3 Must Visit Places in Italy - what are they to you??
 

Hello,

My son is studying in Rome this fall and we are going to visit early November. We will have 8 nights/7 days and wanted to get some ideas on where other than Rome and Venice we MUST visit in Italy. Wife has been to Florence but she is open to everyone else who has not been to Italy.

Flying from NYC we want to have direct flights to and from Italy.

So we obviously will see Rome to visit my son but perhaps he meets us on the weekend in Venice so he can experience it. Then, what other city (Florence, Amalfi Coast)?

Thinking 2 days in Venice, 2 days in X and 3 days in Rome. Sequencing and method of transportation between cities would be great. Lots of flying I know but thoughts/Ideas are much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Ed

Personally, I would do four days in Venice and three in Rome. If you insist on somewhere else Florence is usual, but you might consider Milan or Bologna instead. I really like Ferrara, with a day trip to Ravenna.

Use the train (I trust you were not thinking of flying within Italy). Everything you need to know about train travel in Europe is here: https://www.seat61.com/european-train-travel.htm

Edited to add, fly into Venice and out of Rome. You want a multi-city ticket, not two one ways.

Padova (Padua) just next to Venice would be an easy hit and worth the trip

Florence and Siena are another perfect fit.

Sicily is pretty special but you cannot really fit it in within the time and that also takes out the likes of Lecce

I might consider Lucca and Pisa.

Depending on the time of year Cinque Terre is either lovely or crowded out, but November will be out of season and the paths may be muddy.

Another area worth looking into to avoid going south (the south is interesting but you don't have the time) might be Bologna and Ravenna, if you have car interests then visiting the Ferrari plant is possible

I saw the comment about flying and thought "what!", you will find the train way faster as it goes city centre to city centre read up seat61.com to understand the system and timetables on trenitalia.

Wow, that is a tough question. I think many visitors go to Venice, Rome and Florence as a beginning trip. This depends a lot on what you and your wife like to do. Do you like being outdoors in beautiful surroundings? (Siena/Val D'orcia/Tuscany) do you love cities (Milano?) Do you love architecture? Art? (Well, you get tons of those in Rome, so you are covered...) incredibly scenic views everywhere you look, with lots of hiking? (Sorrento, Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre) archaeology, ancient ruins, amazing history? (Naples and the archaeology museum, Pompeii) or Sicilia.

The bottom line is you can't go wrong in Italy. Everywhere you go is wonderful, the italians are warm and welcoming and (Wow!) the food and drink. Do some serious reading on some of the places you have thought of visiting and then you will have a better sense And think of this as just the beginning and pick places you are really excited to see, and plan your next trip as soon as you return.

Your time is very short. That restricts how much you can see, so other’s “must see” places does not apply. Only two places (with perhaps a day trip or short stop between) will work with your time schedule and you already have Rome as one.

You will lose at least 1/2 day each way, going and returning from Venice, so that leaves actually only six days of sight seeing (if you are doing RT from Rome and if you choose Venice). Important question. Have you already booked tickets? Hopefully not, so you can book “multi-city” (all on one ticket, not two one-way tickets), into Venice (if you choose Venice), out of Rome. For Florence, it does not matter as much, though you could fly out of Pisa.

You will use trains in Italy. They are easy and mostly city center to city center, no time wasted driving to an airport, going through security, etc.

Three options:
Venice (with day trip) and Rome (with day trip)
Rome and Florence (with day trips)
Rome and the Amalfi Coast (with Pompeii and Naples)

With such a short time, 2 bases would be enough with possible nearby day trips. Definitely book multi-city tickets. A possible daytrip from Rome would be to Orvieto. A delightful town a train ride away.

I agree with splitting the time. between the two places you have. If you want three places, add Siena or Bologna.

I myself would spend the entire time in Rome, but I agree that 2 bases would work fine. Definitely try to fly into Venice and home from Rome.

If you've already bought round-trip tickets to/from Rome, you might consider taking a train directly to Venice when you arrive. It's a long trip, almost 5 hours, but you can sleep on the train, and you'd probably be too tired for sightseeing that first day, anyway. Your son could meet you in Venice. You have to change trains at Rome's Termini station, so maybe your son could join you there to help you with your luggage. (Do try to travel very light!)

I would spend three days in Venice, including that first arrival day.

If you'd like to get a brief look at Florence, you can stop off on your way to Rome. Get a very early ticket from Venice to Florence, and an afternoon ticket from Florence to Rome. You can check your bags at the Florence train station. The station is an easy walk from the most popular sights in Florence. Allow plenty of time for picking up the bags on the way back.

There's a lot to see in Florence, especially if you're very passionate about Italian Renaissance art, but if you skip the most crowded museums and churches, you can see a lot in a very short time.

