Florence, Venice, and Rome-- we are staying 2 nights in each and there is a buget! Is there anything that you would suggest to see, eat.. also any special rules in Italy that I should know about?

Hi

I went to Rome last year and you can check out my trip report on http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm . You will see there that I have also written about restaurants that I went to. Also check out the interactive Google map that I have made on http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy_map.htm

I also went to Venice a couple of years back and you can read about it here http://gardkarlsen.com/italy_venice.htm

Regards
Gard

i suggest you drop 1 of the cities. that's too much moving round and not enough time anywhere.

Do you have an openjaw ticket? If not, book one (into Rome, out of Venice, or whatever 1st and last city you choose).

Either cut out Florence, or reduce it to 8 hours, en route from Venice to Rome.

Best wishes,

Rex

Hi B,

I would:

1. Spend a week in Venice
2. Spend a week in Florence
3. Drop Rome and stay in Florence for 2 nights and Venice for 3.

Others will suggest skipping Florence or Venice in favor of Rome.

You could take an early train from Rome to Florence, drop your bags at the left luggage office, see Florence for a day and continue on to Venice.

You've told us how many nights you'll be spending in each place but you haven't told us how much tome you'll be spending travelling between each place?

<< You've told us how many nights you'll be spending in each place but you haven't told us how much tome you'll be spending travelling between each place? >>

Well, that's actually a well-known figure, isn't it, alanR?

95 minutes train time, Rome to Florence, plus time to get to/from train station.

165 minutes train time, Florence to Venice, plus time to get to/from train station.

Perhaps slightly less, if one had a rich friend, offering the use of a jet helicopter for free.

With so little time in each city, you really need to make sure your "must sees" are open on the days and times you are in that city. For example, the Academia and Uffizi in Florence are closed on Mondays. If I wre you, I'd make a list of the essentials in each city, then check the opening/closing dates and times for each.

rex, plus time for checking in & checking out, time to unpack & repack, the point being that all of that will take up half a day - which on a 2 day visit is a significant amount

Exactly the reason that I recommended no overnight stay in Florence.

There is one very important rule in Italy, one which I never, ever disobey:
ENJOY YOURSELF!!

Seriously, if this is your first trip, and you really have only this much time, I wouldn't worry about "doing" much of anything other than wandering these three extraordinarily wonderful, beautiful, unique, fun, richrichrich-with-life cities.

Dolce far niente.

I would skip Rome (because it is the largest) and do 2 days Florence and 4 days Venice.

Or fly into Rome, stay 3 days, day trip only thru Florence, end with 3 days Venice. Fly home from there.

I agree with dropping a city.

As everyone else has already said, three cities in six days is too many cities, too much travel, not enough time to enjoy yourself in the cities. We spent three nights in each city, and it was barely enough to scratch the surface. Although, I am probably alone in saying that I could have had two nights in Venice, instead of three, and added a fourth in Rome.

Do your research, decide which city to drop, and do it. Or stay the entire time in Rome, and do a day-trip to Florence or someplace else.

Since you mentioned budget, it is cheaper to drop all the train fares between cities, too.

What time of year will you be there?

To answer your original question, here are the hotels we stayed in and liked in each city. They are mid- to low-end of the price range:
Rome- Domus Julia
Florence- Relais Cavalcanti
Venice- Hotel Riva

You can find my trip report by clicking on my screen name above.
>-

That is too many cities for just a six day visit as all of them are very interesting. You can spend that amount in one city and still not see everything.

Can only agree that you're trying to do way too much territory. I would consider 4 nights the absolute minimum for Rome. do that and either Venice or Florence - not both. (You will lose the best part of a day traveling between cities - even if the trip is only a couple of hours - you have to pack, check out, get to the train station and at the other end, find your hotel check in, unpack and figure out where you are and how ot get around.

You will enjoy the trip MUCH MORE if you simplify. After all, a lot of la dolce vita is just relaxing, sitting in a cafe with a drink etc - not running 40 MPH the whole trip.

Also - agree that you need to check the opening days of the the most important things TO YOU.

Everybody is definitely right. Two nights on each city is not enough. However, if you still want to do this itinerary, just focus on very few landmarks per city. Two nights are a day and a half.

Rome - Wandering through the historic center. Piazza Spagna, Fontana di Trevi, Il Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori are beautiful. Il Colosseo and il Foro Romano are not to be missed. I hate Vatican City, so I wouldn't spend time there having only two nights in Rome. Why do I hate it? It has become a theme park. There are so many tourists, that you can hardly enjoy the magnificent wonders it has to offer.

Venice - The area around Rialto Market, Piazza San Marco and Dorsoduro (a walk on Le Zattere and an hanging out in Campo Santa Margherita are not to be missed). Piazza San Marco is also full of tourists, but it's simply gorgeous.

Florence - I'm not a big fan of this city, but Santa Croce, San Miniato al Monte and il Duomo are not to be missed. The view of Florence from San Miniato al Monte is breathtaking. If you decide to go to Florence, don't miss il David!

Don't underestimate distances in Rome. Florence and Venice are easy to walk, though.

P.S. - This is my personal opinion.

Heaven help you if you are taking a flight from the US.You will be dead tired.

I would select Rome OR Florence, to stay all the period in the same hotel.
from florence yoy can have a day trip to Pisa or Siena.

If you had 9 nights, things would be way different. That way you could spend 3 nights in each city.