Romi2

Hello-

We've never been to Italy and need some advice. We'll be there the first 2 weeks of October. We are thinking of landing in Florence (stay 5 whole days) and then taking a train to Rome (stay 5 whole days). Flying out of Rome (to US). We are looking for a balance of museums/art and ancient sites, so these are the two cities we're considering.

Is this a good amount of time between the two cities/ or too much? We would like to see Cinque Terra, but are not sure how we'd fit it into 10 whole days (but would like to if it's reasonable). If we had 11 whole days, could Cinque Terra be squeezed into our plan, changing the length of Florence or Rome?

We're considering buying tickets in 2-3 weeks, so any helpful thoughts & experiences would be great to hear.

~Thank you~Romi

Vttraveler

I would stick to the two cities you have chosen with the option for some day trips rather than trying to squeeze in another destination. 5/5 would be a reasonable allocation or 4 days Florence 6 days Rome.

annhig

Hi Romi,

first of all,great idea not to try to cram too much into a first trip. anyway, you can't go wrong flying into Florence and out of Rome so why not go ahead and book the tickets - then you're definitely on your way!

whilst normally I'd say that in 10 days two places is fine, especially if one is Rome, you might find that with these two you got a bit of cultural overload.

however, the CT is a bit out of the way, though doable - a better option in my view would be a few days in the countryside - after 3 nights, hire a car on your way out of florence, spend 3 nights in an agrotourismo in southern Tuscany or umbria, and return your car to orvieto, before getting the train to Rome for the lst 4 days.

that way, you might remember what you saw in Florence, and what you saw in Rome!

regards, ann

knickerbocker

Romi,

Sounds good although if circumstance were to permit you say an extra day total and the gods of flight to fly into Venice (Marco Polo), I'd suggest starting there and taking a day each off Florence and Rome to add to Venice. If circumstance doesn't permit, then there's nothing whatever wrong with what you have or maybe even 6/4 Florence/Rome (allowing for jet-lag recovery and day trips to Siena and Pisa).

In any case, it's nice to see that someone isn't trying to cram every conceivable Italian site/locale into a week. Whatever you do, don't forget to eat well, take tons of pictures, and have comfortable walking shoes. On the eating front, I can't recommend Omero enough although peruse for restaurant recommendations through the threads here

HTH
Knick

Bonjour_Voyageurs

I agree with another poster that Romi2 is wise to be conservative in planning on 2 major cities in 10 days. Side trips to Siena and San Giminiano from Florence are a must. As for Rome, I would try to stay in an apt. (in the center not the outskirts) mainly because it will be less expensive. The last time we stayed in Rome the apt. we rented was just up the street from the Pantheon and we walked to nearly everywhere, with exception to the Vatican and for that day we took a local bus.
Michele

ira

Hi R,

Skipping Venice?

I would fly into Venice VCE - 3 nights, train to Florence - 3 nights with a visit to Siena, train to Rome, fly home.

Otherwise, you have a good plan.

You can visit Siena and Bologna from Florence and Orvieto from Rome.

kja

Hi, Romi -

It so depends on what specific things you want to see and what pace you prefer! I think 5 or 6 days in Rome and about 4 days in Florence is just about perfect - NOT counting any side trips from either. If you really want to fit the Cinque Terre in (and it is wonderful there), it would make much more sense if you could add an 11th day. The other places people are recommending are, of course, also wonderful, so the good news is that you have lots of great options. Good luck!

gard

Hi

My wife and I have been to Florence and Rome. Here is my trip report with pictures and links from Florence http://gardkarlsen.com/florence_italy_travelogue.htm and a similar one from Rome http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm. I have also made interactive Google maps that shows where some of the attractions are located. Here is the map for Florence http://gardkarlsen.com/Florence_Italy_google_map.htm . Hope that you can find some useful information in the trip reports

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

josephina

Another vote for your conservative plan of two cities. You'll have an enjoyable trip that way, especially if you are really into museums and ancient sites, and you can always go sidetrips of your choosing.

Some potential sidetrips once you're settled:

Florence: Siena, Lucca, Pisa and San Giminiano

Rome:
Anzio
Appian Way
Assisi
Bracciano
Cerveteri
Formia
Gaeta
Ninfa
Orvieto
Ostia (Ostia Antica) an alternative to Pompeii.
Pompeii - A long day trip from Rome
Sperlonga
Subiaco
Tarquinia
Tivoli - Villa D'Este (gardens) and Villa Adriana (Hadrian's Villa).
Viterbo
Via Appia - Appian Way

...and this list is just for starters!

I also don't think you should feel you have to do sidetrips, either. We spent a full week in Florence with only one side trip to Pisa, and there were still museums and churches we didn't get to see.

