14-day Italy Itinerary
 

I am planning a two-week trip with my wife for our anniversary. This is our 1st time to Italy and we are having some trouble building a proper itinerary. Our 1st issue to deal with is, do we have to fly in and out of two different cities? It is cheaper to fly RT in and out of the same city. However, that presents some logistical problems. We are fairly certain that we want to hit three locations (Rome, Florence and Venice) and do all we can there (along with some day trips to surrounding areas). I am considering flying in and out of Rome. It seems to make the most sense to fly into Rome and then immediately head north to Venice. From there we can work our way back down (ending in Rome).
As you can read we need some help?

Hello, John. Are you sure that flying into one airport and departing from another is that much more than arriving and departing from the same airport? Are you pricing by any chance two one way tickets? If so go back and click on Multi-City on the airline website. You should find that flying into Venice and departing from Rome will not be that much more espensive that flying into and out of Rome. Take into consideration the cost of going from Rome to Venice also be it by plane or train.

Anyway, flying into Venice and flying home from Rome is usually the best as the the flights departing from Venice are usually so very early in the morning.

i am doing exactly that. flying from JFK nonstop into venice then returning to the US from rome. i felt it was much easier. didnt have to include the extra day of traveling. could spend the end of the trip in rome and then just fly home from there

Thank you for your reply. I will go back and double check the flights (good point about the cost of travel back and forth via a train). Would it make sense to break the trip into thirds? 5 days in Rome, 5 days in Florence, and 5 days in Venice – 5 days in Florence seems long, but I am thinking of a few day trips to surrounding areas during that time. I am not looking to run all the time. I have no problem with a couple of days constantly on the move, but I would also enjoy a day or two of quiet time.

John,

When deciding how to alot your time between the big 3, remember that your arrival day and departure days just really don't count.

The month in which you visit might have a tiny bit to do with how you want to divide your time.

My personal preference would be:

4 nts Venice
2 nts Florence
3 nts Tuscan countryside or Ligurian Coast
5 nts Rome

If you are a huge fan of Renaissance art and achitecture, spend more time in Florence. If you might like a change of scenery from cities to countryside and a break before tackling Roma - include a little countryside!

Buon viaggio!

Hey John,
Sounds like we're planning almost the same trip for the same reason. When are you two going? We are flying into Rome, have apartments in Rome, Florence and Venice and taking trains in between. I actually just posted a question about the trains.

BTW - our flights from SFO to Rome with return flights from Venice to SFO cost $1200 each. Worked for me.

bobnmaur we are going spring/summer of 2011. I have points saved for air and hotel so that is a bit of a limiting factor. was the $1200 for coach or business class?

If you have a choice, personally I like flying into Venice and out of Rome. Once you get into Venice from the airport, (several options) you don't have to worry about trains, car rental, busses, etc - just walk and/or take the vaporetto. Venice, while crowded at major sites during the day in the summer, is quiet and mysterious at night and early morning. Perfect for recovering from jet lag. Just wander around and savor the colors, architecture, sounds of water...nice!

Rome is crazy-energetic. I love it, but it can hit you hard! Pace yourself there; with five days you can see a lot, but make time to hang out in cafes and just soak up the Roman atmosphere.

Dayle gave you good advice re: Florence. I love Renaissance art, but I could happily do less time in Florence and add, as D. suggested, a few days countryside (what do you like? wine? nature? hiking?) before heading to Rome.

We're taking our first trip this October.

We're flying into Venice(2 nights) and out of Rome(6) with Florence(3) and Sorrento(5) in between. I have no doubt we'll wish we had more time in some places and less in others, but there's only so much time and money to be spread around. I figure that's what second and third and fourth trips will be about!

We were able to do it on points, so we only had to cover the taxes of approx $600 for two.

$600 for taxes?! seems like a hell of a lot of cash for taxes. is that for coach?

regular economy. $300+ per ticket. no way around those taxes, at least from our location.

Are there a number of day trips from Florence that include visits to various wine regions?

John,

If you want to do a little wine tasting and see some of the very beautiful Tuscan countryside (or Umbria!), I highly recommend STAYING in the countryside. It's a whole different experience than day tripping.

Of all the places I've visited in Italy (and I love cities, countryside and coasts), Florence is my least favorite (and I like the art). I would go back, but I would day trip IN and stay somewhere outside the city. Just my opinion.

Get a car as you leave Florence and keep it for 2-3 days in the countryside. You will be very glad!

Buon viaggio!

