Italy in November...help!
 

We are planning a trip to Italy during second week of November this year. So far, we have this tentative itinerary and wondering if it's do-able without feeling rushed. We like to take pictures and enjoy the sights and foods of the Italian culture.
We understand that there's no way to see it all in such a short period of time, but we'll do what we can. We will be traveling to each city via train.

2 nights Venice - 1/2 day trip to Murano
3 nights Florence - 1/2 day trip to Pisa, 1 day in Siena/San Gigmignano
3 nights Rome - see all the sights

Any advice will be helpful. Thanks!!

With only 3 nights in Florence, you won't get to see much of it if you spend a day in Tuscany (Siena/SanGimignano) and 1/2 day in Pisa. I would skip Pisa entirely and spend the time in Florence.

I would be concerned with finding the right hotel in each city first, if you haven't already. Have you purchased your plane tickets yet? Are you flying into Venice and out of Rome?

I definitely would skip Pisa. Of course I would also reverse the time spent in Venice and Florence and spend the extra night in Venice--without the touristy tour to Murano, which can seem verrrrrrrry long.

With such short periods of time in both Venice and Florence you will barely scratch the surface of either of them. I would skip the day trip to Murano and the trips outside of Florence.
Have fun.

Sanditravelnut: We haven't purchased any tickets yet. We were looking into doing the independent travel package thru Gate 1 which already includes air and hotel. So we are limited to their choice of hotels. We'll be flying into Venice and leaving out of Rome.

Venice: Hotel Arlecchino
Florence: Meridiana
Rome: Portamaggiore

Hotel reviews incase you haven't seen these yet:
Venice: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ce_Veneto.html

Florence:(reviews are not good)
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...e_Tuscany.html

Rome:(very mixed)
http://rome-hotels.tripadvisor.com/H...ome_Lazio.html

Interesting about the sad faces in my post since I did not put them there intentionally.

I have read the reviews on tripadvisor, which makes the decision of upgrading the hotels even more difficult since we are on a tight budget. We might have to settle and deal with whatever comes our way. Hopefully it won't be that bad. As long as it's in a safe area and accessible by bus/train, etc. than we're okay. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

thanks for your help!

Hi there,
How many of you are travelling? It may be worth it to invest in a half or full day private driving tour of Rome. Rome is so spread out, unlike compact Florence, Venice, etc., that to try and do it all on your own, even with 2 full days, is overwhelming.
It can be economical considering number of people travelling and nights saved staying in hotels while you try to do it on your own.
Ellen