Bologna, Florence, Venice 5 days
 

Will be arriving Bologna Airport on a Sunday 4:20 PM, departing the following Saturday 1:25 PM.

Planning to see Florence and Venice, probably not enough time for Bologna.

How should I divide the time and how should I get from place to place?

Example

Day 1 (Sunday) Arrive Bologna Airport 4:30 PM take bus to Bologna, walk to Bologna train station take train to Venice, stay Venice.
Day 2 See Venice, stay Venice.
Day 3 See Venice, take night train to Florence, stay Florence.
Day 4,5,6 See Florence stay Florence.
Day 7 (Saturday) Take early train Florence to Bologna, take bus to Bologna airport, fly home.

I've been to Venice for one day 23 years ago, never been to Florence. My wife has been to neither place.

Do you think I should try to squeeze in some time in Bologna? Should I do 4 days Florence 1 day Venice. Should I just base my self in Florence and make a day trip to Venice.

Thanks in advance.

>>Do you think I should try to squeeze in some time in Bologna?<<

Yes, but you don't really have the time so . . . no.

>>Should I just base my self in Florence and make a day trip to Venice.<<

Absolutely not. A day trip to Venice is a bad idea -- you would only have a few hours in Venice and that would be when all the other day trippers are filling the place.

If it was me -- I'd even add an additional night to Venice. But in any case don't try it as a day trip.

On which airline did you get your cheap fare ??

I wouldn't have Venice as a day trip. It takes 1,5 to 2 hrs from Bologna. And you'll miss the unique experience of a late evening stroll when the city is quiet.
Personally I find Bologna a more agreeable city to stay than Florence. It's a journey of just 35 mins on the high-speed Frecce train. Bought in advance (on www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en) those tickets are around EUR 15 single journey instead of the normal price of EUR 26.

Bedar, TAP $749/PP, admittedly, it requires traveling on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, but to me the savings is worth it :)

janisj, Are you saying 3 days Venice 2 Florence?

It's an old debate... More time in Florence or in Venice?

For me, it's always Florence. For you, it depends on your interests, and only you can figure out which city you'd want to have more time to see. The fact that you arrive on Christmas day obviously impacts what you can see/do in your first destination. If that would be your only day there, your sightseeing will be almost entirely limited to outdoors. Even the next day (Monday), not everything will be open. You should make a list of your sightseeing priorities in each city and then research what days and hours they will be open that week.

>>janisj, Are you saying 3 days Venice 2 Florence?<<

No - I'm saying 3 <i>nights</i> in Venice which nets you 2 days.

It really depends on your interests. I thought 6 days insufficient for Florence. IMO, you need to decide what YOU want to see and experience and plan your time accordingly. Good luck!

There is no night train between Venice and Florence. The last train leaves at 7:25 PM and arrives at 9:30.

Also, there is a train from the airport in Bologna that arrives at the train station. In makes other stops in the city, but if you just stay on the bus, the last stop is the train station. No need to walk anywhere.

How to split the time depends on what you want to see and do. I would make a list for each city, and then you'll have a better idea of how much time it would take.

There is no right answer for the time-split stay in each city. If I were you, I'd plot out what I'd like to do/see in each city, and allot the time in each city accordingly.

If you're the wing-it type, OK. Then just take a guess on the time split.

If you have purchased your air tickets, you've made Bologna your base. Stay there. It's a great place for tourism with day trips to Pisa and other northern attractions. The airport bus runs to the train station, which is not downtown but on the edge of the central district. To do a second big city in a week, you should fly into one city and home from another using a multi-destination search. But Bologna is worth the stay and renting an apartment for a week gives a bigger selection to choose from.

>>>Arrive Bologna Airport 4:30 PM take bus to Bologna, walk to Bologna train station <<<

The bus that runs from the airport to the train station is frequent and drops right outside the entrance. It's a large train station with several underground levels so if you do book a train in advance, you need to leave enough time to locate your train (might be on the lowest level).

>>There is no night train between Venice and Florence. The last train leaves at 7:25 PM and arrives at 9:30. <<

I don't think the OP meant an actual 'night train' since he posted >>Day 3 See Venice, take night train to Florence, <u>stay Florence</u><< . . . So I just assumed he meant an late-ish train.

