dana1984

So my husband and I are pretty excited to be going on our first europe adventure... but as I am a planner and we have part of the trip planned and the other half not I find myself stressing.

We are going to be leaving May 21 to Venice and have a week to venture out wherever but need to be back in Venice on May 29 to go for our 2 week cruise down to greece.

I am thinking of spending our first night in Venice and then treking out by train to Rome or ? And then continuing on by train wherever making sure we are back to Venice by cruise time.

What I am wondering is whether anyone has recommendations on whether to stay the night in Venice well near the train station... or just take the train despite it being around 11 at night. And where we should go for our week or so of freedom.

Any suggestions would be so helpful- tips and tricks especially!

britomart

Have you already bought your airfare? If not, you could fly into Rome and then make your way north, ending in Venice. If you've already bought it, I would recommend spending at least 2 nights in Venice. You could spend a few nights in Florence and a few in Rome before you have to be back to Venice. Or, you could spend the 8 days in the Tuscany region, there is so much to see and do there. As for staying near the train station, are you talking about the first night you arrive?

Leburta

Rather than start in Venice, why not start in Rome and work your way up to Venice. This way you won't be backtracking. You can spend a few days in Rome (of course, not enough) then take the train to Florence for two days, then to Venice. You will just get a quick glimpse of each city -- enough to whet your appetite for another trip to Italy. Just don't cut things to close. Whatever you do, you won't want to miss your cruise embarkation.

dana1984

Thanks for the replies thus far- I did book our tickets to and from Venice- based on prices and to spend the one or 2 nights there as well.

I have been hearing amazing things about tuscany but I know that my husband would really like to see Rome as well.

Does anyone have any suggestions for whether I should book hotels/ accomodations before we go? And should we get the train pass beforehand as well?

nytraveler

At that time of year you definitely need reservations - unless your budget is unlimited (at lest $500 per night). The moderately priced places that are pleasant and in good locations sell out early.

You don;t say when your ship leaves - but if you're arriving in Venice at 11 pm I wold definitely get a hotel there for 3 nights - so you have 2 days to explore. Then train to Rome and spend 3 nights there (2.5 days will give you just a taste of major sights). Then take the train to Florence for the remaining nights - again just a taste. If you leave Florence early in the am by train you should get to Venice in plenty of time for you departure assuming it's in the evening. If you boat leaves earlier you may have to spend the final night in Venice.

ellenem

For your limited train travel, you will not need a train pass. Just buy regular point-to-point tickets. You can research schedules and fares here:

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html

tuscanlifeedit

Not enough information for me. When do you leave Venice after the cruise? Where will the cruise be going?

I wouldn't cut it so close with the return to Venice. If you really aren't arriving in Venice until late at night, you might just want to go to sleep at the airport (at a hotel), and fly straight to Rome in the morning. easyjet.com has a flight at 9:10 that's going for 23.99 euro right now.

That way, you get to Rome fresh in the morning, take the Leonardo Express from FCO into Rome proper, and enjoy a few days there.

Then head to your next destination, be it Florence, or somewhere else in Tuscany.

If Florence, you can take the train.

You can stay a couple of days, and then go on to Venice for a few days, or even somewhere nearby, like Verona.

I would do that IF I had time to visit Venice after the cruise. If I didn't plan on stopping in Venice for a few days after the cruise, I would go from Florence/Tuscany straight to Venice for a couple of days.

That way, there's no fear of getting held up by weather, or a transit strike (frequent enough in Italy) or some other event and missing the cruise departure.

I am not a cruiser, but I've always heard that one should plan on being in the departure port city on the night before departure. I would take that even more seriously in Italy.

dana1984

So further details- We arrive in Venice at 10 pm on Saturday night on May 22.

The cruise leaves in Venice on May 29th at 5 pm and goes down to Turkey, Croatia, Greece and back up to Venice for the day for the first week- to pick up drop off people- so we have a day to cruise around then. Then the cruise goes down again to different spots in the same countries. The cruise arrives in port June 12- in the am and we are leaving early June 13.

So we were even wondering about what to do the last night we are there since we have such an early flight as well...

dana1984

We think Tuscany is a great idea- we are wondering where would be the best place to stay for 2 nights??

bb_voglioviverecosi

Florence is the obvious answer, but you could also try Lucca. Read more about it here:
http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allt...s-best-choice/

Hope it helps.

Ciao ciao

Barbara

zeppole

It sounds to me like you want is the Tuscan hills, wine towns, and countryside, not the Tuscan cities. I would not go to Lucca in lieu of staying in Venice.

I suggest you look into Panzano, which is a one-hour bus ride from Florence. I've never stayed at the Villa Sangiovese, but I've heard good things about it and the bus from Florence stops right there.

http://www.villasangiovese.it/e/eindex.html

My suggestion is that if you must see Rome, get there however you can the day after you arrive, tour as much as you can in a short time, take the 90 minute train to Florence and then move on to Panzano.

However, if you are carrying a lot of luggage, you might consider renting a car in Venice the day after you arrive , drive to the Chianti area for a few nights, drop of the car in Arezzo, take the train to Rome. Train from Rome back to Venice.

Be sure to be back in Venice the night before the day your ship leaves wherever you go.

Vttraveler

I think it is difficult to enjoy Rome and the Vatican with fewer than three full days of sightseeing time. There are threads that suggest what to do if you only have one or two days, but basically you have to pick the sights that are most important to you.

zeppole

Vttraveler makes a good point about making choices in advance and I would even extend it:

If the reason your husband wants to go to Rome is to see the monuments dating back to the Roman empire, please be aware that the Roman arena in Verona (quite close to Venice) is in much better shape than the Roman colosseum, likewise the Roman theatre and other "ruins" just above Florence in Fiesole are nothing to sneeze at. So instead of just picking cities, perhaps the thing to do is figure out what Italian things you want to see and figure out if Rome is the only place to admire them. If you can get away with less time in train stations, you'll be able to enjoy more.