My wife and I are planning our 25th anniversary for next Oct 1-15. We plan on visiting Rome, Assissi, Siena, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Milan, and Como\Bellagio. We hope to arrive in Rome and depart back to the U.S. from Milan. Do you think this is too much for our first trip? How many days would you suggest at each spot? Ciao.

Eight places in what are probably only 13 days, if you exclude transatlantic travel days, is totally, completely unrealistic.

Decide on three or four at the most. You might be able to do Siena OR Pisa as a day trip from Florence.

Assisi is about two hours from Rome, but it's difficult to get to Florence from there, so I'd suggest leaving it out.

I'd skip Como/Bellagio and spend only the last day in Milan.

Operating on 13 days, you might do
Rome 4 days
Florence 4 days (with one day trip)
Venice 4 days
Milan 1 day

That way you might actually spend more time seeing the places you are going to than getting to them.

You could easily spend one week each in Florence and Rome.

I don't really recommend Siena, unless you are an artist or architect or the like. I didn't think there were many things for tourists to do there, unless you were looking at it a certain way (though I am sure I will get flamed for this comment).

Venice and Pisa could be "done" in a day.

I recommend you prioritizing what you want to see and do before you city-hop. Also, if you or your wife are shopoholics, Florence has the outlets an hour out of town, but that is a day trip in itself.

Venice, if you are to appreciate it, <b>cannot</b> be &quot;done&quot; in a day.

You'll just get caught up in the mobs of day trippers and never really see the city.

Hi RR,

Your current itinerary is not a vacation, it is an expedition.

Keep in mind that each time you move you lose at least 1/2 day.

Two weeks in Oct is a good time span for Rome - 5 nights, Florence - 4 nights and Venice - 4 nights.

You can visit Assisi from Rome.

You can visit Siena and Pisa as daytrips from Florence. (Take the SITA bus to Siena.)

Fly into Venice or Milan and out of Rome.

See www.trenitalia.com for train schedules.

See Helpful Information: Italy 2
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34568596

I agree that you're trying to do too much. Flying overnight on Oct 1 leaves you with 13 nights in Italy. I think 5 nights Rome, 4 nights Florence with a daytrip to Siena and another to Pisa and 4 nights Venice would be great.

And as Eloise says, Venice certainly can't be done in a day! Courtesy of RufusTFirefly, here is why:

Some of the sights, sites, and activities in Venice:

Piazza San Marco, Basilica San Marco, Campanile, Palace of the Doges, Grand Canal on a vaporetto, Lagoon islands: (Murano, Burano, Torcello), San Michelle, Gondola yard. The Arsenal and the Naval Museum, Correr Museum, Accademia art museum, Peggy Guggenheim Gallery, numerous art shows and exhibits that are always running, The Ghetto. Another dozen or so specialty museums (Lace museum, Archaeological musuem, etc).

Too many churches to list with interesting and world-class art and architecture, but...Basilica Santa Mariadella Salute, Basilica dei Frari, Santa Maria dei Miracoli, San Sebastiano, San Pietro di Castello, Santo Giovanni E Paolo, Madonna dell'Orto. Venice's churches have some of Italy's greatest works of art--many free to view--by the likes of Tintoretto, Veronese, Titian, Bellini, Vivarini, and Carpaccio.

Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Scuola San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, Scuola San Nicolo, Scuola Grande Dei Carmini, Scuole Grande of San Rocco.

Campo Santa Maria Formosa, Ca’ Rezzonico museum, Querini-Stampalia palace/museum, San Giovanni Evangelista, Ponte di Rialto, Rialto market, Ca’ d’Oro, Ca' Pesaro museum, gondola tour of smaller, hidden canals. Opera and concerts at La Fenice and other venues. Walking away from the daytripping herds and discovering a quiet, secret city that most tourists have no clue exists--quiet campos with perhaps a restaurant or two and a couple of shops, and neighborhood children playing or couples strolling before dinner.

And don't forget the Lido of Venice beach resort in the summer.

Today seems to be anti Siena day for some reason. Now I fully understand the logic of basing yourself in one place, then doing day trips, but I find the idea to ignore Siena completely very strange.

Yes you can do Siena and Venice in a day - the same way you can do any town in the world in a day - a quick run past the famous sites with pictures for the album and rush off home again. I spent a week in Venice, two weeks in Siena and don't feel that I have had enough of either of them.

If you only have 4 days in Florence, you may want to spend all of them there.

RRT25,

Did you have special reasons for picking the places you did? Such as: Did you pick Roma and Assisi because you want to see religious edifices, or did you pick Venezia and/or Lago di Como because you would like a romantic trip?

Or did you pick all these places because you have heard about all of them being wonderful -- which they only are if that's how YOU want to spend your 25th anniversary.

Is there a certain way you want to celebrate your 25th anniversary?

Something's gotta give in your itinerary. But instead of getting boilerplate answers, you could get help customizing your anniversary trip if you stated your priorities.

Does your wife have a wish list (she MUST see Michaelangelo's David or spend an afternoon shopping in Milan? Or she wants to see the Forum in Rome or see Venice?

What about you? Are you a history or science buff and want to visit the places where Galileo left his mark -- or the Medicis? Or would just as soon relax with your beautiful bride by a beautiful lake?

Sorry for being so nosy. ;-)