HappyTraveling

Hi,
We have only 5 days in Italy and would like to spend time both in Rome and Venice. Which of these 2 cities would you recommend us to spend more time in?

Day1 Arrive Rome at 1230
Day2
Day3
Day4
Day5 Depart Venice at 1700

Any suggestions are most appreciated!

Thanks!

ira

Hi HT,

There are many who would tell you to spend the whole time in Rome.

There are many who would tell you to spend the whole time in Venice.

I suggest that you fly into Venice, spend three days, train to Florence and fly out from there (or out of Venice if you can't).

yk

I'd say:
Day 1-3 Rome
Day 3 late afternoon/evening head to Venice
Day 4-5 Venice

Assuming you are flying into Rome, by the time you get into the city and check into your hotel, your 1st day is pretty much all gone. You didn't say where you are flying from, but if you are flying from the US, you'll be very jet-lagged on Day 1 as well.

I'm sure you'll get different suggestions from others here.

nytraveler

Well, actually you have 3 days in Italy - with parts of 2 others. If there are any travel deIays you will be down to 3 and part of 1. I would definitely do one city only - or you will see very little of either.

jmb67

I would stay in just one city, as your first day would be shot, and probably won't have any time on your last day. You will really only have about three and a half days.

panucci

Do you have to fly out of Venice? Much of your trip will be on a train and a plane. I would stay in one city and day trip to towns near by. Florence/Siena, Rome/Orvieto, Venice/Verona, Milan/Como. My first choice would be Rome.

rex

Is this trip arriving from departing back to another continent? What season?

Depending on the answers, I might advise fly into Venice, and stay there the whole time.

Best wishes,

Rex

HappyTraveling

Thanks for all your advice. We are flying into Rome and taking the train from Rome to Venice and departing Venice by the Celebrity Med. cruise.

francophile03

I'd suggest 5 days all in Rome. Five days is not enough actually in my opinion.

ira

Hi HT,

In that case, I suggest that you immediately train to Florence, stay 2 nights, train to Venice and stay there before taking your cruise.

platzer

Trying to do Rome and Venice in 5 days is crazy. The travel time will kill half to 2/3 of a day. I like Venice better than Rome. If I had only had 2-3 days, I'd pick Venice. You can see the basics easily in that time. But if I had 5 days, I'd go to Rome. It's a lot bigger with more to see.

dickv2

Good morning, have to agree that Venice would be your best bet for the entire five days, however if you fly into and out of Marco Polo, get a later flite as some flites leave very,
very early in the morning and it is difficult to get to the airport that early... Richard of LaGrange Park, IL>
Romance for Venice, History for Rome!@!!

Sue_xx_yy

Must needs where needs arise. Your parameters I assume are fixed, so here goes:

Day 1. Arrive Rome at 1230, make your way to your hotel in the Vatican City by 15:00. After a rest, see St. Peter's dome or the cathedral, as you wish. Note the dome elevator closes at 1830; you will need to allow 90 minutes to allow for the waiting line and time to go up and down.
Day 2. Commute to the Colosseum area and stroll past the Colosseum and the Forum to the Capitoline Hill. Warning: you won't have time to visit these places, just stroll through or around. After lunch near the Pantheon, continue your stroll past the Trevi fountain and up to the Spanish steps. Have a coffee break, then head back to the Vatican City for the late afternoon. See St. Peter's dome or the cathedral, depending on what you did Day 1. Spend your 2nd night at your VC hotel.
Day 3. Grab the Eurostar train at either 0855 or 1055 and arrive in Venice at 1328 or 1528 (lunch on the train.) Settle into your hotel. Explore a little of Venice after a rest.
Day 4. St. Mark's square stuff.
Day 5. Explore a little of Venice. After a late lunch, collect your bags from your hotel and head to your cruise ship.

This is a pretty fast 'slide show' of both places, but I suspect you were prepared for this. Enjoy your trip.

rex

Still didn't answer the question of whether an intercontinental flight is involved - - but I'll assume that you're coming from the US, since this forum is so "Americo-centric" (with regard to the origin of the travelers going to Europe).

So, it's true, you'll likely have low energy or high risk of grumpiness (or both) the first day. I would NOT advisea Vatican City hotel. nd I don't understand what is meant by &quot;St. Peter's Dome or the cathedral&quot;. St. Peter's is a <i>Piazza</i> in front of a <i>Basilica</i> which has, as its central feature, the largest dome of any church in the world. So, I don't know what &quot;one or the other&quot; might mean - - maybe <i>climbing</i> the dome? I wouldn't even put that in Rome's top ten.

