determine where you pick up your car and the order of your trip.

If you wanted to mainly see the Val d'Orcia - train to Orvieto and see the town, then pick up your car. Do your Tuscan countryside portion and drop the car in Florence.

The trains in Italy are great and very easy to do. I wouldn't hesitate to use them. Their system is NOTHING like in the US. I will not use US trains, but love the European ones!

I would definitely add that Florence day to any of your other destinations, probably Rome as others have said. So much to see and you do need to get over the jet lag.

Buon viaggio!

tasteNYC


Can you possibly consider adding 5 or 6 days, and stop to smell the pasta sauce....for a first visit, you can absorb a lot more without so much rushing between cities, by doing 4 nights Roma, 5 nights Tuscany Region, 3 nights Florence and 4 in Venice....especially where you want to drive rather than train it. (Your best logistical route should be Roma-Tuscany region-Florence-Venice). Please consider the fast train at least from Florence to Venice...it's a pleasureable experience.

stu t.

How do we get from Rome to Florence?

Just returned from Italy. If you decide to drive from Florence to
Venice, beware of restricted areas.
If you want to return your car in Venice, you have to get into the bus lane to make the right at Plaza Roma (this is very important). We love the trains, have used them many times.

Hi Tas,

Not a bad plan.

Some suggestions:

A: Fly into Venice and out of Rome.

B: Take one night from Florence and add it to Venice.
B1: You could take the other 2 nights from Florence and add it to Tuscany. My suggestion for a day in Florence is below.

C: Pick up a car at Venice Piazzale Roma, drive through Tuscany, drop the car at the train station in Orvieto. See the town. Take the train to Rome - about 1hr. (You can drop the car at Chiusi as well)

D: A DAY IN FLORENCE:

Train to Florence SMN:
The Luggage Office is to your left as you leave the train.

From Piazza d' Stazione, walk up via Nazionale to via d'Ariento and the Mercato Centrale, wander through.

Take any street going NE to Via Degli Alfani and go right to the Accademia for The David.

Take via Ricasoli SE to the Duomo, the Baptistry and the Opera Museum (Originals of the bronzes on the doors)

From the Campanile, take via Calzaiuoli S (do some window shopping) to the Piazza d' Signoria. Look around, take a break.

Continue S to the Uffizi. Visit.

From the Uffizi, walk W along the Arno River to the Ponte Vecchio.

(You can walk up to the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens if there is time. Great views of Florence from the top of the Gardens)

If you have time, walk E along the S bank of the river to Ponte alle grazie and cross over to visit Santa Croce.

If not, go W along the Arno from Ponte Vecchio to Ponte S. Trinita and go right. Go left on Via d'Spada to via d'Fossi and go right to Santa Maria Novella. Look around.

SMN is across the square from the train station.

If you have time, take the no. 7 bus (you can find it at the SMN train station) up to Fiesole (0:20 hr 1E) to watch the sunset from the terrace of the Bar Bleu.

Be sure to have lots of gelato (in a cup, not a cone), take some wine breaks and a light lunch.

Train schedules, prices and tickets are at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html
Call center from outside Italy is 39-06-68475475

Bus routes are at http://www.ataf.net/
Buy your ticket before you get on the bus. Stamp it in the yellow box on the bus.

Uffizi and Academia Museum Reservations
The easiest and cheapest way is to call Florence 1010987 (dial around number), 011 (U.S. international access code) 39 (Italy's country code) then 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time. There is a long listing of press 1 for this and 2 for that--press 4 for bookings. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes YOU CAN RESERVE FOR BOTH. This is through the reservation service at the Uffizi and costs beyond the normal entry fee only about 3 euro for the service. This is MUCH cheaper than the commercial booking services.

You will not be charged for the reservations unless you use them.

Have a nice visit.

I would recommend NOT driving in Florence! It was the most stressful part of our trip last June and all we did was drop off a rental car and go to the train station.

I agree with Ira, reduce time spent in Florence, maybe even make it a day trip.

You definitely don't need vehicle in Venice.

I too would fly into Venice and remain carless during that time. Pick up a car (or train is preferable) and go to a base in Tuscany. Make a day trip to Florence. After your time in Tuscany go to Rome.

Ira - The reservation fee for the Uffizi is 4€ and has been for a year.

See, I told you you'd get plenty of suggestions. Take the eurostar train from Rome to Florence and from Florence to Venice. Rent a car in Florence for day trips to charming Tuscan towns or look online for the myriad of tours available so you can drink wine and be driven by someone else who knows where he or she is going!

We started in Rome and ended up in Venice-most noisy to most quiet! You decide what calls out!

Please let everyone know what you end up doing.

It's too bad you don't want to take the train from Florence to Rome. That's definitely the way most people would do it, I think.

