Florence and Venice Itenirary advice
 

How does this sound? Too much? Not enough? Any advice?

Florence:
Hotel - Tourist House Ghiberti
Arrive at night
Day #1:
Accademia (8:30AM reservation), Mercato Centrale, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, look around Piazza San Lorenzo a little, lunch near the Duomo, Synogogue tour, Ufizi (4:30 reservation), Ponte Veccio after the museum, for sunset

Day #2:
Pitti Palace+Boboli gardens, Bargello Museum, Piazza della Signoria, Piazza Veccio, and hopefully make it to the Santa Maria Novella Profuma

Day #3: travel to Venice, arriving at 11:30 AM
hotel - Ca' Amadi
Day #3 afternoon:
Vaporetto #1 ride down the Grand Canal, Carnivale Mask store in Dorsoduro, Costume and Textile Museum in Santa Croce (Scuola Grande di San Rocco if we have time), Ghetto Tour (Casa d'Oro if we have time)

Day #4:
Secret Itineraries Tour/Doge's palace, San Marco, Library and/or Museo Correr if we have time, lunch, Murano/Burano tour

Sounds good to me. Just be sure to leave time to sit in a cafe and enjoy some vino in Florence, as well as just get lost wandering the alleys and bridges of Venice. Have a great trip!

Also make sure to leave time for gelato breaks in Florence.

In Venice, if you want to see Burano, I would opt to pair it with Torcello instead of Murano (just my opinion) and would skip the Correr/Library time to use toward your lagoon island journey. There are a couple of good seafood restaurants on Burano and much less of the crowds.

In Florence, I like watching the sun set and lights come on in the city from outside San Minato al Monte. Try to arrive early to see the frescos and to hear the daily chants in the church's basement at 4:30 p.m. Another sight I would add if you can part with 30-45 minutes (at least) from your schedule is San Marco to see the Fra Angelico frescos and the cells where Savonarola lived. It doesn't take too long to tour the facilities. The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (the Duomo Museum), is very interesting and contains many of the original pieces from the Duomo and Baptistry.

Have a wonderful trip!

Hi chanad,

Nice itinerary, probably too much to fit it all in.

In Florence, try to get up to Fiesole (no. 7 bus from the train station) to have an aperitif and watch the sun go down over the city from the terrace of the Bar Bleu.

chanad:

Just a couple of commments:

- Santa Maria Novella Profuma is a MUST :)
- Try to climb or, if time is short, get a taxi to, Piazzale Michelangelo for a spectacular view of Florence
- I far preferred above to the Boboli gardens, which I found interesting, but not spectacular (and I love gardens)
- The Bargello is wonderful, but if this is your first visit to Florence, I would skip it in favour of just wandering around Florence, which is my favorite thing to do

regards Ger
-

If you take the 10:30 English-speaking Secret Itinery tour, I would suggest seeing San Marco Basilica before the tour. There are usually less people early in the day which makes the visit all that more enjoyable. Also very worthwhile, is the Golden Altar behind the main altar--outstanding.

If you do get to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, I would also recommend the Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari which is just around the corner.

Most people get lost in Venice, many on purpose and many like us--who just get lost. But it was so enjoyable and interesting that we didn't mind not getting to a few of our intended sights.

Have fun in that mask shop!