c_matt79

My fiancee and I are traveling to Italy for our first time for our honeymoon in mid-September 2012 for 10 days. We will be flying in and out of Rome. Based on what I have found in the forums and working from a list of places we feel we must see, I have come up with a tentative itinerary. I could use some input from fellow Fodorites with the following 1) Is this itinerary feasable? 2) What is the best option for traveling from place to place? 3) Suggestions for MUST SEE places in each city 4) Suggested tweaks to the itinerary

The tentative itinerary is:

Arrive in Rome late-afternoon, spend remainder of that day and two more in Rome

Travel from Rome to Lucca, base ourselves in Lucca and spend one day exploring. Spend one day in Cinque Terre. Spend two days in Florence.

Travel from Florence to Venice. Stay in Venice and spend two days exploring.

On our way back to Rome, spend one day in Cortona. Arrive back in Rome and catch our flight to Paris, where we will spend three days.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

fmpden

First response, are your airline tickets booked? If not you should consider three legged trip - into Rome, Venice to Paris and home from Paris. Save time and money especially since your time is so limited. Assume the three days in Paris is added to the 10 in Italy.

The portion around CT is a bit rushed. You know that CT is an area and not a town so you need to decided where you want to go in CT. Personally I would drop the whole CT and save it for another trip. Do a third day in Florence and then to Venice. Every time you change location you lose at least a half day if not more of productive sightseeing time.

StCirq

Six venues in 10 days is unrealistic. Start figuring out how much time is going to be involved in packing up, moving to a new location, and settling in and getting your bearings. Subtract that number of hours from the total you'll have in Italy. Won't be much left.

zeppole

Since you did some homework and chose several places that were "must-sees" for you but plainly wouldn't be for other people (a lot of people would never go to Lucca to shop or le Cinque Terre, period), then I suggest you do the same for the individual places you have chosen. Read up and decide what are "must-sees" for you. The only reason I would go to Cortona is to see the Fra Angelico there. Did you pick it for the same reason? If not, do what you want to do.

ira

Hi C,

In addition, I suggest that you fly into Venice, base in Florence and visit Lucca, fly Rome to Paris.

No need to backtrack.

Enjoy your visit.

c_matt79

Fmpden- Thank you for the response. I am aware that CT is an area and not a town. Also, the plane tickets are already booked and your assumption that Paris is not part of the three days is correct.

It appears that the consensus is to cut back on the number of venues. I like the suggestion of cutting out CT and focusing on Florence and Venice. I'll have to see if my fiance agrees. I'm still curious on everyone's experience on traveling between cities. Would it be better to rent a car or catch a train?

c_matt79

ira-

We have booked the tickets and can't change them at this point, but thanks for the suggestion!

StCirq

The only reason to have a car is to explore the countryside, which doesn't appear to be on your agenda. A car is useless in CT and Venice, of course, and in all the other cities you'll encounter Zone a Traffico Limitato areas that are for residents only, so you can't even access the center-cities and would likely have to park fairly far outside. If you DO enter a ZTL, and tourists do all the time because they don't see the signs or can't read them, you'll be hit with an enormous fine. So no, if your trip revolves around cities, a car is a liability.

cb919

I completely agree with Fmpen on the amount of places that you are trying to include in 10 days. I might suggest staying in Florence and day tripping to areas in Tuscany versus staying in all the different places (Lucca, CT, and Cortona). From Florence you can take trains and/or buses to places such as Lucca, Cortona, Pisa, Siena, and San Gimignano. There are also day trips that you could try out. Cinque Terre would definitely require more time to do the area justice.

With your itinerary, I'd suggest going the train route, since all of the places you are visiting are accessible by train. Rental cars can get expensive - as well as parking in the different cities. If you decide to explore Tuscany instead (which I highly suggest) a car would be necessary.

c_matt79

cb919-

I like all of your suggestions! I think exploring Tuscany will be more inline with what my fiancee wants to do most. So our new itinerary could look like:

2.5 days in Rome

Train from Rome to Florence

4-5 days in Florence, possibly renting a car for a couple of those days to explore Tuscany

Train to Venice- spend 2 to 3 days (depending on # of days spent in Tuscany region)

Train back to Rome

Leave for Paris

TDudette

Welcome c_matt79 and congrats! I think the above is more workable. What time is your flight out of Rome? Will you need to return there the day before?

