Hi - My husband and I are planning our first trip to Italy for the end of September for 10 days. We are flying into Rome and would like to make our way to Florence stopping along the way. The first two days are in Rome the rest I'm asking your help with - any suggestions, must sees, great places to stay? We do have to get back to Rome to fly home.

Thank you in advance for your help and ideas

I'd recommend reading good guide book. It will give you an idea of what there is to see and do between Rome and Florence. Then you can do a search on this forum for more specific places that interest you. Try searching Tuscany, too, since that's the area you'll be traveling in.

The last time I traveled Florence-Rome we stopped in Orvieto and visited Civita and enjoyed both. I also enjoyed visiting Siena.

Will you be traveling from Florence to Rome by car or pubic transportation? There are good choices either way but it would help us if we knew.

I'm thinking we would do the public transportation vs. driving, especially with gas prices the way they are.

I've never traveled abroad, so I'm really having difficulty with this type of planning. We would like to stay close in towns (walkable), and prefer B&B's.

Thanks

Hi Talker,

For what you plan, I would highly recommend renting a car. Driving in the Tuscan countryside is so easy and a real pleasure!

If it were me:

Arrive at FCO and train to Orvieto
spend 1 night

Pick up car in Orvieto and drive to next destination in Tuscany. Highly recommend around Pienza/Montalcino/Montepulciano. Spend 3 nights.

Drop car and spend 2 nights in Florence.

Train back to Rome, spend 4 nights.

Just a rought idea. The options are many! Agree that starting with some guidebooks is very helpful.

Are you flying in and out of Rome? Are the first 2 days in Rome a must? Recommend taking more time in Rome, but at the end of your trip.

Buon viaggio!

If doing Tuscany, I would rent a car, as someone else mentioned, it is very easy to get around by car, signs everywhere, and beautiful countryside. Orvieto is great with a side trip to Civita, a little further out of the way is Siena which is wonderful, and you can't go wrong with the area around Pienza/Montalcino/Montepulciano. If going into Florence (with a car), park at the train station and walk around.

By train, I would say that Florence and Orvieto would be your best bets from Rome.

Dayle gives a very good plan. Better to do all the time in Rome at the end, since you'd have to be back there the night before your departure anyway. It saves a hotel change to do Rome all at once.

I agree with others you should definitely spend more than 2 days in Rome--not clear to me whether you are planning to spend a few days there again at the end of the trip after the initial 2 days.

In addition to a sizable chunk of time in Rome I would limit the destinations to Orvieto plus Florence with some side trips (Pisa, Siena). Florence and Rome are both very walkable cities if you stay in a central location.

Interestingly enough, the options mentioned--Siena and Orvieto--are easily accessible via publc transport from Florence and Rome. Orvieto is on the direct train line between Florence and Rome. Siena is about an hour from Florence by bus. So depending on your comfort level and the destinations you choose, public transport is still an option.

Pisa can also be reached by train from Florence. I was trying to suggest places that would work w/o a car since you said you wanted to travel that way.

Hi...
Can you suggest some central locations to stay in Rome?

Thanks

welig12--you should search in this forum under Rome hotel or Rome apartments to get some ideas for good places to stay in the price range you are willing to pay. When you have reviewed some of this background information you could post a question with more specific questions.

We stayed in an apartment in the Jewish ghetto section (just off Piazza Mattei) in late Feb/early march and loved the location. We loved the location and it was very convenient to most of what we wanted to see except the Vatican. There are lots of restaurants but very few places to stay in the ghetto neighborhood-- Hotel Arenula is a moderately priced one that seems to get pretty good reviews on Trip Advisor.
Areas I would consider central and good places to look are the neighborhoods of Piazza Navona, Piazza della Rotunda (Pantheon), Campo de Fiori. A lot of people like to stay near the Spanish steps. There are many hotels near the train station but that is not as convenient to most sights (or nearly as interesting a neighborhood IMO) as the other areas.

If you are going to stay in Rome for a while I would suggest that you think about an apartment

I appreciate all your thoughts and ideas - they are extremely helpful.

Regards