comments requested for Italian itinerary
 

I have been glued to this web-site for the last 2 months and cannot begin to thank everyone either for direct responses to my particular questions, or for general advice provided to others on topics where I too had questions.

Anyways, I would now ask, as I am about to finalize my May trip arrangements, for the comments and/or blessings of the many fodorites for the following itinerary:

Day 1 - arrive in Rome at 7 am - Romewalks tour of the forum at 10:00 (3 hours) -casual siteseeing the rest of the day ("CSD)

Day 2 - Context Rome tour of the vatican at 1:00 (4 hours) - CSD

Day 3 - Borghese Gallery - 9:00am - CSD
-leave for Venice at approx. 6:00 pm
by eurostar

Day 4 - Venice - Doges Palace tour at 10:00 - CSD

Day 5 -Venice - CSD
-leave for Florence by eurostar at approx. 6:00

Day 6 - Florence - Uffizi at 10:30 -CSD

Day 7 - Florence - Accademy at 9:00 -CSD

Day 8 - CSD (if necessary) in the earlier part of the day - go to Pisa mid-day and end up at Lucca for the evening and dinner

Day 9- Lucca with the intention of leaving for Rome at approx. 3:00 pm by eurostar in order to catch a 9:30 pm flight to Athens.

Any comments or advice is greatly appreciated.

Nevertooold, I can only comment on days 1-3 in Rome. It's a nice easy schedule you've mapped out for yourself. The only "red flag" I see is that you get in at 7 am and you have yourself booked for a tour at 10 am. That doesn't give you a lot of wiggle time. My husband and I waited for more than an hour in Rome's airport for our baggage alone. The train trip into the city took a half hour. And we were so tired after an all-night flight that we needed a nap! We took a tour with EnjoyRome on our first day (it's an excellent idea, I think) but it was at either 5 pm or 6 pm. That gave us enough to unpack, rest for a little bit, and eat a leisurely lunch before meeting up with our guide.

On Day 3, the Borghese: this is a magnificent museum. I wrote about it in my trip report "A Romp Through Italy." If you put that in the search box you'll come up with it straight away. The tour we had through the Gallery was one of the best we've ever taken.

Is there any possibility of getting an open-jaw ticket so that you could fly into Rome and out of Venice or into Venice and out of Rome? If yes, do it. That would save time backtracking.

In any event, your days in Rome are well planned, giving you a nice mix of tours and unplanned time.

However, you are not giving nearly enough time to Venice. The train ride is 4.5 hours so you will sleep in Venice that night but it will be way too late to do much of anything else. So that effectively leaves you one full day and one half day in Venice.

Traveling takes up more time than you ever plan. So my suggestion would be to eliminate Pisa and Lucca and add the time on to Venice and Florence.

Lorac - The train ride out of Venice to Florence is intended to be at 6:00 in the evening, which can be altered if we want to spend a few more hours in Venice - I guess it really depends on which city we would like have dinner, but for Venice, hopefully, at the least, we will have 2 full days for sight-seeing, and 1 night.

With respect to the open jog, it's already being used as we are flyng into Rome first, then after our 9 days in Italy, we are flying from Rome to Athens, from where (after 1 day in Athens and 4 days in Mykonos) we fly home.

Mermaid - the only reasons that we are planning the 10:00 am tour is that I feel we will still be fresher the morning of our arrival, and as we will each have 1 bag, hopefully we will not be too delayed.
Also we really were hoping for the Romewalks tour as it is only available at this time for us, we heard that it is "almost as good as the Context tour" (at 20 E per person less), and we wanted a tour that, unlike Enjoy Rome, Through Eternity, and Roman Promenade, takes in the Colosseum interior.

Thanks for your comments!

I agree with Carol--I am worn out !

Bob - who is Carol. Please advise so that I can tell who you are agreeing with.

Bob - pardon my ignorance. I just determined "Lorac"'s identity.

Lorac - if I take your advice and leave Rome as is, right now I have 2 days in Venice and 2 days in Florence, with 2 more days to play with.
Do I do 3 and 3, or 2 (Venice) and 4 (Florence), and either way, should I at least spend an afternoon day trip to Pisa?
Please comment again.

I'd do 4 Venice and 2 Florence. Not a huge Renaissance art fan. Actually, I'd do 5 Venice and 1 Florence.

If you really want to go to Pisa and Lucca, I think you can do it. Yes, it will be a whirlwind trip, but it is doable. I love Venice but think there is so much more to do in Florence that I would add extra time there if you have it.

P.S. What does CSD mean?

Oh, I just re-read your message. I like your term "CSD"!

Hi nevertoold, I just saw you question.

As I said, Rome is ok as is. However, Venice needs at least one more day and night because you really do not have enough time there. For instance, on day 5, even if you take a 6:00 P.M. train out, you still have to pack up and check out of your hotel earlier in the day. If the hotel is good enough to keep your luggage for you while you sightsee, you would still have to get back to the hotel for your luggage and then get yourself to the train. All this takes time away from what would otherwise be a lovely day in Venice.

Assuming that you want to keep this trip to include Rome, Florence and Venice, here are three itineraries that would make the best use of your time, eliminate backtracking and give you time to better enjoy your stay in each location:

Option 1--
Days 1 and 2: Stays the same
Day 3: Rome
Day 4: Train to Florence
Days 5 and 6: Florence with a day trip to the Tuscany countryside to the town or area of your choice, if time allows.
Day 7: Train early to Venice
Days 8: Venice
Day 9: Fly out of Venice to Athens or, alternatively, look into a flight between Venice and Rome to connect for your flight to Athens. The flight is just one hour and the cost would be offset by the fact that you are already at the airport.

Option 2--
Eliminat Venice completely and stay in Tuscany for days 7, 8 and 9 which would allow you time…albeit not very much time…for Luccca and Pisa.

Option 3--
Stay in Florence just days 4 and 5 and leave for Venice on day 6.

Hope this helps.

Carol

Carol - thanks for all of your advice.

We've decided to drop Pisa and Lucca ( hopefully, there will be other Italian vacations) and will now divide our time equally between the 3 cities ( with all travelling happening at night) so as to reduce the hectic pace.

Although I initially had little or no desire to see Venice, I have found the so-very-positive views of so many of the Fodorites to be contageous, and now fear that it would be a mistake to not spend some quality time there just leisurely exploring, getting lost, and day-dreaming.
Once again, many thanks for your considered opinions.