"Arthur, I doubt you'll find anyone here who would suggest a tour as opposed to planning the trip yourself. " LOL! OK, sorry if a repeat but there was a long day tour from Rome to Florence when my DH and I were there. We met a guy who took it so this is second hand.

For the best sleeping, fly into Venice and out of Rome. The international flights out of Venice used to be at 0:dark 30.

There are some trips where a tour is a big asset, but I don't think this is one of them. Even in November, Rome, Florence, and Venice are crowded, and if you're in a tour group, you can't ever escape the crowds. What you might want to consider is taking some half-day tours in Rome and maybe one half-day tour in Venice. Context Travel is on the expensive side, but they have very highly rated tours:

https://www.contexttravel.com/

Another well-recommended group is Dark Rome, which i think is now part of City Wonders.

Finally, if you want to splurge on a private guide for at least one tour, I can highly recommend Daniela Hunt. She is a licensed guide, especially expert on ancient Rome. She's hard to get a tour with, because she also collaborates with archaeological excavations.

I also advise you to spend at least half of your time in lesser-known spots, again to avoid the crowds, or at least intersperse quiet sights with overcrowded ones. Be sure to buy tickets in advance for the Vatican Museums:

Individual visitors - Vatican Museums

Beware, some tour companies make you believe that you need to book a tour in order to avoid the long ticket lines at the Vatican Museums. It's not true, you just need to buy your ticket in advance on the above website. (They call it an "open tour".)

In November, I don't think it would be necessary to buy tickets in advance for the Colosseum. If there is a queue (not likely) just go to the nearby Palatine Hill entrance and get your tickets there. The ticket is good for both sites and also for the Roman Forum.

Get your train tickets around 120 days before the travel date if you want good discounts, on nonrefundable tickets

Trenitalia - Homepage English - Trenitalia
https://www.italotreno.it/en

Italo has less frequent trains, but often better prices. They don't operate on all lines, but they do serve the Rome-Florence-Venice route. Use the Italian names for the cities: Roma, Firenze, and Venezia.

On the Trenitalia site, be careful to specify a time of day, otherwise it will default to the time on your computer, and if it's late there, it may show you tickets for the next morning.

I use www.booking.com for hotels. Specify "Rome (or Venice) center city" to avoid hotels out in the boondocks. You can specify what kind of lodging you want; they have everything, from youth hostels to 5-star hotels. You can also specify a particular neighborhood if you like, and other requirements. Then you can sort your list by price, or by guest rating. I look for places with a decent number of guest ratings (over 50) and a high score (over 8.5). When you get a short list, start reading the reviews. Sometimes a bad rating is based on something that doesn't matter to you; people may be deducting points for the lack of air conditioning, but you won't need that in November.

I go to Rome very often, and I don't even have a favorite hotel, because I usually choose a hotel with a very good discount on Booking.com . I've never had a bad experience. Traveling in November, you'll find lots of great bargains.

<<In November, I don't think it would be necessary to buy tickets in advance for the Colosseum. If there is a queue (not likely) just go to the nearby Palatine Hill entrance and get your tickets there. The ticket is good for both sites and also for the Roman Forum. >>

also it may be useful to you to know that this combined ticket is valid for 2 days so if you get "ancient Rome burn out" you can go back the next day and see the rest of it.

If there were one guided tour on which I was going to spend money, it would be a tour of the Forum. I've been 3 times now and it remains a pile of stones [or rather several piles] to me.

>>If there were one guided tour on which I was going to spend money, it would be a tour of the Forum. I've been 3 timesIf there were one guided tour on which I was going to spend money, it would be a tour of the Forum. I've been 3 times now and it remains a pile of stones [or rather several piles] to me. now and it remains a pile of stones [or rather several piles] to me.

Ann, for that tour I highly recommend Daniela Hunt, whose link I gave above. Be sure to include the Palatine Hill, which is very beautiful and interesting, but often overlooked.

Bvl - the first time we took our kids to Rome [about 12 years ago] we had a great time but one regret is that we didn't hire a guide for the Forum. We actually started with the Palatine Hill, [where we bought our tickets] which we enjoyed, went to the Colosseum which we loved and ended up at the Forum which none of us understood. The next time we went again to the Colosseum and the Forum, which I had read a lot about before we went, but it was still a mystery to me. Then the last time we went I was with a language school group and I had hopes that they would hire a guide, but no such luck. I think that I lack the imagination to envisage how things were, unless someone spoon feeds me with the information.

Hopefully, 4th time lucky, - when, not if I go to Rome again, I will definitely try to enlist Ms Hunt's help.

Bookmarking. Thanks for all the tips!

I also would concur with Bvlenci. We also have used Daniela Hunt and have sent friends to her as well. Blvenci, it doesn't look like your link took so I will repost: Mirabilia Urbis Tours

Also, a couple of lodgings tips:

1. In booking.com you can hit a tab called "map view" and see the location of the properties.

2. Remember there are filters. For example, there is a filter for "airport shuttle" --you'd pay an extra fee for that, but it might be of interest to you and make your stay easier.

