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has May 11th, 2017 06:49 PM

Heed Help! 10 Days in Italy
 
Two adults traveling in Italy for 10 days this August. Our cruise ends in Barcelona, Spain August 7 and then 10 fabulous days in italy. Must sees . Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Tuscany.
Fly home from Rome on Thursday, August 17th early morning.
Noticed that most museums and sites are closed in Rome and Florence on Mondays. Not sure where to start and how much time to allow to see the major attractions/museums.
Welcome any suggestions.
Love B&Bs and have Marriott points

Thank You!
Heidi

Cjar May 11th, 2017 07:16 PM

Hi Heidi. We stayed 2 nights in Venice, 3 nights in Florence, 1 night in Siena and 3 in Rome.
Highlights for us included Piazza San Marco at night after the day trippers cleared out and Santa Croce and the Duomo in Florence. In Rome we loved the Borghese Gallery. Get you tickets in advance. They sell out. We also really enjoyed a night tour of the colosseum which left our day free to do other things and we took a delicious food tour with Walks of Italy.
I'm sure sure you will have a wonderful trip. If you provide more information on the things you enjoy doing, you will probably get more feedback.

bvlenci May 11th, 2017 09:00 PM

Do you have some idea of which attractions you want to see? I couldn't help much without at least a vague idea.

In August, the "main attractions" are all <b> very </b> crowded. I don't recommend a trip that focuses mostly on famous sights. Try a mix of "must-sees" and "hidden gems", even if it means skipping some must-sees.

Florence and Pisa are both <b> in </b> Tuscany. You can easily make a day trip by train to Pisa, and there are various tours from Florence to rural areas and vineyards of Tuscany.

Jean May 11th, 2017 09:03 PM

How much time in each place depends on what you want to see. Some people are much more interested in ancient Rome than Renaissance Florence, and vice versa. Some are more interested in seeing small towns than big cities.

Do you want to explore Tuscany by car, or visit a town or two using public transportation from Florence?

Since you need to end in Rome, I would look into flying Barcelona to Pisa, spend a night and then train to Florence. If you'll drive through Tuscany, pick up the car when you leave Florence. There are a few places in Tuscany you could return the car (and train to Rome), or you could drive to Rome.

bilboburgler May 11th, 2017 11:08 PM

August sure is busy and hot.

My advice would be to drop Rome (beyond flights), it will be just too much stone, icecream and chinese tourists. Save it for another time.

I'd try to see if there is a hotel/agriturismo/B&B in a samller town in the Tuscany hillsides possibly with a pool, hire a car and stay there with day trips to a city.

NB Florence has a ZTL, Siena centre is physically unable to take cars.

If you must go to Rome, use the train and make it just the night before the flight and be very focused in what you want to do.

bvlenci May 12th, 2017 11:41 AM

I don't see why you should skip Rome. I don't think your plan is too ambitious for ten nights. I would suggest four or five nights in Florence, with a day trip (tour) to rural Tuscany and a day trip to Pisa. You could also take a side trip to Lucca the same day as Pisa, to see a completely walled city, with a park on top of the massive city wall.

Then you would have five or six nights in Rome. There are plenty of day trips you can take from Rome, and, as I said above, you don't have to spend all your time shuffling along in the crowds.

We were just in Rome for three days, mostly for personal business. May is an even more crowded month than August, but we weren't bothered by crowds at all, because we spent our time (apart from my day full of appointments) seeing the beautiful Barberini Gallery, a great art show (from Caravaggio to Bernini) at the Scuderie del Quirinale, and several of my favorite churches.

Of course, we've both been to Rome many times, and I know you would want to see at least some of the things Rome is famous for. I'm just suggesting that you spread your visits out so that a lot of your time is spend seeing and doing things that don't make the "top 10" lists. All of those top ten things are mobbed.


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