Hi all you experts,
My husband and I are arriving in Rome on 3/16 at 11:00 a.m. and we depart, also from Rome on 3/27, early a.m. RT tickets were a great deal so we decided to take our first trip to Italy. We have traveled to Europe before and are great at navigating around w/metro, etc. but we prefer to walk. We are big walkers. I need advice on whether we can do the big three without feeling overwhelmed and leaving w/blurred memories.My husband wants to see ancient engineering, architecture (that is easy), he has specically mentioned Pompeii. He also wants to visit one of his favorite artists that resides in Assisi. We saw his work here in Seattle some time ago. I am going to schedule a wine tour with hillsandroads for one day. Thanks to your input I have learned a lot.

I have attempted many itineraries and all of them are too packed.
3/16th.Rome-Check in hotel, walk and sight see, and Galleria Borghese
17 -Rome -Full day tours, Vatican City w/ Sistine Chapel & Ancient Rome tour.
18 -Rome-Nat'l museum of rome, walk on our own.
19 -.Depart early for Florence w/stopover in Orvieto, visit duomo, explore a little, have lunch and continue to Florence. Visit Duomo in Florence after check in hotel. Have leisurely dinner, maybe in Fiesole?
20 - Day trip to S. Gimignano, leisurely dinner in San Gim or FLorence.
21 - Florence - Accademia, Pitti Palace, Bargello for sculpture.
22 - Winery tour w/hillsandroads. I have not decided whether the Val d'Orcia w/Montalcino or the Chianti tour. Any suggestions?
23 - Take early train to Venice.
24 - Venice
25 Take early train to Florence.
26 - Take late train to Rome via Assisi?
27- Depart for Seattle early a.m.

Just supposing:

Arrive Rome (assuming FCO) and connect with flight to Venice.

Spend time in Venice, then work your way back to Rome, with your Florence visit, and a stop in Orvieto or Assisi on the way back to Rome.

On a tight itinerary, I don't mind throwing in an extra flight. Especially as you will be in the airport.

Or conversely, start in Rome, make your way to Venice, then fly back to FCO from Venice to catch your connecting flight to home.

tuscanlifeedit makes a good suggestion. I would definitely not split the time in Florence into two different stays, that's wasted time adding an additional change of hotels and city. I believe I've read about people doing a daytrip to Assisi from Florence, so that could be done from there.
So, 3 nights Venice, 4 nights Florence w/your 2 daytrips to San Gimignano & Assisi, 4 nights Rome.

In Rome, I really wouldn't want to do both those tours in the same day. You'll be exhausted. Do the Vatican one day and Ancient Rome the next.
Have a great trip!

Susan's points are excellent. Please, please do not try those two tours in one day in Rome. It was all we could do to make it back to our hotel after our 4 hour Ancient Tour (we are in our early 30s).

Enjoy and if you do stop in Orvieto, which I highly recommend, please have lunch at I Sette Consoli. It was lovely!

Hi soup,

I agree with Susan:
> 3 nights Venice, 4 nights Florence w/your 2 daytrips to San Gimignano & Assisi, 4 nights Rome.<

in that order.

Hi Tuscan

I'm planning a trip to Rome in May, first time.

So you're suggesting we go to Venice, Florence and then Rome?

I hate to change planes so is it ok to do it in the opposite order, then take a train back from our last stop back to Rome.

Any tips.

Adriene

Hi adriene,

I suggest that upon arrival at FCO go immediately to Venice and then return to Rome via Florence.

It will add about 5 hrs to your travel day, but you will will be high on adrenalin. Besides, you can sleep on the train.

Venice is much calmer than Rome and will permit you to get used to Italy more easily.

Also, you will want to be in Rome the day before you fly home, anyway.

Adrienne

I originally meant my flying advice for soupnazi, because she is on a short time limit.

But if you are too, why not keep flying?

