Hi all,
First post in what I suspect will be many. In April 2016, my wife and I will be making our first trip to Italy. We arrive in Rome on April 7 and flyout of Venice on the 23rd. We booked the flights last weekend and so far have booked a small apartment near the Pantheon from April 7-12. We plan on wrapping up our trip in Venice from the 18th to the 23rd,

We are looking for assistance on what to do from the 12th to the 18th.. We are a middle aged couple that plan on enjoying museums, churches, architecture etc. on this our first trip to Europe. We are travelling on a tight budget; no set amount but our we will need to make sensible decisions while there. To give you an idea on what we love, a perfect day on a nyc vacation would be spent at the metropolitan museum.Donna would prefer that we not rent a car on this trip due to the stress that it would cause.

One model that we have considered for after leaving Rome is to take the train to Cirque Terre for two nights and then go to Florence for the remaining four nights.

I ask you what would you suggest we experience for the 6 open nights of our trip? Really looking forward to your suggestions.

April is rather early to be able to count on reliable weather for le Cinque Terre. Best advice is only go if it is not raining -- which you couldn't know until you were actually in Italy and able to see a 48hr or less weather forecast.

Given the way you describe yourselves, I would like to recommend Perugia, reachable by train from Rome, although it is a bit of a dogleg if you are sandwiching it between Rome and Florence -- although no more so than le Cinque Terre. I recommend Perugia because, not only is it a fascinating, unique place with tremendous history and lovely views, the National Gallery of Umbrian Art in Perugia is an exceptional museum, which would make any true art lover's heart sing.

The other recommendation would be to either spend all the time in Florence with day trips to Siena or Arezzo, and I would also recommend the museums in Pisa. Or, head up to Florence but then leave to spend 2 days in spectacular Ravenna -- again, a bit of a dogleg if you are sandwiching it between Florence and Venice, but very much worth the effort.

Just to be clear, I am recommending you do at least 4 nights in Florence, or all six nights in Florence with day trips. If you would like 2 nights somewhere else, I would pick either Perugia for its exceptional museum of painting and frescoes (and the town itself), or Ravenna, for its stunning mosaics (and the handsome, untouristy town).

http://www.perugiacittamuseo.it/en/n...of-umbria.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/tr...gia-italy.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/tr...ing-still.html

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/em...marino/ravenna

http://www.venere.com/blog/7-art-museums-in-italy/

Great info kind stranger. Appreciate the suggestions.

You will want to make reservations for quite a few of the museums even in April:

Rome:
Vatican Museum - either with a guide or the audio guide
Borghese Gallery - times tickets are required at all times
Capitoline - no reservations required

Florence:
Uffizi and Academia both need reservations
Pitti Palace not necessary (a lot of people don;t find it since it is on the far side of the Arno - although not far)

Venice
Doge's palace secret tour
Definitely visit a couple of the outer islands: Torcello is lovely and timeless; the church has original Byzantine mosaics; and Burano (the fisherman;s island) is fun and has great seafood; Murano is necessary only if you want to see glass blowing (and be hassled to buy glass_

We had a fabulous and reasonable private guide for Villa Borghese and Vatican Museum. I will be happy to send you her contact info if you like. There are so many wonderful works in both places....you could easily miss some of the most famous just due to time restrictions. We used guide books and audio guides on our first two visits and found the personal guide to be the most enjoyable.

Florence with day trips to Bologna and Siena. Or if you don't mind moving a lot...3 nights Siena, 3 nights Florence and a night in Bologna.

Albergo Bernini is a nice, budget friendly place in Siena.

In Florence I can recommend Prestigia Rooms near the Duomo. For Venice, maybe Casa Cosmo or Hotel Dalla Mora.

We saved money on lodging by renting apartments in Rome and Florence through Airbnb. www.airbnb.com

Lee Ann

Hotel Accademia in Florence was within a block or two of the duomo, train station and plenty of restaurants, etc. We thought it was quite reasonable as well

Our family is also a group that schedules entire days at museums (including the Met) - you will have a wonderful trip in Italy! Given your interests, the time of year that you will be traveling, and reluctance to rent a car, I would suggest that you skip the smaller towns of Tuscany, such as Siena, this trip and focus on locations that are more easily accessible by public transportation.

You could probably easily spend all of your time in the combination of "the big three," Rome, Florence and Venice. But if you want to experience a less tourist-filled Italy, spend a couple of nights in Bologna. Beautiful city, great piazzas for people-watching, and very good museums, churches, etc. as well. If you have any interest in mosaics, take a day trip from Bologna to Ravenna (easy train trip). I've been there twice, and the mosaics are probably in my top ten for art that I've seen.

If you enjoy art, DO include a visit to the Pitti Palace in Florence. Organizationally, it's a mess, but they do have some very good pieces, including several Raphaels and two by Artemisia Gentileschi. They are not well-marked; I think I had figured out their locations within the Pitti Palace in some guidebook, so knew roughly what room they were in.