cait41

I'm looking for advice from anyone who's done the whirlwind tour of Italy, as I'm planning to do with my fiance for our honeymoon. If you can manage to read through this post, I commend you and appreciate it!

On the itinerary are the big spots: Rome, the Tuscany region, Florence and Venice. We're going rent a car, and we're flying in and out of Rome. My original plan was Rome, then Tuscany, then Florence, then Venice... drop the car off in Venice and take a train back to Rome.

I've already taken travel time into consideration, and my original schedule is as follows:

Day 2: Arrive in Rome around Noon/Early afternoon
Days 3-4: Rome
Day 5: Leave Rome, arrive in Tuscany
Days 6-7: Tuscany (not quite sure of any exact locations yet)
Day 8: Leave Tuscany, arrive in Florence
Day 9: Florence
Day 10: Leave Florence, arrive in Venice
Day 11: Venice
Day 12: Leave Venice, back to Rome
Day 13: Depart Rome for home

I do realize this is A LOT to do in 13 days...believe me, we're up for the challenge!

My biggest concern right now is that I won't have enough time in Rome. I'm starting to wonder if I should add another full day in Rome, and sorta combine Tuscany & Florence since they're basically the same region, and then subtract a day from there to add to Rome. We want to stay in a countryside hotel in Tuscany - we consider this the "relaxing" part of the trip, filled with wine & food tastings - so perhaps find a hotel in the countryside closer to Florence so we can make that a day trip?

If anyone has any advice/tips, I'd be so grateful! Thanks for reading!

Zerlina

Fly into Venice and out of Rome. Train Venice-Florence and Chiusi-Rome. Rent a car in Florence for Tuscany, stay somewhere in the Chianti and bus into Florence for a day, drop the car in Chiusi. You can't use a car in Venice (obviously), Florence or Rome; the train is faster, cheaper and less of a hassle.

Three/four days Venice, four/five days Tuscany (with a day trip to Florence), four/five days Rome, depending on your interests/priorities.

ellenem

I am assuming that you have already booked your flights in and out of Rome and therefore are tied to that. Therefore, I suggest this adjustment to your itinerary to maximize your time in Rome and have one fewer hotel change.

Day 2: Arrive in Rome around Noon/Early afternoon; take train to Florence
Day 3: Florence
Day 4: Leave Florence; train to Venice
Day 5: Venice
Day 6: Leave Venice; pick up car and drive to Tuscany
Day 7: Tuscany
Day 8: Tuscany
Day 9: Leave Tuscany; drive to Rome
Day 10: Rome
Day 11: Rome
Day 12: Rome
Day 13: Depart Rome for home

ellenem

By the way, some might suggest the following, but I thought that since you were arriving in Rome in the afternoon, that Florence was a good first location rather than traveling all the way to Venice.

Day 2: Arrive in Rome around Noon/Early afternoon; take train to Venice
Day 3: Venice
Day 4: Leave Venice; train to Florence
Day 5: Florence
Day 6: Leave Florence; pick up car and drive to Tuscany
Day 7: Tuscany
Day 8: Tuscany
Day 9: Leave Tuscany; drive to Rome
Day 10: Rome
Day 11: Rome
Day 12: Rome
Day 13: Depart Rome for home

cait41

Thanks for your comments!

We did already book our airfare, so we have to fly in & out of Rome. It was so much cheaper than flying in & out of 2 different cities (and being that this is our honeymoon, we're trying to stay within a budget since we're planning a wedding simultaneously!).

I like the idea of saving all of Rome until the end... Great idea, I can't believe I hadn't thought of that! I think that would definitely allow for less hotel changes, less travel time in between cities, so overall less hassle in general.

Thanks so much!

Mimar

It should be about the same or maybe slightly more to fly open jaws, into one city, out of another. It's not 2 one-way flights; click multi-city on the airline web site.

And if you add up the lost vacation time plus the expense of backtracking, in and out of Rome might be more expensive. Check to see how much it might cost to change your flights; it might be worth it, especially if you want to cram in as much as possible.

nytraveler

First, gree that open jaw flights would help you make the most of your very limited time, If you look multi-destination you should have to pay 1/2 of each of the RT costs so no more than RT to rome. If yo can change your tickets for a modest fee I would do so.

Second, Florence is IN Tuscany - so I would stay either in FL or do day trips - pick one of hte larger towns and do day trips from there, including a day in florence. (Persoanlly I would do FL but like cities way more than smaller towns).

then head to rome.

Definitely do all by train except Tuscany - otherwise you are paying rental and parking for a car you're not using.

This will help you make the most of your limited time with the minimum of wasted time checking in and out of various hotels.