kirby

My husband and I are leaving for Italy from Canada on the 9th of May. I am starting to finalize the itineray for things to do while there and have some general questions that I would love some help with:

1. We are going to take the train from Rome to Florence - how long does it take, do you know a website and do we book tickets ahead of time or in Rome itself?

2. In Florence - should we book tickets to the Uffizi Gallery on line and if so, do you know the website and how long should we plan on being there

3. Also in Florence we have booked a car for 2 days to see outside the city - looking at Pisa, Sienna - any other must sees'

4. Train from Florence to Venice - I am guessing that a water taxi to the San Marco area is the way to go - please confirm

5. Any suggestions on best things to see in Venice - we are there for 2 days only.

6. Almost forgot to ask for favourite sites to see in Rome - we are there for 3 days - and again, should we book any of the sites ahead of time?

Thanks for all the help.

LoveItaly

Hello Kirby, here are answers to a few of your questions. The website for trains in Italy is trenitalia.com. Easy to use. If I can, anyone can, LOL.

Uffizi Gallery, yes book the tickets. If you utilize Fodors Search box you should be able to find a post with the phone number. Or have your hotel make the reservations for you. I keep meaning to write the phone number down everytime I see and never have.

If you wish a lovely drive and want to perhaps lunch is a small town southeast of Florence you might think about driving to Reggello. Nontouristy, known for its olive oil and other yummy products. If you go onto google and type in the name you will get some idea of the darling town from the websites.

Regarding arriving via train to Venice. Be sure to get off at the last stop with is the Santa Lucia station. Do NOT get off at the Mestre station. Regarding the water taxi. It will be around $80.00euro. In that you will be at the train station instead of the airport if you want to not spend this kind of money then you can take the waterbus, vaporetto. Some people worry about getting on vaporetto with luggage but if you have one suitcase and carryon bag each you will not have a problem. At least I never have and I don't handle luggage well, so to speak. If you don't mind spending the money on the private water taxi it is of course lovely to do. Their was a comment on another thread here today that a posters travel agent told them that the watertaxi only allows one suitcase and one carryon each. If that is true that is certainly a new rule.

Regarding Rome and Florence, if you use the Fodor's search box you will find a ton of information.

One thread that is active right now is gravysandwich's thread. He has posted a delightful trip report and has posted part of his visit in Rome with promises to write more later. You would no doubt find that fun to read.

Have a good time planning your trip to Italy. I wish I could go this year.

ssachida

1. http://www.trenitalia.it/en/index.html
Rome to florence takes between 1.5 and 2.5 hours depending on the train.

2.Call th number listed below, either from home or a few days before. All online services (and there are a few) are 3rd party services. The museum website is www.firenze.uffizi.it
Contact Firenze Musei, Tel: +39 055294883
Booking charge : € 3 per person.
You will only pay the booking fee when you collect the ticket (there is no penalty for change or cancellation)

3. I'd do Pisa by train, but if you do have acr, spend some time in Lucca (pretty much enroute to Pisa anyway and very pretty)

4. No. Vaporetto#1 is the way to go. Water taxis are equivalent to buses and water taxis to, well, taxis. While a vaporetto ride costs a couple of euros the water taxi will not be less than 50 euros.

5. Venice favourites - Doges secret itinerary tour (need to book ahead), Frari and Scuola di San Rocco. But the best part of Venice is just wandering around. If was to return I'd go to the Scuola di San Rocco again, but other than that, I'd just wander and pop into churches on whim.

Rome favouritesb - well pretty much everything. For 3 days look at the destinations section in the Fodors mini guide.

Favourite sites are hard to suggest without knowing your interests. History? Art (what kind- sculpture, paintings, frescoes, architecture, also what period)? Atmosphere? Outdoors? Literature? Food? Wine? Italy has it all.

kirby

Thanks for quick replies. I am wondering about booking the Uffizi on line - you mentioned calling the museum directly, but one of the web sites I saw looked like it charged 50% less per ticket - is this too good to be true?

As far as our interests go - probably like to hit the main tourist attractions at each place and then spend some down time wandering and of course, eating.

eab

We were in Venice last week and took a water taxi from San Marco to the train station because we were catching an early train and didn't want to chance it on the vaporetto. The cost was 80 Euros, which is steep -- fortunately there were eight of us, so it didn't seem quite so bad.

Our favorite things in Rome include St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums; of course you have to see the Colosseum & the Forum; the churches are stunning (this time I went with a list which was very helpful -- I can share if you are into churches); and thanks to the great advice on Fodors, we went to Galleria Borghese, which was a highlight of our trip. And of course the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, etc. etc. etc.

It will take several more trips to Italy for us to see all we want to see of Rome. What a great city!