Our plan for March is to (very sadly) skip Rome (we are there usually every year). We fly into FCO and drive directly to a house outside of Florence where we will stay a week. Then we drive to Venice for a nice 4 night stay. I would have missed a day there if I had not booked a flight to take us back to FCO to connect with our flight to the US on the day of our departure.

I love the idea of going straight to Venice, upon arrival in Rome. My only concern is my husband, he has traditionally not wanted to add any travel to the arrival destination. However, I will really try for this idea. It really makes good sense and you all are correct, that splitting up Florence is not practical. I will check air and train schedules to Venice.

MotorCityGirl, Thanks for the lunch suggestion in Orvieto, I appreciate that, we will take you up on that.

I have a few more questions.

Will the 4 nights in Florence give us time to do the hillsandroads tour? We will be very disappointed if we are not able to get out in wine country. We are huge wine people, Washington State has many excellent wines if you have not tried them.

The next question is, which hillsand road tour would you recommend? The Val d'Orcia w/Montalcino and wineries; or Chianti region w/some castle stops?

Also, thanks for your understanding, I really thought this itineray was too full and was afraid that I would receive extremely negative feedback. I am pleased to find only kind, useful information that has helped me to focus.

Looking forward to the finishing touches. Any other suggestions you may have to improve or just add that something special will, of course, be very appreciated.

Hi Soup

Yes, I think your 4 days and nights in Florence will give you enough time to do a day road trip. Chianti is closer. The Val d'Orcia is lovely. Toss a coin, I think. ;-)

But if time is a concern, the Chianti tour might be better.

soupnazi, I would use hillsandroads and do the wine tasting along with San Gimignano (which doesn't require a whole day). Luca can suggest an itinerary to do both if the standard ones he has listed don't include San Gimignano. You can do whatever you want. When I used him in Sept, I set the itinerary myself and just consulted with him to make sure it was feasible for the day.

For more reasons for your husband to go on to Venice the first day, remind him that it will mean one less hotel change, since you would need to be back in Rome the night before you leave anyway.
Have fun!

I too recommend going straight into
Venice, my favorite jet lag recovery place.

I assume you're renting a car for your Tuscany exploration. Maybe you ought to consider training from Venice to Florence, spending a couple days in Florence, then picking up a rental car and driving, spending a night or two in Tuscany. We spent a memorable night in San Gimignano. I haven't been to Chianti but southern Tuscany is beautiful and the Brunello di Montalcino great! And then you get the experience of staying outside a city.

You could then drive on south to Orvieto, visit there, and drop the car, training on into Rome.

Let's see, I haven't worked in Assisi. Well, maybe drive there instead of Orvieto, then take the train to Rome.

You can do Pompeii in a long day from Rome, not ideal but workable. Closer is Ostia Antica, the ruins of the ancient Roman port.

ttt for soupnazi.

Has anyone ever stayed or heard of the Albergo Internazionale near via Sistina.

Thanks.

Adrienne

Well, all of your help has been fantastic! Just wanted to let you know how it came together. I will not bore you with sightseeing details, tours , etc.

March 16 to 20 in Rome, have reservations at Hotel Giardino.

Early departure to Florence on the 20th, hotel reservations at Hotel San Giorgio.

Depart for Venice on the 24th with hotel reservations at Palazzo Rosa.

We could not find air to Venice, on the 16th, that worked out at all. The only times we found departed for Venice at 11:00 which is when we arrive and then again at 18:00. So, we booked a flight from Verona to Rome in the a.m. of the 27th. We will depart Venice late in the evening on the 26th and stay at Hotel Siena, which is close to the shuttle to the airport and the train station as well. Also, close to historical area if we decide to walk around a bit. If for some reason, this air thing does not work out, I have never booked directly into Italy before, used Meridiana, we can take the night train from Venice to FCO on the 26.

I am so excited!!! My husband thinks I am crazy for planning so far ahead. He does not undertand the volume of travelers Italy gets. Also, I just wanted to be sure that we could get reasonable hotels in fairly decent areas.

I will come on board and do a trip report when we return in late March.

Thanks again, you all have been great.