My wife and I are traveling to Venice arriving on July 6th and will be departing out of Venice on July 12th (6 nights). Currently we are planning to spend the first two nights in Venice, the next three nights in Florence and then the last night back in Venice.

Some of the things we are debating are whether to take a day trip from Florence to Rome on our last full day which would mean we would have to travel back to Venice (from Rome) that evening - not sure that is doable and would not provide us much time. I have been to Rome before and did not get to see the Vatican which is the only major must see site for me since I did not get there the last time.

Also, we are looking at a day trip in the Tuscanny country side and not sure whether to book a guide, rent a car, or try to take a bus.

Lastly, understand that getting point to point tran would be the most cost effective, but should we book in advance given this is peak tourist season or can we safely purchase when we arrive. Where do we inquire about special as well?

Any suggestions on a recommended intineray - comments on the "day in Rome" and suggestions for Tuscanny would be greatly appreciated.

I wouldn't bother with a day trip to Rome, it's hardly worth it when there's enoungh to do in the Florence area for 3 days. From my limited experiences, we've always used cars in the area but many people on this board mention the convenience of busses and/or trains (depends on the destination) to many nearby places for day trips (siena, orvieto, san gimingnano, lucca, pisa).

Hi pm,

I also advise agains Rome for a day.

For your tickets to/from Florence you can do this at www.trenitalia.com.

See Trenitalia Tickets Online
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34465647

You could most likely get your train tickets in Venice on arrival unless you will be traveling on weekends or holidays.

If you really want to daytrip out of Florence (you only have 3 days) you can take the SITA bus to Siena or train to Lucca.

Remember to take the no. 7 bus from the Florence train station to Fiesole to see the Etruscan ruins and watch the sunset.

Enjoy your trip.

Have you looked at flying into Venice and out of Florence so that you don't have to spend time back tracking? We did the reverse last summer and found that it was actually cheaper. If you went this route, you could split your time evenly between both cities.

I agree that Rome is too far to travel from Florence for a day trip. You wouldn't really get to see anything.

I also agree that you will find plenty to do in Florence in three days. We were there 4-1/2 and still didn't get to see all that we wanted. A day trip to Fiesole is very close and makes for a nice, change of pace for an afternoon.

We were advised by many Fodorite's to purchase our Florence/Venice train tickets the day we arrived in Florence. That was during July, as well, and it worked fine for us so I would think that as long as you purchase your tickets a couple of days in advance of travel you should be ok.

Thanks all for the info...I will most likely pass on Rome this time around. If we decided to rent a car for a day...any suggestions on wheere to get the best rate?

Try http://www.novarentacar.com/

Or you might want to consider a tour or a driver for Tuscany instead of renting a car.

We went on a vineyard tour one day, and there were two families who had drivers take them from Florence to Greve--no tour, just a driver. The name on the back of one of the cars was prestigerent.net. They all seemed to like the drivers and the convenience of being chauffered.

Another name recommended to me for someone who does tours in Tuscany is a fellow named Dario. I had this info you might wnat to look at: http://www.initaly.com/ads/tscnwlk/dario.htm

Try a pre-pay agreement at Hertz, the rate is good and it leaves you with absolutely no responsibility in case of an accident.

Thanks for the car rental info...one more question - my Wife is dead set on visiting the "Tuscanny region". What would you recommend for a day trip through the to the hill country from Florence (where to go) and pros and cons with a day bus trip, which I am not sure where we would/could go versus renting a car for the day and going it alone.

Thanks again!