DH and I are planning our first trip to Italy in May as an early anniversary trip. We have been reading and studying for over a year and have sketched out a basic plan. Yes, it’s the big three, and yes, it’s probably too fast for most people, but we’re working with what little vacation time we have. We know we’ll be back, so we’re looking at this as our “tasting menu” trip.

A little background – we are both in our early thirties and both engineers. DH is interested in history while I have more of an appreciation for wine and culture. Neither of us are really art lovers or huge fans of museums.


May 6 – AM – Arrive in Rome, PM – Historic Rome (Colosseum/Pantheon)
May 7 – Day Trip to Pompeii
May 8 – AM – Vatican Museums, PM – Train to Riomaggiore
May 9 – Laze around the CT
May 10 – AM – Pisa, PM – Florence (Science Museum and Boboli Gardens)
May 11 – AM - Florence (Leonardo Museum & Shopping), PM Accidental Tourist Cooking Class followed by reservation to see David
May 12 – Tour of Chianti with Luca Grappa, PM – train to Venice
May 13 – Wander Venice
May 14 – AM Venice, PM Train to Rome, evening walk to say goodbye
May 15 – Fly to US (Direct flight FCO to ATL)

Hotels
Rome – Casa Montani
Riomaggiore – La Baia Di Rio
Florence – Hotel Casci
Venice – Locanda Orseolo
Rome – Roma Boutique Hotel

One of our questions is about May 13 in Venice…this is Ascension Day. Does anyone have experience with what we can expect in Venice on this holiday?

Thanks for all of your feedback!

It is a great time to be in Venice. I assume you have your reservations at Locanda Orseola because hotels tend to fill on that day. Bring plenty of memory for your camera, you will need it.

If you haven't booked your flights you should consider flying into Venice and out of Rome to avoid wasting time backtracking.

Your schedule is too hectic and most people don't schedule a tour that involves a lot of standing/walking the day they arrive as they are jet lagged. Ditto attempting to go to Pompeii on Day 2. You have NO FULL DAY in Rome.

Do you know travel time from Rome to CT will be a minimum of 4 hours? You need to drop CT from your plans along with dropping Pompeii.

Sorry, but your schedule is insane. You will spend all your time on trains or buses and not see anything.

Sorry, but I agree with kybourbon. For me, this trip wouldn't be worth the cost.

I agree totally. Our first trip we spent 6 days in Rome and 6 days in Florence with a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano.

Your travel plans are too ambitious. I'm not a fan of Rome, but I do think you should spend more time there.

Also have you considered flying into Rome and out of Venice or vv it will save you alot of travel time.

I agree, CT and Pompeii do not fit well in your itinerary based on time constraints.

Consider a Venice - Florence - Rome trip or a Rome - Florence - Venice trip based on the amount of time you have in Italy.

I don't think it's that bad. I've seen worse. Sure it's rushed but you've said that you know that already.

I would consider dropping Pompeii if you're tired so may be not book it until you get there if that's possible. I've never been there but always imagine it as being a long way from Rome and could be a tiring trip.

Also, many people are disappointed with Pisa so you could skip that and spend the time in either Cinque Terre or Florence instead. Depends on what you plan to see in Pisa and whether you can see just as good in Florence or Venice.

Flying home from Venice is also a good idea if you can.

ps. most people go to CT to walk - the beaches are really very ordinary if you plan to laze around there. The villages are pretty though if you want to picnic or sit in a bar or cafe.

>>>I don't think it's that bad.<<<

Eight cities/areas in only nine days and you don't think it's bad?

I think it is just about the craziest itinerary I've ever seen.

As engineers, I think you should consider dropping Pompeii in favor of Ostia Antica, and drop the Vatican Museums altogether. (Look at the Basilica, but if you don't like museums, why spend your time in one of most overwhelming ones on the globe)?

You seem so fond of outdoor activities that I suggest you leave Rome early to get to le Cinque Terre earlier, so you genuinely have some time to laze.

Given the way you describe yourselves, I can think of places in Italy that you would probably enjoy than Venice, which many people react to as an outdoor museum. Since you are a food and wine fan, and your husband likes history, and you both presumably admire something enduringly well made, how about Siena instaed of Venice. It fits in better with your plans and is important for Tuscan wines other than Chianti. Would Luca Grappa be willing to drop you off in Siena or some other wine town?

Luca Garappa lives in Siena and offers transfers as well as loop tours.

Yes, it is probably possible to do this itinerary, but if there is a train strike during your visit entire schedule may be destroyed. Even a train delay could cause major damage to such a tightly set itinerary. Be prepared with alternate ideas.

And, yes, to check for flights from Venice.

With regard to what to expect on Ascension Day in Venice, I haven't been there on Ascension Day but I have been in the CT on April 24, a national holiday, and in Florence on May 1, another national holiday. Many Italians travel on those holidays but we found restaurants and other attractions open. In CT, I have never seen so many people on the trails - and we've had the good fortune to stay in CT at least five times.

However, in Venice, there is a special ceremony, unique to Venice, as described here: http://www.restaurantlacaravella.com...ay_venice.html.

I would expect you'll find more Italian tourists in Venice on Ascension Day. There may also be special concerts on that day and additional religious observations.

The same question about Ascension Day in Venice was asked almost a year ago on this forum: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-shut-down.cfm.

Drop Pompeii and Pisa amd you may have a chance at a decent trip.

Having a quick "taste of" trip is one thing - but what you have is a trip of the train stations of Italy. You really need to make some decisions about what you want to see and do - since what you have planned now is a 14 day trip.

