Itinerary
 

Hi all,
My husband and I just booked our tickets to Italy for May 15th-29th (first class thanks to frequent flier miles!!). Anyways, we fly into Rome and out of Venice and are having a tough time trying to figure out the number of days to spend in each city. Right now we are thinking 4 nights Rome, 3 nights Florence, 3 nights Venice. That leaves us with 3 nights that we'd like to do around Tuscany (Siena, etc??). Where would be a good place to stay for 3 nights? Or, would you add a day somewhere else and only do 2 nights in Tuscany area?
FYI - My husband and I are in our late 20's, enjoy dining and wine, shopping and want to see all the "must sees", but don't want to spend a ton of time in musueums looking at art and such.
THANKS SO MUCH!!! Erica

Hello. Here are some tips that will help you get more information out of these boards.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34534346

bon voyage

Based on what you say you are looking for I'd actually cut Florence down to two nights. I think the nights in Rome and Venice are fine. I'd then spend the other 4 nights in Tuscany. I'd get a car and spend the time in Pienza or Montepulciano (or any of a dozen other hill towns) and spend the days exploring the area. I'd probably actually take the train from Rome to Orvieto and get the car, do the Tuscany bit, then drop the car off on arrival in Florence. You could spend a night in Orvieto (you'll get there mid morning from Rome) then three nights somewhere else.

If you aren't interested in art and museums, I think I would tend to agree with Patrick. However, I am not sure what a "ton of time" is for you. Florence is an art town, but the shopping is also wonderful.

There isn't much shopping in towns like Pienza (unless you want cheese) but Montalcino has charming shops and good wine. Siena is a lovely and interesting town. Patrick's suggestion for a car for this area is a good one.

Buona Sera Erica,

I totally agree with Patrick. If you are not much into museums, cut back on Florence and spend more time in the beautiful Tuscan countryside. You will have a lovely, balanced trip and a great first overview of Italy.

Buon viaggio!

Siena makes a good base for exploring Tuscany, and you can also spend a night or two in Umbria (Orvieto, for example) which I hear is also lovely.

Tuscanlifeedit, are you suggesting there is anything more worthwhile shopping for than cheese?

MDTravel - I know, the subject isn't good - I tried to change it and it ended up posting this one and the new one. My mistake.

So, maybe 4 nights Rome, 1 night Orvieto, 3 nights Siena or Montepulciano, 2 nights Florence, 3 nights Venice? Is this too many places?

Once we get our itinerary figured out, then we can do hotels and such. I think figuring out where to go and for how long is the hardest part!

Thanks again!

Perfect, perfect!! I highly recommend staying overnight in Orvieto. It's a wonderful, unique town. So much to see, do, eat, drink!

Be sure to:

do the underground tour
see the Etruscan tomb archeological excavation
Duomo
lots of wonderful ceramics shops and art galleries
the evening passaggiata
try the local wine, Orvieto Classico

Congratulations, you'll have a great time!

Erical77, it was in Rome that we fell in love with Italian food...Definitely 4 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Venice, and I agree with 2 nights in Florence if you aren't that into art museums, although Florence has good food too. But I liked Siena much more than florence...Tuscany is wonderful, spend 4 nights in Tuscany. We stayed in both florence and siena.

Food is expensive in Italy especially when you look at the value of the U.S.dollar compared to the Euro. and the bad food costs the same (or sometimes more) than the great food. so do some restaurant research and bring a list with you, plus a good map of Italy.

Buon viaggio!

HI
You may find it helpful to go through this thread, it is a collection of a lot of information on various places in Italy, and where to find more info

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34443340

(Helpful Information Italy)

Hi eric,

>Right now we are thinking 4 nights Rome, 3 nights Florence, 3 nights Venice. That leaves us with 3 nights ..<

A few suggestions:

Add one night to Rome and visit Orvieto as a day trip. Have lunch at I Sette Consoli.