I LOVE riding trains because then both people get to look at the sights, talk, have some food or a glass of wine, instead of having to drive and navagate in a car.

Hi - Last June, I did the driving into Rome from Tuscany and am glad that I did. However, be prepared to have difficulty following your map(s) along the way. I agree with spending another night in Rome and less one night in Florence. Get your car on the way out of Rome and have lots of patience just driving out of Rome out towards Tuscany.
Driving in Italy is for the daring - I wrote out my destinations with as much information about the roads as I could; I was able to communicate in Spanish to make my questions understandable; but it was a challenge. Be sure to have money for tolls, and make sure you know how to say, left/right and straight in Italian. Many times people would lead us out of areas in their car. The people there are wonderful!!! Enjoy yourself!

Italy is my favorite country. ( visited there ~30 times since 1966)
I always drive and make reservations on-line with the free internet at most hotels when I leave one town and see where I think I'm going to be the next night. ( last minute reservations). If you can Como is a beautiful city not far from the main cities that you have mentioned.
You can't go wrong.

I would really rethink driving if this is your first trip. You cannot imagine how crazy Italian drivers are. Lane lines have no meaning and nobody stops at stop signs. Mountain roads are narrow and very scary because drivers are often on your side of the road. We were in a hired car, but still were very, very stressed by the time we reached our destination because of what other drivers were doing. If you want to relax and enjoy the scenery as you go, instead of being focused on the road, I would really consider alternate modes of transportation. The train is the easiest and while buses are also on the road, at least they are bigger than those other crazy people. There is a reason for the extremely high accident rate in Italy.

We went to Italy the last week in April and the first week in May 2 years ago this April. Landed in Venice, travelled from the airport to our hotel in Dorsodoro by water taxi (Ali Laguna); spent 3 nights (should have made it 4), took a rental car from the Mestre train station accessible by a very short train ride (10 mins) from Venice’s Santa Lucia train station.

Drove to an agriturismo (farm) in Asciano, a little southeast of Siena for 7 nights. Spent the week visiting (Siena, Montepulciano, Volterra, Pienza, Montalcino in Tuscany and Assisi in neighbouring Umbria). On advice from the farm owners, used the train for a day-trip to Florence to avoid the hassle of driving and parking. Vastly enjoyed the entire week, as well as the train trip to Florence (this really relaxed my husband) and the trains are incredible. However, if we had to do it over again, we would add a couple of nights here changing the day trip to Florence to an overnight one.

Drove from there to Rome and left the car at the main train station (Termini) and used foot power (we were centrally located) and public transportation for our 4-night stay. Again, we would have made it a 5-night stay. The last day, we took the Leonardo Express from the train station to the airport, and flew home.

We can’t wait to do it all over again and the only things we would do differently would be to add additional days in all 3 places and towns/villages in Tuscany and Umbria.

All the other suggestions sound good too — I hope this won't make your planning too difficult.

Have a nice trip!

tastenyc-

You don't mention what time of year you are going. This could really impact suggestions here.

I also suggest that at least one night be dropped from Florence, possibly two. You CAN do a lot there in two days.

My suggestion- If you are flying into Rome, spend 4 nights Rome. Take express train to Florence. (Takes about 1-to-1-1/2 hours. Very fast! You will LOVE the trains in Italy. Extremely easy to use and clean and comfortable. 2nd class seating is perfectly wonderful. Comes with pull down tables, foot rests, hooks to hang up coats/purses, outlets for your plugins. And most trains have a food car. Excellent!)

If you take an early train from Rome, you can be in Florence well before noon. You then can do the Accademia and the Uffizi, then have a leisurely, relaxed evening. Take the bus up to Fiesole for dinner.

Get an early start next day and see Santa Croce, the Ponte Vecchio, Galileo's home, Dante's home, Medici sites (anything else that touches your fancy).

I, personally, would skip Tuscany on this visit. You can only see so much in 8 days. I'd head straight to Venice on the train from Florence mid-to-late afternoon after your one-night/two-day stay.

Arrive Venice late afternoon/early evening. (trip from Florence to Venice is about 2-3/4 hrs.)

Take the vaporetto (water bus) to your designated hotel. Enjoy 3 nights in Venice, 4 if you can swing the extra day.

I think you will get some more direct suggestions if you can tell us three things:

1) The ages/health of you and your spouse.

2) The time of year you are going.

3) What do the two of you like to do? What are you expecting from this trip? Are you into art/history? Or do you just want to relax in some beautiful scenery?

Not knowing those answers- I'm sticking to my suggested itinerary above.

You will LOVE Italy. And if you are like hundreds of Fodorites here, as soon as you are home you will start planning your return trip.

