Canon

I have some questions about an itenerary, any help would be greatly appreciated. I have booked my trip for early May for 9 nights. It will be just my husband and me and we are in our late 30's and 40's. Our must-do's are Colosseum, Vatican, Pompeii and Venice Gondola ride.

Day 1 : We will be arriving at FCO at 9:25 on a Tuesday, I was considering Hotel Rex for budget and location purposes. I plan to use the subway to get into town and walk to the hotel from the train station. After checking into hotel, use the rest of the day to familiarize ourselves with the area and explore nearby sites.

Day 2: I am thinking either early morning Skip the line tour of Colosseum that includes lower lever and third tier then spend the rest of day exploring Roman Forum area. Or, Hop on Hop off bus

Day 3: Travel day to Venice- early morning train and arrive in Venice (2 nights) in afternoon, early enough to explore on our own. Thinking about the La Locanda di Orsaria for hotel for budget and location (next to train station).

Day 4 : 9 am Dark Rome Skip the Line Best of Venice tour which includes St Mark's Basilica second floor terraces and Doge's Palace (debating on whether to skip Doge's Palace) 3.5 hours Spend rest of day on our own and at 7 pm do another Dark Rome tour- Secret Venice By Night and shared gondola ride

Day 5 (Sat) Travel day back to Rome - trying to decide whether to take early train back to Rome or spend 1/2 day in Venice then arrive back in Rome late.

Day 6 Sun - HOHO / Colosseum ( if not done on day 2) or Viator Pompeii/Naples day tour

Day 7 Mon HOHO- Colosseum tour or Pompeii tour whichever not done previously

Day 8 Tues : Dark Rome Vatican Tour-- Either No wait Access Early entry 8:10am or No wait - 9am both 3 hours Is the early entry tour worth the extra money? How much time should we allow for exploring the rest of Vatican City?

Day 9 Wed-- Rome -- maybe train to Ancient Ostia

Day 10 -- fly home 11:00

Is that reasonable? Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks

Andrew

Is it possible to book your ticket as an "open jaw" so you fly into Venice/Out of Rome? That would save you a day of train travel...

kybourbon

If you've already booked your flights then you should take the train on to Venice on arrival day as you will be jet lagged anyway. Spend your first few nights in Venice, end in Rome. It wastes time checking in and out of hotels twice in Rome. Perhaps stay somewhere a bit more central than Hotel Rex.

BRousset

The Colosseum offers an official tour of the underground & 3rd tier much cheaper thru omniticket.it. Check out Tiber Limo Service for a private limo day tour of Pompeii/Amalfi Coast..again cheaper than Viator. Check out the great reviews on tripadvisor.com Try the Vatican's tour of the Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel. Their Excavation Office also offers a tour of the Necropolis.

Canon

My airfare is already booked, but I did check into flying into Vence and out of Rome before I booked. For whatever reason, I could have done that for about the same price, but the way the airline packaged their flights, I would have 2 layovers both ways. The retrun flight would have 1 hour layover in Madrid. I wasn't sure one hour would be enough time in an airport I wasn't familiar with. Otherwise it would have cost about $600 to $700 more for the return from Rome with one layover. Anyway, I like the idea of going straight to Venice on arrival. Can you take a train directly from FCO?

Thanks for the tour tips. I will definately be checking them out.

Andrew

Sometimes it makes sense to fly an open jaw, sometimes not. In 2007, on my first trip to Italy, I found the same kinds of constraints you had. I could get a direct flight to Rome (I was on the east coast then) and train up to Venice immediately upon arrival - better than a connection to fly into Rome. I'd rather be on a train than a plane given the choice! But - I did basically start in Venice and that's what I recommend, too, instead of splitting the time in Rome.

kybourbon

>>>Can you take a train directly from FCO?<<<

No. You take the Leonardo Express train from FCO to Rome's Termini station. You catch the train to Venice at Termini.

Rostra

I would pass on the HOHO bus as a waste of time and money.
It's alot easier to get around on your own, metro, bus and walking.

Besides the metro for you the Via Nazionale which is very near your hotel is a major bus route that will get you anywhere you are going and back.

On the return almost any bus in the areas you will be that heads to Termini will go up the Via Nazionale and if not to the near-by Piazza Republica or Termini itself.

A 13hr bus tour to Pompeii for $143 will give you 2hrs in a slow moving herd meaning not covering alot of ground at the site and missing the majority of the major sites.

Do it on your own and you could easily spend 6hrs in Pompeii and see the major sites in depth.

Their audioguide likely still has the 2, 4 and 6hr tour option?

It's an easy daytrip and you can find detailed directions posted here by I believe A_Brit_In_Ischia and others.

Ditto for Ostia Antica.

Day 0 you wake-up and by the end of Day 1 you are in your Venice hotel, if you can't sleep on the plane how many hours will you have been awake?

Perhaps springing for 1st Class on the train will allow you to get some sleep?

Plus if it's not crowded you could always move to another section or even another 1st Class car where it is quieter, the worse that could happen is being asked to move at the next or a later stop.

Also likely being exhausted when you arrive in Venice and *if* you pack heavy (1 suitcase & 1 carry-on each) with a short stay perhaps dropping off the extra baggage at the train station's 'Left Luggage' would help by just packing 1 his&her bag?

There's nothing worse than being exhausted and dragging your luggage around esp if lost and trying to find your hotel.

I was never so happy at an airline for losing my bag when that happened to me on my 1st visit to Venice .
My daypack carry-on got me thru those 24hrs until it was brought to my hotel room.