Rome, Florence, Venice
 

I'm planning a trip for my husband and myself to Italy in late April-early May and wondering how to schedule our days. For now, I'm thinking five night in Rome (Sat-Thurs), three nights in Florence (Thurs-Sun) & (perhaps with a side trip to Pisa), seven nights in Venice (Sun-Sat). Is this a good plan? I'm wondering if I should plan one night less in Venice and one night more in Florence (and definitely plan on Pisa?)? We'll fly to Rome and return home from Venice, with trains in between. Are there any other destinations we should add?

First, start with the most basic part you probably have not thought about. Have you already purchased the flights? If so, is the return logistics from Venice acceptable to you? I am not sure where you are coming from, but for many from the U.S., flying into Rome returning from Venice presents more logistical challenges over flying into Venice and returning home from Rome.

Whether it is a "good plan" or not is based on whether it accomplishes your goals. But you have not stated your goals. How do others evaluate if the allocations of days make sense? If you are not into Renaissance art and architecture, three nights in Florence might be too many.

If you are from an orderly place, five nights in Rome might test your nerve. It is a dynamic and vibrant city, but can feel chaotic depending on what you are used to. If you are into Ancient Roman architecture, you came to the right place.

Hi there…

I agree with Greg above.

Also, if you do like ancient Roman architecture you really need to up the days in Rome and decrease them in Venice - 7 days in Venice is simply too long, no matter what you like to do. I would cut that down by at least 2.

And again like Greg said above, there is SO much you could do while traveling between these cities, but it really depends on your likes (museums, beaches, scenery, hiking, wine tasting, small villages, medieval, architecture, sacred places, etc).

Best

Laura

I agree with @greg you need to state your goals. Having just returned from spending 10 nights in Italy (3 in Florence, 5 in Rome and 2 in Milan), I could have spent more time in Rome. There is so much to see and do. I was in Venice 16 years ago and recall spending 2 or 3 nights there which I found sufficient for me ... But that is me. And one of the things I learned from others on this site is that you should allocate about a half day to get from one city to the next (depending on distance) which takes away from your time sightseeing in that city. So give that consideration when planning. I would figure out what you would like to see or do in each city and how many days that that will take and then back into how many nights in each city. I certainly would not do less than 3 nights in a city just to avoid the feeling of getting there and in a blink you are leaving. Having been to Florence before that is why we stayed 3 nights there. And we certainly did not get to see all of Rome with spending 5 nights there (and we didn't do any side trips). And we flew in and out of Milan which is one of the reasons we only spent 2 nights there. The other reason is the mixed feedback on visiting Mikan - either you like it or you don't. Happy planning!

»Is this a good plan?«
I noticed experiences with Rome differ wildly. Being from Europe myself, I never realised people from different surroundings might find it all a little bit much.
Five nights - four full days - for Rome is in my opinion the absolute minimum.
I am not a big fan of Florence. They've got wonderful things, no question about that, but as a city it is hardly agreeable. And you'll find it overcrowded with tourists, many of them groupwise walking behind a tour guide.
Seven days for Venice would be a little bit much for me, unless you also use it as a base for visiting nearby Padua (Padova) and Vicenza.
You could do worse than take two nights of Venice and stay in Bologna, which is nicely in between Florence and Venice. Bologna is a much underrated city, and also a good base for a daytrip to nearby Ferrara and/or Ravenna. It is lively place, not yet overcrowded with tourists, and might come as a welcome respite.

Rome: was there last year at this time (Oct/Nov) for about the 5th time. We spent 3 days there solely doing "underground" tours-fabulous! Went to sections of Rome (aboveground) outside the tourist areas we had never been to and it was a very local experience. Rome can also be Orvieto or Tivoli.

Florence: spent a month in Florence as I like to see everything. Hit the surrounding towns and Fiseoli is particularly nice for the bus ride and the views of Florence. Problem with Florence is opening and closing of sites so choose when you go carefully.

Venice: spent 10 days in Venice (same time as Florence trip--my retirement present to myself) and was there again last year. Murano was nice, I loved Burano and Torcelli was interesting as was St. Michaels--all islands on the vaporetto system.

Enjoy!

I think a lot depends on whether you like to venture out. I've done a week in Venice several times, but generally three or four of those days are used up going elsewhere -- day trips to Padua, Asolo, Chioggia, Vincenza, Ferrara, Trieste, Trento, Verona -- there are tons of possibilities. And then come back to gorgeous Venice at its best -- in the evenings.

And that also means you are better able to get an apartment rather than a hotel for the week! Something I love to do.

