Hello fodorites,

My wife and I are traveling to Italy for the first time. Both are in late 30s. We both love Italian food, Wine and culture.

We will be leaving on Oct. 15 2007, arriving mid day Tuesday and departing from Venice on Monday, Oct. 22nd.

We've come up with the tentative itinerary and would appreciate any suggestions, comments and feedbacks on practicality, timelines and places to indulge in Italian cuisine.

Also, if you see that we have forgotten a “must see” please feel free to suggest.

Tuesday, Oct. 16th 2007:

Arrive in Rome 12:15
Check in - Trilussa Palace Hotel in Trastevere
http://www.mbetravel.com/rome-hotels...otel/index.php

2:00 p.m. Lunch in Trastevere / Vicoli ??

3:30 make our way to St. Peter's Basilica

5:30 Walk back to the hotel (get walking route from the hotel)

8 ~ 8:30 Dinner Trattoria da Armando al Pantheon
http://www.armandoalpantheon.it


Wednesday, Oct. 17th:

Morning: wander the streets of Trastevere, and Jewish Ghetto also cover Campo dei Fiori

Lunch near Jewish Ghetto?? Suggestions please

2:00 pm catch the “enjoy rome” walking tour (3 hours long)
Will see Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Capitoline Hill, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and Piazza Navona
http://www.enjoyrome.com

back to hotel

7:00 ~ 7:30 Dinner suggestions please


Thursday, Oct. 18th:
Spend most of the day at Ostia Antica
Lunch suggestion please??

6:00 pm The After-Hours Vatican Tour with Helen
http://www.italywithus.biz/

Dinner at Il Matriciano??


Friday, Oct. 19th

9:00 am Borghese Gallery
(p.s.Gallery is closed from Oct 12 ~ Oct 18)

10:52 train to Florence, arrive 12:06

check in to Il Bargello - Via de' Pandolfini 33
http://www.firenze-bedandbreakfast.i...ese/index.html

Uffizi Gallery (Reservations at 2:45 pm)

Accademia (Reservations at 5 pm)

Dinner at Osteria de Benci


Saturday, Oct 20th

Cooking class with accidental tourist (most of the day)

Evening at Piazzale Michealangelo

Dinner at Ristorante Omero


Sunday, Oct 21st

9:27 am train to Venice, arrive 12:30 pm

Check in at Ca' Bonvicini - Venezia
http://www.cabonvicini.com/eng/hotel.html

Nothing planned for this day – work in progress


Monday Oct 22nd
Homeward bound -

Thanking you all in advance for your assistance in this matter. All suggestions / feedbacks are welcome.

Hi Ottoman. This is a bit structured for me - but on the other hand if you do not have a lot of time, you have to plan properly! We usually lunch and dinner for more than an hour and a half - just so easy to relax and sit back!

My one big concern is the time you allow for Galleria Borghese? You have less than 2 hours to tour it and be on the train to Florence. It will be a pity to rush through it.

But you have chosen 3 wonderful cities - enjoy Italy! Make sure that you eat enough Gelato!

It is hard to plan a schedule that gives you time to relax and see major sights with only 3 days in Rome.

On your first day I think you are planning too little time to get to and tour st Peter's. Also a walk back would be pretty long (your hotel is fairly far down Viale Trastevere) and not necessarily that pleasant.
There is a very nice walk down from the gianicolo (Janiculum) hill into Trastevere if you take a taxi or bus from the Vatican to the top (Piazzale Garibaldi). However sunset now is at 7 and will be somewhat earlier when you are there in a few weeks so you have to take that into account.
You could switch your day of arrival and Weds morning plans. That way you would combine sightseeing in Trastevere and lunch there more easily. (I do realize this means not seeing the market at Campo de Fiori which you probably want to do. No matter how you combine things you have very little time in Rome)

some good restaurants in the Ghetto are Da Giggetto and Al Pompiere or (expensive) Da Piperno.

I probably would not visit Ostia Antia with so little time in Rome. If you do go there I am at a loss as to what to suggest for lunch. I did not think the cafeteria was good and there is very little around the archeological area or the train station.

Once you have finished the sightseeing on Tuesday and Wednesday you will be in a better position to decide between Ostia Antica and spending more time in Rome. I think you will find that a 3 hour Enjoy Rome tour that covers all the sights you mention will leave you wanting to go back to at least some of the places you have seen. In a week in Rome we went back repeatedly to the Piazza della Rotunda, Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori area. The Palatine is also very interesting if you have an interest in ancient Rome, and of course there are many, many churches with great architecture and art work.

I hope you have a wonderful trip

I don't see how you can visit Borghese, go back to your hotel and pick up your luggage, and make a train to Florence at 10:52.

I'm even concerned about how they can possibly take their luggage with them to the Borghese and check it, see the Borghese, and still get to their train to Florence in less than 2 hours. It can be tricky to find a cab.

