Our January trip to Italy!
 

We have tickets "on hold" using miles to fly from NYC to Venice on January 5th and back home from Rome on January 13th. I've read quite a few posts about the weather, and it was suggested to me that we skip Venice and just do Rome/Florence. The problem is that there are no "miles" flights into Rome or Florence - only Venice.
Any suggestions? Should we brave the cold and do Venice? This will be our first trip to Italy (well, I went when I was 11, but I can barely remember anything except the delicious food).

Thanks!

dbmailin, weather is always "iffy". If Jan. is when you can travel than do so IMHO. If you are not happy with Venice than take train to Florence and than Rome. You have an open jaw ticket which is great.

Travel is an adventure. And you will have a great time I am sure.

dbmalkin, I'm visiting Venice at the end of December. There's a fair chance of acqua alta, but based on what posters have said here and elsewhere, this is more or less manageable. I can't imagine cold would be too great an impediment for you if you are in NYC. But if for some reason I can't handle walking around Venice one of the days when I'm there (I've already paid for the hotel), I'll just take a daytrip by train out to various places like Padua or Vicenza or Verona. Also based on posters' experiences, there's a good chance you will have significantly reduced crowds, which is a big plus, IMO.

I have visited Venice in the winter(one week in December), it was chilly but not as cold as northeast coast,sometimes even quite warm. Actually I perfer Venice in the winter than in spring or summer: far fewer tourists (last summer, it was so crowded I couldn't get into Duomo), easy to visit interesting sites/restaurants, cheaper accommadations.

1. It's a maritime city just like NYC. How bad can it be? (I'm from central Canada)

2. High tides may indeed be a problem BUT:

Imagine seeing the Piazza San Marco (as I have) when it's covered with duck-walks -- and mist. The violet shades around the lamp standards casting an eerily warm glow. The smell of the sea. What's not to love?

BTW: I was there in the first week of February this year: Three days of unbroken sunshine.

And if I recall my festivals aright, you'll be there for la Beffana -- 12th Night, to us -- their traditional Christmas.

DBM - I visited Venice last January ... and it snowed. Quite magical!

Go for it!

Steve

Hi db,

>... it was suggested to me that we skip Venice and just do Rome/Florence.<

Bad suggestion. If anything, skip Rome and do Florence and Venice. You only have 7 days.

You will be in Venice anyway, and most of the posters have been encouraging rather than the opposite.

You have to leave from Rome, so if you only have seven days, the obvious second city is Rome. (Although he has never been there, Ira most often discourages people from visiting Rome. I have been there, many times, and I would suggest that it would be a far more interesting experience to spend time there than in Florence.)

There are PALM TREES in Venice!!! so you know it won't get very "cold" for very long..GO for it. And the "high tides" like high tides everywhere do NOT last all day, either.

On my first trip to Italy, I think it was about 8 days, I flew into Venice and out of Rome, but only visited Venice and Florence, the only place in Rome I saw was the airport.
On the next trip I visited Venice and Rome, so either itinerary is a good idea imo.
Rome is quite an experience in itself, I'm not sorry that I didn't try to squeeze it in the first time around.

Florence and Venice are very small and very very crowded in high season, so seeing them in winter (especially Florence) does have some advantages.
But imo, there is no bad time to go to Venice.

I have files on these cities; if you'd like to see them and your email can accept large attachments, email me at
[email protected]

>(Although he has never been there, Ira most often discourages people from visiting Rome.) <

Actually, I have been there.

Db arrives Venice on 1/6 and departs Rome on 1/13. This leaves 7 days of sightseeing. I would see Venice and Florence and spend the night of the 12th in Rome, because I prefer Florence.

If db would prefer 3 days in Venice and 4 days in Rome, that is also OK, but I wouldn't skip Venice.

I agree with Elaine.

I was in Venice on Boxing Day one year & it was the coldest I've ever been - & I live in Scotland. On the mainland it was sunny but out in the lagoon it was foggy, damp & too cold to walk around for more than about 20 minutes at a time. And there was still a queue for St Mark's. Since you are going to Rome anyway & you haven't been before, I'd go straight there : there's more than enough to do there for 8 days.

Author: ira
Date: 08/14/2004, 03:40 pm
Message: >But I do not quite understand how someone who this morning stated "I have been to Italy a number of times and have not yet seen Rome" can express a *preference* for Florence and Venice.<

Well, there are things called books as well as other forms of information sharing.

If one had to visit everywhere in order to determine if one wanted to go there, one could waste one's life in the wrong places.

Couldn't one?

Author: ira
Date: 08/13/2004, 10:53 am
Message: Hi mrap,

I have been to Italy a number of times and have not yet seen Rome.