To the other Fodorites, could c_matt79 and his bride (!) go straight to Florence by train, then Venice and tack on the left over days in Rome? Would that be a more efficient trip?

StCirq

I think it would be a more efficient trip TDudette. Generally speaking, unless I'm doing an open-jaw, I like to make the farthest destination my first stop, then work my way back.

ekc

TDudette, you read my mind! I would train to Florence immediately upon landing. No need to pre-book your tickets as there are LOTS of trains from Rome to Florence.

During your 4 days in Florence, I would train to Lucca for the day and take another day to train to Cortona (or take a private tour of Tuscan wine country).

Then train to Venice for 2 days, then train to Rome for the remainder of your time.

bobthenavigator

Do yourself a favor and pick 3 destinations--you pick em !

zeppole

I suggest that you land in Rome and take a train directly to Venice.

When you have finished seeing everything you want to see in Venice, rent a car.

Drive to Tuscany. Tour Tuscany. If you want to see Florence, drive to the airport in Florence, drop off the car, take a taxi or a bus to the center of Florence. Spend time in Florence seeing what you want to see.

If you ultimately decide you don't want to see Florence, drop off the car in Orvieto and take the train to Rome.

If your fiance continues to find Tuscany the most appealing part of an Italian stay, then fly to Rome, take a train to Orvieto, sleep, rent a car the next day and tour Tuscany. Drop off the car either at the Florence airport to see Florence if that interests you, and ultimately take the train to Rome, or drop off the car in Orvieto and return to Rome.

kassav

I've taken two trips to Italy with girlfriends. The first trip was very good (into Rome for 2 full days, train to Florence for 2 full days, then train down to Sorrento where we rented an apartment for 1 full week and bused/ferried around the area). Rome is huge and busy. You must have a plan on what you want to do and see. If you are a sightseer, it is great. If not, I would skip alot of time there and move on. Florence is a smaller walkalbe city and full of things to see even if you are not into the sightseeing, which we were not. 2 days at the least, but do your research. The Oltrarno is full of local flavor so don't miss exploring it. The second trip was fly into Rome and catch a train to Florence for 3 more days (no stop in Rome at all). Then rented a car and spent a week at a winery in the Chianti region. Renting the car was the best thing we ever did, especially for a feeling of freedom and exploration. I understood why people want to pack in as much as possible, but really, unless you are a true travel warrior, it really doesn't allow you to embrace the country, people and culture. All it does is make you a tourist. If you love the trip, you can always go back. I am planning my third trip for next year.

kassav

Oops. I forgot. Driving from the Chianti region to Orvieto was a good plan. Orvieto and Bagnoregio (sp?) is also a beautiful small city and area with alot of culture. We dropped the rental car in Orvieto and took the train back to Rome (short ride) and flew out of Rome. We stayed at a nice little hotel by the FCO airport so we didn't have to rise in the middle of the night to get to the airport in the morning. Be prepared for long lines and alot of pushing and shoving around at the Rome airport, no matter how early you get there.

Mimar

Venice is the perfect honeymoon destination, small, walkable, no cars, and very beautiful. So I agree, take the train there on you first day. If you're arriving after a long overnight flight, you will be sleepy and jet-lagged; getting to the furthest point on your itinerary is a fruitful use of the day. And Venice is a more relaxing introduction to Italy than Rome. (Be sure to stay in Venice proper -- to get the full experience.)

Then I like Zeppole's suggestion to rent a car and drive to Tuscany. Staying someplace like Siena or Greve, you can do a daytrip into Florence by train or bus. And finish up in Rome once you've got some Italian travel experience.

Are you sure you can't change your flights so you fly into Venice? It might be worth a change fee. Remember it takes time and money to close the open-jaws gap.

rosetravels

I think it's a great idea to go to Venice first, get a car when you leave there and return it in Orvieto. I agree that staying in Tuscany to enjoy the country and the beautiful hill-towns, with a day trip into Florence, would really be lovely and romantic. I'd wander around, go to the Duomo, and the Uffizi if you're interested in paintings, and head back to whatever lovely place you're staying at.

Everyone sees these cities differently: I absolutely love Rome. I didn't love Florence (aside from the Uffizi and the Duomo) but I've tried.