I think that whole day is a bit too packed--all that art will just blend together.

My wife and I liked Ostia Antica, but I think your stay in Rome is too short to spend a whole day there. If you cut out Ostia Antica you could
a) spend more time in the museums on the Capitoline hill,
b) see some wonderful churches (S. Maria del Popolo, S. Maria in Trastevere, S. Maria Maggiori, S. Luigi, S. Agostino, S. Iv., S. Ignazio, S. Andrea, Gesu, and I wish I could spell better),
c) spend more time at the Borghese and take in the nearby Etruscan museum as well,
d) go to the Ara Pacis and walk along Via d. Coronari,
e) relax a bit and just hang out.
I also think you should cut out either Florence or Venice. You're relatively young, and I'm sure this won't be your last trip to Italy.

Thank you all for your feedback so far - I'll push my train to Florence by 1 1/2 hour.

Also, we may skip Ostia Antica and stay within Rome.

Any suggestions for day in Venice?

Hello all,

any recommendations on an orientation tour of Rome on our first day of arrival?

Thanks and regards

The half day in Venice seems to be hardly worth the effort. I'd save Venice for another trip when you can do it justice - 4 or 5 days or a week.

By deleting Venice, you'd have more elbow room for your Rome and Florence schedule...

I don't really understand why you would take a train all the way up to Venice just for an afternoon. You need at least two nights in Venice, minimum. Why don't you add another day in Florence instead?

Agree that it's a bit of a waste of time, money, and effort to go all the way to Venice for 1/2 day.

Okay, thanks all. I am looking into changing our flight plans - fly out of Florence instead of Venice and stay in Florence an extra day.

In the meantime can you guys comment on our selection of restaurants in Rome/Florence.

How 'bout this;

Since you're flying out of Venice, why not skip Florence this time? Save it for another trip.

That way, you won't have to change your flight plans...

You have some great ideas, but I agree with others above - even if you enjoy a full schedule, this is a bit much to do in the time alloted.

Rome - Does the after hours Vatican tour cover the things you want to see? Then you could possible skip that St Peter's visit the first day. On the other hand, after 5 trips to Rome and finally seeing the Sistine Chapel on the last trip, I spent a long time just sitting under that amazing masterpiece and soaking it in...it is a shame to rush through it.

-Ditto w/ Galleria Borghese. If you don't have a lot of time, decide in advance what you want to see and beeline to those floors/rooms/pieces.

-I love ruins, but also agree skipping Ostia Antica this time; plenty of amazing things to see and do in Rome, and you want time to sit in cafes and linger.

Florence or Venice. Good idea to eliminate one for this short trip. Ahh, but which one? For me:

-Florence is all about the Renaissance Art/atmosphere. I head to museums and soak in the architecture. Shopping is great, too.
-Venice is all about the magic & mystery. I just pick one or two things I want to specifically see (last time it was the Guggenheim) and then wander, wander, wander, get lost and pretend I live there.

So, maybe eliminate one of those two cities depending on what you and your wife like to do. What are your priorities for this trip? Don't do too much or it will all be one big Italian blur.

I thought that San Clemente was my own personal favourite as regards churches......One definite thing that I would recommend would be a baseball cap....Sun was very fierce....It was an incredible holiday....Probably could recommend Rome as the best place I have ever been in !!!!

Thank you annabelle for some great tips

Hi - I agree with most about cutting it too close for Borghese. In fact, I would skip Borghese altogether. Least interesting part of our trip, in my personal opinion. I agree w/ Vttraveler - after your walking tour of Rome, you will most likely want to go back to those spots and explore them more(Trevi, Pantheon, Pza. Navona, etc). And set aside some time for just wandering around.

By the way, we've never picked restaurants in advance. Half the fun during the day is walking by restaurants and picking where to eat that night.

I'll be checking out responses to your post because we'll be in Venice from Oct. 20 - 25.

I'd skip Florence and keep Rome and Venice (since that's where your flights are anyway, right?).

Hi

I think it sounds a bit much to squeeze in three lovely cities in only 6 days. So I would recommend that you skip Florence or Rome and just focus on 2 cities instead of 3. As I live in Europe it is of course easier for me to get to Italy and the first time I went there with my wife I spent a week seeing Milan and Venice. The next trip I spent 5-6 days in Rome and in July this year we went to Florence and Tuscany and had 10 lovely days there. You can check out my Rome trip report with pictures and links on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm . Here is a similar trip report from Venice http://gardkarlsen.com/italy_venice.htm . The trip report from Florence is not ready yet but it is coming soon Enjoy your trip to Italy.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Okay folks, Venice is out - staying extra day in Florence and flying out of Florence on Oct. 22nd.

Thank you everyone for great advise and help.

We can't wait -

P.S. Il Bargello was completely sold out for an extra night. But I got really lucky - Hotel Casci had availability for one night (checking in Oct 21 check out Oct 22) - Wow - otherwise they were completely booked too...