Totally depends on your interests. Outdoors and nature vs F&B, art & history, etc. Without knowing any of it, my suggestion to allocate 15 nights would be:

5N Rome
4N Florence
2N Tuscan town - try Siena or Cortona or San Gimignano
4N Venice

The 2 nights allocated in a Tuscan town could be better dedicated to add 1 more day to Rome, and possibly divide the second day between Florence and Venice. But, staying in a smaller town may be a good contrast to the bigger Italian cities.

Thank you all so much for the advice. I'm in the beginning stages of planning so have not really established specific goals.

NeoPatrick, will you please advise reliable resource(s) for apartment rental in Venice?

Since I haven't rented an apartment in Venice for 8 years, I'll have to pass. Sorry. I think my last one was from Hone Away.

I'm also in the it-depends-on-what-you-want camp, as people travel for very different reasons, with very different interests, and at very different paces! As an example, I found 5 full days in Florence insufficient for my interests, while a week in Venice, much as I loved it, would have driven me batty!

I recommend that you get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library) to identify the things you most want to see in each location. For inspiration and high quality photographs, you might want to start with Eyewitness or Insight or National Geographic Traveller. Then check Fodor's or Frommer's or the Michelin Green Guide for prioritizing your options. And then check the Rough Guide or Lonely Planet to get nitty gritty details and answers to questions you would never have thought to ask. Once you've identified the things YOU most want to see in each location, confirm opening hours at sites' websites and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together. It may sound like a pain, but I find it a great way to get excited about the things I'll get to see and experience and to have confidence in my plan. YMMV.

<<Once you've identified the things YOU most want to see in each location, confirm opening hours at sites' websites and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). >>

Yes, I'm working on all that!

I could easily spend a week in Venice with day trips. Apart from day trips, there is so much to see and do with careful observation that I would not get bored. But that is true for Florence too, and even truer of Rome. For example, I would happily visit the Uffizi two or three times in a week. I visited St. Peter's three times in five days (and I am not Catholic). Get an intensive guidebook to focus one's attention more deeply.

With a trip of this length, I think rtwin80days' suggestion is just about perfect (by which it means it matches what I would do).

If you are interested in staying in an apartment in Rome, I would suggest checking out Hotel Mozart. They have 3 apartments that are located about 1.5 blocks from the hotel. We just stayed in the Ripetta apartment last week. I was very happy with the apartment. We had the benefits of the hotel (breakfast was included) - you just go to the hotel in the morning. Great wifi in the apartment. Great location (near Spanish Steps). The hotel also has a wonderful rooftop bar. I highly recommend the apartment if that is what you wish when staying in Rome. Not sure what your price range is but we paid 215€/night.

djkbooks, I have rented from Views on Venice and was very pleased with the apartment and the service. I'm renting from them again in May. In my experience Venice rentals can be hit or miss given the damp and the general decrepitude of many buildings so I choose to use a reliable agency there. In other cities I might rent directly from the owner but I don't feel comfortable doing that in Venice. Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

In Venice we rented through "views on Venice" in 2014 and Airbnb this year. Both were good to deal with. We stayed in Dorsoduro both times as we like this part of Venice. Next year I'm going again and will try to stay in Canareggio as some friends have recommended it as a nice area of Venice.
I agree with everything else that's been said. But I like staying in a place for a week and just walking around, enjoying the ambience, going to the markets, riding the Vaporetto etc. I could easily spend a month in Venice.

Hi

Are you the same Djkbooks who is a destination expert on Trip Advisor ?
If so, welcome, nice to see that people from TA who find Fodors so ... do come to look for advice.

As to your trip, we did Rome Florence Venice too in the same trip and we considered it was a mistake - too many things to do, to see, too many nice museums that we finished by skipping.
If you are fortunate to come often to Europe, I'd recommend to not do the three cities toghether.

Anyway if you do, I'd urge you to do even more, and take daytrips to San Gimigiano, Siena (a real must), even if you have to reduce the nr of days in Venice (7 is quite a lot).

I have never like Pisa, for what it is worth.

My regards to my old companions on TA (not many left, last I looked by the way, either they got banned or don't post much anymore).

Mvg.

Seven days is a very long time to spend in Venice, unless you will be taking some day trips on the train. Make sure to check the weather to find out if you will avoid the nasty "high water seasons". Gross doesn't begin to describe it!

Getting decent fresh groceries to cook at home in Venice isn't as easy as it is in other cities. We stayed in a place that belonged to a friend's mother, and found there wasn't much choice even at the little open air market, so like most people we ate out a lot and took long "passeggiatas" late at night. Since this is such a big part of the Italian culture, we felt much more at home among all the other locals. It was a lot of fun chatting with people in trattorias and bars and a whole lot better than staying in a gloomy apartment staring at the antique furniture.

