Family of six landing in Rome and staying for four nights. Before taking the train over to Florence, I was thinking about taking a day trip to Venice first. Is one day enough for Venice? Is it easier to travel from Rome or from Florence? Then from Florence, take another day trip to Tuscany. I don't know what to do! We're staying in italy for approx. 2 weeks. Will someone give me suggestions please

>>>Family of six landing in Rome and staying for four nights. Before taking the train over to Florence, I was thinking about taking a day trip to Venice first. Is one day enough for Venice?<<


Nope - especially if you will spend 1/2 day getting there, and 1/2 day returning.

>Is it easier to travel from Rome or from Florence?<<

Florence is closer.

<<Then from Florence, take another day trip to Tuscany.<<<

Florence is in Tuscany. Where else in Tuscany did you plan on traveling.

<<I don't know what to do! We're staying in italy for approx. 2 weeks. Will someone give me suggestions please<<

Sure:
1. Land in Rome & spend 4 days.
2. take the train to Venice & spend 3 nights
3. Take the train to Siena, rent a car & spend 5 nights in the Tuscany countryside - relaxing & visiting small hilltop villages.
4. Return the car in Siena, and take the train to Florence & spend the remainder of your vacation there.
5. You did not say where you will depart from??

Note that you are visiting a big city, another big city, the countryside, and another big city. You might think it is more efficient to do Rome, Venice, Florence, then the countryside. I strongly advise against this - three big cities all in a row are too much for most people - especially a party of six. You need a relaxing countryside stay to break things up.

My favorite countryside area is around Pienza - just south of Siena.

Stu Dudley

Rome north to Florence via train = 1.5 hours
Florence northeast to Venice via train = 3 hours

I would not go on a day trip to Venice from Florence--it deserves more time and 3 hours each way is too much travel for a day trip I think.

Your trip sounds like the typical Big 3 trip most first-timers try. I suggest

Rome 5 nights
Florence 3 nights (with daytrip)
Venice 3 nights

There are many other ways to do your itinerary. If you share your interests with us and we can make better suggestions for your time.

Please check a map. It will help you make better plans for your group.

Hi Leila, first of all STOP! Good I got your attention I hope, I say with a smile.

Do get yourself a map of Italy. Barnes and Nobles or whereever.

You will be taking the train you say from Rome to Florence. OK, that is good. Now about Venice. Florence is closer to Venice then Rome is.

I would strongly suggest if you do plan to go to Venice this trip that you do not want to do a daytrip. From Florence the train trip to Venice is three hours each way. Then you have to add on the time to get to the train station the time after arriving in Venice to get to where you want to go. Of course the view from the Santa Lucia train station in Venice is breathtaking but imagine you want to get to SanMarco etc.

Are you flying home from Rome? If you have not purchased your plane tickets yet I would encourage you to think about buying "open jaw" plane tickets. Fly into Rome and out of Venice. Then you could visit Rome, train to Florence and enjoy your time there and then train to Venice, stay there and fly home from the SanMarco airport in Venice.

If you are flying in and out of Rome and really want to see Venice (and who doesn't) then I would do the four nights in Rome, then train to Venice and spend a few nights, then train to Florence for your visit. Then you could train back to Rome to catch your flight.

Assuming you have about 13 nights in Italy with 4 nights in Rome you will have 9 nights left. I would stay 3 nights in Venice so that you have two complete days there without arriving or leaving. Then you have 6 nights or less depending on how many nights you have total in Italy for Florence. You could enjoy a day trip to Siena etc. Perhaps work out to stop in Orvietto on the way back to Rome.

Just some food for thought.

I am sure others here will give you their good advice also.

Have fun planing your trip. That is part of the excitement IMO.

We have done this trip three times. Twice starting in Venice and once starting in Rome. I recommend the starting in Rome version. With two weeks, spend 4 days in Rome, travel to Florence for 3 days, take a trip to the Tuscan countryside for 3 days and travel to Venice for the remainder of your trip. If you haven't already made your plane reservations, do an open jaw, into Rome and out of Venice. WIth 6 people, sightseeing and moving from place to place takes extra time. This itinerary should provide enough time in each place to get an overview.

thank's stu. we're departing from newark nj and landing in rome 7am (1AM new york time)

we rented an apartment near piazza navona and booked our stay for four nights. most of us are really interested in checking out the museums, but it will be tough traveling with 17 month old baby.

from rome, we hitch a train to florence.(do i have to book my train tickets ahead of time? if so where?) from there, my family (that i'll be meeting for the first time ever)will be picking us up from the station. they already offered to take us wherever we wanted, so i don't think we really need to rent a car. suggestions on where to go from there are much appreciated!

i was hoping that i would just stay in florence while taking a few day trips from there. i'd want to relax more than anything, especially since i'll be with my kid and getting aquainted with my new fam! at the same time, i don't want to miss all the sightseeing there is to see everywhere else.

oh no, i already reserved my flight. it flies in and out of rome. i had no idea about "open jaw" flights =T

Since you've already booked the plane tickets in & out of Rome, and you mention you need some relaxation...

How about simply spending time in Florence and Rome with one week rental of a house in the countryside somewhere nearby? Skipping Venice since it is the furthest away and you're traveling with a baby.

You said that your new family was meeting you at the train station in Florence. Do they live in Italy, or just visiting like you? If they live there, then you will be back for more visits so you don't have to see everything on this trip.

It seems to me that you need to decide whether to try to include Venice, or spend a more leisurly vacation just enjoying the lovely Tuscany countryside - perhaps visiting a few small villages, listen to some Gregorian chants in a small Abbey out in a spectacular setting, taking some nice walks in the country, driving some dirt roads where you will probably be the only one on the road, and then slowly make your way back to Rome for your return home.

Here is what I would do. I'm taking a lot of liberty with where your family is willing to drive you.

1. Stay in Florence for about 4 nights. Most visitors to Tuscany enjoy San Gimignano & Volterra, which could be a day trip from Florence.

2. On about the 9th day, head south of Florence and stay in the small medieval village of San Quirico - about 45 mins south of Siena. You can either drive there, or take the noon (approx) train to Buonoconvento and have your family pick you up there. I would suggest that you try real hard to have access to a car. San Quirico is in the Val d'Orcia. This, IMHO, is the loveliest countryside in Italy. If you have a stroller for your 17 month old baby, you will not be the only mom out walking the kid down the pedestrian-only streets in San Quirico in the evening before or after dinner. There are several family run trattatorias in town, and even a pizza parlor.

Spend about 4 days exploring the pretty villages of Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, and Monticchiello. Also drive around or take walks in the lovely countryside just south of there. Spend some time at Sant Antimo Abbey out in the remote countryside southwest of Montalcino and listen to the Gregorian chants inside the abbey. Have a picnic lunch there.

3. Afternoon on the day before you leave, drive 1 hr to Orvieto & stay overnight there. This is a very lovely town. It's only a 1 1/2 hr drive to the Rome airport from there the next morning.

I have a 20+ page Italy itinerary that I've sent to over 300 people on this message board and the aol board. It has more details about the area of Tuscany I've only briefly described here. E-mail me at [email protected] if you want a copy.

Stu Dudley