italytrip

I have several questions regarding an anniversary trip to Italy that we are planning for fall (late Sept or early October) this year.<BR><BR>It is our first trip to italy and we have 7 days (possibly 8). The cities we would like to visit are Rome, Florence, Siena and Venice. Currently our plan is 3 days in Rome, 2 days in Florence, 1 day side trip from Florence to Siena and 2 days in Venice.<BR><BR>Is this doable at a leisurely pace but not too slow a pace. (We like walking, look at the architecture, the buildings, mostly the people, the life, the countryside and the sites. Like art but not too many meuseums.)<BR><BR>Can anyone recommend good self guided walking tours in Florence and Venice?<BR><BR>What is the best way to book train tickets from Rome to Florence, Florence to Venice. Is it worth spending a night in Siena? What is the best way to spend time in Chianti and how much (or should we save that for a next trip).<BR><BR>

HowardR

It's doable, but no matter how you plan, I would be hard put to say seeing four cities in seven days could be done at a leisurely pace! I would certainly save Chianti for another trip, perhaps relegating Siena to the same category and just sticking to the three main cities on this trip.

elaine

Hi<BR>Your question re is it doable at a leiseurely pace? No, not if you have specific sightseeing in mind. If you just want to stroll and not visit any of the usual sights, or perhaps just one or two in each place, then it could be more leisurely done. I don't see any way of adding in Chianti, unless you want to substitute that for the day in Siena.<BR> You like art?<BR>The Vatican Museums can take at least half a day, plus another hour or two for St Peter's Basilica. The Borghese Gallery is a two hour reserved block of time, plus time to go and come back to the center of the city. The Forum and Colosseum would take 2-3 hours.<BR>In Florence, the Uffizi Gallery even for a brief overview would take at least two hours, and that's if you reserve tickets in advance to avoid the ticket-buyer's line. The Accademia (where &quot;David&quot; is) could be done in less time, an hour or so.<BR>None of the above includes the many magnificent churches in all the cities with notable architecture and works of art. <BR>Most guide books have suggested walking itineraries for short stays. Elsewhere here at fodors.com you can find some ideas.<BR>You can find some suggestions for Venice walks <BR>by going to www.travelandleisure.com, do a search on Venice, and go to the article “Venice Step by Step.”<BR><BR>You may not want to hear this, but I would reluctantly leave Venice out of the trip and stay in the area between Florence and Rome. Save my beloved Venice for another time, or combine Venice and Florence and leave out Rome.<BR>If your first day after a transatlantic flight (?) is Rome, you will be very tired the first day, leaving you only two full days to see most of it. And I don't see where you've allowed for travel time from city to city.<BR><BR>Whatever you decide, good luck.

capo

What everyone considers a &quot;leisurely&quot; pace likely differs. I certainly wouldn't consider your itinerary, as it stands, to be leisurely for me, but it may be that way for you guys. <BR><BR>Your itinerary is definitely &quot;doable.&quot; It just depends on what you value more: spending less time in more places, or spending more time in fewer places.<BR><BR>I love Siena (was there last April for five nights) but, if you're going to be staying in Florence, I wouldn't recommend moving to Siena just to spend one night there. Instead, keep it as a day trip from Florence...or consider staying in Siena -- which is smaller and not nearly as intense -- and day tripping to Florence. <BR><BR>For self-guided walking tours, I'd recommend the &quot;Walks&quot; series of books, still in-print I believe. There is a &quot;VeniceWalks&quot;, a &quot;FlorenceWalks&quot; and also a &quot;RomeWalks&quot; in the series.

italytrip

Thanks for the great advice. But like I said there will be lots of questions.. <BR><BR>We have certainly thought about leaving out venice for a later trip and just focussing on Rome and Florence (basically a tuscany trip). How would you recommend we spend the extra 2-3 days in Florence/Tuscany. We were hoping to do the travelling by early morning trains. From Florence taking a bus to Siena. If we end up staying in Siena for the extra 2 days, would it be worth renting a car?

Lexma90

I agree that Rome, Florence &amp; Venice in one trip is a lot, even though they are all great places to visit - especially Venice!<BR><BR>If you're spending time in Tuscany and dropping Venice (a good decision, IMHO), the best way to do so is to rent a car, so you can visit other towns in the area. While Siena is an interesting little city, if you stay within the city, you'll have to worry about parking every time you leave the city for a day trip. Another possibility is to stay in a smaller town, such as San Gimignano. San G. is overrun by tourists during the day, but empties at night. You'll have the beauty of the town to yourself, the locals and the few tourists who are spending the night. (Though if you stay in Siena, people-watching in the Campo in the evening is a great activity.) Oh, and save Chianti for another trip too.<BR><BR>I would also recommend the Venicewalks, Romewalks and Florencewalks series. Each book offers a choice of 5 or so walks. The routes are well-described, and the sites and sights are a variety of the momentous and just plain interesting. I remember the Trastevere walk in Rome in particular; we visited a church that the Pope was going to visit later in the week, and it was fun watching the priests ready the church for his visit.

capo

If you're quite sure you'll be returning to Italy then leaving Venice for a subsequent trip would be a good idea, especially if you think you could easily spend more than 2 days there. <BR><BR>If you were to do that, and then had a few extra days in Tuscany as a result, I'd highly recommend renting a car for exploring the Tuscan countryside and smaller towns. While you need to be a heads-up driver for driving in Italy (and it doesn't hurt to be *somewhat* aggressive), we didn't find driving in Italy -- in Tuscany anyway -- to be nearly as intense as we thought it would be. <BR><BR>Though I see Lexma and I agree on the &quot;Walks&quot; books as excellent resources, I have to respectfully disagree that one has to &quot;worry&quot; about parking there. You have your choice of large car-parks which are very convenient to the old part of Siena (but which, of course, cost money for that convenience) or you can park, as we did most nights, for free on the roads leading up to the old part of Siena. We always had a healthy walk to and from our locanda, near the Campo, but it was great exercise and we always loved walking through the streets of Siena.

ira

Hi<BR> Here's an alternate view.<BR>Fly into Florence.<BR>4 nights in Florence with side trip to Siena.<BR>Train to Venice<BR>3 nights in Venice<BR>Fly home from Venice.<BR> <BR><BR> Or you could fly directl

Isobel

Its a hard decision as there is so much to see. Depends on what your priorities are.<BR>I have been to Rome, Florence, Tuscany and Venice and Venice is certainly my favourite - it is unique. You come out of the train station in Venice walk down a few steps and the grand canal is right there in front of you. You take the local bus (vaporetti) and sail down the grand canal to St Marks Square admiring all the palaces etc on the way. The most wonderful 30 minutes of my life. You can then wander back at your leisure to the train station. This is what we did on a day visit from Florence - you certainly do not see everything but it is very doable on a day trip and its a great way of seeing Venice in a day. We liked it so much we went back for a week last year. Enjoy your trip.

MFNYC

Part of the pleasure of being in Italy is spending at least some time just wandering around the little streets of a city, big or small. Treasures are to be found all everywhere. You can easily spend a week in Rome alone. The fall is a very nice time to travel. You also have to consider in your itinerary travel time and checking in and out of hotel time, etc. Your plan is possible but far from leisurely. The others have given you good advice. Good luck and enjoy, planning is half the fun.