Attempting to plan out a 7 full day itinerary in Venice/Florence. One glitch is that I am arriving/departing out of Venice (flying on miles and using open jaw already). Here is what I was thinking. Any thoughts appreciated:

Spend first three days and nights in Venice.
Day 4: Take early train to Florence. I was thinking of staying in Florence for next 3 days (including side trips to Siena and Pisa or other towns) and then taking the train back to Venice for the last night. Also should I train/bus/drive to Siena and Pisa? Can Siena and Pisa be done in the same day?

Any thoughts on properly using my time and recommendations for how to plan out these cities is appreciated.

I am not going to make many recommendations, having only been to italy twice before,and not yet to Florence
(but leaving for there in 5 days !!!!!)
Plus i am very much biased towards Rome :- )

do you like to move around ,
staying in many places during a trip,
or are you more like me ,
and like to "settle in" ?

Personally, I would land in Venice, spend two nights, then go forth to wherever , and return back to Venice for last night.

We enjoyed Venice, and were lucky to spend 5 nights there before moving on, but if I had only 6 nights (is this correct?)
I would want to go inland and see more of Umbria/Tuscany.

Pisa and Siena probably can be done the same day if you make it a really long one, training back to florence after dinner.
But as they are in different directions, ????????

I guess my real reason for replying is topping your post.It is almost wake-up time on the east coast.

Have fun planning and have a blast in Italy whenever you are going.

You're going to have a ball whatever you decide!

Regarding Siena & Pisa -- I would do them on separate days. What you may want to do is this:
Pisa/Lucca: can be done by train out of Florence -- my wife & I did this last year
Siena: take a bus from the bus station a block or so from the train station; you may also want to consider doing San Gimignano & Siena in a day by bus out of Florence. We did that. But if we had to do it again we would probably just enjoy a full day in Siena. Make sure you climb the tower! It's awesome.

Happy trails.

Bob

With only three days in Florence, I would suggest cutting Siena out of your itinerary. Siena is not THAT easy to get to from Florence and travelling there means to leve very early in the morning and be back late in the evening, having spent too few hours in Siena. IMHO, you may instead combine a trip to Pisa (by train, one hour and a half) and Lucca (on the same railway line, one hour). You may consider leaving from Florence early in the morning with a train from Santa Maria Novella, arrive in Pisa, have a look at Piazza del Campo wile the main crowds re not yet there, than moving back to the station catch your train back to Lucca, where you may consder spending the main part of the day (in Pisa, once you have seen Piazza del Campo there is little left to se, since the city was heavily bombed by the Allies during Ww2 so the most part of it has been built after 1945) and go back to Florence in the evening. While Pisa is west of Florence, Siena is southeast of Florence: no way to hit them both on the same day, ot if you want to see something and not just trains' of buses' insides.

I like your time allocation between Venice and Florence. You need to research the Eurostar train schedule and decide before you arrive in Venice where you will buy the tickets at and for what time.
Try to stay awake the first day.
Since you have only 2 1/2 days in Florence I would not do a side trip, but if you want you should choose between Pisa/Lucca(by train) or Siena(by bus). I did both trips and they were equally easy to coordinate. If you like museums you should have your hotel in Florence reserve tickets for the Uffizi and Accademia museums.
Good Luck!

Thanks for the responses. They have been helpful. I arrive in Venice around 9 in the morning on a Tuesday and do not leave until the following Tuesday, so I have 7 full days and 7 nights. (speaking of which is there a mode of transportation from the airport that you would suggest.)

I am starting to think I will spend days/nights 1-3 in Venice. Wake up early on Day 4 and train to florence for the next 3 nights. Spend the rest of day 4 and day 5 in Florence. Go to Pisa/Lucca on Day 6 and then back to Florence at night. Spend the first half of day 7 in Florence and then train back to Venice for the night.

I am beginning to realize that the 2 side trips + the travelling to/from venice does involve a lot of train time. Since I have always wanted to go to Pisa I am thinking of cutting Siena....at this point.

Am I cutting Florence to short? Thanks again for your suggestions.

With so little time, probably not 8although I like it better than Venice). I would consider fitting ina daytrip from Venice too, maybe something along the Brenta (the cruise is GREAT but it takes two full days) or towards Treviso or Padova.

Try to be flexible. IMO, Venice is fabulous and I am lukewarm on Florence. You may love Florence. If not, you can head on back to Venice and adjust your days accordingly.

Have fun and go with the flow!!

With just 3 days in Venice, you won't have time for any day trips. We had 4-1/2 days in Venice on our first visit there and didn't even have time get to the Accademia, the Guggenheim, or any of the other islands (Murano, Burano, Torcello, San Michele, the Lido, etc.)

Hi,

I would follow Alice's advice.

To each his own. Like Alice Twain, I also prefer Florence over Venice. But you won't know yourself until you get there.... What is guaranteed is that you'll want to spend more time wherever you go, and you also can't make a bad decision.

Continuing to enjoy the input of experienced travelers to Italy.

nanb!!!! buon viaggio!!

JEAN: the naked truth is that I prefer my bathroom to Venice: it's just as humid, but smells better ^_^