Rome is a much bigger city than Venice or Florence, and it takes a lot of time to see the most popular sights. The plan I propose would give you 2 full days in Venice, 1 partial day in Florence and 3 full days in Rome. It's a very short time for all three cities, but if you plan your time well and avoid the most crowded places, you can see quite a lot.

No help with non-stop flights, but fly into Venice and out of Rome if possible.

3 days in Venice and the rest in Rome.

Thanks so much everyone for their thoughts - some great ideas that I will definitely look into! Haven't bought any tickets yet - and yes, will take the train instead of flying between cities.

Hi Ed,
My two cents worth: limit this visit to just Rome and Venice. Both deserve a decent chunk of your stated time frame. Trying to wedge a third locale into the equation could detract from the special vibe you seek in such places, especially Venice. One possible scenario could be two days of rain (its November), undermining your plans.
All the great advice above, references places that will await your return next time.
Hope it all goes well.
I am done. The end.

Siena is one of my favorite places in Europe.

Fly in or out of venice for one of those legs to maximize time. There are direct flights to venice from NYC. Venice is a MUST. You can just pop into flroence for a night to break up the train ride and see It yourself. but I would really explore venice and rome.

As I said before, you don't even need to spend a night in Florence. I have taken visitors from my home in Le Marche to Florence for a day trip before proceeding to Rome. It's even more doable from Venice.

Leaving Venice, there's a 7:26 Frecciarossa train, or an 8:40 nonstop Frecciarossa train, arriving in Florence at 9:39 and 10:39, respectively.

Later, in the afternoon or early evening,you can take a fast Frecciarossa train to Rome. There are 2 or 3 an hour, all taking about an hour and a half.

If you take the 8:40 train to Florence in the morning, and then the 18:33 train to Rome in the late afternoon, you would have around 8 hours in Florence, plenty of time to see a good deal. To be on the safe side, I would count on 20 minutes to drop off the luggage, and at least half an hour to pick it up.

The Duomo is a ten-minute walk from the train station. A circular walk around the center of Florence, starting and ending at the train station would take about half an hour. You would have time for a nice lunch, and could even visit a museum or church. (I would skip museums and churches that are mobbed by tourists who don't know where else to go. There are plenty of others!)

I may actually do this! But in reverse - flying into Rome Friday by noon- do 3.5 days, leave Tuesday morning for Florence. Then take a late train to Venice. Venice for 3 days (Wed - Friday) and leave Saturday back home. Appreciate it much if you have train schedules for that sequencing in November. Thanks much!

What bvl said. As for train times you can download the Trenitalia App onto your phone and everything you need will be there including the option to buy tickets - just be careful to ensure that you select the right station and place names - eg Termini in Roma, Santa Maria [SM] Novella in Firenze, and Santa Lucia in Venezia. In Venice I can recommend the Hotel Arcadia [I will be staying there for the third time next week] which is a 10 minute walk from the station and is very conveniently placed for the Alilaguna to the airport as well as two vaporetto lines. https://www.hotelarcadia.net

It's still too early for November train tickets. Italo is only showing up to mid September. TrenItalia seems similar for the fast trains. You don't want the slower regional trains to run between Rome and Venice.

But no worries. Both Italo and TrenItalia have basically hourly departures on that route every single day. TrenItalia starts earlier if you want to wake up and catch the 6am train. Italo can be a little cheaper.

« The bottom line is you can't go wrong in Italy »

SusanG - I presume you’ve never been to Piombino.

Another reason to pick one or two bases and plan day trips if you want to see other cities: the trip is in November. Daylight hours will be shorter. Possibility of poor weather higher. Staying in one or two places you can more easily switch around what you are doing on any given day if the weather forecast is better or worse.

Incidentally, I will be doing something similar in a few months. My daughter and granddaughter are coming to visit me, and my granddaughter is bringing a friend who has never been to Italy.

There are no fast trains nearby where I live, in Le Marche, so we will spend one night in Florence. This still won't give us as much time as you would have stopping over on the way to Venice. After one night in Florence, we'll go on to Rome, where we'll spend two nights, and then my family will return to the US from Rome.

We're also considering an even crazier thing: a day trip from our home to Venice. This would involve a total of nine hours on the train, and give us only about 5 hours in Venice. However, I did it once before when my sister was visiting, and she loved the trip.

I'll keep everyone posted, either on this thread or a new one.

Thanks again to everyone for their help. I know a lot of you have said just do Rome and Venice - and don't do too much.

But I do want to spend a little time in Florence as well (since it is on the way to Venice).

