How Many Days Should we Spend in Florence?
May 2nd, 2014, 10:12 AM
#1
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How Many Days Should we Spend in Florence?
Hello. I am planning a trip through Italy for myself and my boyfriend this summer, and was wondering how many days it would be appropriate to spend in Florence. At this time we plan to go for two week and spend
3 days in Venice
2 days in Bologna
2 days in the countryside of Tuscany
3 days in Florence
4 days in Rome
Allowing for travel, of course. However, my boyfriend has no interest in art and while he'll enjoy the iconic works like David and the Sistine Chapel, I am trying to add only essential art galleries to our trip. A friend suggested that we should spend fewer days in Florence and allow more time for Rome. I have never been to Italy, though, and would hate to rob us of any experiences.How many days would you think it is appropriate for us to spend in Florence?
3 days in Venice
2 days in Bologna
2 days in the countryside of Tuscany
3 days in Florence
4 days in Rome
Allowing for travel, of course. However, my boyfriend has no interest in art and while he'll enjoy the iconic works like David and the Sistine Chapel, I am trying to add only essential art galleries to our trip. A friend suggested that we should spend fewer days in Florence and allow more time for Rome. I have never been to Italy, though, and would hate to rob us of any experiences.How many days would you think it is appropriate for us to spend in Florence?
May 2nd, 2014, 10:22 AM
#2
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Florence in summer is really crowded. Personally, given your boyfriend's preferences I'd add those days to the countryside or 2 to the countryside and one to Rome. ( or all to Rome, there's a lot to see there and as it is a bigger city doesn't seem as crowded as Florence)
From the Tuscan countryside you could do a day trip into Florence to see the David, and book tickets in advance to avoid long line-ups.
Don't forget 3 nights equals 2 days of sight-seeing in any place.
And have fun and don't be surprised if you become hooked on Italy and can't wait to start planning the next trip there!
From the Tuscan countryside you could do a day trip into Florence to see the David, and book tickets in advance to avoid long line-ups.
Don't forget 3 nights equals 2 days of sight-seeing in any place.
And have fun and don't be surprised if you become hooked on Italy and can't wait to start planning the next trip there!
May 2nd, 2014, 10:34 AM
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I suggest skipping Florence this time and adding those days to the countryside. It will be nice to get out of the hot and crowded cities.
Rent a car through Kemwel.com. You can pick it up when you're leaving Bologna and retun it in either Chiusi or Orvieto and take the train into Rome.
Stay in the Tuscan countryside at a place with shade and a pool. Visit sights and small towns/villages during the morning and early evening and relax with a long lunch and poolside during the hot afternoon.
I think you will really enjoy breaking up the cities with some relaxing, rewarding, beautiful down time in the countryside.
You can visit Florence on another trip. There is more than museums to keep you entertained in Florence. Just visit when it's not so hot and crowded.
Rent a car through Kemwel.com. You can pick it up when you're leaving Bologna and retun it in either Chiusi or Orvieto and take the train into Rome.
Stay in the Tuscan countryside at a place with shade and a pool. Visit sights and small towns/villages during the morning and early evening and relax with a long lunch and poolside during the hot afternoon.
I think you will really enjoy breaking up the cities with some relaxing, rewarding, beautiful down time in the countryside.
You can visit Florence on another trip. There is more than museums to keep you entertained in Florence. Just visit when it's not so hot and crowded.
May 2nd, 2014, 10:34 AM
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It is so hard to tell someone else how much time they should spend where. Most of the year, I would like to spend several days in Florence but I love the city and its art. In summer, one might prefer to spend the time in the Tuscan countryside where it will be less crowded and cooler. This is especially the case if you aren't interested in art. If you do that, take a day trip into Florence to see the David and the Duomo.
May 2nd, 2014, 10:39 AM
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"How many days would you think it is appropriate for us to spend in Florence?" sums up what you are up against. Some people, probably your friend, go by strict - Rome so many day, Venice so many days, rule. I think you will get an itinerary compatible with your interest and constraints by starting from the contents-activities, at each destination. Your friend might have low content count in Florence and high contents in Rome. It can be opposite in your case. "Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice." http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/j...bs-061505.html.
If you are interested in Renaissance art, it would be a pity to spend little time in the city that was the center of the Renaissance movement with premier Renaissance museums like The Galleria degli Uffizi.
Your boyfriend is not interested in art, but what is he interested in? Will you only be able to visit places he is willing to come with you? While my wife likes to visit museums, I sometimes visit museums just by my self when she is too tired.
If you are interested in Renaissance art, it would be a pity to spend little time in the city that was the center of the Renaissance movement with premier Renaissance museums like The Galleria degli Uffizi.
Your boyfriend is not interested in art, but what is he interested in? Will you only be able to visit places he is willing to come with you? While my wife likes to visit museums, I sometimes visit museums just by my self when she is too tired.
May 2nd, 2014, 01:09 PM
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What kind of art interests you the most? There really are no "essential" galleries. Some of the museums you never heard of might interest you much more than the Sistine Chapel or the Accademia (where Michelangelo's David is). If your boyfriend isn't interested in art, I think the Vatican Museums will be torture for him, packed into a hot crowded corridor with thousands of other people shuffling along the corridor leading to the Sistine Chapel, then getting there and hardly being able to turn around. I once went there in the summer, and never again!