3. If you find 2-3 finalists in each city, post the hotel names here. Other posters may have advice on which one to choose.

4. If you post your preferred amount to spend per night, you will get suggestions...

I'm another that wouldn't waste precious time getting off the train to visit Florence for a few hours on a trip this short; I say that as someone who loves Renaissance art and never tires of the Uffizi. I don't think you'll be disappointed with "just" Venice and Rome. They are both magnificent.

No tour. Please no tour. You don't need one.

Try for 9 days, so you'll have a real 7 on the ground. Plane tickets into Venice and out of Rome. Train between the two. Skip Florence. Hotel reservation in central area for those 2 cities. Figure out your finances (credit card, ATM card, cash exchange). That's all you really need pinned down.

I'm glad your wife knows so she can share the excitement and planning. You could literally do the rest by reading guidebooks on the plane ride over. Some people enjoy detailed and extensive planning but there's nothing says you have to do it that way.

For someone who loves Italian Renaissance art, a few hours in Florence would be very unsatisfactory. However, I've done a stopover in Florence with visiting relatives (a young adult and two adolescents). It was a very enjoyable taste of the Italian Renaissance for them. We didn't visit any major museums. Our basic itinerary was:

Arrive by train from our home in Le Marche, a much longer trip than from Venice. Leave our bags at the left luggage facility in the train station.
Walk to the Piazza del Duomo from the train station. Admire the duomo from the outside, and the replica of the "Doors of Paradise" on the Baptistery of San Giovanni. The original is in the Museo del Duomo, but usually not all of the panels are on display.
Enter the Baptistery, which is older than the Duomo, and has very beautiful golden medieval mosaics.
Walk to the Piazza della Signoria, to see the replica of Michelangelo's statue of David and other sculptures. Many people think it's a sacrilege to see only a copy of this famous statues, but it's a good copy, and I recently read an interview with an Italian art historian who said what I've always thought, that the vast majority of people can't tell the difference between the two. The original is in the Museo della Accademia; it stood in the piazza for centuries, so it's even more weather-beaten than the copy. In fact, it's in dire need of an expensive restoration, because it risks breaking at the ankles.
Walk along the Arno, and across the Ponte Vecchio, and then along the Arno on the other side.
Lunch in a pizzeria near the Ponte Vecchio.
Walk to the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, which is in itself effectively a museum of Renaissance art. It also has a very nice cloister.
Pick up our bags and get a train to Rome.

If you take a 7:25 train from Venice, you'd be in Florence by 9:30. If you leave Florence at 17:38, you'd be in Rome at 19:10, in time for supper. That would be eight hours in Florence, in which time you could see quite a lot. The visit with my family was considerably shorter, because the trip from our home to Florence takes about 4 hours. There are trains from Venice to Florence on average about every 20 minutes, so you could make the visit either longer or shorter.

However, it's your trip, and I would never tell someone, "Do this, don't do that." I just want you to know that it's perfectly well possible and it can be rewarding as long as you realize that you won't see everything. It's about as much time as most organized tours spend in the city.

In 8 hours you can see most of Florence's compact central core and go to Uffizi if you book a time slot but t me just wandering around the town center and Oltrano across the river andits tiny lanes is great.

And you can put bags in Florence station's left-luggage whilst trekking around Florence.

I wouldn't recommend visiting the Uffizi on a short visit to Florence. The museum is huge, and it's very concentrated on Italian Renaissance paintings, especially religious art; many of the paintings were formerly in churches. It has some spectacular art, and I would definitely recommend a visit there for people who are seriously interested in art of the Italian Renaissance. My daughter and I once spent 7 hours in the Uffizi, spread over two days, and we still didn't see everything we wanted to see. For those who have little time, you can see many famous works of the Italian Renaissance still displayed in churches, in the place where the works were meant to be seen. For example:

