nosnow2000

My wife and I are planning our first trip to Italy. We're planning on arriving into Venice on the morning of August 17th and leaving from Rome the morning of August 24th. That being said, we've got no other plans. We want to stay in the northern regions (by which I mean between the latitudes of Venice and Rome) and were discussing how to split our days between different towns. We'd discussed Florence, Bologna, Siena for a day, etc. At the very least we'll need 2 days in Venice and 2 in Rome. While I recognize this is a tight schedule, it's the longest I can ever get her to leave work. I'd appreciate any suggestions as to what to see in Venice and Rome, and any suggestions between those; should we skip Bologna? Should we spend 3 days in Rome?

We also were planning on relying on train travel only (no cars) simply for convenience, and packing light.

Any and all thoughts are welcome!

PeaceOut

With just one week, I'd recommend you stay in Venice and Rome, with side-trips from those two cities. Or, maybe spend one night between the two, like in Florence.

Since you've never been to Italy, I suggest you not try to see it all in just a week. Plant yourself in Venice and Rome, and enjoy them!

dfr4848

Definitely agree. You've got 7 days - Venice-3 days, maybe to Florence on 3rd, overnight, then to Rome for 4 days.

bardo1

I'm with dfr. This is a first trip not an only trip. Ideally, I would suggest 7 nights in rome and 4 nights in Vence, but if the longest you can get away is 7 nights and you already have your open jaw plane ticketsd, it is the best you can do.

Another Fodorite (Bob?) recently had the wonderful suggestion of planning your first THREE trips to Italy right now. The one coming up in Auguest in detail obviously and the future ones with just the roughest of outlines.

It will put things in perspective and lessen any stress in planning this first Italian trip.

nytraveler

With so few day stick to Venice and Rome - with open jaw flights into one and ot of the other. Even with that number of days yuo are just scratching the surface.

Dayle

I agree, 3 days Venice, 4 days Rome = perfect, first, short trip.

Save Florence for a trip including the Tuscan countryside. A perfect, second 7 day trip!

Buon viaggio

Jeangail

I'm in a similar boat. I fly into Venice on Aug 24 and home from Pisa on Aug. 31. I was all over the map with possible plans and finally decided sometimes less is more. I will do 3 nights in Venice and 4 nights in Florence and save Rome for another trip. I will do 2 day trips out of Florence, one will be a bus to Siena and I have a guide/driver for a yet to be determined day in the countryside. We considered a day trip to Rome out of Florence but decided we were stretching ourselves too thin, and Rome warranted more than a daytime visit.

My thought would be for you to do Venice and Rome only. Too much time will otherwise be spent getting to places instead of enjoying them.