My family wants to add Venice...Help!

Old Feb 7th, 2009, 03:23 PM
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My family wants to add Venice...Help!

For our 12-day trip to Italy this summer, I was planning on Rome for 4 days, train up to Florence for 3 days, then renting a car and driving leisurely through Tuscany and Umbria for 3 days, ending up at Rome for the last 2 days (including a day in Pompeii).

But now my husband and teen daughter say that they want to go to Venice too! Should I scuttle the Tuscany/Umbria part? Should I shave off a day in both Rome and Florence for Venice? Take a train from Rome to Venice and another train from Venice to Florence, then drive? Or just tell the two of them that Venice is out until the next time?

What are your suggestions? Thanks!
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Old Feb 7th, 2009, 03:35 PM
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You might be asking for family relationship counselling!

Your proposed programme is full enough. If you want to add Venice, I think you need to cut something else out.

If they are 2/3 of the group, you might consider yourself outvoted and accept that. I suggest that you ask them what they would cut in order to get Venice, and take the debate forward from there.
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Old Feb 7th, 2009, 03:54 PM
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You have 2 12 day trips here if you include Venice. You cannot see Italy in 12 days. I would do this:

Land Rome--to Florence that day--3 nites
Get car--drive to Tuscany base--3 nites
Drive to Umbria base--2 nites
End in Rome--last 4 nites--forget Pompeii
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Old Feb 7th, 2009, 04:20 PM
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I would cut at least 1 day maybe 2 from Florence to see Venice anytime. I love Venice,Florence not so much.
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Old Feb 7th, 2009, 04:21 PM
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I would drop at least a day from Florence and definitely see Venice. To me, it's the only place that looked exactly like every picture I ever saw of it! And it's unique in so many ways. You will never forget it.
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Old Feb 7th, 2009, 04:26 PM
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I agree with Bob, especially since this trip is in summer when temps are high and crowds are huge. The time in Tuscany/Umbria would be a nice break between Florence and Rome. If you're out-voted, then drop Florence, fly into Venice at the front end and keep Umbria/Tuscany.
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Old Feb 7th, 2009, 05:14 PM
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Have you purchased your plane tickets already? If not don't fly in and out of Rome so you have to backtrack. Fly into Rome and out of Florence or Venice. I'm personally with those who would pick Venice over Florence in a heartbeat!!
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Old Feb 7th, 2009, 06:15 PM
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I agree with jgg. If still possible, make that ticket an open jaw flying out of Venice. You can still drive from Florence to Venice if you like. We have done it taking the back roads and it was a nice drive. Even with your original plan, adding Pompeii is not practical IMO and Pompeii can be brutal in the summer.
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Old Feb 7th, 2009, 08:45 PM
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Hello totorofan, if you haven't purchased your plane tickets yet and if you are going to visit Venice I would fly into Venice and depart from Rome. Most flights from Venice leave very early in the morning and with having to get to the Marco Polo Airport so early in the morning one usually doesn't get much sleep the night before. Flying home from Rome is a bit easier. BTW, teenagers, especially girls, really love Venice and I think you would be glad that you spent some time there.
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Old Feb 8th, 2009, 05:53 AM
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Hi to,

I would give up a week in Tuscany and/or Umbria for 3 days in Venice.

You can visit Orvieto from Rome and Siena from Florence.

If you drop the motor trip, you save the cost of the car.

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Old Feb 8th, 2009, 06:07 AM
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No problem at all.

The train from Florence to Venice takes just 2:29, driving by car would take 3 1/2 hours.

An open-jaw flight would make most sense.

I would not recommend staying in Florence for such a long time. Better find a nice fattoria on the countryside and stay there (somewhere within the triangle Florence - Pisa - Siena). 4 days for Tuscany (including Florence are sufficient).

So, this would be possible:

day 1: arrival in Rome
days 2, 3, 4, 5: full days in Rome
days 6, 7, 8, 9: Tuscany
days 10, 11: Venice
day 12: departure from Venice

As others have said, save Pompeii for another trip. It is much walking, there is no shade and when you do it as a daytrip from Rome, you will be there over noon.
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Old Feb 8th, 2009, 06:09 AM
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Instead of Pompeii, make a daytrip to Tivoli to see Villa Adriano (emperor Hadrian's palace) and Villa d'Este.
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Old Feb 8th, 2009, 06:12 AM
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Agreed about adding in Venice and cutting from Florence, not Tuscany, just Florence.

I'm begining to plan my second daughter's Europe trip and I asked my older daughter what places in Europe would she absolutely want to go back to again. She picked Rome over Venice, but she said that her younger sister still must see Venice. As others have said - it's absolutely unforgetably unique. If you go, check out Casa Cosmo. It's a nice find.
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Old Feb 8th, 2009, 06:17 AM
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I'll have to check out Tivoli for our next trip as someone here suggested. A quick trip out of Rome will get you to Ostia Antica. If you had hoped to do Pompeii and don't have time, it might suffice. The kids I took had fun wandering around outdoors, near the ocean, and taking pics at the ampitheater. It was a nice change of pace on our European cities tour - you know all that art and museum "stuff" as they said. There's gelato at the snack bar too, so that helps.
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Old Feb 8th, 2009, 06:18 AM
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Ostia Antica, a 40 minute train trip from Rome, makes a much better alternative to Pompeii.

People should be aware that the summer heat in Tuscany and Umbria can be much more brutal than the seaside towns of southern Italy -- although special care needs to be take at Pompeii, which has no shady tree cover (another reason to enjoy Ostia Antica).

As to the Venice vs rural central Italy debate, to me the key difference is one means "no car" and the other does. And having a car can be more stressful for some people than not. Merely mentioning "the countryside" rings "relaxation" bells for some people, but honestly, it can be more relaxing to hang around car-free Venice for a couple of days than be looking for parking and trying to avoid one-way streets in crowded Tuscan hilltowns at the height of the tourist season.

I'm not a huge fan of Venezia, so I'd be tempted to pick my spot in Tuscany with a pool and AC, and just put my feet up. But to think that trying to combine Tuscany and Umbria in 3 days is going to be leisurely ... I'd reconsider.
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Old Feb 8th, 2009, 06:18 AM
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I would keep it simple...Fly into Venice, 3 days in Venice, 3 days in Florence and 6 in Rome. From Rome you can do one day Orvieto. You can do Siena from Florence. Venice is so special that I wouldn't hesitate to take out Umbria for it.
Then you don't need to rent a car and deal with that. Take the Eurostar between the 3 cities.
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Old Feb 8th, 2009, 06:20 AM
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PS: If any of you are seriously interested in Italian art, Firenze (Florence) should be cut or reduced.
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Old Feb 8th, 2009, 06:21 AM
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SORRY!!! Typo alert:

I meant to type DO NOT cut time in Florence
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Old Feb 8th, 2009, 06:24 AM
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zeppole - I was thinking you knew something about Italian art that I didn't. ;-)
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Old Feb 8th, 2009, 06:28 AM
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Author: traveller1959
Date: 02/08/2009, 10:07 am

day 1: arrival in Rome
days 2, 3, 4, 5: full days in Rome
days 6, 7, 8, 9: Tuscany
days 10, 11: Venice
day 12: departure from Venice

*******
this looks sensable to me.

I did something like this in reverse
in 1999 and 2003. I wasnt able to go into Tuscany but was in Florence for 3 nights.

If you go,dont miss David in Florence.

Venice is heaven on earth.
Get up early with your family and watch the boats unload and markets getting set up. You will never forget it.


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