The only side trip we took in our full week in Rome was to Pompeii. Again, we feel we just barely scratched the surface--there is just so much to take in.

mamc

I think that your plan is super. If you have 5 days in Florence, you will have time for a side trip to Siena or to another Tuscan town. Five days in Rome is good - there is so much to see and do.

However, if you want to add another place, I would consider Ira's proposal of Venice. It is so unique and so worth seeing. Two days in Venice, four in Florence and four in Rome would work.

Enjoy your planning and your trip!

Romi2

Sorry for the long post beforehand:

I wanted to add that we seek a balance between art/architecture, ancient ruins, gardens, and varied landscapes (by the sea, inland, valleys/hills), and just plain cafe people watching leisure time. We don't want to spend all our time looking at art/churches, as there is a limit that both I and my travel companion can take of those things. So we seek balance and variety, we don't need to see all the churches and museums, nor ruins, nor gardens. We want to see what is really worth seeing in the time that we have, as it's unrealistic to cover every museum, church, and ruin. Also, we are not into wine drinking...

After all your great input and what we seek in our trip to Italy written above, I ask...

1) Having 5 whole days in Florence & there mainly seeking to experience art/architecture/cafe culture /gardens. If you were to do a whole day trip, which town outside of Florence would you visit that is DIFFERENT(contrasts) from the Florence experience???

2) Having 5 whole days in Rome & mainly seeking to experience the ancient world, ancient art, & major sites. If you were to do a whole day trip, which town outside of Rome would you visit that is DIFFERENT (contrasts) from the Rome experience???

Any suggestions would be appreciated. ~Thanks~

Zerlina

From Florence: Any of the villages in the Chianti.

From Rome: Any of the villages in the Colli Albani/Frascati area.

kja

Hi again, romi -
I thought your original idea of a couple of days in the Cinque Terre was perfect for providing a lovely contrast to Rome and Florence!

Dayle

Romi

I'm not a huge fan of Florence and I like to balance between cities and countryside. I would spend 5 days in Rome, spent 3 in the Tuscan countryside and 2 in florence.

Romi2

What about Florence don't you like Dayle?

Romi2

KJA-

People seen to think that with 10 whole days, or even if 11 whole days, that Cinque Terre would be a bad idea. We were considering, but it's up in the air. So far we think:

Fly into Florence:
*Florence 5 nights(4 whole days).
*Train to Cinque Terre 2 nights (1 whole day).
*Train to Rome 5/6 nights (4/5 whole days). Do day trip to Ostia maybe.
*Fly out of Rome.

highflyer

I agree with Dayle but not because I don't like Florence it's just much smaller than Rome and so I'd spend less time there.

You also asked for contrast and the best contrast would be to get out of the cities for a couple of days.

kja

Hi again, Romi -

> People seen to think that with 10 whole days, or even if 11 whole days, that Cinque Terre would be a bad idea.

Are people saying its a bad idea? Or are they just pointing out other potentially wonderful options? In any case, its YOUR trip, so do what you want to do! I thoroughly enjoyed a couple of days in the Cinque Terre, and as I already mentioned, I thought it provided a perfect contrast to Rome and Florence.


> So far we think:
Fly into Florence:
*Florence 5 nights(4 whole days).
*Train to Cinque Terre 2 nights (1 whole day).
*Train to Rome 5/6 nights (4/5 whole days). Do day trip to Ostia maybe.
*Fly out of Rome.


Again, I think that sounds wonderful! I'd probably shift one day from Florence to Rome, but that depends on what you most want to do.

Hope that helps!

jw2

Consider making this first trip a bit leisurely - 3 full days would be a minimum for Florence if you plan to do more than race through a couple museums and churches. Sienna is great, but maybe next time? Same for San Jimmy G. Venice should be beautiful in October (a little more chance of sinking, but much less likely to be stinking), and is so different from Tuscany, Rome, southern Italy - or anywhere else for than matter. A couple nights? Rome is going to be overwhelming any way you slice it, but enjoyable if you do just a few major sites and loiter along from one to the other.

One real "trick" is to get a later afternoon flight out of Rome, or check out in the aearly AM, which would give you time to tour Ostia on your way out to the airport. Most drivers will be glad to wait for you with your luggage, if you make arrangements a day or two before departure. Ostia is like Pompei without the corpses!

Dayle

Romi,

Just my impressions, but to me Florence was SO crowded, and SO much traffic, so much noise. Had to jump out of the way of Vespas and cars several times. It's a beautiful city with much to offer, just when I go back, I will stay outside the city and daytrip in 1 or 2 days.

Somehow with as busy as Rome is, it never seemed so crowded or noisy. Maybe because the sites are a bit more spread out and it's bigger.

I agree that you could take a couple days to see Cinque Terre instead of Tuscany. Just more out of the way and longer travel times required than to visit Tuscany inbetween Rome and Florence.

Buon viaggio!