Mary

I will be 5 days in a small town 20 miles west of Florence. Need help with the feasibility of a day trip (by car) to Venice. About how long is the drive from outside Florence, is there convenient one day parking outside of Venice, and do you think it's dumb to do? Might even try the trip twice. Thanks.

Rex

I hate to be the one - - to give you the answer you don't to hear. But this is a terrible use of time driving to Vnice and back - - only to miss the two best hours of the day in Venice: <BR><BR>the first hour of the morning when you first wake up - - I recommend a "get-lost" walk even before breakfast to see this splendid place wake up<BR><BR>and<BR><BR>the last hour before you go to bed - - a marvelous time for a gondola ride (though I'm not sure what you will want to do about gondola riding if you are traveling solo) - - but also a great time to sit out in Piazza San Marco, listen to the "battle of the "bands" (orchestras) - - and soak in the grandeur of the Basilica.<BR><BR>Spend the night; even if your room back in Tuscany IS paid for, at a waste.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

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Ellen

If I recall, the train ride from Florence to Venice was at least 3 & 1/2 hrs. You have to add time just for you to get to Florence. You could take a 6:30 AM train & get there at about 10 AM, & take a 7 PM train back. Gives you about 9 hours to 'taste' Venice. The good thing is you will love it so much you will want to go back. The bad thing is that you will have to leave so soon. Personally, if I really wanted to see Venice, I would bite the bullet & do it, no matter how crazy anyone told me I was. If you are so-so about Venice, don't bother. The overnight is a good idea. <BR><BR>You don't say if this is your first trip to Italy or not. If it is, 5 days won't be enough time to just get through Florence and Tuscany. There is plenty to see right there. <BR><BR>Please let us know what you decide to do and post a trip report. A lot of posters try to do the same type of day trips, the feedback would be appreciated I'm sure.

Mary

Thanks for your help. Florence, we will be driving; it is our first trip to Italy, but the five days is the last leg of a 13 day trip. I'd love to know if anyone out there thinks the drive is worth the trip, or can give me a sense of how long a drive it is. We might decide to overnight there, don't know yet.

Wayne

Mary---If you will already have a car, and if you plan to stay overnight at least one night in Venice, then go ahead and drive. You can get there, park in the Piazzale Roma garage, take a water bus into the center of Venice, and settle into your hotel, all in about 5 hours. It would take at least 4 hours, perhaps more, to do it by train. But do stay overnight in Venice; as you've already been told, early morning and late evening are the best times. If you don't stay overnight, you'll miss both.

Amy

I have a driving time for Venice to Florence which takes you through Bologna. It is about 2 & 1/2 hours driving time at a "moderate" speed. I used www.shellgeostar.com to map out all our driving times and directions for our trip to Italy. You can check this site out. Hope that helps! We are driving from Venice to Florence and on and only have one night in Venice. I figure that it is best to go there for a short time than to not go at all. I am sure that I will fall in love with it and will go back again someday. We shall see....Good Luck!

Mary

Thanks for all the help. Sounds like it's about 2.5 hours, but I'll check out that site you used Amy.

JL

Rex is right, but if you're gonna do it in a day, catch the train instead of driving. And catch the first one out in themorning (be sure it's to Venice S.L. and not Mestre) and catch the last one out.

Holly

Overnight in Venice. You will never regret it. And you will kick yourself if you don't.

tt

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