Rome, Florence and Venice
 

Hello,

My wife and I are planning an Italy trip before we head to Spain for a wedding. We arrive in Rome on the evening of May 7th and then plan on flying to Spain on the afternoon of May 13th. We plan on visiting Rome, Florence and Venice. We like museums and churches but don't need deep dives. We mostly like seeing new places and enjoying nice lunches and dinners. Our plan was the following and wanted to get some feedback:
Rome - May 7th - 9th
Florence - Morning Train on May 10th from Rome to Florence and spend 10-11th in Florence. Take one of the last trains to Venice on May 11th.
Venice - 12th - 13th - Take one of the afternoon flights to Spain

Thoughts?
Thoughts on the schedule and places we should definitely visit during our first trip in Italy.

It will be whirlwind visits to each city.

"We like museums and churches but don't need deep dives."

No one can really know enough from that statement to tell you what you should definitely see and how suggestions would be affected by your energy level, leisurely lunches, etc. You need to study some city guides and make prioritized lists of what appeals most to you. Take note of which sights offer/require entry reservations and make them. If you are especially interested in art and the Renaissance, you should leave Florence for another trip. FWIW, Florence is my favorite Italian city, but I could very easily spend a week in Rome and not see all that interests me.

If you have a modest lodging budget or specific needs/wants, you need to book your hotels ASAP.

Wow! Sounds grand! It is so exciting. Don't know what hotel you picked but I hope you will bring sensible shoes so you can walk about without injury or pain. Of course if you can get to see Michelangelo's Peta at the Vatican, that wold be a top priority to me. Second, Make sure you see Rafael's angels--they are in the Vatican too. Here's a tip, women cannot go not the Vatican wearing leggings (and they know the diff between leggings and pants or slacks). I had to stop in a shop nearby to buy a scarf to put around my shoulders--they want shoulders covered too. But --- and here's the interesting thing: lots of people que up to get in but if you are going to Mass, you can just zip into the line for church. The Pieta is on your right as you head down that long incredible aisle. Masses are held almost hourly.......in different languages. But since the Mass is easily understood without hearing all the words, you can attend any one of the,. A particular joy to me was hearing choirs--there seems to always be a choir singing somewhere in the Vatican if you perk up your ears. Now Florence ---ooooh! Florence is a gift! There is so much to see here. But I have to admit, altho I am an art lover,I absolutely could not resist the lovely soft gorgeous leather one can buy even from street vendors. Of course you must see the David and other art treasures. But that yourselves to at least one lovely leather product. I suppose you already know about the Duomo and the Uffizzi. If you book a private tour, you can skip the line at these places. But my advice is not to cram too much in --don't be pressured into doing a checklist. Let yourself be surprised. Let the magic of that Italian soundtrack transform you. Allow time to stop in at the Excelsior Hotel right there on the Arno and enjoy the view from the windows. I imagine you already know about the Ponte vecchio where jewelers and other artisans make things right before your eyes. Everywhere I went I said Buongiorno and whenI would be leaving somewhere even the women called out Arrivederci Bella--goodbye beautiful.

Well, effectively, if you do the math, you have 5 days to see three major cities and travel between them, so it's rush, rush, rush. Would not work for me at all, so I couldn't even begin to suggest a "schedule," other than "don't do this."

Agree with the above. Only thing to add is depending on where in Spain flying out of Rome will likely be easier. More flights and more days of the week.

OMG, what a fast-paced trip! Maybe it will work for you, but if you haven't already done so, I would encourage you to check: Identify the things you most want to see in each location, check opening/closing times, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (forgetting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting lost/oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I agree with your responses regarding the expedited trip and wish we had more time in each city. The two cities we feel we need to visit as first time tourists are Rome and Venice. I also felt it would be a shame not to see some of Florence along the way to get a feel for the city, check out a few sites (1 day) and see if we want to come back for more at a later date.

If this is your only opportunity to ever visit Italy it approaches reasonable but it will be whirlwind. I'd cut Venice to one day (I am of the everyone should see it once but you can do that in a day persuasion when it comes to Venice, an open sewer with good marketing) and add the time to Florence.

We have done many whirlwind trips (e.g. 16 countries in 30 days), for various reasons, and some more relaxing ones. All have been successes for us. And, no regrets.

