URBANTALK1

Traveling alone and will be in Venice - for the 1st time! - during the week of Film Festival (not sure if that's a good thing) and the huge Regeta Storica is the first Sunday of September, the day after I arrive.

I was going spend all of the 8-nights in Venice - and really soak it in - before going to Tuscany for three weeks and then Rome for two weeks.

About to book a B&B in Venice (with all the festivals I think I should book early) but afraid I'm going to have booker's remorse if I don't spend a night in Florence. I have to change trains to get from Venice to Florence anyway - but dragging luggage and settling into a hotel for 1 night, might make it too exhausting.

I've spent a few weeks in Florence 25-years ago, so the memories are vague - all I remember is the David, people selling leather items, and having a great time with friends.

I'm thinking maybe I should just do a 2-hr day trip by train from Tuscany - or Venice, if the 8 days feel like overkill.

Any one out there have any thoughts?

nytraveler

You have a bunch of weeks listed here. If it were me i would take a day from here and there and give yourself 3 days to see some of Florence. If you want a day trip fine - but you won;t see much. I would not stop on the way from Venice to Rome - too much fuss dealing with luggage.

Daneille08

I think you would do yourself a disservice by not spending 3 days or so in Florence. It is a glorious city and much more fun to do at a leisurely pace than rushing from site to site. You could wander through the markets, cross the Ponte Vecchio, spend some time in the Boboli Gardens/Pizzi Palace. Climb to the top of the Duomo for the glorious views. Spend some time at the Sante Croce and the Palazzo Vecchio. There is so much to do. You are already spending 3 weeks in Tuscany (I assume the countryside or smaller towns than Florence) - so why not spend 2 weeks and 4 days and then the other 3 in Florence - or if due to booking restrictions you have to cut into your time in Venice I would do so. Venice is beautiful but 5 days will be enough to see a lot and with it being right in the middle of the film festival you may well be happy to get away from the crowds. Venice is crowded at the best of times and I imagine it would be bedlam during the festival. Just by way of example - I have spent varying times in Florence and Venice over 3 trips to both cities and upon spending just a day in each during a cruise last year (previously a week in each on an earlier trip) I could have cried that I didn't have more time in Florence and all the things I didn't get to see even if it was the 3rd time I'd been there but was happy with the day I spent in Venice and actually felt I hadn't missed out on too much - even my mother who was on her first trip to Italy felt that she had experienced much more in Venice in a day whilst only getting the tip of the iceberg in Florence.

NoCaliGal

We have solved the problem of getting off the train in Florence with luggage by taking one or two nights in Florence in a pensione near the train station, two blocks away on Via Fiume. Perfectly fine neighborhood there, and many little pensiones to choose from. We got a good sized room with a small balcony in Hotel Serena.
Www.albergoserena.it . Nothing fancy, but we didn't need it to be. Quiet and inexpensive. You can walk to the center in 5 minutes.
We enjoyed shopping in San Lorenzo mercato for leather or hats, gloves, handbags, and also had a mini trip out of the center by taking a local bus up to the hillside town of Fiesole--just a beautiful bus ride up past fancy villas, and a delightful town with Roman theatre ruins and views down to Firenze.

kybourbon

>>>I have to change trains to get from Venice to Florence anyway<<<

No you don't. The AV trains stop in Florence on the way to Rome, but you don't have to get off.

Eight days in Venice would be too long for me (not a Venice fan). I would take 3-4 days from Venice and spend in Florence.