In Florence, I think the Pitti Palace interests a lot of people who don't care for museums, because it has a lot of other interesting sections apart from the art. Also, some of the church/museums, such as Santo Marco, with the monks' cells decorated by frescoes painted by the Beato Angelico.
In Rome, most people, even if they don't love art, enjoy the Doria Pamphilj Gallery, a sumptuous Renaissance palazzo, still owned, and partly inhabited, by that powerful Renaissance family. There are some great works of art, and also a lot of mediocre art, but it's all the art collected by the family, and displayed as it was centuries ago, when people tried to cover every inch of the wall with paintings.
These are just some examples. If you tell us what your main art interests are, we can help you decide where to go.
For someone not interested in art, three days in Florence, especially in the summer, may be a bit much. Apart from the horrendous crowds, it tends to be very hot and humid in the summer, even hotter than Rome. However, there are some nice day trips you can take from Florence, so staying there for three days (or is that really three nights?) might be fine.
I do think that there's much more in Rome than in Florence to interest someone who's not very much into art.
Since your days add up to fourteen, I think you really mean nights when you talk about days. Three nights in a city really gives you only two full days there, along with bits of your travel days.
In Florence, I think the Pitti Palace interests a lot of people who don't care for museums, because it has a lot of other interesting sections apart from the art. Also, some of the church/museums, such as Santo Marco, with the monks' cells decorated by frescoes painted by the Beato Angelico.
In Rome, most people, even if they don't love art, enjoy the Doria Pamphilj Gallery, a sumptuous Renaissance palazzo, still owned, and partly inhabited, by that powerful Renaissance family. There are some great works of art, and also a lot of mediocre art, but it's all the art collected by the family, and displayed as it was centuries ago, when people tried to cover every inch of the wall with paintings.
These are just some examples. If you tell us what your main art interests are, we can help you decide where to go.
For someone not interested in art, three days in Florence, especially in the summer, may be a bit much. Apart from the horrendous crowds, it tends to be very hot and humid in the summer, even hotter than Rome. However, there are some nice day trips you can take from Florence, so staying there for three days (or is that really three nights?) might be fine.
I do think that there's much more in Rome than in Florence to interest someone who's not very much into art.
Since your days add up to fourteen, I think you really mean nights when you talk about days. Three nights in a city really gives you only two full days there, along with bits of your travel days.
May 2nd, 2014, 03:46 PM
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www.orvieto.ch, add that and drop one of the Rome nights. Have you thought about Cinque Terre for hiking. Easy to get to on the train. I liked Florence more than Rome so am in the minority but crowds will be bad in both. Enjoy the Tuscan countryside.
May 2nd, 2014, 05:00 PM
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Piling on, Florence is abominable in summer. Bologna is cool. But if it were me I'd spend a day biking around Ferrara, a day biking around Lucca (both are so easy, and have so much to offer). By the way - - how were you planning on doing countryside in Tuscany? It's tough by train or bus.
If you really want to stretch out the bit between Venice and Rome and want to keep it easy (like, all train) I would think Padua, maybe Vicenza, Ferrara (maybe also Ravenna) Bologna, Lucca, maybe Arezzo, maybe Orvieto. Siena is great (and best by bus from Florence) but it can also be really really full in summer.
If you really want to stretch out the bit between Venice and Rome and want to keep it easy (like, all train) I would think Padua, maybe Vicenza, Ferrara (maybe also Ravenna) Bologna, Lucca, maybe Arezzo, maybe Orvieto. Siena is great (and best by bus from Florence) but it can also be really really full in summer.
May 3rd, 2014, 02:16 AM
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Let me be clear: I adore Florence. We spent one whole week there--and we considered our time there too short. But...
a) we were there to study Renaissance art
b) the weather was cool
Ergo, I also vote for your dropping Florence or limiting your time there to something like the David.
If you are going out of your way to see Florence, then I'm going to suggest you drop down to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. As touristy as the darn thing is, it IS iconic, and the Square of Miracles is actually quite beautiful.
I think the Sistine Chapel in Rome, crowded as it is, it worth it for non-art people. Might I suggest getting a guide for it, though, so you can get whisked in past crowds and around corners quickly. It's been years, but I know our guide had us going to side corridors where there wasn't a soul to dash into the "good" places.
a) we were there to study Renaissance art
b) the weather was cool
Ergo, I also vote for your dropping Florence or limiting your time there to something like the David.
If you are going out of your way to see Florence, then I'm going to suggest you drop down to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. As touristy as the darn thing is, it IS iconic, and the Square of Miracles is actually quite beautiful.
I think the Sistine Chapel in Rome, crowded as it is, it worth it for non-art people. Might I suggest getting a guide for it, though, so you can get whisked in past crowds and around corners quickly. It's been years, but I know our guide had us going to side corridors where there wasn't a soul to dash into the "good" places.
May 4th, 2014, 07:24 PM
#13
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Thank you for all the advice everyone! We have decided to drop Florence from our trip and spend more time in the country because my boyfriend would love to do some hiking. We are also considering dropping Bologna. Thank you so much for all your great advice. We are really looking forward to our trip.
