Itinerary advice needed for our trip to Rome & Tuscany
 

Hello, We will be traveling in April with our 2 year old toddler for one week in Rome and one week in Tuscany and wondered which would be easier....fly into Rome and then fly out of Florence? Or should we fly in and out of Rome?

We are also trying to figure out which places to stay in Tuscany and which areas to daytrip to. Any advice would greatly be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Jennifer

JenniferW,
Send me an e-mail and I will send you some ideas of where to go in Tuscany.

Henry

Make your travel decision by checking on airfare from your originating city. From where we live, flights to the Florence airport are enough more expensive that when we go to northern Italy, we fly to Milan or Venice (that is, if we are visiting Venice).

Open jaws flights are usually better. Those are flights that fly into one place and out of another; that way, you don't have to return to where you started from.

Some people like to start their trips from a quieter, slower-paced location, such as Tuscany. But that would mean that, wherever you fly into, you'll need to get from the airport to your Tuscan location. If you fly into Rome, it would be relatively easier to get from the Rome airport to your hotel in Rome.

Rome is, as a big city, noisy and bustling. I love the city, but go here first if you're mentally prepared for that.

Tuscany is a big place, with many wonderful places to stay and daytrip to. Do some searches here at Travel Talk to get ideas. Two main areas seem to be southern Tuscany, with towns like Siena, Monalcino, Montelpulciano, Pienza; and northern Tuscany, which would include the Chianti area, San Gimignano, and as far north as Pisa. Both are wonderful. And Tuscany, of course, is the region in which Florence is located. Are you considering visiting Florence?

Since
rome and Florence are only 95 minutes apart by train (city center to city center - - not exactly true, Fiumicino to center of Florence), I agree that you should chooose a flight that is most convenient, best priced and/or offers you the "best" routing (in the eyes of the beholder, perhaps). A roundtrip in to/out of Rome is hardly a terrible idea for this trip.

I have never traveled on a trip of this length with a toddler (who still needs a nap, daily, right?) - - but I think you need a place where you can siesta with your child. For Rome (maybe Florence too), I would think that an apartment with a patio would be a nice thing; it would make it easiest to stop and restart your day, and the odds are in your favor to be able to do some sunbathing, in the warmest part of the afternoon.

Best wishes,

Rex

Oh - - and the risk of seeming adversarial - - I think that the post by "Henry" flies in the face of the way this forum works. Have good ideas to share? Share them with everyone here.

Lexma90, My husband and I have been to Florence and Rome on previous trips (pre-baby) but we only took a day trip to Chianti so we would love to explore Tuscany this time.

We were thinking of starting out in Rome first and then slowing down and relaxing more the second part of the trip in Tuscany.

I just don't know where to begin since there are all these great areas in Tuscany. I was wondering if anyone had any favorites to reccomend?

Jennifer

One of the first threads I read on this site was:

Call Me Crazy - I went to Italy with a Toddler , and Loved Every Moment (almost...) A Trip Report: Rome and Tuscany

Do a search for this title...I think it will help you!

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34802236

We loved Southern Tuscany with Montepulciano, Pienza and Montalcino. But almost as good was San Gimignano (never made it to Lucca but will some day!). Cortona and Chianti should be done first because I think they are wonderful but not quite as wonderful as the others!!