VanitaG

Good Evening,
We are reaching Rome on February 17th A M, We fly out of Rome on the 23rd of Feb.
We would like visit Florence ,Venice, Pisa, and a couple of other places.
Our plan is to take the fast trains to each city in the morning and book a hotel to stay the night in that city. For example reach Florence via train in the morning, explore the city and sleep that night in Florence
1.Is it better to buy individual train passes through Trenitalia on the day of travel?
All suggestion on seeing as many places as possible and the best itinerary to follow.are appreciated.
Thank you in advance

J62

To see more places you could take an early morning fast train to one city, store your bags for a few hours then proceed after lunch to your next destination. That way you could see even more places.

Or you take some day trips to accomplish the same thing. Naples is only 1hr from Rome by train. Siena and Lucca the same travel time from Florence. Bologna and Verona are between Florence and Venice.

indiantravelling

i would not try and do so much ! Rome needs 4 days at least , Florence 3 with a day trip to the country side ,at a squeeze you can add a day in Venice .

bvlenci

You basically have five full days in Italy, and you want to visit four cities. You will have to spend the night in Rome before your return flight. I wouldn't consider such a rushed itinerary at all, but if you insist on doing this, here is my suggestion.

I don't know what time you arrive in Rome, but I suggest you take a fast train straight away to Florence. Spend two nights (17th and 18th) in Florence. See a bit of Florence the day you arrive. The travel from the airport to Florence will take a minimum of 2 1/2 hours. Then you will have to get to your hotel and check in. You will have at most a few hours to see Florence that day. Don't think of driving; the train is faster, and most of Florence is traffic free.

On the 18th, take a day trip to Pisa by train. You may have another glimpse of Florence after your return from Pisa. Direct trains from Florence to Pisa take one hour. It's not worth changing hotels, especially since you would have to return to Florence to get a train to Venice. If you leave early and take a cab to the Leaning Tower (which is what I imagine you want to see) and then head straight back to Florence, you will have another afternoon in Florence.

I would advise you to skip Pisa altogether on such a short and busy trip. But that's your choice.

On the 19th, take a fast train to Venice and spend two nights there (19th and 20th). A fast direct train from Florence to Venice takes 2 hours and 14 minutes. Packing your bags, checking out, and getting to station might take another 45 minutes, and the same amount of time getting settled in Venice, so you would spend 4-5 hours on travel this day. If you follow my plan, you would have 1 1/2 days in Venice.

On the 21st, return to Rome by fast train and spend two nights in Rome. A fast direct train from Venice to Rome takes 4 hours, plus about 1 1/2 hours for the local transfers, so you would have very little time in Rome that day.

You didn't mention wanting to see Rome at all in your original post, even though you're arriving there and departing from there. If you really don't want to see Rome, you could arrive there the day before your flight, and just spend a few hours there. This would give you another day somewhere. But I would add that day to either Florence or Venice instead of adding another city and spending another day in traveling and changing hotels. If you spend an extra night in Florence, you could possibly take a half-day or full-day tour to see some of the Tuscan countryside.

AJPeabody

You will spend most of your time on trains, eating, and checking into and out of hotels. You will see nothing. Spend your 5 days in Rome. Arrival and departure days don't count for touring.

StuDudley

This trip starts in less than 2 weeks, is in February when daylight hours will be short, you will be there on a Sunday & Monday when many places you might want to visit will be closed, you have no idea of how much time it takes to get from one place to another, and you have no idea of how much times it takes to visit places (with 3 hour lunch closings), and you have not booked any hotels or trains yet. In fact, you have an impossible "wish list".

Where do meals fit into your constant motion plan? If you believe in weather forecasts - expect rain for the first part of your trip.

It this isn't a troll - just stay in Rome and do yourself and whomever you are traveling with a big favor.

Stu Dudley

Sassafrass

I hope you are not going from the U.S. and are instead just including this as part of a longer trip or from a closer country. With so little time, it would be better, even if cost is more, to have “multi-city” tickets into one city and out of another (Into Venice, out of Rome) to save cost and time of backtracking. Travel will eat up a lot more time than you think. You do not have time to even see more than one or two of the places listed.

If, however, your trip is set in stone, this would be my suggested plan.
1. Feb 17, Arrive Rome, go straight on to Venice by train. The first day is already travel and maybe jet lagged. If you are going to Venice anyway, might as well get the longest leg over with. Stay near Santa Lucia station in Venice. Sleep in Venice.
Feb 18, Venice, 1 day sightseeing, which is an absolute minimum. take a walking tour. Sleep in Venice.
Feb 19, Train to Florence, early AM, afternoon guided walking tour of Florence. With so little time, you need the help navigating quickly and will have no time to actually see inside much. Sleep in Florence.
Feb 20, Stash luggage at the train station. Train to Pisa, if you must see Pisa, though I would skip it on this trip. Return to Florence, retrieve luggage and continue on to Rome. Sleep in Rome.
Feb 21, Rome, sleep in Rome
Feb 22, Rome, sleep in Rome
Feb 23, depart Rome

There are several other options:
Skip Pisa, go to Siena by bus, spend that night in Florence and go to Rome early on the 21st, but that gives you only a day and 1/2 in Rome.
Skip Pisa and have most of the day in Florence to go inside a few places before heading on to Rome.

Jean

About 1/3 of every day is spent sleeping.

Sassafrass

Because of luggage and checking in and out of hotels, days of travel combined with sightseeing are not usually a good way to do things, just too hectic and not enough time. Day trips work if distance is not far because you are not hauling luggage and checking in and out of hotels.

I do agree that staying in Rome the whole time would be ideal. We had been several times but never actually saw much, so we finally took a week for Rome and felt we had a glimpse of what is there. You would be able to spend all of your time seeing and experience the history, architecture, culture, art and food rather than train stations and trying to find your way around, only to be very rushed, see little, and spend more money to do it.

VanitaG

This sounds like a great plan. We are inclined to take everyone's advice and pare it down to 2-3 cities instead.

VanitaG

Thank you for the insight. Sounds like a great plan. Listening to everyone we will probably pare down the cities we see.

VanitaG

Agreed .Thank you

VanitaG

excellent suggestion. Thank youwe are seriusly inclined to pare down the number of cities we visit

VanitaG

Thank you .Excellent plan

VanitaG

Thank you. :::::

Sliterin1995

I want to visit Tuscany. Does anyone have suggestions for accommodation, tours and such?

bilboburgler

Sliterin, Welcome to Fodors, you need to start your own thread to get good feedback. I recommend you provide how many are going, when you want to go, how long you will be in the area, your likely airport or rail station of arrival, your interests and your budget (in Euros but US Dollars will do)

Sliterin1995

Thank you for the suggestions

Jameswilliam787

I have to check the Vatican, Colloseum and the Trevi Fountain! I was there for one week and, even though it was too hot for me to enjoy the vacation, I felt like never before when I visited these places. Truly impressive.

Sliterin1995

I agree. The Vatican left me breathless.