Friday noon - flight arrival around noon. Rome
Sat - all day Rome
Sun - all day Rome
Monday - all day Rome. (3.5 days in Rome) Son is studying in Rome so want to spend Friday/Sat/Sun with him in Rome and also Monday night dinner after school.
Tuesday - early train to Florence. rest of day in Florence.
Wed - all day Florence (1.5 days in Flore)
Thursday - early train to Venice. rest of day in Venice.
Friday - all day Venice. (1.5 days in Venice).
Saturday - departure

What do you think?

TIA

I think that can work. Florence and Venice will be a bit rushed but you will get a taste of both cities and, hopefully, this will whet your appetite for a return trip.

I would be inclined to take a late train to Venice the day you arrive in Florence from Rome, but I am a big fan of Venice..

Hello everyone. Want to revisit this for additional thoughts for everyone, who has been very helpful to me. Some good friends visited Italy and gave us some ideas (they thought Venice could be a short stay - once see the canals and get on the water, you get the feel? - I'm sure many will disagree). Perhaps the question for you guys, is would you spend more time in Florence/Siena or Venice?? Going with that, I've updated the itinerary

Son is studying in Rome and no classes on Friday - so want to spend Friday/Sat/Sun with him in Rome.

Thursday PM - departure flight to Rome.
Friday noon - flight arrival around 9am. In hotel before noon. Rome
Sat - all day Rome
Sun - all day Rome
Monday - 1/2 day in Rome (son has first class starting early afternoon). (3 days in Rome). Train to Florence in the afternoon.
Tuesday - Day trip to Siena (people are telling me Siena is a "must-see", perhaps a wine tasting).
Wed - all day Florence (1.5 days in Florence/ Siena)
Thursday - early train to Venice (arrival 934am). All day Venice.
Friday - departure in afternoon.

I don't know what your good friends did in Venice, but they seem to have missed the point. There are loads of places to see in Venice, and multiple islands, plus it is the quintessential city for wandering off the main drag. I have spent two multi-day visits in Venice, and have not yet been to Florence, so my preference is clear.

See: https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...ng-for-venice/
And: https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...etian-islands/

Depending on your interests, one day in Florence is cutting it pretty short. Three days there was the bare minimum for me to cover my "musts" but yours may be different. do love Siena but you should think about what you would want to do in each location before deciding on whether or not you have time for a day trip. If you have time in Venice, I really enjoyed visiting the island of Burano.

I know I'm in the minority when I say that I didn't love Florence. But I hope you don't short change Venice (we kind of did). We spent 3 nights in Venice, it rained for one of our 2 full days and my husband's phone was pickpocketed. And yet, I loved it. Venice is so atmospheric. Just walking in Venice is sheer pleasure. And every little church around the next corner has the most amazing art.

Florence, for sure.

You will get so many different responses because everyone has their favorites. I too would not short change venice. I would say most people when they first visit italy do the main 3: rome, florence and venice. For a first time, that's what I would stick to and skip sienna. Florence is my least favorite of the 3, but I agree a must see.

I don't think you can fly to/from Venice nonstop from JFK or EWR in off-season, which I imagine November is. Did you check that? I know UAL has nonstop flights from EWR and Delta from JFK< but I think both end near end of October and don't start until sometime in the Spring. maybe you know of some other airline that does that

Not a fan of Florence either. Spend more time in Venice. Nothing like it.

Rome, Venice, Lake Como.

I said I'd post an update about our very short visit to Florence. I've posted the first part of this trip report now:

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...flash-1710209/

Don't waste your time in Siena with a wine tasting.

Siena is fascinating city made up of 17 contrade (neighborhoods) each with their own flag, colors, traditional dress, music and museum. Famously, they compete with each other biannually at the palio, a bareback horse race. Absorbing some of this is worth at least a day if not more, and at present you are only doing a day trip. Siena is also beautiful, lending its name to that wonderful shade of brown which it is known for. The scallop-shaped piazza del campo is one of the great and unique sites of Italy. The cathedral is stunning.

If all this is news to you, then I recommend you do some reading.

Venice is number one for it’s uniqueness. Then Rome for it’s historic importance and Florence for it’s art history.

The thing is, Siena will be very different in he fall than in the summer when all the contrate festivities and Palio are goin on. Very quiet.

IMHO, you are so seriously shortchanging Venice, I do not think you will even enjoy it.

You will have time Monday evening for a good walk around Florence. If you do decide on Siena, you will also have some time back in Florence after the visit to Siena, so this is what I would do. On Wednesday in Florence, see two or three of the main things you want in the morning (no art museums unless you can get early tickets to one, if you are set on it), do not stay the night. Go ahead to Venice mid-afternoon on Wednesday, so you wake up in Venice on Thursday and have, at the very least, one whole day, not just parts of two different days.