Add 2 nights to Florence. Visit Siena as a daytrip and Bologna as a daytrip.

Or add one night to Florence and one night to Venice.

>..don't want to spend a ton of time in musueums looking at art and such. <

Too bad. You are going to the greatest collection of "art and such" in the Western World.

You might find the Florence part of my trip report helpful:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451044

Ira, I know you often suggest extending Florence and using it as a base for day trips. I'm just curious. I actually hate Florence as a city. I enjoy its attractions and museums, but I can't think of a much worse town to return to each night. I guess I don't understand why stay there instead of any of those much more charming places. I'd much rather stay in Siena for example and go out from there, rather than "put up" with the crazy tourism and overpriced places of Florence by returning there each night.

Hi Patrick,

Maybe I'm too naive.

We didn't find Florence overly touristed or overpriced.

Of our 12 days there, six were in the city and six were spent visited other towns and cities.

Florence is very well located for visits as far as Orvieto and Venice.

If you get up early, you can see the major sights before the tour buses descend on them; have a long lunch; see some of the minor sights or ride a bus from end to end in the afternoon; go up to Fiesole for an aperitif and watch the sunset or make passageta along the shopping streets before dinner.

At night, we wandered around looking at the lighted monuments or walked along the river (almost like being in Paris). :)

I think our only disappointment was that the great works in the Uffizi are behind plastic shields and looked washed out.

Hope this helps.

((I))

Erica -- this sounds startlingly similar to exactly our planned trip (are you following us?)! Same starting and ending points, almost same dates. But between Rome and Florence (we're only doing 2 nights there) we're going to Sorrento, from where we'll do Pompeii and a little Amalfi. Since we have a couple of more days than you, we are also doing Bellagio on Lake Como before we finish up in Venice.

You might consider either one if you want to reduce your time in Tuscany.

Hi Erica,

We did a similar trip last May. I personally wouldn't drop time from Florence. We spent pretty much 2 full days there and wished we had more time. We are not museum people either, but we did go see David. Florence was our favorite for dining and shopping on our trip. Siena is much more limited. Click on my name if you want to read my trip report. Have fun!

Although we are definitely museum people, we loved Florence for many other reasons. IMHO, 3 nights is not too long at all. Less time and you miss the liveliness of the city, the wonderful sidewalk restaurants and cafes, wonderful food and the great shopping. However, museum lovers or not, there is so much wonderful art in Florence that you should take time to see some of it.

I agree with Patrick. Spend time in rural Tuscany--2 days in Florence is adequate. Train from Rome to Chiusi for your car and stay on the S-146 corridor. Look at www.palazzodelcapitano.com

I totally agree with Patrick's suggestions. I would personally cut out Florence altogether for 3 reasons.
1. Since you are not into art, you can get the same "look & feel" in Siena, which is less crouded & easier to get in/out in May
2. With Rome & Venice included in your itinerary, you will be in big cities, with big crowds, & big noise. I've had many people tell me that they had a meltdown in Florence because of the crowds. I would welcome a lot of quiet country mixed in.
3. The Tuscany countryside is breathtaking that time of year, with all the winter wheat still green & covering the hills like a velvet lawn (southern Tuscany).

I do not like Ira's suggestion of using Florence as a base. I've never tried it, so I'm just guessing here, but isn't Orvieto 2 1/2 hrs away (door to door) from Florence on the freeway. If you leave Florence anytime after 9:00, you will get to Orvieto just 1 1/2 hrs before almost everything closes for a 2 hr lunch. I would not want to spend 5 hrs doing "freeway" driving in a single day. Also - are you really suggesting Venice as a day trip from Florence ????

I have a 20+ page itinerary on Italy, with a heavy dose of Tuscany. Our closest friends have a second home there, and we've spent a considerable amount of time with them. E-mail me at [email protected] if you want a copy.

Stu Dudley
San Mateo (San Francisco), Ca