We are traveling to Europe for the Christmas holidays for 3 weeks. We are flying in to London and flying out of Paris. This will be our second time in London and fourth time in Paris. We are not planning to stay in London long; only to see relatives. We do, however, love Paris...In between is pretty open. We are leaning towards Italy (Venice, Florence and Rome). How long should we stay in each of these cities ? Should we fly from London to Venice or Rome? Since we have not made any accommodations yet, our itinerary is pretty flexible. Also, which city would be best to celebrate Christmas and New Year's eve? Thanks.

The weather in Rome might be more agreeable at that time than Venice. But, if you don't mind colder, more damp weather...Venice will likely be empty compared to other times of the year. Many on the forum do enjoy Rome at Christmas. You could check T/Rs from jamikins and lowcountryislander for Rome at Christmas.

Thank you, Denisea. I will read them.

Any suggestions as to the number of days in Venice, Florence and Rome? Thanks.

How long are you allocating to Italy?

12 days

12- Venice would take IMO the least days - 3 full days more than enough for most - time to explore some of the lovely islands in the lagoon.

Florence 4 days - including day trips to places like Pisa or Siena or San Gimignano, Assisi, Cortona, etc.

Leaves 5 full days in Rome, a much bigger town with lots more sights that are in a more far-removed area than compact Venice or Florence.

Trains go constantly between Venice Santa Lucia (S L in schedules) and Florence Santa Maria Novella (SMN) in schedules and Rome Termini - the main central station in the heart of Rome. If you want to lock yourself into non-changeable trains weeks in advance you can get nice discounted fares from www.trenitalia.com - the Italian state railways - otherwise full fare tickets are always available once you get to Italy - no need to pre-book to get on trains. For lots of great advice on Italian trains check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.seat61.com; www.rivcksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

Thank you, PalenQ.

thank you - how long one spends in Florence can depend on how much one likes Renaissance art in its famous art museums - you can spend a full day just in the museums like the Uffizi and the one the real David is in, etc.

But if museums are not particularly your bag then you could cut a day or do a day trip.

Rome has many sweet day trips - Hadrian's Villa and the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, about an hour by train or bus east of Rome both are stellar sights - so is Ostia Antica - ancient Rome's port and now a fine archaeological site. Or some even do a longer day trip to Pompeii (about 2.5 hours each way by train via Naples.

I feel that 12 days may not be enough to cover all the wonderful cities you mentioned. Do you think that we should just forget Venice or Florence to spend more time in Rome and the nearby cities?

IMO 12 days is perfect to split amongst those three cities. I would not cut any of them - 3-4 days is more than enough for the average tourist in any of them IME.

As always, thanks, PalenQ.

Concur in everything PalenQ says.

Any hotel/apartment recommendations for a family of 4 (3 adults, one child) ?

What is your budget? You will need to look for either two double rooms or family rooms as double rooms in Europe allow only 2 people...

Between €200-250 per night.

ttt - hotel/falt recommends for these three cities?

Yes, please. Preferably apartments so we don't have to get 2 rooms. Thanks.

annakarina - I think a separate post entitled something like Looking for Hotel/Flat Recommendations in Florence, Venice and Italy - may get much more response than an old thread without that specifically in the title.

Thanks, PalenQ. I will do that now...