phylle

my husband and i will be going to italy late april for 10 days.
we want to see florence, venice and rome. We have tickets already for into florence out of rome; so would love to have some help with designing an itinerary for those 3 cities. it will be a celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary, but we are both very active and NOT your typical senior citizen.(no offense). Would also appreciate hotels (450 to 600 e /nite) as well as any good restaurants anyone can suggest. we were in italy 30 yrs ago.
thanks for your help.

annhig

phylle - IMO the best way to sort this out, given that you're flying into Florence, and out of Rome, is to start with Florence, [3 nights] then go to Venice, [3 nights] and end in Rome [4 nights].

I'd like to send you to Venice first, but I don't think that really works, as you'd only have to come back to Florence again, and you can get pretty fast trains from Venice to Rome.

as for hotels, that sort of price point isn't mine, and even in Venice should find you a very nice place to stay. Have a look at trip advisor for your dates and then at the hotels' individual websites.

there are lots of threads about restaurants in all these places.

Delaine

I can tell you places I have stayed and would return to that should be within your budget. They are all the quintessential European "grand hotel" type.

Florence:

-Westin Excelsior on Piazza Ognissanti overlooking the Arno

Venice:

-Westin Europa & Regina on Grand Canal across from Santa Maria del Salute
-Starwood Hotel Danieli on Riva degli Schiavone, just past the Doge's Palace (it incorporates the palazzo of former Doge, Enrico Dandolo)
-Luna Baglioni on the Grand Canal just outside of Piazza San Marco near Harry's Bar

-Starwood Hotel Gritti Palace on the Grand Canal near Santa Maria del Giglio. I have not stayed here but have been to the floating bar terrace, which was lovely.

Rome:

-Westin Excelsior on Via Veneto

In Rome you could also check the Hotel Eden, the St. Regis and the Hassler

ekc

Our favorite hotel in Rome is the Portrait Suites - owned by the Ferragamo family. Lovely boutique hotel with a wonderful rooftop terrace where you can have breakfast, etc. Highly recommended. We are returning next week for our 3rd stay.

Do your 10 days include your travel days, or do you have 10 days "on the ground"? Assuming you have 10 days on the ground, I would arrive in Florence and immediately train to Venice - it is a wonderful city to get over jetlag, due to the lack of cars/buses/scooters and the fact you have to walk everywhere. I would do 3 days in Venice (inclusive of first day), 3 days in Florence and 4 days in Rome.

Keep in mind that each time you change cities you lose a 1/2 day, so you really have 2 days in Venice (first day lost to travel and jetlag), 2.5 days in Florence and 3.5 days in Rome.

phylle

we actually have a total of 10 days including flying time. we are thinking of the first three nites in florence, next two in venice, last four in rome.
mu husband has been told about the londra palace in venice; does anyone have any info on this hotel. he was told to take a lower floor with balcony and grand canal view rather than higher floor wihout balcony but also has grand canal view??? very confusing.
also the view at the spanish steps hotel in rome hotel and the j k place in florence were told to him. any experiences with those?

mamcalice

the Hotel Lungarno in Florence is lovely. If you consider it, ask for a room overlooking the Arno River.

ekc

If the 10 days include your travel days, then you only have 8 days to see Italy, as it takes a day to get there and a day to get back (if flying from the US).

If you are going in April, I wouldn't bother getting a balcony as it will likely be too cold to spend any time out there. Plus, you will only have 1.5 days in Venice so you won't have time to be hanging out on the balcony anyway. Generally, you lose 1/2 day each time you change cities (pack, check out of hotel, get to train station, buy tickets, wait for train, train travel, get to new hotel, check in, etc.)

I believe the Hotel Lungarno in Florence is also part of the Ferragamo hotel group and I can imagine how nice it is as well.

tuscanlifeedit

If it were me, I would go for the Ca Maria Adele. I've done a fair amount of research for upscale clients, and that is where I'd go if I could afford it. Captures my imagination for sure.