slippypenguin

Hello!
My husband and I are going to Italy in July for about 2 weeks. Here is what we are thinking:
Day 1- Fly into Venice check into hotel, get a lay of the land
Day 2- tour Venice
Day 3- train to Florence, check into hotel, explore
Day 4-5 Florence
Day 6- pick up car in Florence- drive into Tuscan county side, check into home base
Day 7-9 Tuscany
Day 10- Drop off car, train to Rome
Day 11-14 Rome
Day 15- Fly home from Rome
This is a very loose itinerary. I want to know if the timing of things makes sense. I am also curious about car rental. Should we rent in Florence and drive into a hill town? I would like to stay in one place in Tuscany and make day trips, which is why we wanted a car. We want to go to Siena, but we are open to other suggestions. We love food and would love to tour a place that makes cheese or olive oil. We would like to tour a winery or 2, but mostly take it all in and relax, go on nice walks. Where should we drop off the car and hop on a train to Rome?
Should we spend an extra day in Florence and one less in Rome? Thanks in advance for your time and advice!

nytraveler

I think this is about the best you can do with the number of days you have.

Some people would say just stay in the countryside and do a day trip to Florence - but IMHO there is so much to see and do and it is so lovely at night I wouldn't do that.

Mimar

Whereas I am like some people. Unless you're great fans of Renaissance art and architecture, just do a day trip into Florence. And add another day to Venice, especially if you're arriving after a long, overnight flight. Don't drop a day from Rome; there's so much to see there.

You should avoid driving in central Florence. It's littered with ZTLs, locals-only driving zones. It's all too easy to stumble into one and receive a hefty fine in the mail months later.

You could pick up a car as you leave Venice and drive to your Tuscan destination. Or maybe get a car at the Florence airport. Lots of people here recommend dropping your car at Orvieto, spend a few hours visiting the town, and take the train into Rome.

adrienne

I would do a day trip, by bus, to Siena from Florence as it's only an hour.

Have you found a place outside Florence that rents for 3 days? Sometimes you need to rent for a week minimum. Rental duration and location will determine your itinerary so check into this first.

I would add an extra day to Venice and either stay in Florence and do day trip from there or rent a place outside Florence and take a bus/train into Florence for the day. Which one you choose depends on how interested you are in art or in small towns. My choice would be to stay in Florence and see one or two places outside Florence.

Dayle

Pretty good itinerary. Agree to add at least a day to Venice.

Depending where you stay in the countryside there are other convenient places to pick up drop off- Chuisi, Siena, Orvieto.

Buon viaggio!

slippypenguin

Thanks for your advice so far!
My husband and I are not too pressed to spend more time in Venice. It's is something we want to see and experience for the first time, but not our main priority. We will be flying from London (we are spending a few days in London after flying from the states), so I hope we are not as tired as we might be if we were flying directly from the US.
We wanted to stay in Florence for a few days to enjoy the city and all its Renaissance glory, but we would not have a car while in the city to avoid all the stress involved with that.
I guess what I wanted to know was if it made sense to stay somewhere in a smaller town in Tuscany for a few days and if so, where? I know not all places will rent to us for less than a week, but I wanted to try anyways. Any suggestions of towns to stay in or near?

slippypenguin

Also, why should we spend more time in Venice? Is there something you suggest we do that requires more time other than seeing the city itself?

adrienne

There are some great sights in Venice such as the Doges Palace, the Basilica, Guggenheim Museum, Ca' d'Oro, Ca Rezzonico, I Frari, the islands, notably Torcello and nearby Burano. You can't do all this in a day.

In one day you can walk around some sections of the city and view the wonderful architecture, take an evening vaporetto ride and perhaps see one or two small sights or perhaps a gondola ride (which I always thought would be cheesy until I took a ride and was hooked on it). Torcello, with its magnificent church, is quite a ways outside Venice.

I've been to Venice several times and never get over its beauty.

bvlenci

We stayed in Montalcino once, and really enjoyed it. It's a good base for exploring the area, including visits to such places as Montepulciano, Pienza, Monteriggioni, and the Abbey of Sant'Antimo. We also took a day trip to Siena from there, but we took a bus rather than driving.

Olives are harvested in autumn, and the mills are closed at other times of the year, at least where we live. Maybe in Tuscany, with all the tourists, they stay open all year, but I don't know where they'd get the olives to press.

There are museums in Venice, and there are also the "schools" with wonderful art. A day trip by vaporetto to the islands (Murano, Burano, and Torcello) can be very nice. The number of days to spend in Florence would depend, as others said, on how many art museums and "art" churches you want to visit. I would say one day to see the city, plus an additional day for each two museums or four churches you want to visit. Florence can be very hot in July, usually hotter than Rome, and it's absolutely sinking under the weight of the tourists. However, all the places you'll be visiting will be a bit overrun by tourists in July.

I agree that you shouldn't cut any time from Rome. It's a big mistake to allow enough time there just to see the top three or four "must-sees". Rome is a large and fascinating city. There are many wonderful museums that aren't on any top ten lists, and that would have lines around the block if they were in any other city. There are fascinating neighborhoods, parks, piazzas and fountains where few tourists go, and where you'll really experience the city instead of just "doing" it.

mamcalice

I think your itinerary looks good. I would keep your days in Florence and Rome as you have them. We love Florence and find ourselves returning each time we are in Italy but Rome is large and spread out and there is so much to do there. In Tuscany, we prefer the Chianti region but many on this forum prefer the area around Montalcino, Pienza, etc. Once you decide on an area to base, we can help with suggestions for hotels, etc. If you stay in the Pienza area, drop your car in Orvieto and train to Rome.

bobthenavigator

I would give Venice one more day--day one is a loss.

Drop the car in Orvieto.

Have fun !