pharmplayer

We are going for our honeymoon for 14 days to Rome (6 nights),Florence (5nights) and Venice (3 nights) in early February. We have already booked the hotels accordingly. We have a eurail select saver pass which gives us 4 days of rail travel. We will be using 1 days from Rome to Florence and 1 days from Florence to Venice. We would have 2 days of rail travel left which We plan to use for days trips from Florence. Here are the questions:
1) What are two must have days trips from florence and how long do they take?Is a day trip to Milan possible?
2) We are interested in taking a tour of a wineyard? Any ideas on that? How Long is that?
3) We are also interested in shopping for designer clothes. What are the best outlet shops?
4) How do you get vaporetto pass for venice ahead of time? Is it a good idea?
5)Do they have City tours for an overview in each of these cities? Which are better ones?

ira

Hi pharm,

Is there a particular reason why you wish to go to Milan?

Orvieto is a nice train trip from Florence, as are Lucca, Siena and Bologna. See www.trenitalia.com/en for schedules.

I think that in Italy they are called vineyards.

No need to get a vaporetto pass ahead of time. If you will be there for just a day, there maight not be a need for one at all. Venice is a very walkable town.

When in Florence, take the no. 7 bus from the right side of the train station to Fiesole to have a glass (or bottle) of wine and watch the sunset over Florence.

pharmplayer

Any more info on vineyards?
We will actually be in Venice for 3 nights. Since it will be around Valentine's Day We were thinking of Vaporetto pass.
Milan was just to see another city that had more of switzerland influence

ira

Hi pharm,

I would still wait to get to Venice before deciding to buy the pass.

You can see a good map of Venice at www.multimap.com.

Milan is sort of like Cleveland. I think that you would find Verona or Bologna more interesting.

pharmplayer

so sounds like Lucca, Siena or Bolonga for 2 day trips. How about vineyards? how long does that trip take? where are some good ones?

coffeeaddict

For guided walking tours in Rome, check out Scala Reale. They give a good orientation stroll as well as more thematic tours. You can do a search for "Scala Reale" and find many raves about them. Their website is scalareale.org. We used them for four tours recently and they were great, particularly if you have never been to Rome before. Petulia's orientation stroll was particularly good.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find an overview tour for Florence on this board, only private guides. Scala recommended a person by the name of Simone Gaddini, but it was a bit beyond our budget.

Steve_James

Lucca is really a half-day trip, I think.
But it combines well with Pisa IMO to make a good full day from Florence.

Steve

mclaurie

For information on discount shopping do a text search here for "discount shopping AND italy". I believe there are many outlets near Florence. While Milan may not be beautiful, it's a very cosmopolitan city with great shopping & food.

ira

Hi Pharm,

It would be hard to visit a vineyard if you don't have a car.

If you look up "vineyard tours" on www.google.com you will find a number of offerings.

You might also consider www.accidentaltourist.com in Florence. They have a vineyard visit and dinner combo.

Meg0613

If you are interested in taking a side trip from Florence, I would HIGHLY recommend visiting Arezzo. I studied in Florence in 2001 and I am returning to Italy spring of 2004 and it will be a definite stop on my itinerary. If you are familiar with the acclaimed film, Life is Beautiful, it was filmed there. Trains frequently run throughout the day from Florence. Arezzo is about a 45 minute train ride southeast of Florence. The scenery is breaktaking and they have the best gelato in tuscany. Also, I would visit the town of Fiesole. It is the hilltown that sits about Florence. You can take bus 7 (I am pretty sure) and it will take you into the center of town. It's only about 15 minutes out of the city. They have a restaurant that serves the best pizza in Italy and and old monastary that you can tour, in addition to some other attractions. As for Milan, I would honestly skip it. I was not too impressed with Milan and with a 14 day trip you will have to pass up on something better. I would focus on Rome, Florence, and Venice. You will soon see that your plate will be quite full. Have a great honeymoon!

pharmplayer

Thanks for these replies. It has been very helpful. Any information on tours in Florence itself. Are the discount designer outlets really far from Florence. What is the best way to get there??

SSkelly

Pharmplayer, I don't have any firsthand information, but this article from our local paper gives designer outlet shopping directions from Florence:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...d=968867495754

Congratulations and enjoy your honeymoon!

pharmplayer

I checked out accidentaltourist.com for vineyard tour and a dinner combo. I liked that one. Are there more companies like that. Google search came up empty on that front during that time. I have narrowed down my day trips to Sienna, Lucca and Arezzo.

Linda0515

About the vaporetto pass: I agree that there's no need to get it in advance. All vaporettos except those on the Grand Canal are very inexpensive. While Venice is very walkable, the vaporettos let you see Venice from the water which is a different experience from seeing it from the streets and bridges. Vaporettos also let you explore other nearby islands like Lido, Murano, and Burano. They're also great for getting back to your hotel (if it's near a vaporetto stop) at the end of the day when you're tired and just want to kick back.

gard

Hi

My wife and I went to Milan and Venice in June 2003 and we had a great time. I have posted a trip report with lots of pictures on my personal homepage <font color=blue>www.gardkarlsen.com</font> and maybe you can find some useful information about Venice there Get in touch if you have any questions. Good luck on the wedding and have a great trip

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway

e_roz

You will have so much fun. I agree a vineyard will be tough without a car. Day trips from Florence shld be Siena, San Gimignano or Lucca. I know San Gimig. has wine tastings and maybe some type of vineyard nearby.
We got a 24 hr vaporetto pass in Venice to hop on and off at our leisure. I recommend it (10.5 euro vs. 5 euro each time).

swalter518

I would higly recommend Siena, for more than a day trip but if that's all the time you have, don't miss it. We loved it and wished we had done a day trip from Siena to Florence. It's a city, not a hilltown, but has tons of character and not nearly as tourist-oriented as Florence.