Revised destination itinerary (2 days Venice, 3 days Florence):
Day 1 (Sun) Arrive Bologna Airport 4:30 PM take bus to Bologna Central train station take train to Venice, stay Venice.
Day 2 (Mon) See Venice, stay Venice.
Day 3 (Tues) See Venice, take evening train to Florence, stay Florence.
Day 4,5,6 (Weds-Fri) See Florence stay Florence.
Day 7 (Sat) Take early train Florence to Bologna, take bus to Bologna airport, fly home.
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Being as I already saw Venice for a day, 23 years ago, I think I'll want to spend more time in Florence. I'm even thinking 4 days Florence, 1 day Venice.
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Southam, It's tempting to base myself in Bologna; we don't like packing and moving. However, looking at the cost of train fares, I'd spend at least an extra 180 Euros going return, Bologna to Venice/Florence, an extra 3 times.
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If I'm reading it right, the first train from Firenze SMN to Bologna Centrale, on Dec 31, is 8:30 AM arriving 9:07 AM. Being as my flight is 1:25 PM, I may need to stay in Bologna on the last night. What do you think?

To make it less hectic, and being as we'll be jet lagged on Sun, what do you think of this itinerary?

Revised destination itinerary:

Day 1 (Sun) Arrive Bologna Airport 4:30 PM, stay Bologna.
Day 2 (Mon) Train to Venice, see Venice, stay Venice.
Day 3 (Tues) See Venice, stay Venice.
Day 4 (Weds) Train to Florence, see Florence, stay Florence.
Day 5 (Thurs) See Florence, stay Florence.
Day 6 (Fri) See Florence, evening train to Bologna, stay Bologna
Day 7 (Sat) Bus to Bologna airport, fly home.

Looks OK to me. Florence is pretty compact so you should be able to see/do a lot in a couple of days.

I dislike one-night stays, so I wouldn't stay the one night in Bologna on arrival. Being Christmas, it's pretty much a "lost" day, it will be dark when you land, etc. I'd rather push on to Venice and have a late dinner there. Make reservations before you leave home.

With this itinerary, I'll even get to see a little of Bologna; a piazza or 2 at night and maybe the market in the morning, before leaving for Venice.

Another advantage, I can leave the bulk of our luggage at the Bologna hotel, to which we'll return on the last night, and travel lighter to Venice and Florence.

This will be my shortest European vacation, but it's shaping up to be a memorable one.

Wow, that is a GREAT airfare. I wouldn't have thought of using TAP to go to Italy ! Doesn't matter which days you have to fly, just the cost. On which site did you find this fare ?

<i> I don't think the OP meant an actual 'night train' since he posted >>Day 3 See Venice, take night train to Florence, stay Florence<< . . . So I just assumed he meant an late-ish train. </i>

I realized that, but I didn't think a train at 7:25 PM was even "lateish".

In Italy, 7:25 PM is before dinner.

Jean, You make a good point. You got me thinking :)

Bedar, The trick is search for 'Google Flights'. Then click on the link to google flights. Which takes you to the google flights interface screen. It helps you find destinations by price and sends you to the airlines that have that price.

Enter in your dates of travel and your starting city or airport. In the destination box you can enter someplace specific or someplace broad like 'Europe' or 'Caribbean'. You can filter by number of stop, price, duration, etc., or you don't have to filter.

Then click on the 'Explore Map' picture or in the menu section in the upper left. Destinations show up on the explore map with prices. If a destination doesn't show a price click on the dot at the destination and a price will show up. Then click on show flights, it will show the various airlines and prices.

For example I knew I wanted to travel around Dec 24 to Dec 31, so I entered those dates and JFK as my departure point and Europe as my destination. All the different destinations and fares showed up on the explore map. As I click them, I can see airlines and flight itineraries.

If I like the itinerary, I click on it and it reveals more information. Sometimes you'll see that the itinerary has too long a layover so you don't go there or choose another itinerary which is maybe a little more expensive but a better flight.

You can change the dates when you're looking at it. I would have preferred to return on Jan 1 so I tried it, but saw it raise the price by 300 per ticket. If you choose an itinerary it gives you a button that takes you to the airline sight.

When I started researching I had no idea where I would wind up going. I just knew that I wanted to spend no more than x dollars.
Google flights told me where I could go in that time frame for that amount.

