Is this too much?
 

My husband and I are going to Italy for the first time this December between Christmas and New Years. We are flying into Rome from NYC. Our plan was to buy point to point tickets and take trains between the cities. Would we be better off renting a car?<BR><BR>This is our tentative schedule. Thoughts? Our total time per each city would be 4 nights in Rome, 3 in Florence, 3 in Venice and 1 in Milan. <BR><BR>Dec 20 - Overnight flight to Rome<BR>Dec 21 -23 3 nights Rome. We are hoping to use one of these days for a day trip to Pompeii<BR>Dec 24 -26 3 nights Florence. We are hoping to use one of these days for a day trip to Pisa<BR>Dec 27 1 night Milan. We aren't sure about this one. Whether we should bother with Milan or spend more time elsewhere.<BR>Dec 28 - 30 3 nights in Venice. Would like to (if possible) make a trip to see Assisi.<BR>Dec 31 1 night Rome. We would like to spend New Year's Eve in Rome<BR>Jan 1 - Afternoon flight back to NYC<BR>

You are going to hear this from more people than just me but, you are trying to do too much for your first trip with just 10 days. Do Rome for 4 nights and forget Pompeii till next time. Forget Pisa, do 2 nights in Florence, then Venice. If it were me, I would skip Venice and concentrate on Just Rome, Tuscany/Umbria and Florence with such a short trip. Good luck.

Nix on the 1 night in Milan. Your time is better spent elsewhere. I'd suggest using that extra night in Rome (change to 4 nights) which will give you the time to do a day trip to Pompeii (it's a full & long day trip). As for wanting to visit Assisi it's quite a distance from Venice --- I think you'd do better to work it in when leaving Rome and heading towards Florence. However I've not yet made it to Assisi, so will defer to others for the best way to work it into your itinerary.<BR>

Hmm.. We are already in Rome for 4 nights. (Our trip is 11 nights total). So you would suggest spending 5 nights in Rome (and still forget about Pompeii?) 2 nights in Florence and 4 nights in Venice?

4 nights in Rome. 4 nights in Florence. 3 nights in Venice. Rome-you will need one full day just for the Vatican, and then one full day for Pompeii. The other 2 days will be taken up by Villa Borghese (don't miss it!), Forum, etc. Florence-take a day trip to Tuscany & go to Siena and/or San Gimignano. Forget Pisa. 3 night in Venice is plenty, as it is (IMO) the most expensive place in Italy aside from Milan, and it can be covered easily in 3 days.

I forgot to add--take the trains. They are really easy. Just don't overpack because you will have to haul the bags all over the place. Take an early evening train and you will arrive at your destination in time for a 10 pm dinner, which is perfect in Italy.

my suggestion<BR>plan 5 full days in Rome. Plan the daytrip to Pompeii for the fourth day, leaving you one day left in Rome. Or you may find that you are so overwhelmed with all there is to see in Rome that you skip the daytrip to Pompeii. <BR><BR>Divide up the rest of the time between <BR>Florence and Venice. Most people say Pisa isn't worth it. Siena (daytrip from Florence) definitely is imo.<BR><BR>Can you fly into Venice and out of Rome on your air ticket or is that already a done deal?<BR>If not, arrive in Rome and keep traveling (train or plane) to your farthest destination which would be Venice. Consider flying between Rome and Venice if your budget permits. However you get there, I like getting the longest bit of the travel over with first.<BR>You're tired anyway, the first day isn't great for serious sightseeing, and you'll get that long leg out of the way, understanding that you'll collapse in to bed early. From there trains from Venice to Florence,and from Florence to Rome, are much shorter rides.<BR><BR>

We did almost exactly the same trip many years ago. I could have spent more time in Rome, 3 days in Florence was enough, 3 days in Venice was enough, would have skipped Milan if I knew how much I would dislike it.<BR><BR>I haven't been to Assissi but it would seem to be more logical to either hit it on the way from Rome to Florence or do it as a day trip from one of those cities.<BR><BR>We used trains and would recommend it since you are mostly sticking to the big cities. You can take the train from Rome to Pompeii and easily do a day trip, although it's a long day.<BR><BR>You might check out the flight pass at www.europebyair.com and book a flight between Rome and Venice so you are not wasting a lot of time getting bacl to Rome. We've used them a couple of times with no problems but I would recommend reserving a flight, not just getting the pass. It should be $99 each plus tax.

We did a similar trip just a year ago. We flew into Venice (from Frankfurt)spent 3 nights there, took the train to Florence where we spent 3 nights, rented a car and spent 4 days in Tuscany (Chianti) and then took the train from Florence to Rome where we stayed 4 nights. We returned to the US from Rome. It was a great amount of time in each place. The only change we would have made is to start in Rome and end in Venice. Rome requires the energy you have at the beginning of a trip and Venice is so relaxing. We have been to Assisi and Pisa on previous trips. If you can include Assisi, do, but skip Pisa. Enjoy!

My two cents: Skip Milan and Pisa, try to have car while in Tuscany area but not in Florence or Rome if possible. Have fun!