8 Days Rome - Florence - Venice - Milan with parents!
 

Hi!

I'm new to this, and any help is much appreciated.

I'm travelling to Italy July 10-18, and have flights to Rome and departing from Milan on these dates. Was hoping to spend 3 nights in Rome, maybe one in Florence (or as a day trip from Rome to save our spines) and Venice 2 nights, then one night Milan for our flight at 10pm July 18 from Bergamo (BGY) airport.

At the moment, I have rooms booked for Venice 2 nights, and Rome 3 nights (awaiting final confirmation).

1. Should I extend Rome to 4 nights and to avoid losing time transferring to Florence for a night (instead do a Florence day trip)? I do however want to see the Uffizi and Accademia galleries if I am going to Florence.

2. I am planning to travel by train from either Rome or Florence to Venice (rooms booked July 15-17).

3. Should we get the overnight train (July 17) from Venice to Milan so we don't need to book a one night stay in Milan, just arrive in the morning and look around? However that means we're wandering around with our luggage for 12 hours.

4. Most of the info provided for Milan airports do not mention Bergamo (BGY). How expensive and far out is it by public transport e.g. trains/subway/bus? As it occasionally works out, 3 people sharing a taxi costs little more than individual tickets.

Really appreciate any suggestions/tips, thanks!!

Kimmy, Liverpool x

With a limited amount of time like you have, I would skip Florence. I would not do an overnight train from Venice, assuming there is one..the distance is so short...I would consider, instead, spending the last night in Bergamo rather than Milan.

I think this is too much for 8 days, with or without parents.

I would concentrate on Rome and Venice and leave Florence for another visit to Italy. A day trip to Florence from Rome in the middle of summer would be a poor way to see one of the great cities of the world.

I'd also leave Milan out of this itinerary. You can train from Venice to Bergamo in the late afternoon, thereby maximizing your time in Venice. I like Milan a lot, but more time in Venice would be preferable in such a short trip. Unfortunately, there is no baggage storage at Bergamo's train station, but you could have dinner before making your way to the airport.

Since you are "new to this," here is a short tutorial on using the Italian railway website to get train schedules:

www.trenitalia.com
Click on "Vai al sito."
Click on "English" in upper right corner.
Enter city names (using Roma for Rome, Venezia for Venice), dates and times.

I'm in agreement to skip Florence for more time in Rome. Every time you switch cities you lose a 1/2 day, so trying to work in 4 cities in 8 days means you're going to spend 2 of it traveling from place to place, packing and unpacking...it's just miserable.

I would recommend at least 4 if not 5 nights in Rome, 2 nights in Venice, and head up to Milan to catch your flight. I'm a strong believer in being in the city you need to fly out of the morning you wake up, so you don't have to try and beat it to the airport and take chances on those pesky little Italian rail strikes that occur.

The reason you'll want the extra time in Rome is that the Vatican & Colisseum/Forum areas are one day each all by themselves, and it's such an amazing city, you'll need lots of strolling time. Plus, you might lose the better part of the first day to jetlag.

I've been to Florence on a whirlwind overnight trip, and I'd never have done it if I had parents to drag along too. Save it for another trip (and repeat after me "I will go back. I don't have to do it all in one trip. I will go back."

Happy travels,

Jules

kimmy,

Bergamo is well worth a visit & staying there would make your journey back to the airport much easier.

Here's a link to my trip report - most of it is actually about Lake Como, but if you scroll down you'll find a section on Bergamo (including some airport details) which might help;

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34598121

Jim

Hi mp,

You might want to considering stopping in Florence for a day on your way to Venice.

A DAY IN FLORENCE:

Train to Florence SMN:
The Luggage Office is to your left as you leave the train.

From Piazza d' Stazione, walk up via Nazionale to via d'Ariento and the Mercato Centrale, wander through.

Take any street going NE to Via Degli Alfani and go right to the Accademia for The David.

Take via Ricasoli SE to the Duomo, the Baptistry and the Opera Museum (Originals of the bronzes on the doors)

From the Campanile, take via Calzaiuoli S (do some window shopping) to the Piazza d' Signoria. Look around, take a break.

Continue S to the Uffizi. Visit.

From the Uffizi, walk W along the Arno River to the Ponte Vecchio.

(You can walk up to the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens if there is time. Great views of Florence from the top of the Gardens)

If you have time, walk E along the S bank of the river to Ponte alle grazie and cross over to visit Santa Croce.

If not, go W along the Arno from Ponte Vecchio to Ponte S. Trinita and go right. Go left on Via d'Spada to via d'Fossi and go right to Santa Maria Novella. Look around.

SMN is across the square from the train station.

Be sure to have lots of gelato (in a cup, not a cone), take some wine breaks and a light lunch.

Train schedules, prices and tickets are at www.trenitalia.com

Bus routes are at http://www.ataf.net/
Buy your ticket before you get on the bus. Stamp it in the yellow box on the bus.

Uffizi and Academia Museum Reservations
The easiest and cheapest way is to call Florence 1016868 (dial around number), 011 (U.S. international access code) 39 (Italy's country code) then 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time. There is a long listing of press 1 for this and 2 for that--press 4 for bookings. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes YOU CAN RESERVE FOR BOTH. This is through the reservation service at the Uffizi and costs beyond the normal entry fee only about 3 euro for the service. This is MUCH cheaper than the commercial booking services.

You will not be charged for the reservations unless you use them.

Have a nice visit.

((I))

Bergamo is charming, but I still recommend spending as much time as possible in Venice and Rome. I'd only plan to get to Bergamo several hours before your 10 p.m. flight, just enough time to prevent stress and a marginal-to-bad airport dinner.

Wow thanks everyone, you've been really helpful, esp Jim and Ira. I know it's way too short for all the places but we don't know when we'll be back in Italy again and are very excited to visit the Uffizi.

love kimmy x