Planning a 9 night trip to italy in march. Changed plans and arriving in rome instead of venice. Visiting rome, florence and lastly venice. Is 3 nights enough for Rome or should I extend it to 4 nights and limit our stay in florence or venice to 2 nights instead. I'll be arriving rome around 11 am so I figured I will probably be jet lagged from the 17 hour flight from the US. Please advise.

If you know exactly what you want to see and do in Rome then 3 nights should be enough. I love Venice and have savored every minute there.

3 nights rome, 4 nights florence, 2 nights venice. florence is favorite of the three and from florence there are some great day trips to siena, san gimignano and chianti.

It is a matter of personal interest and taste, but I love Venice and would make it 5 nights Rome with a daytrip to Florence, and then 4 nights in Venice.

But that's why they make so many different color neckties.

Picking up on the previous post with the ranking of your interests in each city, if certain museums/sites are "musts" for you it's important to check the days they might be closed (I found Mondays, Tuesdays and sometimes a weekend day the most common and that was in the summer)or have varying hours. For example, with art the highest priority for me, I had to really plan carefully for Florence for that reason. Maybe that's not an issue for you, though.

Thanks everyone. Points of interests and "must sees" for me are:
Rome-Vatican museum, sistine chapel, colosseum, pantheon, trevi fountain, piazza navona, spanish steps

Florence-Ponte Vecchio, Duomo, Accademia, Uffizi, leaning tower in Pisa, (possibly a side trip in tuscany)

Venice-Rialto bridge, St mark's square, basilica, gondola ride in grand canal, visiting Murano,

Am I missing anything important?? We won't have a car so is this itinerary possible to spend 3nights at each place?
We'll be arriving rome on a saturday and departing from venice on a monday (very early morning).

I would suggest that the gondola ride be on smaller canals, not the Grand Canal. You can see parts of Venice that most tourists never do by staying on the lesser known canals.

The Grand Canal can be easily (and much less expensively) seen by vaporetto. In addition, the Grand Canal is very busy at times with all sorts of powered craft that can make it a bit hectic and choppy.

Given the time you have available, I would go with your latest itinerary but definitely drop Pisa - it will just take you too long to get there. Also, save your side trip to the Tuscan countryside for another trip too.

Yes, you can see a lot (maybe or maybe not everything on your list) with 3 days in each place, but keep in mind that 3 days is not exactly what you'll have - each time you move locations, as a rule of thumb, takes about 1/2 day.

In Venice, to visit Murano will eat up a bit of your time, just to get there and get back. We've visited Venice 4 times, and have yet to visit any of the other islands. I always end up choosing to just wander around the streets over visiting islands!

I would second the suggestion about the gondola ride, that it be on the smaller, side canals. Most of them do that, for a large part, anyway.

One thing about 3 nights in Rome is that your first day will only be 1/2 day due to your arrival, and you'll be jet-lagged anyway. Maybe you should take a day from Florence and add it to Rome. It looks like (for this trip, at least) you are not interested in visiting any of the ancient ruins in Rome (the forum, etc.) Is that the case? And keep in mind that a lot of your "must-sees" are something you'll do or see in the course of other things - for example, Piazza Navona is an excellent place to visit for a drink in the evening before dinner. And in Florence, even taking a long time to admire (and cross) the Ponte Vecchio doesn't take much more than 10-15 minutes. Same thing with the Rialto in Venice.

Have a great trip!

A very personal choice, but I'd choose: Rome 4 nights, Florence, 3 nights, Venice, 2 nights.
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Don't let "jetlag" interfere with your half-day of sightseeing in Rome. I prebooked the Borghese Villa on their website, took a bus from there then enjoyed the view from the top of the Spanish steps, walked down, and made our way on foot back toward our hotel, seeing fabulous sights on the way. There are other options, so enjoy that first day and evening, then sleep at night.

Also from Florence, a train trip to Lucca and Pisa (which you mentioned). The tower, et al at Pisa are gorgeous at night, all lit up. You don't have to get there when things are open.

Venice: The Doge's palace shouldn't be missed. We did the Secret Itineraries tour. Also, Frari Church and others, if possible. Presuming you'll be going to the train station at some time, you don't need a Grand Canal trip in my opinion.

