Need Help with a 12 day trip to Italy
 

Taking a first time trip to Italy with two friends we are all very active and upbeat. Looking to fit as much as we can in on our trip. Flying into Venice and out of Venice . We will be arriving mid day on Oct 27 2011 and leaving Nov 9th in the morning. We are wanting to visit Venice Florence Rome and Tuscany. Looking for any and all advice on a itinerary for our trip. This is our first time out of the states.

we will be gone 14 days but have 12 fulls days to play.

Are you planning to rent a car and drive or are you using trains etc. I can send you a 10 day tour that 6 off use did in 2006 which included a week in a villa in Tuscany, we used rental car
KiwiPete

I assume it's too late to book your tickets into Rome and out of Venice or vice versa? (An "Open Jaw"?) FYI, that's very typical when flying from the States to/from Europe - it usually doesn't cost any more and sometimes winds up costing less than a round-trip ticket. Otherwise, you'll waste time getting back from Rome to Venice. A one-way trip between Rome and Venice would be more practical.

FYI, the trains are excellent in Italy and not that expensive. They work great for all of your listed destinations except Tuscany (assuming you want to tour around the smaller towns; Florence is in Tuscany) then obviously you want to rent a car. You could rent a car just in Tuscany and take the trains everywhere else, but if you feel confident driving in Italy you could rent a car the entire time - for three people, you might slightly break even or save some money vs. train fare. I personally love train travel and try to avoid driving in Europe unless I must.

Otherwise - if you must do Venice to Venice, I'd fly into Venice, immediately head for Florence, then Tuscany, then Rome, then back up to Venice and spend the last few days there.

How many days to spend in each place depends on what most interests you. All of these places are touristy and full of history, but Florence's main appeal (in my opinion) is the museums. If you are all art buffs you may wish to spend more time there and in Rome; if not art buffs, probably less time in Florence.

There are numerous threads on Fodor's about Italy - page through them. Pick up a travel book (I prefer Rick Steves myself; you can watch all of his PBS Europe travel shows for free on Hulu.com on your computer). Ask specific questions if you aren't sure about something, once you've picked a rough itinerary.

Its is to late to change my tickets with out a huge fee. We do Plan on flying into vencie staying the night and then heading straight to Florence. We planned on using the train the most but if renting a car is cheaper and just as easy we would not mind that at all.I would love to go to Pisa if I am able. We are not huge art buffs but would like to see as much as we can. Really interested in visting the vineyards and would love to take a cooking class. I heard the best shopping was in Florence? I love History in all so any historical sites you can reccommend that are not so widely known about already would be great. Thanks to you all for your help.

For your city destinations, a car is more of a liability than a help. Venice is obvious -- streets full of water! The historic center of Florence is so compact you can walk across in half an hour, and the Santa Maria Novella (SMN) train station Is right there. So no need for a car. Rome is insane for traffic, and many areas do not allow unregistered cars, and you are likely to get a whopping traffic fine after you get home because you were caught in a no drive zone on camera. (they go through the car rental agencies). You might want a car for a couple of days in Tuscany, but that it all. Or you could just take a bus to Siena from Florence and back before going on to Rome.

I am not sure whether there is a minimum age restriction on renting cars. You did not say how old you were. I would check AutoEurope and Kemwel to see, if you are under 25.

Charnees, thanks for the advice. Definitely will wait to rent a car in Tuscany. Have you heard anything about airbnb.com?

I don't know much about airbnb. You can look for short term vacation rentals if you are staying three or more days somewhere. ( There are some places that only rent for a full week, but many in the cities accept fewer days) Sleepinitaly.com is one site to check. Also for Tuscany do a search for an agriturismo -- a farm that has tourist accommodations. Many of them are quite carefully developed to accommodate guests.

If you are not huge art buffs and are interested in shopping and vineyards, you would do better to rent a car and stay someplace outside of Florence, near Montevarchi, where the outlets and the vinyards are. Take a day trip to Florence using public transportation -- or drop off the car at the Pisa train station, stow your luggage in the station, tour Pisa, pick up your luggage, take the train to Florence and spend a night or two before heading to Rome.

I don't know what a "huge" charge would be for changing your tickets to open-jaw, but whatever it is, I would divide it by 11, and divide it again by 3, and see if you can live with that as a per person per day surcharge.

In general, Italy is one great big historical sight, so what you really need to do is get a guide book. Fodor's guide to Italy has extensive information on shopping, vinyards and historical sights in Tuscany and Rome.

Thanks zepppole, I downloaded the guide book and love all of the info!! I looked up flights and it's cheaper to book another flight from Naples to Venice instead of changing my current flight from Venice. It's also cheaper than taking the train..... Would love your input on the current plan:
Venice- Bologna (1 night) Siena (4 nights) Rome (4 nights) Naples (2 nights) Venice (1 night) depart following day.

I suggest 2 nights Venice, 3 nights Siena (and a stop for lunch in Bologna or Florence, as you prefer). I'm a huge fan of Bologna and not so much of Venice, but I think you might appreciate 2 nights in Venice after your plane flight.

You can stop for lunch in either Bologna or Florence or Pisa on the day you go to Siena. You can stow your luggage at the train station and walk to the historic center of either town. (But if you get off in Florence, switch to taking a bus to Siena. )

If you don't see Florence en route to Siena, on the day you leave Siena for Rome, take the bus to Florence, stow your luggage at the train station, have a look at Florence, then go to Rome.

Another way of getting to Rome from Siena is to take the bus.

I would not spend the first night in Venice. Since you will arrive mid-day and you may as well head straight to Florence for your first few nights. It's a bother to keep checking in and out/changing hotels (especially one nighters). Put all of your Venice nights at the end of the trip so you can actually have some time to see something in Venice.

I would spend the first 3-4 nights in Florence (easy to day trip to Pisa by train if it's a must see or Siena by Sita bus). From Florence you can train to Rome in 90 minutes. You really don't have time to add in Naples. From Rome, train back to Venice for a few nights.

As much moving around as you've listed in such little time, I'm afraid you are going to be spending all your time on transport instead of actually seeing the cities.

I think how much time you have to do things should be dictated by your interests. If you want to see Naples, you have time to do it. You are spending 12 days in Italy! But you only have 12 days, and you would rather see someplace else, then go someplace else.

I agree that it might be a good idea to put Venice at the end of your trip, and head to Tuscany upon arriving in Italy -- provided all 3 of you have very good reason to believe you won't need to rest and can handle the extra hours of travel after you get off a lone plane flight. Also, Florence is a much different place from Siena.

Some people plan their trips around the idea of what they most specifically want to see in Italy, and put in the extra effort to get there. Other people pick one or two compact areas of general interest to them, and see the sights most easily seen and avoid switching hotels or cities. Plenty of people enjoy both kinds of trips. The three of you should try to figure out what you would enjoy.

OK the time is nearing and getting excited, I think we will be putting Venice at the end of the trip. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a place in Tuscany for a half day of horse back riding.