Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome Itinerary
 

We are planning an anniversary trip to Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome. We only have 10 days but want to see as much as possible, even if we only get a glimpse of some sights. Airline tickets are purchased and cannot be changed, so Paris and Rome are set. Trying to lock in the intinerary in order to reserve hotels. Presently, the tentative itinerary (including travel) is Paris - 3 days, fly to Venice - 2 days, train to Florence - 2 days, and then train to Rome - 3 days. Would love to hear from those who have experience with a similar schedule or who might give helpful suggestions toward a wonderful trip. Thanks.

Is the first day of Paris the day of your arrival? If so it is not a full day, and probably should be spent mainly by walking around because of jet lag if you are coming from anywhere but another part of Europe. Your travel to Venice is on the first Venice day or the last Paris day? If the former, you have only 1.5 days in Venice, keeping in mind that you will have to get to the airport in Paris, get there at least 1.5 hour before flight time, etc.

My suspicion is that you should drop Florence and use those days as your travel days between Paris and Venice, and then Venice and Rome.

Is this your intended itinerary?

Day 1: arrive Paris
Day 2: Paris
Day 3: Paris
Day 4: arrive Venice
Day 5: Venice
Day 6: arrive Florence
Day 7: Florence
Day 8: arrive Rome
Day 9: Rome
Day 10: depart Rome

Keep in mind that you will probably lose at least half a day each time you change hotels and travel to the next city. And your departure day will be all about getting to the airport, so doesn't really count as an opportunity to see more of Rome.

First thing I would do: make Florence a stopover on the way from Venice to Rome. Get an early train from Venice to Florence, leave you bags at the train station baggage deposit, spend the day in Florence, and get an late afternoon train to Rome.

Day 1: arrive Paris
Day 2: Paris
Day 3: Paris
Day 4: arrive Venice
Day 5: Venice
Day 6: Venice
Day 7: arrive Florence for day visit; arrive Rome
Day 8: Rome
Day 9: Rome
Day 10: depart Rome

I just completed a similar trip, but we had 12 days not counting arrival/departure days. I think with only 10 days, I too would cut out Florence, except perhaps for a stopover (make a reservation to see David at the Accademia, and walk around the town). I like ellenem's suggested itinerary, although it still severely limits your time in Rome. Might be best to eliminate Florence altogether, and get an early train Venice-Rome; thereby having two and a half days for Rome sightseeing. Is this your first trip?

Cutting back on Florence was something we were considering. Ellenem-l like your idea of Florence as a day trip. Had a few questions though- How safe is it to leave your luggage at the station? Is that common? Also, we are first timers to Rome and are a little concerned about arriving late in the evening and trying to find our hotel.

A taxi from the train station is the best way to find your hotel in Rome.

azzure - This is our first trip and realistically, it will be quite a long time before we return. Trying to balance "seeing it all" with "a relaxing get-away" is proving to be a challenge. I will definitely take your advice about seeing "David". That was definitely on our list.

gh21 - We had read that taxi was the best way to get to the hotel, but I am a little nervous about arriving in a large city late at night.

I did check train schedules and we can arrive in Florence around 11 or 12 and leave around 5. That will not be a lot of time in Florence, but at least we can see some that we want to see. This will have us arriving in Rome around 7ish, which is not too late. Think that might work.

The baggage deposit at the train station is very secure and it is common to use it. You will be required to show photo ID in order to leave your bags. As you have found, you can make the train schedule work for you to get a taste of Florence. As azzure mentioned, if you hope to see David, be sure to reserve a ticket so you can avoid a long wait.

If it were me and I only had 6 hours, I'd get a taxi to Piazzale Michelangelo on arrival for a scenic overlook of Florence and then walk down the hill back to the center, crossing the river at the Ponte Vecchio. I stroll past the Uffizi and Palazzo Vecchio, visit the interior of the Baptistery, stroll past the duomo, and visit the Academia with my reserved-ahead ticket, passing through the San Lorenzo markets on the way back to the train station. Somewhere in there I'd have a nice lunch. If this didn't fill my time I'd add in a visit to one of these churches: Santa Maria Novella, San Lorenzo, or Santa Croce.

Here's another thread that discussed the merits of a one day stop in Florence.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...m-i-crazy-.cfm

That really helps. Thanks. Sounds like you have visited often.

Getting in Rome around 7 sounds OK. No worries about the taxi, just walk out of the train station and taxis will be lined up to serve you. If you have the energy and if your hotel is well-located, it might be fun to walk from Piazza Navona to the Pantheon and the Trevi that first evening. These are all well-lit, public places.

If you can get to Florence any earlier, do so. I would not be afraid to arrive in Rome even later: 8:00 or 9:00 P.M. As others said, just grab a taxi to your hotel, drop your bags, and take a little walk to get something to eat. We are often out walking much, much later than that in Rome, especially in warm weather.

ellen's 1-day itinerary of Florence gets my endorsement. If you don't want to walk back down the hill from the PM, there's a bus that goes back to the city center. Purchase tix at the Tabacchi next to the Piazalle.

One note about getting advanced tix to the see David. Don't use the website. There's a big surcharge. Better to use the phone service. Operators speak excellent English and are very efficient in processing your order in just a minute or two. Plus, you don't have to pay until you show up for the tix.

niente, what great advice on the tickets.

Grateful for the advice concerning itinerary for our trip. We recently returned and had a wonderful time! We were able to see the highlights, but also were able to enjoy wandering the neighborhoods too. We ended up staying in Paris 4 nights, Venice 3 nights, traveled by train (with a stopover in Florence) to Rome for 3 nights. Thought it was terrific!

I often wonder how trips turn out. Thanks for coming back and letting us know.