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.