We will be in Rome for 8 days (May12 to 19)and plan on taking the train to Florence for a day and need to know where to start. We hope to get an early train in the morning so we are there by 9:30am. Our plan is to see Michaelangelo's David,Duomo and Uffizi can we get it all in? Suggestions on how to plan are day would be great.
RuthCA

Unless you are very keen to see the contents of the Uffizi, I would skip it in favor of places like Cappella Brancacci or Museo San Marco, or using a guidebood for a walkng tour of Firenze, and of course lunch.

Yes, you can fit your choices into one day, but maximize your time by reserving tickets ahead of time for the two museums. Without reservations, you might spend most of your day standing on long lines.

ruthca, do a search on this forum for posts by ira, he has posted a good Florence in a day walking tour, his directions are spot on. Make sure you make reservations for the Academia and the Uffizi.

I did a day trip from Rome to Florence. Very easy. I reserved the Accademia beforehand, and we didn't do the Uffizi.

We used ira's directions from the station to walk in, we saw the markets, shopped a bit, went to the Medici chapel and the Duomo. Yhen we had some lunch, walked through the Piazza della Signoria to the Ponte Vecchio, wandered a bit on the other side, then back over and had tea in the Piazza. We went to the Baptistery and then to our reservation at the Accademia (4pm I think it was). Then we had an early dinner before getting the train back to Rome around 8.30pm.

Take yourself on a great walking tour. If you arrive as planned around 9:30 hit the mercato centrale which is just up from the train station, then stroll over to the central district, the ponte Vecchio, the market, plaza etc. there is lots to see and do if you have time take the #13 bus up to the Pizza Michelangelo for that great view of Florence and the Domo.

We're hoping to be in Florence for about a day and a half the week after next. I tried to find the post by IRA.

SWillams - Is the one you were referring to from 2003?

He has a couple of very good ones on Florence. That is one of them.