Italy Itnerary help with Rome please....
 

My Husband and I are going for our 25th anniv to Rome Oct 5-14. So far we are
Rome 6-8 pick up car in am
Siena 8-10 with car to tour countryside
Florence 10-12
I've logged more hours on the internet checking out lodgings thru fodorites and tripadvisors and I find people to be amazing with their help. Initially I made one mistake which I can't reverse (did priceline for 4 star rome hotel for two days and got the Boscolo Borromini which has terrible reviews)but we got it for $150 US so we'll make the best of it and splurge other ways. But now I'm stuck, and I want advice planning my last two days. When finished in Florence morning of the 12th, we will still have our rental car since we like the convenience of driving out at our own schedule as opposed to train schedule. Should we go straight to Rome and spend our last two days there? Or go North of Florence a little to a new sight for the night and drive back to rome early Saturday morning. I know there's so much to see in Rome and we've not allowed much time, but we tend to get crazed by big cities. If we got back to Rome (which we are totally open to) I'm planning on taking Rome-shuttle from the hotel at 5:00am Sunday for a 8:00am flight. Would take the train but surprised they don't travel that early to FCO. Your help is already appreciated!!!!!!
P.S. I'm tempted to do Priceline one more time for a 4 star in a good area with a higher bid since I've been successful with that in US so often. Bad idea? I'm finding at this point lots of places are booked. I know, I know, we got a late start in planning, won't ever do that again but we're so thrilled to be going!!!!

Hi

Sounds like a wonderful trip. My wife and I went to Rome a couple of years back and spent 5/6 days in the city and it was great to have time to look around. Here is a trip report with some pictures and links that might help you out http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm

We went to Florence in July this year but I\m not finished with the trip report yet. But we spent 4 days in the city before we went out in the Tuscany area with a rental car and we spent 6 days outside Siena. Have a great trip

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com/ - trip reports and pictures

If you are going straight from Florence to Rome I strongly suggest you dump the car upon arrival in Florence.

- private cars cannot drive in the central historic district in Florence, so you may not be able to drive right to your hotel.

- the car will sit in a paid parking garage for a few days, unused

- trains from Florence to Rome take 90min and leave at least once every hour. By the time you retrieve your rental car you could be relaxing on your way to Rome on the train.

- The drive from Florence to Rome can take much much longer than the train when you include the time actually getting into Rome from the highways outside the city.

- once in Rome you'll still need to find your way to rental car return, then get to your hotel.

Take the train.

I agree completely, will definetly dump the car in Florence. Now my girlfriend (her husband played professional hockey in Italy for 10 years) wondered why we don't take train from Florence Fri am to Venice, spend day and night and get up and train back to Rome Saturday am for last day and night. Sounds fun what do you think?

I also concurr. Use the car for the Tuscan country side, pick it up as you leave Rome, and drop it off as you arrive in Florence.

The trains are regular and punctual.

It'll make for a less stressful time.

Have a great time !! :)
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Italy travelogues
http://www.colin-julie.com/travel.htm

I agree that for the end of your trip you should consider dropping off the rental car in Florence before spending time there, then taking a train to Rome. Having a car in either city is hard, and there are many trains each day between Florence and Rome.
I would encourage you to spend the end of the vacation in Rome. I think you'd be happier with a more central location for a hotel. If you are in the central historic area you can enjoy walking around much more

I agree that for the end of your trip you should consider dropping off the rental car in Florence before spending time there, then taking a train to Rome. Having a car in either city is hard, and there are many trains each day between Florence and Rome.
I would encourage you to spend the end of the vacation in Rome. I think you'd be happier with a more central location for a hotel. If you are in the central historic area you can enjoy walking around in the daytime and evening.

So you would not go to Venice? I'm thinking yes, my friend said go cuz you never know when you'll get back. I think we might...

I didn't see the question about going to Venice before I posted. I had a lot of trouble with the reply function (hence the double entry)
Although I understand the temptation to try to fit Venice in, I wouldn't try to go to Venice then back to Rome in such a short time. You will spend a lot of time in transit that way and won't have time to enjoy either Venice or Rome

Vttraveler, I know, I know...but just looked at Venice pics on the Web and it seems so tempting...we'd leave Florence on a train Friday morning and then train back to rome Satuday. But the train ride to Venice is 2.5 hrs and the ride to rome is 4.5 hrs. So I do see your point. I keep thinking of these places as being like appetizers, we'll try these all out and later come back and visit what we liked in depth. Anyone out there want to help me decide?

I like your idea of going to Venice. It's so special! Couldn't you stay 2 nights in Venice and take a flight early in the morning to Rome and connect with your flight?

No, our flight out of rome leaves at 8:00am. Now I'm getting cold feet, I know how great it would be to see venice but feel like I'm gypping rome in favor of SEEING IT ALL. Meanwhile I still do not have a hotel in rome and time is ticking away.

Are you saying you do not have a room in Rome for the first few nights or for the last potential night?

You arrive in Rome the morning of the 6th. That means even the early morn flight will get you to your hotel at about 10am. Can you check in that early or is it just a bag drop-off until later?

You pick up your car on the morning of the 8th. I assume you are leaving then.

So you are really giving Rome less than 2 days. That is pretty tight and really limits what you can see and do.

You are doing the same thing to Sienna and Florence. Is there any way you can move some of those dates and maybe combine a place? What is it that you want to see and do?

Why not call the Rome hotel and see if you can change the dates, in other words move your first two days to combine with the last 2. That gives you 4 days in Rome. While you can't cancel, they may allow you to change.

dave