going to italy
 

I need guidance with my trip to florence. I am going to rome, florence, venice and milan but am having trouble with the order I should visit the following,
I have hotels booked in florence, then san gimignan and then cortona. From there I go to venice but I'm not sure if I have the correct order of florence, san gimignane, and cortona. Thanks for your help!.

How long is your trip? Do you have an idea of how many days you will travel? Have you booked your flight yet, and if so, where are you flying in to and out of? It sounds like you may be flying in to Rome and out of Milan (or Venice), but I'm not sure. This information may help the Italy folks assist you better.

P.S. Do not miss the Borghese Gallery in Rome. Just yesterday I was looking at photos of the Bernini sculpturesI saw there, and wow! The way that guy could capture movement in marble!

Look at a map asap, you will be doing difficult backtracking in your proposed order. How will you be travelling?

I agree that it's very important to tell us how many nights you'll spend in Italy, and where you will arrive and depart. You should also tell us whether you'd be willing to rent a car for part of the trip. The succession Florence, San Gimignano, Cortona, Venice is not bad if you rent a car when leaving Florence and turn it in before heading to Venice, but it wouldn't be easy by public transportation.

I'm not a big fan of Bernini (or Baroque sculpture in general) myself, and even if I were, I wouldn't recommend the Borghese Gallery for someone who will be in Rome for just a few days. Because of its rigid entry times, and the time it takes to get there, it tends to take a good half day out of your trip. It's also one of the more over-crowded museums in Rome.

If you're a big Bernini fan, and have a short time in Rome, I'd suggest that you visit the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, where you can see one of his most famous sculptures, the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa. This church is very near Termini station, where you may be passing through anyway. There are many other places in Rome where you can see Bernini sculptures as well.

There are many museums in Rome that are hidden gems, with world class art collections, but almost totally overlooked by tourists. Depending on your tastes in art, I can recommend some if you want to visit a museum or two.

I think if you want to go to the Borghese Gallery or any other sight in Italy you should go. I think you should skip any place you don't feel like seeing. It really doesn't matter how long you will be in Italy or whether this is your first time. People enjoy different things, and when they come back home, they each have different favorites from their trip to Italy. Don't let people pressure you into one thing over another because that's what they like to do. There is lots to enjoy and you may not share their judgments or values.

Of course, if you had your heart set on the Borghese Gallery, you should go there, and I think you would regardless of what I think. I'm just trying to point out that it eats up an inordinate amount of time and that it's not everyone's cup of tea.

In my mind the Borghese falls into various, the old church stuff (which might interest you if you like to spot the arrival of the Devil in Christian pictures and faith {about 1300}) this dismal section continues until various forms of realism jump in around 1550, there after it becomes more a political painting match. There is a nice corridor of pinched Roman and Greek statuary which is impressive but in Italy (or indeed Africa/Spain etc there are as good displays).

So don't just work your way through everything but jump where you want.

<i><font color=#555555>"I'm not a big fan of Bernini (or Baroque sculpture in general) myself, and even if I were, I wouldn't recommend the Borghese Gallery for someone who will be in Rome for just a few days."</font></i>

Well that explains a lot.

I love the talent of Gian Lorenzo Bernini. IMO, he is a worthy successor to Michelangelo Buonarroti. I sure miss those 50,000 Lire bills. I have one framed in my office, and it makes me smile every time I look at it.

I adore the Borghese Gallery. If I had only one day in Rome, I'd spend half of my day there.

You learn a lot about people and their tastes the longer you hang on a travel board and get to know the usernames.

I wish I could help the OP, but the message is so garbled and poorly written, I have no idea where she's going and why.

If you're driving, then I think it better to drive from Cortona to Venice and drop the car at end of the causeway from the mainland to Venice.

Driving into Florence chances the dreaded ZTLs (locals-only driving zones, the transgression of which brings a big fine). You could drop the car at Florence's airport but then you have to get the bus or a taxi into Florence to the train station. In either case you'll have to pay for a train ticket, maybe then, with the rental car, double-paying for transportation that day.

There are some other towns in southern Tuscany where you could drop the car, most conveniently Chiusi. Then you'd have to change trains in Florence.

But all of this is speculation on our parts because you haven't told us how you're traveling and where you'll be before Florence.