Frankly, though I understand your friends’ opinions about Siena, the fact is you could say the same thing for the islands in the Venice Lagoon, the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, San Gimignano, Lake Garda or Como or Assisi, or any number of other places. You can’t see them all.

Here is another thought. You do not actually have to decide this now. You can wait, see how you feel, see what the weather is like, and decide when you get to Florence if you want a day trip the next day or if you want that day in Florence. If you decide to go for Siena, fine. If you decide not, you could always head to .Venice earlier on Wednesday.

There are two very crowded museums in Florence to which this advice might apply, the Uffizi and the Academia. Neither is very suitable for a very short visit to Florence. However, there are many other museums, as well as churches that might as well be museums, that don't require timed tickets at all.

For museums, the two I would suggest for a short visit are:

The Bargello, a national museum which could be called the sister of the Uffizi. The Uffizi concentrates on Italian Renaissance paintings, while the Bargello focuses on Renaissance sculpture. It's not crowded and you can walk right in without waiting in a queue.

The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, the museum of the Duomo, which holds most of the masterpieces that were formerly in the Duomo, as well as many interesting exhibits about the history of the Duomo.

Both of these museums are very central, and if you're taking a walk around the centre, they'll be right on your route.

You can buy timed tickets to the Borgello, but it's really not necessary. Looking at this Wednesday (because it's closed on Tuesdays), there are tickets available in every time slot. You can just buy your tickets on arrival.

The Duomo sells passes, good for three days. For a short visit to Florence, I would buy the Ghiberti pass, which allows you to visit the Museum, the Baptistery, and the ancient church of Santa Reparata, under the Duomo. The Baptistery has marvelous medieval mosaics covering the inside of the cupola. You can see it in 20 minutes or so, and it's well worth the effort. You can buy the passes online, and since they're good for 3 days, they won't ruin your schedule.
​​​​https://operaduomofirenze.skiperform.../store#/en/buy

For churches, any short visit can include:

The above-mentioned Baptistery
The ancient church of Santa Reparata, which I've never managed to visit, because I'm always with others who aren't interested. It's right on your way if you're visiting the Piazza del Duomo, and can be seen fairly quickly.
The Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, right by the train station, a veritable treasure house of late mediaeval and Renaissance art. It also has three cloisters. (I haven't seen all of them.)

The Duomo can be visited free, but there is often a very long wait to get in. I wouldn't recommend it for a short visit to Florence.

There are many other often-overlooked churches and museums, but these are the ones that are right in the center and which won't take too much time.

Agree with Bvlenci’s suggestions and advice, especially to visit some of the smaller museums. I have been to Florence a few times and explored many of the churches and museums at one time or another. Obviously, see whatever you have time for that interests you.

I would see David in the Accademia if at all possible, but that is certainly a personal choice. I love the Uffizi, but it is so huge, you need to plan what you want to see. Sometimes I go to a museum just to see three or four pieces.

There is, however, one church in Florence I would not miss. That is Santa Croce. It is absolutely beautiful and has a unique history. IMHO, this should be on your list. You do not need a lot of time to appreciate and understand it’s significance.

The Basilica of Santa Croce is another church which is a treasure house of Renaissance art, which also has frescoes by Giotto, one of the great late mediaeval artist. It's rather more frequented by visitors than Santa Maria Novella, which means that at busy times you may not be able to get a ticket on the spur of the moment. I was trying to concentrate on museums and churches of great artistic value that could easily fit into into a very flexible schedule. I deliberately left out one of my favourite churches, Santa Maria del Carmine, and one of my favourite museums, San Marco, because they were a bit out of the way, or likely to have waits to get in, or both.

I really wouldn't recommend either the Uffizi or the Academia on a short visit. If there are a few very specific paintings you want to see in the Uffizi, and if you don't mind it making your schedule overly rigid, by all means. However to be honest, most people go there because they think they "can't miss it". The same is true of Michelangelo's David. You really need to buy timed tickets to these museums, and timed tickets don't fit well into s short visit.

I'd also like to point out that the Duomo Museum is by no means a small museum. It's got 6000 square metres of exhibition space, in 28 rooms, on 3 floors. You would have to be selective there, too, but it's very well laid out, and you can follow an itinerary that interests you. You would also not need to reserve a time slot for your visit.

There are some real treasures in the Duomo Museum, including sculptures by Michelangelo and Donatello, and the original east bronze doors of the Baptistery known as the Gates of Paradise. (The ones on the Baptistery are replicas.)

I know that timed visits are necessary for very popular museums and churches, but on very short visit, they leave you with no flexibility, and no time for serendipity.