Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)
-   Europe (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/)
-   -   Italy Best Cities? (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/italy-best-cities-1200319/)

kdryer Feb 7th, 2017 06:34 PM

Italy Best Cities?
 
I was planning on visiting Venice, Florence and Rome. I was planning on 2 nights in each location but have been told that is too aggressive of a schedule, What cities do people suggest of these three?

michele_d Feb 7th, 2017 06:38 PM

That is too much moving around. Fly open jaw into Venice and out of Rome. Two nights Venice then train to Rome for 4 nights.

bvlenci Feb 8th, 2017 01:49 AM

It really depends on your interests.

Venice is unique, a fairyland city, with great architecture and some art treasures.

Florence is a quintessential Renaissance city, and a must for any lover of Italian Renaissance art and architecture.

Rome is a vibrant capital city, with a wealth of ancient archaeological sites, ancient art, Renaissance art and architecture, and at least a dozen major art museums.

In all three cities, the most famous sights are overwhelmed with crowds of tourists, so (especially on short visits) I suggest skipping them and concentrating on the less famous (but equally worthwhile) places. If you try to concentrate the most famous things into two days in a city, you'll spend most of your time in a mob of fellow tourists and won't have time to see much else. You might be able to say, "I saw this, and I saw that", but you may not have much fun.

ssander Feb 8th, 2017 02:58 AM

You say two nights in each...that's 6 nights, or 5.5 days (subtracting arrival time on day 1.

Three cities is too much...but if you MUST see Florence, try this:

Day 1 - Arrive Venice. Half day.
Day 2 - Venice
Day 3 - Venice
Day 4 - 7:25 train to Florence (arr 9:30). ~10 hrs in Florence. 20:08 Train to Rome. (arr 21:40)
Day 5 - Rome
Day 6 - Rome

(You could move the train to Day 3 if you prefer more time in Rome)

I do <strong>not</strong> recommend this, but there it is.

- - - - - - - - -

Better would be:

Day 1 - Arrive Venice. Half day in Venice
Day 2 - Venice
Day 3 - Venice
Day 4 - 7:25 train to Rome (arr 11:10). Half day in Rome
Day 5 - Rome
Day 6 - Rome

ssander Feb 8th, 2017 03:00 AM

Or...

More time in Rome:

Day 1 - Arrive Venice. Half day in Venice
Day 2 - Venice
Day 4 - 7:25 train to Rome (arr 11:10). Half day in Rome
Day 3 - Rome
Day 5 - Rome
Day 6 - Rome

Mimar Feb 8th, 2017 08:03 AM

What time of year are you traveling in Italy? In October, November and December (also the adjoining months) Venice can suffer from acqua alta, high tides that cause flooding in the lower lying parts of the city. This would make your sightseeing more difficult, especially with only a day or so in Venice.

So you may want to skip Venice (too bad!) if your trip falls in this time period.

Dukey1 Feb 8th, 2017 08:59 AM

Venice has "some" art treasures? What an understatement that is.

dwdvagamundo Feb 8th, 2017 09:58 AM

We've been in Venice during acqua alta and, while it was an inconvenience, it was no reason to skip Venice.

However, the lack of time might be a reason to skip it. k, you just don't have enough time to do justice to any of the three cities--and I'll confirm those are the top cities in Italy, perhaps along with Naples.

So get a good guidebook and decide which one or two of these best fits your interests, keeping in mind that you could easily spend a week in each of them.

VeshaliNarang Feb 10th, 2017 04:05 AM

If you are planning to visit Italy, then Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice are some of the most beautiful cities which you must visit. Also its my advice to visit Sorrento town and grab the beautiful view of the sunny countryside.
To find some of the best views of Italy, you can visit : https://www.benvenutolimos.com/blog/...t-views-italy/

WoinParis Feb 10th, 2017 04:55 AM

Actually Venice was ready to Cope with acqua alta last week.

For such limited time I would leave Rome for later.

elizabethG Feb 10th, 2017 05:30 AM

Bologna is a great city and a good jumping off point for many other towns.
We stayed 5 nights in Bologna and took day trips to Venice, Padua, Verona.
There are so many other towns you can visit from this location by train as well.
The city of Bologna on its own a great place to visit.

Waldo Feb 10th, 2017 06:11 AM

Naples, Naples and Naples!!!!


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 10:15 PM.