I have to agree with most of the others, this is one of the most hectic, time-wasting itineraries I've seen. Unless you really like hotel desk clerks, train stations and waiting around, you should really, really reconsider this.

And trust me, we always do ALOT on our trips. I just photographed 27 churches in 13 days in Rome in December, plus went to 3 museums, a Calisto Catacombs tour and more. Oh, and we were sick for 2 days with the flu.

Wow - I agree - quite a frenzied itinerary for a first trip. I remember my first "tasting trip" - like you, knowing that I would be back...I took in just Rome and Florence andworked outward from there in my trips thereafter and I found that I got a better grasp of the country. My advice would be just do Rome, Florence and Venice the first time and not be overwhelmed. Since you are engineers who enjoy wine, history and culture - perhaps you can book a few walking tours in Rome, Florence and Venice through Context Travel. I've found they have wonderful small, very informed tours that are more substantial that the regular "cattle herded" tours. They have a few "Architecture of Rome" and "Wines of Italy" tours that are available during the time you are in Rome that might be of interest to you. (www.contexttravel.com)

But I suggest highly paring down the itinerary so that you are spending less time on trains and more time at your destination. (Perhaps even cutting out Pisa would be a good idea - there isn't that much there besides the leaning tower). I hope that helps!

hi jabolla,

one thing which would "save " you a day or so [assuming you are locked into your return flights into and out of Rome] is to use the day you arrive to travel to Venice - then you don't have to break up your Rome stay, as you do it last.

you will probably arrive early at the airport, then have to catch the train to Termini, so why not just hop on the train to Venice when you get there and use the time to recover from your jetlag?

you then reverse your itinerary - train Florence, then to the CT - and then back to Rome. personally i would drop either Florence or the CT and leave for another time, as i think that by the time you get to Rome/Venice, you'll be quite overwhelmed and in need of another holiday.

Thank you all for your comments. I agree that Pompeii should be dropped - it's ambitious even for us. I have been trying to convince DH of this and will keep trying. Your comments may help me sway him that the day should be spent in Rome or maybe Ostia Antica as a compromise. We won't buy our tickets until we get there, so it could be a game day decision. We have both traveled enough to be flexible with our plans. If we are too tired, we are not too proud to admit it and trade whatever plans we had for an afternoon of sidewalk cafes and wine.

We have looked at the train travel times and open jaw flights. Because of the limited flight schedule where we live, anything besides the FCO-ATL direct flights is terribly inconvenient (worse than the extra train time). We also nabbed one of those great fares that lasted only a few hours.

Dreamon: We are heading to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. Most people think of it as a leaning tower, but for two engineers, it's one of those marvels that you studied in college and the ultimate lesson in what not to do. For us - a can't miss. Thanks for the info on the CT. We do hope to wander the villages rather than laze on the beach. I imagine that even in May it may be too cool to get in the water.

Stepsbeyond: We really only want to visit the Vatican Museums to see the Sistine Chapel. Is it terrible to dash through the VA just for this? I know many folks would cringe at the idea, but is it really that bad? Your idea to leave Rome earlier with more time to lounge in the CT sounds nice, especially if we drop Pompeii in favor of more time in Rome. We purposefully put the CT after Rome to allow for some rest after what seemed to us to be the most hectic part of the itinerary.

IdyllicItaly: Thank you for the info on Ascension Day. I searched the forums for this, but must have had a spelling error. Will definitely check this out.

Ellenem: I am a worrier, so late trains, train strikes, my ATM card not working, the weather and a million other things beyond my control cause me concern. We will have alternate plans in our back pocket.

Annhig: We have looked at the itinerary both ways, and this seemed to work out better. We are used to traveling for work and are not too worried about the jetlag day. We will be tired, but fortunately (or unfortunately) this is something we are used to.

I have only been to Rome once, but from my experience (visiting on a week day in October) one cannot "dash through to see the sistine chapel". After standing a very long time in a line to purchase tickets, I have memories of shuffling slowly through long (albeit beautiful & ornate) hallways packed with other tourists before we were finally allowed our turn in the chapel for a brief period of time. There was nothing quick about it.I'm glad for the experience, but I had no idea of the sheer numbers of fellow tourists that go to these sights. I'm glad we didn't over schedule ourselves. I took the better part of the day.

I just realized! You've planned your "quick" visit to the Vatican Museums for the morning of May 8, 2010--a Saturday! I suspect it will be crowded.

From you post, I think you understand that to visit the Sistine Chapel you will have to pass through other parts of the museum. If you headed directly to the chapel and there were no crowds in the way, it would take almost 10 minutes to walk from the museum entrance to the chapel. There are particular paths you must follow through the museum. Sometimes when it is more crowded, the set paths are altered and made even longer to control the crowds better.

Best case scenario: on a weekend in late November my friends and I entered the Vatican Museums at noon--there was no line. I had chosen this time knowing that the museum was set to close at 1:30 and few would bother to enter so late. We followed the set path directly to the Sistine Chapel, pausing very briefly along the way to admire a tapestry or two, or enjoy the maps in the map gallery. We paused at one of the Sistine Chapel posters placed along the way for groups to review for a 5-minute refresher course in the work since talking is limited in the chapel. We included the Raphael rooms, pausing in each room to read the didactic panels and point to details in the paintings. We had the rooms virtually to ourselves. We arrived in the Sistine Chapel and it was moderately crowded. We stayed as long as we wanted and then left by the group exit on the right directly to St Peter's. Our visit lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes. I think this is as quickly as the visit you suggest can be done, but I don't think you can count on this speed being possible on a Saturday morning in May.