travelinfamily

Hello everyone! I have been using Fodors to help plan our Italy trip and I want to give you our itinerary and see what you all think. This trip is for our 10th anniversary! We are a couple in our early 40's, we like to get up early every day on vacation to get a head start on the day. We dont care much for museums, we love wine and food and we enjoy walking and or biking.

We fly into Venice on May 26, arrival is early afternoon. Check into Westin Europa and Regina. Explore some of Venice in the evening and dinner.
May 27 we would like to take a water taxi to tour the other islands around Venice.
May 28 Exploring Venice
May 29 take a train to Florence to rent a car-drive to Lucca and stay at the Hotel Villa Volpi (2 nights).
May 30 explore the area around Lucca
May 31 Drive to San Gimignano-stay at the Hotel Pecille(3 nights)
June 1 and 2nd explore this area
June 3 either drive back to Florence to drop the car and take the train to Rome-or drive the car to Rome and drop it there-I need some recommendations for this.
June3-6 in Rome at the Westin Excelsior Rome(3 nights). I have put in two requests with Select Italy, one for the Colosseum and Palatine Hill tour and one for the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums tour. (The colosseum on June 4 and the Sistine Chapel on June 5).

Are there any recommendations that you could make for this itinerary, or anything not to miss in the areas that we will be. I really want a comment on whether or not to drop the car in Florence or take it into Rome. If we took it into Rome we were considering stopping (prior to arrival in Rome) in the town of Frascati for a little sight seeing. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated. Also, should I make train reservations in advance? Thank you for helping me with our trip-we are so excited!

travelinfamily

One correction to my itinerary, we are staying 2 nights at the B&B La Torre, not Hotel Villa Vopli in Lucca. We are flying out of Rome.

monorailgold

Hello,

I would say to leave the car in Florence and take the train to Rome. Driving in and near Rome is not for the faint hearted! As for the tours of the colosseum and vatican, you can pick up a tour outside of both. These are wonderful, licensed tours. They cost a lot less than the other tours you book in advance. You can also visit vatican.va to sign up for a tour directly thru them. I have done all the tours I've mentioned and have been very happy with them all. As for the train, there are trains every hour or so from Florence to Rome so I don't think you'll have a problem with waiting to buy your tickets.

The rest of your itinerary sounds good but is a little too busy for my taste. If it were me, I would cut out some of the stops in order to more enjoy the different areas. All of these areas have a ton of things to see and do and you might find yourself missing out on sites you really want to see for lack of time. This is just my opinion, but I have been to Italy numerous times and can tell you about the hidden treasure all of these cities have to offer, especially for someone who likes to explore.

I hope this helps. Donna

lovisa

For your May 29 day I would either rent the car in Venice, and just drive to Lucca, or pick up a car in Lucca on the 30th - there is no reason to pick up a car in Florence. You can check driving times and distances at sites Mappy or Viamichelin. The Hertz website shows a pickup location in Lucca, but if you want an automatic, you might have to pick it up in a larger location.

For returning the car, generally people drop off their cars in Chiusi or Orvieto, and train into Rome. Others choose to drop off their car at the Rome airport and train in from there. There is no additional fee for airport drop-off, only pick up.

You really do not want to drive into Rome. It is much harder to find an address driving in, then to just pick up a car and head out. Aside from the chaotic traffic, many streets are one-way, and the centro storico streets are restricted to residents.

enzian

May 27---do you really mean to take a water taxi to explore the other islands in the lagoon? This will be very expensive. You can get everywhere by vaporetto; ride to one and get off to walk around, then ride to another. If you would like someplace peaceful and quiet, I recommend Torcello for walking. It's only a short hop from Burano by vaporetto.

travelinfamily

lovisa: thank you for pointing out that we can take a train to Lucca and get the car there, now my issue is returning it-most offices are closed on Sunday (and Saturday for that matter).

Enzian: I guess water taxi was the wrong terminology-yes vaporetto sounds like the wise choice!

Thank you for your help thus far!

enzian

Excellent! Here's a nice guide I found to visiting the islands in the lagoon, what to see and how to best use your time (and money):

http://tinyurl.com/2jjlya

Happy anniversary!

lovisa

You can always return the car at Fiumicino Airport outside Rome. Hertz shows it's open every day including Sundays from 7 a.m. - midnight, and I'm sure other companies have similar hours.