Florence: I enjoyed the Santa Croce church where very important people are buried--an Italian Westminster Abbey (but not such a grand church.) We climbed to the cupola of the Duomo--awesome views!

We did 8 nights in December (only 2 nights in Venice, but arrived early enough to see lots). I'd make it 3 nights in each city, especially since you arrive early enough to do lots of sightseeing the first day.

We did a concert in Venice, Opera in the Palazzo. If you like music, I highly recommend finding a concert. Your hotel should have recommendations for something nearby.

You're going to have an awesome trip!

Thanks to all your suggestions. I appreciate them so much. I'm excited just thinking about our trip!
1. I will definitely skip the gondola ride on the Grand Canal, figured it might be too hectic and expensive. Also skip Murano since it's too time consuming.
2. Might take a trip to Pisa as someone mentioned by taking a train at night. What a wonderful suggestion!! Thanks Judy.
3. Lexma90, you mentioned the ruins. Sounds exciting. I will have to check that out as well.

Keep it coming guys....

Last May I arrived on a direct flight from NY into rome. I assumed since I was 27, and EXCITED about my first italy trip, that I'd have coffee and head out sightseeing. Well I got the coffee... walked past the spanish steps and back around back to my hotel becuase I was more jetlagged than I imagined. Therefore I lost my entire day. Thats my personal experience, every one is different.

Your intinerary is fabulous though!!
Natalie

I love each of these cities, and would allocate equal time to them on a first trip as you are doing, so you can get an idea of where you want to return to in depth. And planning to return is the best way to not cram in too much.

My advice would be to not worry about checking off all the sights on your list. Let yourself go with the flow a little. Make sure you have time to wander, sit in cafes and have a coffee or a drink, eat gelato, etc. Especially in Venice -- the whole city is amazing so get away from the main areas and let yourself get lost. Take advantage of early morning and night time. Magical!
I agree with skipping Murano for this trip. Make sure any glass that you buy in Venice, however, is from a shop/artist that officially sells Murano glass. There is a lot of cheap stuff made in other countries for sale, and it is good to support the local artists.

Make your museum reservations esp for Florence in advance and then you won't have to waste time in line.

To maximize museum time, look either online or in a guidebook for floorplans and just beeline to the things you actually want to see. I am a museum nut, but there are entire rooms in places like the Uffizi and the Vatican museum I can skip to get to the treats I want to see!

As others have mentioned above, try to see things that are near each other at the same time. For example, in Rome, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon (my favorite building in Rome) and the Trevi fountain are near each other. See the Colosseum and the Forum together. Since so many monuments and of course fountains are lit up at night in Rome, you can do a night walk (Rick Steves has a good one in his Italy book)and thus see some of your 'outside' sights at night.

Since things can sometimes blur on a trip, make sure to enjoy the different local food/drink specialities of each area to get even more of a feel for the regional differences.

For example, eat seafood and triamisu in Venice and try the delicious wines of the Veneto, eat the famous bistecca (steak) and gelato in Florence and try Tuscan wines (Chianti, of course, but many more powerhouses!)or try a Negroni if you want a killer cocktail.

In Rome, Thursday nights are often gnocchi nights in restaurants, and the pastas, artichokes, & thin crust pizzas are delicious. Have a campari and enjoy the good life!

Annabelle, You are making me hungry just thinking about all those Italian "delights". I will try savor every moment I have in Italy. I'm gonna get that Rick Steve's guide book that everyone keeps talking about and maybe a good and detailed map of Venice so that I don't get too lost. =(
I just confirmed my airline tickets! woohoo! Got my tickets last night on american airlines for total of $589/pp roundtrip from San Francisco. Can you believe that price? All thanks to the fodorites who recommended using mobissimo.com

we ate gelato every day, sometimes twice, even though the weather was cold. Sometimes we took it back to the hotel with us so we could be warm.

I found natc143's reply interesting. I fly from California, which is an even bigger time difference. I rest on the plane and sleep a bit if I can. And I don't drink alcohol on the plane. Maybe everyone really is different with tolerance for jetlag. I won't say I feel "normal" and I'm grateful that I don't have to drive or make big decisions, but I sure can go out and enjoy seeing the sights.