ok. i'll have 11 days. and i was in rome last year for 5 days. but i'd like to go back for a few days to see some things i missed...pompei, boghese, Ostia Antica. unless there are better options that is. but i do have a traveling flaw (fatal flaw), everytime i travel to a new place i always want to go back the next year. and i always regret it because it's never as good as the initial visit. but still its roma.

i was thinking between venice, florence, milan, and pisa. i thought the simple would be to do venice 2 days, florence 5 days, and rome 4 days. but maybe a first time visit to milan is better than a return trip to rome. the thrill of planning, the agony of planning.

5 days in Florence would be quite a lot, unless you are really, really, really into Renaissance art and plan to take lots of day trips.

I admit that Florence is one of my least favorite of the major tourist destingations in Europe, but I'm not a big fan of Renaissance art and architecture.

I like Florence, but love Venice and would suggest adding at least one day on the Venice, even 2 unless you plan on doing some day trips from Florence.

well actually my best friend and i are very open to possibilities. we are even trying to find a way to spend the time we would have in rome in a new city rather than revisit rome. but venice 3 days seems like a good idea. and maybe only 3 days in florence. does that seem to be an ok start?

open to suggestions for other cities? and we are flexible to extend our trip to up to 13 days. as we are flying into and out of heathrow we'll probably leave a day at the end to unwind in london. so that would leave me 6 unaccounted days (3 venice, 3 florence, 1 london).

Hi uc,

>...venice 2 days, florence 5 days, and rome 4 days.<

Very nice, but since you have been to Rome once, you might want to add a day (or even 2) to Venice.

Many people recommend a daytrip to Ostia Antica from Rome. Orvieto is also a very nice daytrip.

Pompeii is a very long day, but doable. See www.enjoyrome.com for a daytrip that does *not* include a factory visit.

Enjoy your visit.

PS,

Have you considered Naples, Florence and Venice?

the last two years we've gone to london, rome, paris. and have stayed between 5-7 days in each of those cities. could it be wiser to do florence and venice, then fly to another "big" city in another country. that way we would have 5-6 days for another big city.

i was thinking of naples for a day trip from rome if time permitted, but it wasn't high on the priority list. maybe i'll look into naples some more.

would it be nuts to leave italy after 6-7 days and go off to Prague?

Why the big cities? A big city is a big city no matter the country. The real flavor is in the small towns. Here is a suggestion:

Arrive Rome: 2-3 days
Lucca: 4-5 days
From here you can see Siena, Florence, Pisa, Chianti area and much more, Plus LUCCA which is a charming town.
Depart Venice: 2-3 days

If you stay the shorter period, squeeze in 2-3 days in Umbria--that would be Perugia area---so much history!

JMHO

<<would it be nuts to leave italy after 6-7 days and go off to Prague?>>

Maybe. You might want to look at available flights (if any) from VCE to PRG first. Also look at available open jaw options from your hometown first. Otherwise, consider looking at another city you can easily get to from VCE (there are many).

i am probably being naive here, but my thinking was that i've only seen 3 of the major travel cities and that i should probably see some more the major tourist cities before drilling down further. but that could be a wrong way of looking at things.

i have never heard of lucca, some research will be needed. good thing is that i haven't booked anything yet...so still very flexible.

You're not being naive. Everything comes down to personal preference. Some love cities, some smaller towns, others prefer wilderness, and still others vacation nowhere but tropical beaches. Just visit whatever strikes your fancy.

Hi ucsun,

Naples as a daytrip from Rome is not recommended.

Too far to travel and not enough time to see the town.