We view our time between destinations as part of our positive travel time; we enjoying seeing the countryside, interacting with other travelers and just relaxing on trains.

Having said that, you are going to a wedding. Does that mean lots of luggage? We travel light, carry-ons only, even when staying in Europe for a couple of months. That makes things a lot easier.

Otherwise, I think your schedule will accomplish what you want to do.

Agree that this is very rushed but if fine with that go for it - as for trains:

Mot traveling on trains enough for any railpass but book tickets yourselves online for nice discounts if early enough to get them- www.trenitalia.com or www.italotreno.it/en - two competing railways using same tracks and stations. www.seat61.com has lots on booking own tickets - general info train - BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

Make some good choices on hotel locations. I guess you'll want to be near the train stations, but when choosing your hotels, I would recommend going in to the center from each station.

Venice is time consuming, IMO. Getting from the station to major sites, and then back again to get to the airport can take a lot of time ( and money).

Florence is easy.

Rome is vast.

Maybe just pick two cities.

I'd keep Venice. It is easy to do with no plan, in a few days, just by wandering around.

Maybe cut Florence or Rome? And stick with just two cities??

Since they are flying into Rome I assume they'd be coming to Venice by train (not the airport).

But they'd be flying out of Venice.

snaghshi, have you already checked flight options and availability from Venice to wherever in Spain on May 13th?

Hi Everyone. I have checked flights from Venice to Malaga (Marbella) and there are options leaving in the afternoon on May 13th. Based on your feedback I'm thinking the following:
Rome (7th - 9th)
Leave Rome on the morning of May 10th to Florence where we will check-in luggage at the train station concierge. Spend lunch in Florence and walk around the city for a few hours (visit a couple main sites)
Leave Florence in the early evening for Venice and arrive at night of the 10th.
Venice 11-13th and leave in the late afternoon to Malaga.

Thoughts?

Again, thank you for you inputs.

Your revised plan will work, but it is still rushed. As someone who is a huge art buff, and who loves all three Italian cities that you're talking about, I view Florence as the Renaissance art city. It's a great place if you love art, and it is beautiful, but in a more austere way than Rome and Venice. I feel that there are more tourists in Florence than in the other two cities. The big tour groups can't really visit Venice (no streets for the buses, the cruise ship people tend to stay close to their boats), and Rome to me seems so huge that the tourists are more dispersed among the actual people who live in Rome. If you want to spend your time in Italy enjoying the cities but not doing a deep dive into museums and the like, I would suggest visiting Venice and Rome on this trip, and skipping Florence. Doing that will give you enough of a feel for Italy to help you decide if and when you want to return. (And btw, I don't view Venice as a cesspool with good marketing; it's a unique city with a unique history, read up a bit before you go, and make sure you spend time away from the main touristy areas; go to the outer reaches of Castello and wander through the Canneregio, the parts that are away from the train station).

Any way you do it, enjoy!

Really, there's no rule that you have to visit all three cities on the same trip. On our first visit to Italy, we only went to Florence (art, art, art) and Venice; we made our first visit to Rome on a separate trip.

>> If you want to spend your time in Italy enjoying the cities but not doing a deep dive into museums and the like, I would suggest visiting Venice and Rome on this trip, and skipping Florence.<<

Ditto.

I would skip Florence (a wonderful city) because you would just be there in the middle of the day with the thousands of other day trippers. It will feel like a zoo. In your time frame I'd do just Rome and Venice.

I might be on the unpopular side, but I actually visited Venice a year ago, when I was in Italy to see my friend, and one day felt completely enough for Venice, as it was overloaded with tourists and it's small enough so you can just spend few hours walking around. If there's an urge for you to see Florence and Rome, I'd minimize time in Venice and spend more time in those two, I feel like you might have regrets cutting a city out that you'd been dreaming about.

Everyone feels differently about each of the big three Italian cities. You won't know what you think about any of them until you visit, but I fear you won't want to return to Florence if your introduction is a few hours in the busiest time of the day. The treasures of Florence (Renaissance and otherwise) just can't be seen/appreciated in an afternoon. And if it's raining, forget it.

Again, I found Venice vastly overrated, and it does get crowded, especially with cruise ship passengers. Like frvrtrvling, I'd spend more time in Florence, less in Venice.