Hello everyone. In May 2006 my partner and I will be going to Rome for the first time. I have broken trip down to Rome 5 days, Florence 2 days. Can anyone advise on best way to use time in these two places. Also daytrips information. We are interested in Pompeii, Venice, Tivoli, Ostia Antica also.
Thanks!!

Nell - This website is a good place to start planning a visit to Rome:

http://www.romaturismo.it/v2/en/main.asp

You could plan your own sightseeing or join one of the guided tours - either by bus or on foot. Just to see the highlights of Rome will take 2-3 days minimum ...

.....

- Pompeii is possible as a day-trip from Rome - either by public transport or on an organised bus tour.

- Tivoli and Ostia Antica are both possible as half-day bus tours with the main tour companies (Vastours, Appian, Carrani etc.) - or independantly by public transport.

Here are some useful websites:

http://www.enjoyrome.com/tourist/cit.../daytrips.html

http://www.romeguide.it/vastours/

http://www.appianline.it/italy2004/sightrom.htm

http://www.carrani.com/gb/escursionigb.htm

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For planning your visit to Florence Florence you might find these useful:

http://www.firenzeturismo.it/en_default.asp

http://www.caftours.com/

http://www.guidedflorence.com/

Venice is under 3 hours by train from Florence - so is viable as a day-trip if you make an early start. For train timetables and fares go to:

www.trenitalia.com

Hope this helps ...

Steve

You've got too much planned--or hoped for--for a seven-day trip. The two days in Florence are fine. It's the other five. You could easily spend all five days just doing Rome. I'd eliminate Venice from the trip and save it for your next one. Then, I'd research both Pompeii and Ostia Antica and decide which of the two are of more interest to you. Both are certainly worthy destinations, but with such a short period of time, I'd visit just one.
Thus, my recommendation is: a day in Pompeii or half-day in Ostia Antica, a half-day Tivoli and the remaining 3 1/2 or 4 days in Rome.

ttt

Hello, Nell.

In late October, I took a first trip to Rome and stayed 9 nights with daytrips to Pompei, Tivoli, Ostia Antica/Catacombs, and (though not a daytrip but another organized tour) the Vatican Scavi tour.

With the amount of time that I had and if I did it over, the Ostia Antica sidetrip would be eliminated. The exceptional Context Rome guide for the Pompei/Naples all-day trip greatly overshadowed my later solo tour of Ostia Antica.

http://rome2.contexttravel.com/

Also, I'm still disappointed not to have made time for Orvieto and Assisi, and didn't make a dent in my Rome wish list of places to visit.

If you do 3 daytrips from your 5 days in Rome, you'll only have 2 full days in the city. Howard's suggestion of a day in Pompei and and half-day in Tivoli sounds good.

Have a great time planning your trip!

I agree with the others. I would choose only one daytrip or half-daytrip outside of Rome. We are going back to Rome for the third time in March and I still won't be able to get to everything on my list of things to do. Its a fabulous city that deserves time to just walk around and absorb the atmosphere, as well as doing the main tourist sites.

I've done both Ostia and Pompeii as daytrips from Rome. Both were great. Pompeii is obviously a lot more famous, huge and absolutely wonderful, but it was certainly more crowded than Ostia and took longer to get to (about 3 hours by train). Ostia is closer and fabulous in its own right and much less crowded, but I do think you get more of a "city" feel in Pompeii. Either are great and you couldn't go wrong with either one. I would do researc on both and see which one interests you most.

I would highly recommend the Scavi tour. It was one of the highlights of our trip. If you don't know anything about it, do a search for "scavi tour" on the messageboard here or go to http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/in...040112_en.html.

Venice is too far away to do as a daytrip.

Good luck!
Tracy

do your "5 days" and "2 days" include travel days as well? It takes a bit of time to get settled in from the flight, organized for the outgoing flight and even getting from Rome to Florence. It may only be a 2 hour train ride, but when you factor in packing up, getting to station, getting from station and settled in new hotel...it's a half a day. My suggestion would be to only do Rome and Florence. There is PLENTY to see and do.

I agree with everyone else: that's too much to try and do. Personally I wouldn't do any daytrips this round, since you will have PLENTY to see and do. Always assume you'll come back.
The Pompeii trip would lose you a whole day, most of it spent on trains. That site, IMHO, is best visited as a daytrip from Naples or Sorrento rather than Rome. (I've done it as a daytrip from Rome. I felt rushed, and it only really worked because I had been there before and knew exactly what i wanted to see.) I liked Ostia a lot, and if you really want to see an ancient town and have time, that would be a good choice. It's easy to get to via public transport.

My family spent 7 nights in Rome last summer, and easily could have spent more time there. In that period we did only one day trip (Pompeii and Amalfi), and the rest of the time was all Rome. Even though we were very very efficient and saw a LOT of stuff, I still believe we've barely scratched the surface. In just that period, you can see most of the sights but not many museums in depth, or see museums in depth but not nearly all of the sights. Know what I mean?

Good luck with your planning.

I also want to add to DejaVu's post. We went to Pompeii when we were staying in Sorrento and it's a fantastic trip but a long one. From Sorrento it's a mere 20 minute commuter train ride but the Pompeii day was an all day affair. It's a fairly big 'city' with all kinds of walking around. We are a healthy, fit couple in our early thirties who are eager history buffs and we were TIRED by the end of the day! I can't imagine that adding a 3 hour train ride on both ends of the experience would be beneficial to the ultimate appreciation of the site. Trust that you'll come back to Italy and give Pompeii it's due...