scooter94105

My husband and I are taking our first trip to Italy in May. We want to see the best of Rome, Florence, and Venice, spending extra time exploring Tuscany.

We are flying from London to Rome on 5/11 (very early a.m. flight) and from Rome to London on 5/22. These flights have already been booked.

Instead of starting our Italy stay in Rome, we're thinking of taking the train from Rome to Venice after we arrive from London, staying in Venice for a couple of days; taking the train from Venice to Florence for a several day stay; taking the train from Florence to Siena where we would rent a car and explore Tuscany with Siena as our base. Finally, we would take the train from Florence? back to Rome where we would finish off our trip before flying back to London.

Does this sound like a good plan?

With a total of 11 nights to choose from:

How many nights in Venice?
How many nights in Florence?
How many nights in Siena (or any other good Tuscany base)?
How many nights in Rome?

We want to see the highlights of each city/area.

annhig

well, i like the shape of your trip, especially using the first day to travel to Venice, but you are trying to cram an awful lot into 11 days, which is of curse only 10 nights.

I would either just stay in the three main cities [3-3-4] OR stay for 3 nights in Venice, then pick up a car and tour for 4 nights [staying in Siena or another smaller place], and then return the car to somewhere convenient and head for Rome.

if you stay in Siena, you could do florence as a day trip.

if you try to fit in 4 bases, you run the risk that you will be doing far too much travelling, leaving little time to see the cities at all, let alone their highlights.

scooter94105

We actually have 11 nights. I'm thinking another alternative would be to stay in Venice for 2 nights, then Florence for 5 nights and take day tours to Siena, San Gimignano, Chianti, Lucca, etc. skipping the car rental idea.

In Florence, we want to go to the Accademia and Uffizi Galleries above all.

In Rome, we want to see the Vatican/Sistine Chapel/St. Peter's Basilica; Roman Forum, the Colosseum, Pantheon, Catacombs, Borghese Gallery, etc., etc.

Venice: we just want to see it! If we have time, we would like to go to Murano, but it could wait for a future trip.

I think the "stay in Florence" or "stay in Siena" is going to be the hardest to decide.

So...if we have 5 nights in Tuscany, would it be better to stay in Florence and take day tours to the other Tuscan cities or would it be better to stay in Siena and take day trips to Florence?

bardo1

<i>"stay in Florence" or "stay in Siena"</i>

It's a toss-up. Either can be seen as a day trip from the other.

Keep in mind that Rome is 10X the size and population of either Florence or Venice and has about 10X as many must see sites than either of them. As you are determined to do all three (plus additional Tuscany!!) in 11 nights, I would humbly suggest a 3-3-5 split.

Jean

I agree with bardo1's 3-3-5 split, but I'd stay in Florence if you want to see much of the city. There are so many treasures in Florence beyond the Accademia and Uffizi.

I would look for a cheap flight from Rome to Venice. It might save you money and time. Second class on the fast train is 88 euros, and the journey is five hours from FCO to the center of Venice. I found a one-hour Alitalia flight for about 65 euros, but IMO flying only makes sense if the connecting time at FCO isn't too long because you still need to get from the Venice airport to the city center.

mamcalice

I agree with Jean. I would stay in Florence and take day trips from there. We just counted and we have spent 28 days in Florence over the past 20+ years. There is so much to see and do there that I can't imagine doing it all in a day trip.

Siena, on the other hand is charming and, IMHO easily done in a day trip. Spend some time researching the treasures of Florence. I suggest either a 3-3-5 split or, if you want to see more of Tuscany, a 3-4-4 split.

scooter94105

We'll take the advice to stay in Florence and spend more time there. If we do a day trip to Siena, should we take the train or rent a car? We know that driving in Florence is out of the question, but how difficult would it be to rent a car at the Florence train station and drive to Siena/San Gimignano/Chianti, from there?

Is Lucca a must visit?

Jean

You can take a bus from near the Florence train station to Siena. If you want to go to San Gimignano also, you might think about taking a day tour. We did this several years ago and thought the walking tour of Siena was particularly worth the money. Here's one company that offers such a day tour:

http://www.viator.com/tours/Florence...519-24283GROUP

You can easily visit Lucca by train. The journey is about 90 minutes each way, the fare is cheap and the station in Lucca is just a couple of blocks from the city walls. Lucca didn't click for us, so I'd rather see more of Florence, but others love the town. Another option would be to take a bus or taxi to Fiesole (about 5 miles outside of Florence) for a small-town experience. Visit the archeology museum and the ruins of a Roman theater. The views of Florence are wonderful.

joannyc

I stayed in Florence for 4 nights, did Lucca/Pisa as a day trip by train.

I then rented a car and stopped in San Gimignano for half a day before moving onto Siena for 2 nights.

I like the car/train combos! The car offers so much more freedom and flexibility.

Carleen

My husband and I went to Italy this summer for our 20th anniversary- it was the first time for both of us.

I went ahead of him with my sisters and mother to Venice for 4 days then we trained to Rome where my husband met me. We started in Rome, had 3 nights there, then trained to Florence had 3 nights there, then drove to Castellini in Chianti, which is not far from Sienna, and where we regretably only spent one night.

