lynda55

I will be traveling to Italy in November, 11 nights, 12 days. My trip has to be in this order for personal reasons-Rome, Florence, Venice, back to Rome to return home. How many nights do you recommend in each city? Thanks!

Jean

This is one of those questions that evokes different answers from different people. It is truly an issue of personal preference, and you won't know your own preferences until you've been there.

It's unfortunate you need to start and end in Rome, but is it at least possible for you to head to Florence immediately on arriving in Rome? It's not a long journey and would eliminate one of your hotel checking in/out events. If this is a possibility, I'd spend 4 nights in Florence, 3 nights in Venice and 4 nights in Rome. If Venice sounds more appealing to you, then 3 in Florence, 4 in Venice, 4 in Rome.

Just know, you won't see any of these cities in depth, but you will get to see the main tourist sights.

bobthenavigator

Since you are in Rome twice, I suggest 5-2-3

ChicagoDallasGirl

Hi Lynda,
Assuming this is your first trip, I echo Jean's comment. It is hard to know until you've been there.

We had about half as many nights (only six) and after it was all said and done, we wished we had more time to spend in Rome and Venice.

If I had 11 nights, I would do 5 in Rome, 2 in Florence and 4 in Venice, similar to Bob's suggestion.

Happy travels,
cdg

RufusTFirefly

I would also spend 5 in Rome, 2 in Florence (assuming you want to daytrip to another Tuscan destination from Florence, otherwise 1 night in Florence), and 4 in Venice.

Vttraveler

5-3-3
Rome is the biggest and can be overwhelming if you don't spend enough time there. Also you will be jet lagged at the beginning of the trip

You didn't really specify your interests other than to list the three cities. I would personally only visit two of them in the time you have.
I am giving more time to Florence than others have suggested. What can I say? It is full of amazing art and architecture and is one of my favorite cities.

I agree with Jean it would make sense to consider going straight to Florence at the beginning, then to Venice then back to Rome rather than starting and ending in Rome.

kfusto

Do you have to stay in Rome a certain number of days upon arrival? If not, I would head straight to Venice perhaps on a connecting flight and spend 3 nights (I am not a fan and that is the most time I would spend there, JMO) then onto Florence for 4 and Rome for the final four.

I do love Rome but there is much to experience in Florence and other areas of Tuscany, especially if you are into food, wine and art.

caroline_edinburgh

Bear in mind that 2 nights is only one full day and 11 nights is 10 full days.

I'd do 4 or 5 nights each for Rome & Venice, 2 nights for Florence.

What times are your flights ? If you get in & leave early in the day, I'd say get the train immediately to Venice, then Florence, then finish in Rome.

bdjtbenson

2 nights in Florence, 2 or 3 nights in Venice and the rest in Rome.

gard

Hi

I would say most days in Rome, some nights in Florence and a couple of days in Venice. My wife and I have been to seperate trips to all of these places and they are all very nice in different ways. Here is our trip report with pictures and links from Florence last year: http://gardkarlsen.com/florence_italy_travelogue.htm and here is my Rome trip report with pictures and links http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm . I hope that you can find some useful info in them. Get in touch if you have any questions

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

ira

ditto Bob

KARIME2

I would say the following since I just did that in May. My niece and nephew would agree also.

Rome 5 nights
Florence 4 nights
Venice 2 nights

I would spend more time in florence and do a day tour to Tuscany. We wished we did that instead of spending another night in Venice.

lynda55

Thank you all for your advice. I wish I had started here before I booked my flights but here's what I've done considering that hiccup. We arrive in Rome Friday, 11/7 at 7:25 am. I have made reservations for 4 nights in Rome. We leave for Florence on Tuesday 11/11 for three nights (Tues, Wed, Thurs) and depart for Venice on Friday 11/14 for three nights. We depart Venice on the 17th of November to arrive in Rome for our last day/night and fly out of Rome 2pm on the 18th. I am a bit worried that I don't have the mix correct for Florence and Venice. Do you think perhaps I should change Florence to 4 nights and Venice to 2? Appreciate all your comments. Lynda

Jean

Lynda, believe me, there is no "correct" mix. Both Florence and Venice have more sights and treasures than you can see in 2 days, but if you took a night from Venice, you'd only have one full day there. Not enough time, IMO, for even a good overview.

It's nice that you have an early arrival in Rome. Drop your luggage at the hotel and take a walk to get your bearings. Have lunch, walk some more, then go back to the hotel to check in and shower. Back out for dinner and try not to go to bed too early.

Have a great time. When you get back, let us know which you loved more, Florence or Venice.

kfusto

<<Lynda, believe me, there is no "correct" mix>>

Jean is correct.

For me, 2 nights in Venice is sufficient. Last fall, I planned a trip to the big 3 for 4 couples and we did 2 nights in Venice, 6 in Florence and 3 in Rome and everyone agreed it was a good mix, though they all would have stayed in Rome one more full day. It was their first visit to Italy and my 17th.

We visited several wineries in the countryside from Florence on day trips as it makes a great base. Food and wine are our primary interests so that influences our choices when planning a trip.

Vttraveler

well, since you ended up with the number of nights per city that I suggested, I don't think you are making a mistake. I agree with others there is no "correct mix." Florence and Venice are both incredible cities

RufusTFirefly

lynda, no don't change it. The only way I'd change it is if you are some sort of Renaissance art and architecture groupie. We found Venice to be much more interesting and varied than Florence--4-1/2 days were not nearly enough for us on our first visit to Venice. While 2-1/2 days in Florence seemed interminable.

kfusto

Funny, that is how I feel about Venice, proving again that there is no right answer to the Florence vs Venice question

annhig

hi lynda,

unlike most of the other posters, I'd do things in a different order ie Venice, Florence, Rome.

on arrival, get the train to termini, then a train to Venice. stay 3 nights.

IMO this makes the best use of your first day when you'll be very tired any way - you can doze your way to Venice an duse your time there to ease your way into Italy.

from Venice, train to Florence, three more nights. [less than that, you'll be trying to cram it all into 24 hours which IMO is a big mistake - you'll enjoy it more of you have a bit of sitting around time.]

Finally train to Rome, spend 5 nights.

this gives you the maximum use of your time in Rome [splitting it wil just use up valuable hours checking in and out] and ensures you'll want to come back!

have a great trip,

regards, ann

caroline_edinburgh

Mm, pretty much what I's duggested.

Still, given you've already booked Rome & in answer to your last question - personally I'd change it to 2 in Florence & 4 in Venice. Florence is very busy & has horrible traffic - a couple of days is enough for me. Whereas Venice is beautiful, once away from the 2 tourist hotspots of St Mark's Square and the Rialto bridge, and I never want to leave. Venice is also considerably bigger.