Pete1025

To anyone that has been to these cities before, I will spend 11 nights in Italy, do you think its feasible to do Rome,Florence,Venice and Milan (back to rome for the final night) in that amount of time? If not which city would you bump off and why? Which city is a must, I was planning on 4 nights Rome,2 nights each in Florence,Venice and Milan. Final night Rome. Can people that have been to these cities give me their views on the cities mentioned? Thank you! Leaving July 13!

Pete1025

Someone help! =)

bobthenavigator

Pete, I would only do the big 3 and I would start in Florence to avoid that last nite scenario. Consider this plan: Florence--3 Venice--3, and Rome 5. Add a day to Florence if you day trip to Siena, not a bad idea.

olympicgaym

Hi,
I did a similar trip in the same time last Feb/March. I stayed 4 nights in Milan with a day trip to Venice and two day trips to the olympics in Torino.
Here is my sugestion: 4 nights Rome(great city), 3 nights Florence, 2 nights Venice and 1 night in Milan.
1 night Rome.
If you could, I would suggest spending the 5 nights in Rome at the end. You could easily travel to Florence(about 2 hours) by train after you arrive in Rome. Florence is more laid back and you could ease into the trip.Then you could travel to Venice, spend an afternoon and overnight in Milan, The Duomo is spectacular! and then go to Rome at the end. I really appreciated having Rome at the end of the trip.

Pete1025

Hi thanks for the responses, unfortunately I already booked the tickets into/out of Rome, and have paid for an apartment for 4 nights in Rome (as it ended being better than 4 nights in a hotel for 4) starting with the date I arrive on the 13th of July.
I know backtracking is not ideal but I guess I am stuck with that, is Milan worthy of just one day, and adding another day to Venice, or Florence?

olympicgaym

Hi,

I only spent a little time seeing Milan. The Duomo and the Galleria are really interesting and beautiful..Walking on the roof of the Duomo was a highlight for me. You could skip Milan and still have a great trip(plus one less hotel change). Rome really made an impression on me and I liked it more than I thought I would. Make sure you make reservations for the Borghese Gallery.
enjoy!

Rich

Eloise

I would suggest skipping Milan entirely. True, the Galleria and the Duomo are vaguely interesting, but not, in my opinion, worth an extra hotel change.

If I had 11 nights, I would probably do 4 in Rome, 3 in Florence and 3 in Venice, and then the final night in Rome.

Pete1025

Ok so skip Milan, now does it really matter where in Venice to stay (i.e. the piazza of S Marco) or is everything relatively close? 3 days in Florence and 2 in Venice, or 3 in Venice and 2 in Florence?

Eloise

Venice is eminently walkable, so it really doesn't matter all that much where your hotel is. Personally, I prefer something away from the maddening crowds of day-trippers on the Rialto to Piazza San Marco route and generally stay on the other side of the Grand Canal in San Polo or Dorsoduro, an area, incidentally, that has quite a few points of interest. And you can take a traghetto (public gondola) at several points along the Grand Canal that get you to the other side for 0.50 Euro and in 5 minutes or less.

You can have almost three days in both Florence and Venice. Leave Rome early with a ES (Eurostar) train that gets you to Florence in 1.5 hours. On the third day, leave Florence at around 6:00 p.m. (ES again) and arrive in Venice at about 9:00 p.m. (The only slight problem with this is that your hotel in Venice will probably cost more than your hotel in Florence. And you should probably either pack something to eat or have something in the dining car. Venice restaurants do not keep late hours.) On the fourth day, take an ES to Rome at about 2:30 p.m., which gets you to Rome at about 7:00 p.m. and lets you have a last good dinner.

OK, it's a bit more time in Venice than in Florence. It depends on which interests you more: Florence that is wall-to-wall Renaissance or Venice where periods from the Byzantine to the 18th century are represented.

Pete1025

Thank you Eloise for your advice, I found a place in Venice in the area you specified, for a family of 4 (two young adults 20sih, and 2 of 50yrs old) would u say more in venice than florence or oppst?

Eloise

My personal preference is Venice. In addition to offering a wider variety of things to see, it is quite unique and magical, particularly in the evening after the day trippers have left.

But if you or any of your family are wildly, madly, passionately interested in the Renaissance, then Florence is where you will want to spend more time.

Pete1025

Thank you everyone for your help, one more question, would you advise me to go from Rome to Venice first, then Florence and return to Rome, or go in order Rome, Florence, Venice, and then back to Rome?

Which is more on a Friday? Florence or Venice?