It is very easy to drive from Florence to Sienna and it is preferable to have a car in the Tuscany region because there isn't really any practical way to get around and see the countryside. Without a car you'd have to stay in the area you are in. Sienna is much larger than where we stayed so this may not be a problem.

Three nights/4 days in Rome is a must as there is much to see. I highly recommend you prebook all your tours in both Florence and Rome-- if you plan to go to the museums, Vatican tours etc--so you can avoid the very long lines-- especially at the Vatican.

All 4 choices would be well-served by 3 nights-- if you have to cut, maybe Sienna area, or 1 less night in Venice, as you can enjoy them both without feeling pressured to see every main attraction since there are no museums or tours you must take in order to appreciate them.

I would not miss doing a seguay tour in Rome- we did one and it was the more fun than you could imagine and a great way to see the city while getting all the juicy histroy you'd want.

We used Viator to prebook all our tours, museums passes etc. There is much to choose from. Sorry if I've over-loaded you with information... but your questions have brough back my enthusdiasm for this incredible country.

I could not say one negative thing about our trip-- the food the people, the beauty all around you, everything is splendid.

Enjoy!!

If you've never been to Italy before walkiing tours are a great way to get to know the city and see its highlights.

annhig

personally I would not want a car in Florence and I don't understand the advice to drive from there to siena; the road out of florence is awful. the train would be better but for the fact that the train station is on the outskirts of Siena, whereas the bus station is right in the middle.

you can get a bus to san gim from the same bus station in florence that has the buses to Siena. if you have your back to the main station in Florence, the bus station is about 100 metres to the left.

tuscanlifeedit

I agree with annhig.

I'm sure a lot of the suggestions here are well meaning but perhaps not from the most experienced Italy travelers.

Driving from Florence to anywhere is difficult. In fact, because of driving restrictions, it is one of the very most difficult cities for driving. Many on this forum have received tickets, issued by camera surveillance, after driving in Florence. You just don't want to.

The bus is the way to go for Siena and San Gimignano, unless you would like to hire a driver for a day.

Lucca is easy to visit by train, but I don't know that it would be at the top of my list for a first visit to Italy.

scooter94105

Okay, I think we have it. We won't take the chance of driving to Siena/San Gimignano/Chianti but rather we'll do a tour by either bus or private driver and skip Lucca (we can always go back). We're use to driving in both Los Angeles and San Francisco and both places can be hectic, but I would like this first trip to Italy to be stress free. We've decided on the 3 nights in Venice, 4 nights in Florence (with a one day trip to Siena, etc., and 4 nights in Rome. We're already eyeing the Amalfi Coast for next year, so we'll be back to Rome again.

Thank you all for your opinions and advice!

One last question: How much Italian do we need to know? I can speak French but have no Italian or even Spanish under my belt to get by in Italy.

tuscanlifeedit

Well, if you ask me, the more Italian you know, the better.

If I were you, I would learn the basics: basic numbers, words like train, bus, please, thank you, some very basic pronunciation rules and some basic food/dining vocabulary.

It can't hurt.

cathies

I agree that you should learn the basics. At least be able to greet the hotel staff/restaurant staff/shopkeepers that you will encounter along the way.

Numbers get tricky once you are past the basics, but if I wasn't sure of pricing usually the shopkeeper would print the docket for me so that we were clear. Even with a sandwich one time the shop assistant spoke so quickly that I just couldn't get what she was telling me, but as soon as she gave me the docket it was easily solved.

Just catch the bus to Siena from Florence - very easy. You pick it up near the main train station and Florence is only a small city so it's easy to find your way around.

ellenem

You can get a good smattering of Italian for travelers from the free podcast called My Daily Phrase--100 five-minute lessons covering most of what you'll need to know. It couldn't hurt to give it a try, since the price is right.

http://radiolingua.com/shows/italian...hrase-italian/

annhig

Numbers get tricky once you are past the basics, but if I wasn't sure of pricing usually the shopkeeper would print the docket for me so that we were clear. Even with a sandwich one time the shop assistant spoke so quickly that I just couldn't get what she was telling me, but as soon as she gave me the docket it was easily solved. >>

lol - 4 years of learning italian and I still struggle once they get past 10! numbers are one of the hardest things, I think in a foreign language, even in english if it's not your first language. i was in a shop in Rome last year where some German ladies were trying to price some lovely linens in English with the italian owner and had clearly mistaken the price, thinking that when she said thirty euros per meter, she meant thirteen. red faces all round when they went to pay.

if you've got the time, try to get Michel Thomas's introduction to Italian course out of the library or off e-bay. it teaches you the grammar from the start so that as well as learning phrases, you understand what they mean!

k9korps

I speak Italian, and of course it helps. But you'll do fine without it. Your plan calls for visting major tourist centers where English is common. You may run into a shopkeeper here and there who doesn't speak English, but you'll get by. If you want to try to learn some common phrases, that'll certainly help. Don't worry too much about it, however.

BTW, I think you have a good plan. You could consider hiring Luca at hillsandroads.com for a day trip out of Florence. A lot of people here have used and recommend him, including me.

scooter94105

Thanks for the heads up on hillsandroads.com. Sounds like a great plan!

Now to start learning Italian...thank you annhig for the Michel Thomas suggestion. I found one on ebay.

Grazie!!!

annhig

prego, scooter.

just remember that the idea is to get the ball over the net! [you'll soon know what I mean!]