For trains check www.trenitalia.com - if you book early enough you can get nifty discounted tickets much cheaper than full fare walk up tickets - check www.seat61.com for lots of great tips on discounted tickets and for general info on Italian trains - www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

I think for most 7 nights in Venice would be a bit too much - add some to Florence and take day trips to places like Siena - one of those iconic Tuscany hill towns and yes to Pisa and maybe Lucca on one day.

pariswat wrote: "As to your trip, we did Rome Florence Venice too in the same trip and we considered it was a mistake - too many things to do, to see, too many nice museums that we finished by skipping. "

FWIW, I visited Rome, Florence, and Venice in the same trip and felt like I was in my own little corner of heaven! SO many things to do, to see, SO many nice museums in which I could become utterly lost. Happiness! Or to put that a bit differently -- we all travel for different reasons and with different interests and at different paces. :-)

We just spent a month in Venice, and stayed here:

http://www.vrbo.com/6142339ha

If you do enquire, tell Luccia that Louise and Peter recommended the apartment.

You can easily spend more than a week in Venice - for six months of each year, either the Arts Biennale or the Architecture Biennale will be under way.

I'm planning a return visit in October 2016 for a couple of weeks, for the archi biennale.

Click on my user name and you'll find several Venetian trip reports. We have visited five times so far, each time for a month or two.

Keep in mind that Milan rather than Rome is the principal travel hub for transatlantic flights in Italy.

Fortunately we are all different Kja :-)

Lucca is a gem I've been told.
I went there, spent a meeting in a room, was taken for lunch in the center, went back and later was told by friends how stupid I was not to have visited ...

You can get a TA flight from the US to Venice on several airlines. Just keep in mind the logistics of airport arrival/departure in that city.

For some, it might be simpler to fly into Milan and if you can get a flight into Linate vs. Malpensa, even better for getting into the city (to Centrale) for trains onward to Venice or wherever.

It is easy to twin Pisa and Lucca by train from Florence - especially if you just want to see the Leaning Tower - there is a train station a short walk from the Tower with trains to Lucca and from Lucca trains continue onto Florence.

https://www.google.com/search?q=lucc...FYidgAodzhINgg

Getting decent fresh groceries to cook at home in Venice isn't as easy as it is in other cities. We stayed in a place that belonged to a friend's mother, and found there wasn't much choice even at the little open air market, so like most people we ate out a lot and took long "passeggiatas" late at night.>>

there are ordinary shops and even supermarkets in Venice, as well as a number of markets, not just little ones. google maps will show you where if you enter "supermarkets" in the search engine.

-Getting decent fresh groceries to cook at home in Venice isn't as easy as it is in other cities. We stayed in a place that belonged to a friend's mother-

Where did your friend's mother live? It is NOT difficult to get decent fresh groceries in Venice but there are some chunks of the city (like much of San Marco) where its not as easy. Sadly a lot of the little alimentari shops are closing when their owners retire but there are more supermarkets now.

I'm assuming you didn't make it to the fish and vegetable market at Rialto. Next time, go there if you want to cook. There are also open air vegetable and fish stands in various locations around Venice.

there is a reason that many of the matrons one sees walking around Venice are using shopping trolleys. they hop on the vaporetto or traghetto to visit the supermarket and or market, do their shopping, go home again. When we rented an apartment tin Venice [round the back of campo San bartolomeo] we did our shopping either in the Rialto market in the other side of the bridge or in the supermarket and other little shops nearby. we soon got into the habit of going out early in the morning to buy bread, milk, etc,. and then to buy food for the evening meal on the way home from our daily outing.

part of the fun of staying there is hunting out the best shops and enjoying what they have to offer. it's a shame that as rialto girl says, some of the smaller alimentari are closing down.

<7 days in Venice is simply too long, no matter what you like to do.>

Again it's very personal but like many of the others hereI could easily spend seven nights, or even a month in in Venice, but then I feel the same way about Rome, though I'm much less keen on Florence. Plus a week gives you time to relax and makes sense if you're looking to rent an apartment.

We spent a month in Rome last time we were there and I wrote a little bit about the trip on my blog which includes reviews, link and photos of some of the smaller museums.

http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/search/label/Rome

However, I do get "Museumed out" particularly with all the madonnas, so it's good to mix in some modern (the Guggenheim in Venice) or street art, markets, concerts, historical sites (the scale tour at the Vatican, or the synagogues in Venice or the jewish museum in Rome which make a great counterpoint) so you don't feel overloaded.