bchen007

We will be taking a cruise from Rome to Athen this June. We will arrive in Rome a week before the cruise and stay a couple of days afterwards. Here is our tentative itinerary. Is this doable? This is our first trip to these places.

5/26 Arrive in Rome and take a train to Florence
5/27 Florence
5/28 Florence day trip to Siena
5/29 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre
5/30 Cinque Terre
5/31 Rome
6/1 Rome
6/2- 6/9 Cruise
6/9 Rome
6/10 Rome
6/11 Rome
6/12 Leave out of Rome

We have not booked the return flight yet. So we could extend it for a day if necessary.

Thanks!!
Christine

Andrew

It's a bit rushed but doable. I'd definitely extend a day - add one more day in Rome at the end and take one of the earlier days in Rome and add it to Florence. Or add a night in Lucca, Pisa, or Siena.

Jean

Where is the cruise going?

If it were my trip, I'd extend a day at the end but not stay in Rome twice. I would want more time in Florence because the one full day there not encumbered by travel is a Monday. Not all of the sights are open every Monday or on Mondays at all. Other sights are not open every Sunday either, so your options on the arrival day are also reduced.

Depending on when you need to check in for the cruise, you may want to train to Civitavecchia the night before the cruise. You can check train timetables here:

http://www.fsitaliane.com/homepage_en.html

If it were my trip, I'd skip Lucca because of the luggage. There is no luggage storage at the Lucca train station or anywhere in Lucca that I'm aware of. If you head directly to Pisa Centrale from Florence, you can check your luggage at the train station and retrieve it when you return to catch your train to the CT. FYI, if you want to climb the Leaning Tower, you need to make a timed reservation. If you bring any small bags, umbrellas, etc., with you to the Tower, you'll have to check those nearby before you can start the climb.

http://www.opapisa.it/en/home-page.html

Jean

Sorry, just noticed you did say the cruise is going to Athens.

bchen007

Thank you Andrew and Jean for replying. I have extended another day in Rome, so we will flight out of Rome on 6/13.

If some sights are closed on Monday or Sunday. Does it make sense to change the itinerary to the followings:
5/26 Arrive in Rome in the morining and stay the night. perhaps do some sightseeings in the afternoon
5/27 Take the train to Florence
5/28 Florence
5/29 Florence day trip to Siena
5/30 Pisa/Cinque Terre
5/31 Cinque Terre
6/1 Rome
6/2- 6/9 Cruise
6/9-12 Rome
6/13 Leave out of Rome

I have not booked any hotesl at Cinque Terre yet and I am a little worried about finding a good one so late. I won't have a car so we will be taking trains. Would you recommend to have a day trip to Cinque Terre from Florence?

Here is our cruise itinerary:
Rome/Civitavecchia, Messina, At Sea , Athens/Piraeus, Kusadasi, Chania/Crete, At Sea and Rome/Civitavecchia

Thanks,
Christine

dwdvagamundo

Christine--

Yes. That's better. You'd be travelling on Monday.

The charm of Cinque Terre (if any) is to hike it, explore the villages, etc. I don't a day trip would let you see enough to make it worthwhile. Unless you like to hike, I'd forgo CT. In fact, I'd forgo it anyway given the amount of time you have.

Instead, consider some of the smaller towns in southern Tuscany or Perugia/Assisi, Viterbo, Orvieto, etc. Or Bologna and other smaller towns North of Florence.

All these offer charm. architecture and history. And good food and wine. I know you can reach Bologna and Perugia/Assisi by train as we did that some time ago.

Jean

I don't do one-night hotel stays unless absolutely necessary or logical, so I would just go to Florence directly from the Rome airport. It would take about 2:15 hours. By the time you've arrived at your hotel and checked in, it will already be afternoon. If you're ready to hit the sightseeing, the Uffizi, the Accademia and the Bargello are open Sunday afternoons. Pick one. The Medici Chapels will be open the next day (Monday), or you could make your day-trip to Siena that day. On Tuesday, everything will be open.

http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/en/orari/index.php

IMO, if you couldn't find acceptable lodging in the CT and had to skip this part of your itinerary, it wouldn't be the end of the world. You could really use more time seeing Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, maybe San Gimignano.

If you want to climb the Leaning Tower, you need a timed reservation. Make sure you take an early enough train to allow time for you to store your luggage and walk or taxi to the Tower. You need to arrive a few minutes early to check in.

http://www.opapisa.it/en/home-page.html

bchen007

Thank you all for your replies and kind suggestions. I have finalized on our flights now and most of the hotel reservations. Here is my latest itinerary:

Sun 5/26 Arrive in Rome at 9:30AM and take a train to Florence. Arrive in Florence in the afternoon.
Mon 5/27 Florence
Tue 5/28 Florence
Wed 5/29 Florence day trip to Siena
Thu 5/30 Pisa/Cinque Terre Go to Pisa in the morning and store luggage at the Pisa train station and head to Cinque Terre in the afternoon
Fri 5/31 Cinque Terre
6/1 Leave for Rome
6/2- 6/9 Cruise
6/9-13 Rome We will fly out of Rom on 6/13 at 8:55PM. So we will have close to five full days in Rome after the cruise
6/13 Leave out of Rome

Unfortunately I only booked the hotel in Florence from 5/26-28, not on 5/29. Now the hotel price is about $70 more than what I have booked for other nights if we extend our stay at the same hotel. I wonder if it makes sense for us to take our luggage with us when we visit Siena and stay there for the night on 5/29. I read about the train transportation from Siena to Pisa. It looks like I have to go through Florence to go to Pisa. So maybe it does not make sense for us to stay the night at Siena. I am looking for some advice here.

Regards,
Christine

Jean

I would train from the Cinque Terre to Civitavecchia, bypassing Rome. Some options take only 3 hours with a single change at La Spezia.

In comparison, the fastest option from the Cinque Terre to Rome takes 45 minutes longer, and you'd have another train ride of 45-60 minutes the next day going from Rome to Civitavecchia.

Andrew

I visited Siena only as a day trip, but I kind of wished I'd spent a night. Nice town! So spending a night there doesn't exactly sound like a bad idea to me. FYI, it's generally considered best to take a bus from Florence to Siena instead of the train (the train station in Siena isn't that close to the center, but the bus drops you pretty close). Can't speak of the train routing between Siena and Pisa. The bus station is right across the street from the train station in Florence; it might actually be easier to bus back to Florence, cross the street to the train station, and train on the Pisa from there. I assume you have checked the Trenitalia website already to confirm you really must go through Florence either way...

Or - just pay the extra $70 for the additional night.

Jean

I forgot to answer your question about Siena. Personally, I wouldn't change hotels just to avoid an additional $70 (which might be spent on a Siena hotel anyway, since you're now booking rather late).

FWIW, we stay at the Tourist House Ghiberti in Florence which is offering a double room from arrival 5/26 to departure 5/30 for a nonrefundable total of 590 euros, or 147,50 euros per night. The refundable rate is 656 euros, or 164,00 euros per night.


http://www.touristhouseghiberti.com/eng/01-home.html