vardon

Going to italy for 40th anniversay Sept. 28 2008 and returning Oct. 11. Will fly into Rome and allow day 1 to settle into hotel and wander around the neighborhood. Day 2 borghese gallery and gardens and wander around. day 3 daytrip to Pompeii. day 4 tour of ancient rome with guide and wander. day 5 tour of vatican with guide and wander. day 6 day trip to orvieto. At this point wondering whether to take a day trip to Florence or leave for Venice on day 7. Husband worried that we are doing too much. Will days 8 through 12 be too many for Venice and day trip to Padova and Verona?

rose g

TuckH

rose: Husband is right. Doing too much.

Pompeii day trip redundant (and far) with next "day 4 tour of ancient rome with guide". Use day 3 for more of "wander around" stuff (piazzas and churches, etc).

Drop "day 6 day trip to orvieto." Go to Florence instead. Leave for Venice on day 8 (not day 7).

Days 9 through 12 will then NOT be too many for Venice. Drop "day trip to Padova and Verona".

chris2x

Pompeii seems like a longer day trip from Rome. From what I can see it is a bout a 3 hour train ride to Naples from Rome.

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Chris Christensen
Amateur Traveler podcast
http://AmateurTraveler.com

Grinisa

If you catch the new high speed train from Rome Termini to Naples Centrale station, the trip is 87 minutes. Cross over the to Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii Scavi and you can be at Pompeii by mid morning. Do the same returning to Rome in the late afternoon. It is a long day but many people have done it, even before the high speed train debuted. Since you are visiting Rome and Venice, Orvieto may be a nice change from cities. Florence has so much to see, to rush around there during your first trip is not doing either you or the city justice. Padua is a great small town. You could visit it on a half day trip from Venice. I wouldn't add Verona on a first trip to Italy.

vardon

thanks for the info and have now figured out the itinerary for Rome but need a little help with Venice. Will leave off Florence for another trip. Will take a half day trip to Padua which leaves 3 and half days to see Murano, Burano, Doges Palace, Guggenheim etc. but need to know how much time to visit these and other museums and other suggested places with time in between to get lost and wander. Can you tell I am excited. this is such a great place for information and I do appreciate the help.

rose g

suze

I think that's better, but still doubt you can do all you mention in Venice in only 3 days. I've been there twice, 5 days each trip, and have yet to make it out to the islands or take day trips.

vardon

I agree that 3 days is not enough so have tweeked my itinerary to allow 5 full days in Venice? Isn't this better? Any ideas on what to see in Venice for first timers?

rose g

Andrew

Everyone has different impressions of Venice. I was just there alone - not an anniversary trip - and I found 3 nights to be plenty. I wasn't interested in the museums, though. Mostly just to wander around and take pictures - obviously, Venice is extremely photogenic - and get a feel for the city. But in my 3 nights/3 days I still did the islands one day and Padua another day.

Honestly I found Venice not very pleasant during the day - extremely crowded with tourists, every one with a camera angling for the best photo or video ops, almost like Disneyland. At night and in the morning it's much nicer, and I'm glad I stayed not near San Marco and but in Cannaregio (slightly less touristy) instead. I wouldn't have wanted another day there, but for some obviously a week is barely enough.

Just another perspective for you...