Buon viaggio! (Start learning some rudimentary Italian now. ;] )

Hi ky,

>Ira - The reservation fee for the Uffizi is 4€ and has been for a year.<

True. However, I said that you wouldn't be charged if you didn't use the res.

This is different from the commercial firms that charge you for the res, whether you use it or not.

Here's the current info from their website. There's a clickable link for the buy on line or you can call the phone number.

Opening hours:
Open Tuesday to Sunday 8,15 – 18,50
Closed Monday, New Year’s Day, May 1st and Christmas Day.
Tickets:
Full Price: € 6,50
Reduced: € 3,25
Free admission
Buy tickets on line
Booking:
Firenze Musei, Tel: 055 294883
Booking charge: € 4,00

http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/musei/uffizi/

Other posters have suggested flying into Venice and home from Rome. If you have not already booked your airfare, I would agree with this recommendation. The flights from Venice tend to depart very early in the morning compared to Rome. It is comparatively difficult to get from central Venice to the airport, given that you must rely on water transportation for part of the trip. To me, having to get in the middle of the night to catch your flight home sort of ruins the day before you leave because you have to go to bed early, the day of departure and the day after because you will be so tired. Also, Venice might be more relaxing as a first stop in Italy.

I would skip driving around Tuscany and add time to Rome. Italians like to say Roma, non basta una vita: When you're in Rome, one lifetime is not enough.

I have to vote on slowing down. If this is your first trip to Europe then you really need to assume you will have jetlag. I agree with the others who suggest at least 5 days at your city of origin. And, you need to do your homework. It will be important for you to know all about your neighborhood and where you want to go. Buy streetwise maps now and start studying. English is not spoken every where. I would only go to two places with Florence as a day trip or a one day trip. The best part of Italy is sitting and looking at Italy and the people. If you run from place to place you will only see Italy in the photographs you bring home.
We spent a week in Venice and we were not ready to leave!
Florence suggestion- if you or your husband wants a leather item for a lifetime of memories, use Ira's plan (he is the guru of Italy), and when you take a break around the Duomo walk over to the Leather School. (Scuola del Cuoio). They are in the Monastery of Santa Croce via San Giuseppe. You do not have to go through the church (there is a fee). You walk down San Giuseppe and go in the back gate. It is an experience. Beautifully made leather goods--yes, they are expensive but it will last a lifetime. By the way, they do have little change purses and small items in their showroom they you can use as souvenirs for friends. They will put gold initials or names on the items. My husband bought a leather sports jacket which he wears everywhere. People tend to stand next to him and pat him because the leather feels so good! He loves it.
Please let us all know what you decide to do----even if you do not take our advice! Don't forget to go over to virtualtourist and read some travel stories there. Just my opinion.

I agree that this being your first trip to Europe you might be best served by not renting a car. IMO, that addas another element of stress into the equation.

I would skip the "Tuscany" part of the trip. I would do 6 days Rome, 2 nights Florence( BTW,that is in Tuscany ), and 3 in Venice.Fly into Venice, out of Rome.

You never explain your problem with trains?? The best way to move between these cities is by Eurostar train.

Hey, cruiseluv

I'm a total Italy novice so I was wondering why you would recommend to skip the Tuscany countryside portion of the trip.

Also, why is everyone recommending to drop a night from Florence? Any specific reasons to drop a Florence night and add it to either Rome or Venice?

Hi SD,

>Also, why is everyone recommending to drop a night from Florence? Any specific reasons to drop a Florence night and add it to either Rome or Venice? <

Because the OP isn't doing Rome or Venice justice.

You can hit the highlights of Florence in a day.

You can spend weeks in R or V.

For what it's worth,on our first trip (7 days) to Italy we spent an entire week in Rome and never ran out of things to do. We were centrally located so we walked everywhere from the Vatican & Colessium and everything in between - fantastic trip. Our second trip (9 days) we started in Florence went to Sienna/Tuscany then over to the Adriatic Sea to meet cousins by Ancona, then to Assisi and finally Rome. Because we took my sister along who has problems walking, we drove. I did not have any problem driving and like my Italian cousin said "here in Rome our driving rules are more like guidelines and not as strict as in the USA". What that means is that they may not stay in their lane and you have to be able to anticipate. But after driving in Rome at night in the rain and during rush hour - I feel I can probably drive anywhere now. If you stay on the main roads you should not have any problems (be sure you carry Euros with you to pay any tolls). Actually I had more diffiulty in England in the Yorkshire Dales with their narrow roads which were lined with stones and the constant fear that I would run the left side of the car off the road since I was driving from the right side of the car

As others have suggested I would add days to your Rome stay and drop at least one/two from Florence/Tuscany.

Sono un grande viaggio!