Pete1025

More FUN on a Friday!

Eloise

Neither Florence nor Venice is a party town.

However, in "Destinations" above, Fodor's gives information on nightlife in Florence and Venice.

nessundorma

Sorry I didn't see this thread earlier. If you're young and like parties, Milano is a wonderful destination -- and the Duomo is more than "vaguely" interesting, as are other parts of Milano.

I would say you'll find more young people interested in nightlife in Firenze.

Hope you enjoy Eloise's trip!

rosexmke

We did a similar trip in may with our 19 and 21 yr olds - we are in our 50's too. We were all pretty tired from the cross atlantic flight and the first couple of nights took turns not being able to sleep well. We flew into venice and left rome - and I am glad this happened in venice - easier to get around, slower pace, not as much pressure to be out touristing. So you might want to try going from rome to venice or florence as bob/navigator suggested. Also if it saves a "change of hotel" that would be good as well. The number of hotel changes is what is really a bother. WE all loved florence and are not renisance nuts either so you never know what is going to appeal to you. Hope you did get an apartment rental in venice we did that for rome too - the 2 places we had 3 or more nights and it was greatly appreciated. I know your time is short if you have any quesitons email me at [email protected] and put fodors in the subject.

Eloise

Nessundorma,

>>Hope you enjoy Eloise's trip!<<

That comment goes pretty far over the line!

Nowhere do I tell, command or order Pete 1025 to do things my way.

Unlike you, I simply state my personal preferences and leave the decision to the OP.

nessundorma

Eloise,

I just think the ages of the OP's family argues for more consideration of Firenze and Milano. As the previous poster finally responded "WE all loved florence and are not renisance nuts either" -- in direct contradiction to your post.

You may think you are only stating your personal preferences, but in reality when you characterize places as "vaguely interesting" or only for people mad for the Renaissance, or that neither Venezia and Firenze should be considered party towns for teens, you are suggesting these are objective judgments -- and they are not.

Pete,

Given your time constraints, I too would be concerned about advising you to include Milano unless nightlife is a very big priority. Between Venezia and Firenze, the latter has more of a scene fo offer young people. And who knows if you'll all love or hate Firenze or Venezia or Roma -- but surely somewhere in there you'll get a hit, and let's hope all 3 places.

Pete1025

Thank you all for your replies! So two days away from my super trip, I've decided to do Rome 4 nights, Florence 2 nights, Venice 2 nights, Milano 2 nights, and Rome one final night. Figured I'd time it so both weekends that I am there are spent in Rome and Milano. And like someone mentioned,while you never know what you might like, one of these cities I'm sure will be of great appeal if not all! Now I'm just a little concerned about reservations, I did an online reservation for the Last Supper but have received no response...can I just call? Or is it through an online site? (like I used), same goes for seeing David,is the reservation online, or by calling the museum? I'm afraid to go, especially with the limited time and not be able to see something because of a reservation. If anyone knows about reservations, it would be super helpful! Thank you all so much!

nessundorma

I can't help you with David, but this might help you with respect to reservations to the Last Supper:

http://tinyurl.com/nahof

I don't know your teens, but you might consider a walk down the famed designer street Via Montenapoleone in Milano and finishing up with a pastry and/or sinfully rich, thick hot chocolate at the caffe Sant'Ambreous, even though it is July. But they also serve superb gelato and cool drinks.

http://tinyurl.com/kx6p6

A really amazing and charming place for lunch near the Duomo is the vegetarian ALLA VECCHIA LATTERIA at Via dell' Unione 4-6. It is actually a tiny grocery store run by a husband and wife. You sit at small tables surrounded by olive oil and jars of peppers and let them feed you brilliantly and cheaply.

After you've seen the Duomo or had lunch, the modestly-sized and easily toured Pinoteca Ambrosiana museum is entertaining for its eclectic collection of odd and/or beautiful items, like a malachite room, Napoleon's glove and original sketches for frescoes by Raphael.

Both the Economist and Conde Nast have useful websites on Milan:

http://tinyurl.com/lxv32

http://tinyurl.com/fpmwr

You need to book a hotel early in Milan. If it turns out that Milano doesn't thrill, you can always get on a train and visit Lago Maggiore 50 minutes away. (Go to Stresa where you can catch a boat to tour the Borromeo Islands). Or visit Verona, just 90 minutes away by train. Or take a train to Pescheria del Garda and hop on a breezy boat to Bardolino, where you can eat enormous bowls of gelato or drink the famous Bardolino wine and decide for yourself if its critics are right.

Enjoy your trip!