Yesterday, I was trying to choose between, Marseilles, Stockholm, Lisbon, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and had a stack of guide books from the library from all of them.

All of a sudden I saw on the google flights explore map the fare to Bologna for 749 on TAP. I realized I could go to Florence where I had never been and was more appealing to me then everything else I was researching. I clicked on it not knowing if it would show me some long layover, but lo and behold it's only a 1 1/2 stopover in Lisbon. Bingo!

I can't emphasize enough what a good and fast tool, Google Flights is. I've been using it to help me find trips for the last couple of years.

"Another advantage, I can leave the bulk of our luggage at the Bologna hotel, to which we'll return on the last night, and travel lighter to Venice and Florence."

I don't understand this at all. Why would you be leaving the "bulk" of your luggage in Bologna? Why would you bring stuff that you're just going to leave until you return to Bologna to fly home? It's only a one week trip!

'Bulk of luggage' . . . for a 6 day trip. What kind of bulk could you possibly have?

Even a 6 week trip doesn't require a boatload of 'stuff'.

My wife tends to bring to much and decides when we're there what to use, but that's a whole other topic.

In discussing with her, we decided we will press on to Venice the first night.

I still have to decide if I should stay in Bologna the last night Friday 12/30 or try to get to the airport from Florence on Saturday morning 12/31.

I also have to decide if I want to go to Florence from Venice on Day 3 eve or Day 4 morning.

The flight is at 1:25PM. If I'm reading it right, the first train from Firenze S.M. Novella to Bologna Centrale is at 8:30 AM arriving at 9:42 AM. If I need to be at the airport 3 hours ahead of time that's 10:25 AM, giving me about 40 minutes to find my way to the bus and get to the airport. I suppose I can also take a cab. That's a little close for comfort.



Revised destination itinerary:

Day 1 (Sun) Arrive Bologna Airport 4:30 PM, bus to Bologna and train to Venice, stay Venice.
Day 2 (Mon) See Venice, stay Venice.
Day 3 (Tues) See Venice, stay Venice [OR See Venice, evening train to Florence stay Florence.]
Day 4 (Weds) Train to Florence,[OR wake up in Florence] see Florence, stay Florence.
Day 5 (Thurs) See Florence, stay Florence.
Day 6 (Fri) See Florence, evening train to Bologna, stay Bologna [OR stay Florence leave in morning]
Day 7 (Sat) Bus to Bologna airport, fly home 1:25 PM.

I still think the Venice v. Florence question is up to you to decide. My choice would be to wake up in Florence on Wednesday, but I admit my bias toward Florence. How early in the morning are you (honestly) able to catch a train? 7:30? 9:30? 10:30? Unless you're early starters, it could be afternoon before you reach Florence. A half day lost, and you'd have to go to the hotel to drop your luggage before you could head out to see the sights.

Bedar - I don't know what TAP is, but since you asked about airfares, I bought my tix in August for next March for $798 r/t RNO to FCO (with 2 changes, of course), and FLR to RNO (2 changes). Delta.

Governator - I think your revised itinerary looks good without the [alternatives]. Stick to going to Bologna the night before your flight, and you'll be fine.

Holly, There's a shuttle that goes from Florence to BLQ, but I agree with you, it will be easier to stay in Bologna the night before the flight. I can even do a little early morning sight seeing before leaving for the airport.

Jean, You're right about us losing half day if we train to Florence on Day 4 instead of eve of Day 3. So eve train it is.

Now I can book my hotels :). Any recommendations in the budget (80 Euro or less) category?

Furthermore, what do you, all, think about using one of the Florence days for an excursion, either organized or by car rental, out into the famed Tuscany countryside? I know it subtracts from Florence city time, but I may never be in Tuscany again. What would be the best excursion? Maybe, I can even rent a car on Day 6 to do an excursion winding up in Bologna (though I'm guessing drop off fee is exorbitant.)


Latest revised destination itinerary:

Day 1 (Sun) Arrive Bologna Airport 4:30 PM, bus to Bologna and train to Venice, stay Venice.
Day 2 (Mon) See Venice, stay Venice.
Day 3 (Tues) See Venice, evening train to Florence stay Florence.
Day 4 (Weds) See Florence, stay Florence.
Day 5 (Thurs) See Florence, stay Florence.
Day 6 (Fri) See Florence [OR Tuscany excursion], evening train to Bologna, stay Bologna
Day 7 (Sat) Bus to Bologna airport, fly home 1:25 PM.