I like Dayle's plan, but would substitute one Venisd day and add it to Florence.
John,if you are using hotel points only (I use them for all my city visits), you can take some nice day tours from florence to some hill towns.

I agree with jabez. I haven't been to florence yet, but am going in October (Florence, Siena, Assisi). When planning on what to see, I figured out that we need 3 days in Florence to see what we are interested and that's with a crammed first day. Remember there are a lot of museums, etc. closed on Monday.

If going to places like Rome, Florence and Venice and traveling mainly in between them then i would definitely hop on the really good (now) Italian train system with modern high-speed trains blowing along at up to 160 mph or so - trains Americans can only dream of having some day.

For one thing once you get to a city like those cars are a liability IMO - parking is hard to find and expensive - many hotels in city centers will not offer parking and leaving anything in a car in those cities may invite thefts (apparently in rest areas on autostradas to boot) and there are many areas in those cities that are simply off limits to private vehicles -many Fodorites have reported receiving tickets in the mail weeks after their return because they were caught on cameras entering no-go for cars zones they did not even know exist (even in smaller towns this can be true)

And there are so so many trains - 2 an hour on the Naples-Rome-Florence-Milan axis and hourly or so between most main cities. And once in a city public transports are so good a car is not needed.

For loads of great info on Italian trains i always highlight the following sites chocked full of objective info and not just pushing railpasses, etc. - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com. Go to www.trenitalia.com for schedules and sample fares in euros for tickets you can buy in Italy without any problem - fear not getting on trains - there are so so many. And if you do say Rome to Florence to Venice and back to Rome then investigate the Italy Railpass - especially if doing first class rail travel, which my 4 decades of riding Italian trains tells me there is a big difference over 2nd class, which on the main lines is not that bad (Italian trains have made huge strides in the past few decades from the cattle car days before that) - but in either class check fares on trenitalia.com with pass prices (sites i list above should have them) - must buy pass before reaching Italy. If you are doing just Rome-Florence-Venice and fly out of there then a pass is probably not cost-effective so it depends on your itinerary. The longer pass you get the extra days become so cheap *about $18/day in 2nd cl/$23/day in 1stcl cl - the cheaper per day the pass becomes. Look at a Saver Pass (two or more folks traveling on one pass) for the lowest pass prices.

Bon Voyage!

<Would it make sense to break the trip into thirds? 5 days in Rome, 5 days in Florence, and 5 days in Venice – 5 days in Florence seems long, but I am thinking of a few day trips to surrounding areas during that time.>

I'd say yes - if you are planning day trips and there are many great ones from each IME

As for a day trip from Florence for a wine town - hop the bus to nearby Chianti, the regional town for the Chianti wine district - there are several wine houses in town and i believe you can buy some pass that lets you in to several.

But Siena, San Gimignano, Lucca, Pisa and its Leaning Tower are just some really nice old town easily reachable by bus or train from Florence - and cheaply - a few euros each way to Siena, IMO one of the finest medieval looking towns in Italy.

Venice and Rome also have lots of neat close by easy day trips where you need no car.

Great day trips from Rome include to nearby Ostia Antica, the port of ancient Rome but now silted up - the arcaheological site to me is really impressive - the old fish market, etc. A short metro ride away right to the gates.

And Orvieto - about an hour by train and the quintessential Tuscan hilltown even though it ain't in Tuscany

And my favorite to Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa - Tivoli for the amazing water gardens studded with statues and fountains that spout water - very famous and to nearby Hadrian's Villa, another evocative and extensive archaeological site in a wild-looking area - Emperor Hadrian held court held for his debaucheries with young lads - you can take a bus or train to Tivoli, where the gardens (and bishops' palace they are behind) are right in town and then take a bus from the gardens to Hadrian's Villa from where you hop a bus back to Rome. Easily done in a leisurely day.

Pompeii is a much longer but possible day trip - train to Naples in about 75 minutes - then hop the CircumVesuviana train right to the Pompeii archaeological site - about another hour so a longer journey and much more expensive, esp if you do not have a railpass.

Venice can be - well is a great base as well IMO - Padua and its famous churches and shrine to local hero Saint Anthony of Padua is one historic old city about 30 mins by train away

I enjoyed Vincenza a whole lot as well - known for its raft of Palladian architecture.

And Verona is easily reachable and this IMO is one of Italy's finest and most interesting cities

Lake Garda also is in reach - Sirmione and all the famous places around the lake are reachable by boat.