Best of Rome/Florence?
 

My husband surprised me with a trip to Rome for Christmas. We depart from the US on March 1st.. arrive March 2nd & stay thru March 10th. We're staying at The Ambra Palace in Rome.. Take the train to Florence on Day 3 and stay at the Atlantic Palace. We have a Full Day Siena & San Gimignano Tour in Florence for one day. Arrive back to Rome on day 5 and stay at the Grand Tiberio. Also have a full day tour of Naples & Pompei. Any suggestions as what is the must see/do's while at these destinations.. and any advice on great restaurants would be appreciated! Thank You!
My friend from US suggested Amalfi Coast as one must do.. Is this a good choice to spend a day?

Hi J,

You might want to look up Rome and Florence under "Destinations"

Also see Helpful Information: Italy 2
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34568596

The weather is very iffy on the AC in early March.

((I))

I have a rather long-winded trip reports published on Slow Travel. I do have restaurant recommendations within the report so, if you care to read it for possible suggestions, here's the link:
http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=1158

Is this a prearranged tour? Or are you traveling independently?

If you are traveling independently, I would suggest that you consider at least one additional day in Florence and several more days in Rome since there is so much to see and do in these wonderful cities. As your itinerary now stands, you barely have one day in Rome and a partial day in Florence.

If possible, consider this option:

Night 1--Travel
Nights 2, 3, 4--Rome to allow for time to see the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, Colloseum and Roman Forum.

Nights 5, 6, 7--Train to Florence and spend one day in Siena and San Gimignano. This gives you 1.5 days in Florence to see just a smidgen of what Florence has to offer...i.e., Il Duomo, the Baptistry, Campinile, Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi, the Academia, Ponte Vecchio, Boboli Gardens, Pitti Palace, Santa Croce.

Nights 8 and 9--Train back to Rome. Take a day trip to Pompei and maybe see a bit of Naples.

Night 10--Home

Don't forget that travel from one location to another takes up valuable time.

Lorac, I think you missed the fact that the OP returns to Rome on Day 5, where she stays until her departure on Day 9.

I agree with Lorac that Florence deserves a bit more time. If you can't change your various hotel reservations, perhaps you can adjust your train departures so that you arrive by lunch time in Florence on Day 3 and don't depart for Rome until late on Day 5. You can have an early dinner in Florence and still get a 9PM train to Rome, arrving by 10:30PM--check if your hotel in Rome (Grand Tiberio) has a desk staff to check you in at this later hour.

The Amalfi Coast is beyond Pompeii, not really great as a day trip option. Even Naples and Pompeii will be a long (though worthwhile) daytrip. I wouldn't go all the way to the Amalfi Coast unless I was staying over there. Also early March may not be the best season for a visit. I think you'll have plenty to do in Rome to fill your time there. If you feel the need to get out of Rome and see more, try Orvieto--only an hour away by train.

Hi

My wife and I went to Rome in the summer of 2005 and it is a great city. I have made this interactive Google map of Rome that shows you where some of the attractions are located and some of the restaurants that we went to http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy_map.htm

I have also made a trip report with pictures and links on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm and I hope that this can help you plan your stay in Rome :d Have a great trip

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

ellenem, my thought was to rearrange the days completely. But, of course, that all depends whether the itinerary has flexibility or not.

Thank you all for your many responses. We are leaving the US on March 1st.. arrive in Rome on the 2nd. We're in Rome from the 2nd-4th. Leave for Florence on the 5th and stay in Florence until the 7th. Back to Rome until the 9th. Leave to come back to the US on the 10th. Does this help with any planning? I know we have the 2 prearranged tours in each city that will take one day in each. Other than that, we're on our own.
THANK YOU!

Gard, your map is wonderful and I always enjoy reading your thorough reports. Thanks for posting.

Hi JT - Your best starting point for must sees/do's in Rome is the Tourist Office website:

http://www.romaturismo.it/v2/en/main.asp

Hope this helps ...

Steve

with your pre-planned tours you're not going to have much free time, anyway. i'd wait til i got there and then go for a good wander with a good guide book!

Have a great time.