I'd advise staying in the Centro Storico, and maybe schedule an overview tour the first day (on foot versus by vehicle depends on your age or other factors). You can squeeze in the Colosseum and &quot;all of the Vatican&quot; - - i.e., both St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums (Sistine Chapel) - - all into day two, and maybe even take in an evening of the Trevi-Piazza Navona axis before you collapse. (A lot depends on what time you wake up on day two - - I find it difficult to avoid 8 pm as bedtime on night one, and thus often wake up at 4 or so, on day two).

I generally agree with the train from Rome to Venice on the morning of day three - - though for most first time travelers to Rome, I would routinely recommend no fewer than four nights there. And ideally, not making it your first destination in Italy (it is <i>so</i> &quot;intense&quot; - - takes a day or two of getting used to <i>Italy</i> befoer you take on Rome).

ira

As Rex says,

&gt;..(it is so &quot;intense&quot; - - takes a day or two of getting used to Italy befoer you take on Rome).&lt;

Which is why I recommend going straight on to Venice.

suze

I also would skip Rome &gt;5 days for these 2 places is crazy! and go immediately to Venice, by plane or train. Assuming jet lag a 1-2day whirl around the intense city of Rome give me a migraine just thinking about it! While on the other hand, Venice is extremely do-able with no pre-planning necessary, peaceful and walkable; truly a small gem, a unique and magical place.

Sue_xx_yy

My apologies for my errors in terminology. I should have stated, one can take the elevator to the roof of St. Peter's, with a climb up to the dome if so desired. I suggested this since the view of Rome from these areas was in our experience an easy low-key introduction to the city. As noted, the day of arrival is likely to be pretty tiring and possibly subject to delays, so something not too intense or critical seemed a good idea.

As the OP has yet to return giving further specifics, my assumption was that this would be considered but a first-draft round of responses. Much depends on whether our assumptions will be validated or refuted by the OP. In the meantime, Rex, given that you have found me guilty of spreading travel heresy, I can but urge you to take your case to the Vatican. We heretics are a hard bunch to stamp out, and they should know.

lesliec1

Hi. You can't do justice to either Rome or Venice in your short amount of time, but that's no reason not to sample a little of both if you want to and can afford to. A lot of the folks who post here are really experienced travelers, and I'm a veteran of only 1 recent trip to Italy, so their advice is worth listening to--I know it sure helped us. But you can pack a lot into a day, and if you're energetic, and not the type who gets sidelined with jet lag, you can hit the ground running and actually accomplish a lot. I have posted a Trip Report of the Italy part of our trip on this site, not that it should be a model for anyone else, but it does show how much we crammed into our 2 days in Rome, 2 days in Florence, and 2-plus-a-bit days in Venice. AFter our trip, I asked my kids if they would have preferred a more in-depth stay at fewer places and a more leisurely pace and they said no, so if it's what you want, go for it!

sealady

I recently did the Celebrity Med cruise. It is awsome. Once you board the ship, you will have a night in Venice. The ship will provide transportation to San Marco, so that day , you will be able to see the major sights. We stayed 2 nights prior in Venice and really felt that we saw it. I have to say though, that it is a magical
place. Rome has many things that you will probably want to see. I would suggest 3 nights in Rome and 2 in Venice. Then when the ship goes back to Rome, you can see anything that you may have missed. It is easy and convenient to take the train from Civitevecia to Rome.
Enjoy your trip and say &quot;Hi&quot; to John the port lecturer for me. ( I was the &quot;independent&quot; TA on the May 21 cruise)

Melissajoy

My advice is to spend most of your time in Rome, what a fantastic, exciting city, it's just thrilling, and then spend only 1 night in Venice. One night in Rome would just be silly, you wouldn't see anything, literally, but 1 night in Venice is at least enough to see Wow! I'm really in Venice! The city of canals! Take a gondola ride, ride the vaporetto standing at the railing, it's better than missing Venice all together.

I agree that it would be better to spend all of your time in rome, but you have already mentioned you have to go to Venice anyway to get a cruise from there...I think that's what you said...so since you have to go to Venice anyway you might as well spend a night there...

I saw Rome, Florence, Venice, Sorrento, Siena, and Venice with my family for the first time in June. My first glimpse of Venice, standing at the railing of the vaporetto we were riding, was a memory I will never forget...even if I had turned right around and left Venice, that 1 glimpse would still be imprinted on my memory!

Rome, however, cannot be seen in 1 glimpse! It really does take 24 hours to adjust to Rome, to figure out where you are on the map, to actually try to follow the directions the hotel gives you, to adjust to jet lag, to get on the right bus going in the right direction...You can't see Rome in fewer than 3 nights minimum, and 4 or 5 nights in rome is far better. We had 4 nights in rome, and it was really fun and exciting!