• Santa Maria del Carmine has splendid frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel, by Masaccio and other pioneers of the Italian Renaissance. (Masaccio's "Expulsion from Paradise" is one of my favorite paintings of all time. I've never seen another such expression of human sorrow and regret,) The Chapel is a museum, separate from the church. It's open from 10 to 5, except Tuesdays; entrance is €6.)
• The Basilica of Santa Croce has many famous works of art, and also the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and many other illustrious citizens of Florence. (Galileo was originally from Pisa, and his burial here was delayed for about 100 years, because he had been condemned for heresy,) You can visit from 9:30 to 17:30; on Sundays and major religious holidays, it's open to visitors from 2 PM. Tickets €8.
• The Museum of San Marco, in a former monastery, has monk's cells covered with spectacular frescoes by the Beato Angelico (or Fra Angelico, as he's often called in English). It's open from 8:15 to 13:50, with a later closing on Sundays and holidays. It's closed on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sundays each month, and on the 2nd and 4th Monday. Entrance €4.
• Last but not least, one of my favorite churches in Florence, and the easiest to see, is the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, very near the train station of the same name. This church has a treasure of Renaissance art displayed inside. There are works by Lippi and Strozzi, and a painted crucifix by Giotto, which is one of the first Renaissance works to use the ideal proportions of the human body, rediscovered from ancient Greek writings. The Holy Trinity by Brunelleschi is one of the first Renaissance works to use the principle of perspective; there is also a famous crucifix by Brunelleschi, the architect who designed the cupola of the Duomo. Finally, the amazing Tornabuoni Chapel, in the front of the church, is covered with beautiful frescoes painted by the workshop of il Ghirlandaio. Michelangelo was a young apprentice in that workshop and some of the painting is recognized as his work. There is a boy in the foreground which some experts think is a self portrait of Michelangelo. This basilica almost never is crowded, and there has never been a ticket line of more than a few people. The church opens for touristic visits at 9 AM, except on Sundays and religious holidays, when it opens at 12:00 or 13:00. The closing time depends on the day of the week and time of the year, but it's always 17:30 or later. Tickets cost €5. There is also a very beautiful cloister, but at the moment it's being repaired and can't be seen.

Also in the vicinity of the train station is the famous 17th century pharmacy, the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. You can marvel at the beautiful wood panelling, and also buy very nice, and expensive, cosmetics, teas, and personal care products, some made with the original recipes. There is a very nice tea room inside, where you could get a light meal before heading to the train station to continue your journey.

If you want to visit a museum instead of churches, two of the best for short visits are:

• the Bargello Museum, a sister of the Uffizi, is housed in a medieval barracks. It focuses on sculpture rather than paintings. It contains works by Michelangelo, Donatello, and other illustrious Renaissance sculptors. There are many terra cotta works by members of the Della Robbia family, and also collections of ceramics, medieval armaments, and medals. Tickets are €8, and it's open from 8:15 - 17:00, closed on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month, and the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Monday.
• The Museum of the Opera del Duomo, recently reopened in a new modern building, has many works of art that were once displayed in the Duomo, including Donatello's Mary Magdalene, one of my favorites. It also has interesting exhibits about the history of the church, including a life-sized representation of the medieval facade. (The present facade isn't all that old.) Unfortunately, there is now a single ticket for all the sites associated with the Duomo, which costs €18. It's good for 72 hours, but it's a bit wasted for a short visit. The Duomo itself almost always has a long queue to get in, and so do the bell tower (campanile) and the climb to the top of the dome. The Baptistery of San Giovanni, in front of the Duomo, usually has no queue, and is well worth entering to see its vault covered with golden medieval mosaics. Still, it's hard to justify the price of the ticket for someone who's in Florence just for the day. The museum is open 9:00 to 19:00, closed the first Tuesday of each month.

I would be reluctant to reserve anything online for a day trip. Your plans could always change, your arrival time isn't fixed in stone, and having to be in a certain place at a certain time tends to chop up your already short time into less-than-useful blocks. The one place that almost never has a queue is the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. The best days to visit Florence are Wednesday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday tend to be very crowded, and Monday and Tuesday both have some museum (and church) closings.

bvlenci has posted a marvelous guide to Florence and its many gems!

I would say that my guide is particularly suited for people who are on a day trip and want to see some excellent examples of Renaissance art without making reservations in advance or spending a lot of time in any one place. There are many, many other gems I didn't mention that are more suited for a leisurely visit. Also, I didn't mention a walk around the center, taking in the Piazza della Signoria, the Ponte Vecchio, etc. I was mainly trying to suggest alternatives to gli Uffizi.

I also didn't mention that Santa Croce often has a long wait to get in. You could reserve in advance, but, as I said, that's often counterproductive when you have little time at your disposal.

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Can I add to bvl's excellent guide that should you find yourselves in the vicinity of Santa Croce at lunchtime and are feeling peckish, the cafe in the nearby Mercato San Ambroglio is excellent, and the market is very interesting too.

Hey everyone, here’s the deal on the highly most anticipated Italy anniversary tour. Flying into Venice, 2 full days, not counting arrival jet lag day, jumping on train to Florence (2 full days) there, take train to what I really want to visit ROMA, 4, yes 4 full days. Hotels, train already booked. Don’t think we’re going to do a tour but may schedule one or two. From the advise given, if we continue planning and homework, we’ll manage just fine. My wife really want to do Florence and of course Rome, me Venice and Rome, by the time this is over our heads going to explode with so much beauty, cathedrals, ancient history but it’s all worth it. Keep the comments coming and we’ll chime in later, thanks everyone!!

Thanks for putting up with all the digressions on this thread to let us know your final choice -- I'm sure it will be wonderful! :)