Help with moving around Italy
 

Hi all,

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Italy in October. Agenda is basically a couple of nights in Venice, with the rest (about ten days) in Tuscany/Umbria.

We were going to book a flight into Venice and out of Florence to avoid backtracking, but I'm wondering if it's better to just book a return flight to one of the two.

Is is a long trip by train from Florence to Venice, or a pain to do it more than once?

thanks in advance
(and thanks to all those who have posted before, I'm using old messages to work on an itinerary).

R

it's about three hours by fastest trains

Most folks here say that the open jaw ticket (flying into one city and out of another) isn't any more expensive than a roundtrip ticket so why backtrack if you don't need to?

We just did your exact trip, landing in Venice, staying 3 nights, then 1 night in Vicenza, 1 night in Tuscany south of Florence, and 5 nights in Umbria staying near Spello. We flew out of Rome, and we had a car that we picked up as we were leaving Venice.

Seconding what's been posted thus far. The Eurostar between Venice and Florence takes just under 3 hours and, while a lovely trip in and of itself, why backtrack and lose 3 hours if you don't have to?

My wife and I recently went to Italy, flew into Venice, saw everything there in 1 day. Took the train to Florence(3 hour), dropped our bags and took a 1 hour train to Pisa. Spent the next day in Florence, saw Florence in 1 day also. Rented a car and drove through Tuscany, stayed in a B&B in Siena the first night, the second in Orvieto(our absolute favorite town). Drove to Rome the next morning and did 3 days in Rome, seeing everything and more(Appian Way catacombs etc.)Walked our butts off but had the best time of our lives. Flew home out of Rome.

Wow! That's gotta be a new all-time record - everything in one day!

I'm amazed at some people's abilities in travel. We've been to Venice five times now. The first two times were for three nights each, and since then three trips there for a full week each. There are still a huge number of things in Venice we've not seen. I'm not sure what one means when he says "we saw everything there in one day". How is that possible? Or does it simply mean, "We don't care about seeing what Venice has to offer so we saw all we care to see of it."?

Hi NP, good to "see" you.

I have never spent enough time in Venice, yet. Going for a week in October.

gasoil: I like the idea of flying into Venice (maybe more than two nights) then flying out of Florence. Have you been to either place? Each, IMO, is worth a lot of time. Then maybe a week somewhere in Tuscany, or two bases, for 4 or so nights each. Can you spare a couple of nights for Florence?

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the replies. This site is always great. I've used it to plans trips all over the world.

I'm super-excited for Tuscany (the countryside) and I think I should be excited for Florence, but I'm more interested (I think) in exploring Umbria or the coast. Small towns, vineyards, long lunches with lots of wine, gorgeous countryside...that's pretty much the agenda.

I'm a bit nervous about booking a car given that the cost is so much higher than Canada and I'm prone to directional challenges, so to speak. But I think it's the only way around Tuscany. Unless we get scooters or something like that. I'm not one for organized tours...

It saves time and money flying into one city and out another. We almost did what you planned. But after a week in Tuscany (with a car) we took the train to Rome. Stayed a few days and left from FCO. I wanted to squeeze in Umbria, but that wasn't possible. Instead we just savoured Tuscany... But what you have planned seems fine.