How many full days do you think I will need to see VENICE? what about Rome? i am planning 2 full days in Venice and 5 in ROME. I am not counting our arrival and departure days. <BR> <BR>Thanks!

I had 2 1/2 days in Venice (needed another day) and 3 days in Rome (sufficient). If you find that you are in a city for more days than needed, then take a day trip to a nearby city!

Richard, <BR> I did three full days in Venice myself. This is commuting in from Padua in the AM and leaving about 6-8PM or so. I never ventured to the other islands, though. If I had decided to island hop and tour the glass factories, I could have added a full day on easily. <BR> Now I am the sort that likes to see everything; I go inside the palaces, museums, scuelas, chuches, hear Mass, etc. <BR> For Rome, you can easily use five days. Get yourself the Blue Guide to Rome. That suggests various walking tours of Rome and will explain everything you see. <BR> Rome is more frustrating than Venice because things tend to close early and for lunch, and on days you wouldn't expect. (Venice is more accommodating to tourist schedules). When I was there, I found everything took longer than expected because of early closures and the Mafia. Yes, the mafia. I couldn't carry a daypack, bum bag, or handbag of any kind in a lot of places because they were afraid I was a mafia terrorist smuggling in explosives. So I had to stand in lines to check bags and fetch them. Also had my bag searched a couple times. Seems to me Vatican City was the worst. Can you blame the Pope for being concerned? <BR> So don't worry about running out of things to do in Rome. Get Blue Guide and plan ahead. You'll love it.

In my opinion, your plan is just right. Venice is doable in two full days provided you stay in town and not the outskirts. Rome is surprisingly wonderful for a big city. Maybe it's the huge number of interesting historical sites and things to do. I also found it easy to get around on their bus system, I used day passes. I had no problem carrying my small daypack to all the places I went to. In fact, the Vatican Museum and St Peter's were the only places they searched through it.

Hmmm, I think you could add a day to Venice if you like to go inside buildings, even if you stay in the city.

i allowed more time in rome in case i wanted to take a day trip, maybe to florence. i know florence has a lot to see but we would just take a small bite! i wish i can have more time in Venice!

<BR>No matter how many days you spend or plan on spending in Venice it will never be enough. If I was you I would spend the 7 days in Venice. Rome is no where near as memorable.

Disagree with Juan and completely agree with Bill especially if you are into art,architecture and/or history especifically.

I think you've got it about right-although 3days might be better for Venice. Definately do not miss Rome -it is splendid.

Richard, we had planned on spending 5 days in Rome and could have used every minute of those 5 days but...we were traveling with our 2 young sons, one of whom was sick most of the time and required an afternoon off to combat a fever. Besides that, there is only so much art a 6 and 8 year old can take, you know what I mean? So, on the 5th day we knocked 2 important museums off our list of things to see and took a bus tour to the island of Capri instead to give the kids a break. The moral... if you love art and architecture and are the type to read and study everything, take the 5 days. You will still be very busy.