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Don't rent a car for a one-day excursion into the Tuscan countryside from Florence. For the longest day, you'd have to pick up and return the car at the airport where rental offices are open early and late, although that would mean your driving back in the dark. Not difficult but perhaps a little stressful. Also, the airport isn't in the direction you'd likely want to explore.

You can't drive into small towns and park in the historical centers, so some time is spent finding parking and then walking into and out of the centers. The cost of a one-day rental would be high. If you kept the car to drive to Bologna, you'd have to figure out overnight parking in Florence (hotels in your budget range won't offer it) and pay for that as well as a possible one-way rental surcharge.

There are organized bus tours to Siena and San Gimignano and some include a stop at a Chianti winery. (At that time of year, I don't know how enjoyable the winery experience would be.) It's a fast-paced day that doesn't leave much time for exploring on your own, esp. in Siena. But you only have to show up. You can also, on your own, take a bus to Siena and/or San Gimignano and make it as long a day as the bus timetables allow. (There's also a late-ish train from Siena to Florence.) If it was me, I'd go just to Siena. There's a lot to see, but you'd also have time to wander.

Or you could spend a day going by train to Lucca/Pisa or Montecatini Terme. Both options are easy peasy. Lucca is a walled town, birthplace of Puccini. There is a lot to see in Pisa, although you could concentrate on just the Piazza dei Miracoli. MT is a town in two parts. The lower is a Belle Epoque spa town, and the upper is a classic Tuscan hill town. There is a funicular connecting the two. If you want to climb the Leaning Tower, you need to make timed reservations in advance.

For hotels, try perusing www.booking.com. You can set your budget range, compare guest ratings and reviews. You'll get more/better for your money in Florence than in Venice or Bologna, so consider spending a little more in V and B. Check the locations of hotels. In short stays, you don't want hotels that are somewhat far from the sights you want to see. In Bologna, I'd look for a hotel between the train station and Piazza Maggiore.

My daughter and her partner took a day-long winery tour from Florence which included lunch at a winery. My daughter enjoyed it a lot more than she expected to. If you want to see the countryside, I would avoid tours that go to Siena or San Gimignano, because Siena could eat up half a day, and S. Gimignano is not in the prettiest part of Tuscany. Look for one that focuses on wineries and the countryside.

12 Reasons to Visit Bologna at Christmas
http://spaceinyourcase.com/inspirati...gna-christmas/

It's such a shame you won't be giving an incredibly lovely city with some of the best food in Italy a chance.

Guv - Thanks SO MUCH for all that info on cheap air fares. Since we live in the West, we need all the help we can get. Always expensive to fly from here.

Holly - TAP is the Portuguese national airline. We, too, live in Reno area so are interested in good priced flights. You got a good deal there on Delta. I've gone off Delta because of all the stops and how they've changed their frequent flyer program, but if the price were right ...

We really love Bologna...in fact we are doing a weekend trip there this coming weekend! It seems a shame to waste so much time in transit to spend so little time in Venice. I would immediately go to Florence and then end with a few days in Bologna.

Here are our pics
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...57634399182853

I agree with jamikins. Or skip Florence and just do Bologna and Venice.

And we've come full circle over the question of how much time to spend where... The trip is only 5 full days plus arrival and departure days!

Jean and everyone,

If we find time for an excursion, we'll look for a tour.

I enjoyed looking at the Bologna pictures, thanks for sharing!

I'll see some Bologna the night, and early morning, before departure.

Thank you Fodorites, for helping me formulate my itinerary!

Final destination itinerary:

Day 1 (Sun) Arrive Bologna Airport 4:30 PM, bus to Bologna, train to Venice, stay Venice.
Day 2 (Mon) See Venice, stay Venice.
Day 3 (Tues) See Venice, evening train to Florence stay Florence.
Day 4 (Weds) See Florence, stay Florence.
Day 5 (Thurs) See Florence, stay Florence.
Day 6 (Fri) See Florence, train to Bologna, stay Bologna
Day 7 (Sat) Fly home 1:25 PM.

Happy travels!

Buon viaggio!