Venice & Ravenna
 

Hi there,
I'm going to both Venice and Ravenna from Dec. 26th to 29th. This is part of a larger trip to Rome and Florence. I wasn't going to go to Venice initially, but I must, must, must go to Ravenna. And as long as I'm in Ravenna, I thought I should go to Venice.

Right now, I am planning on spending two nights in Venice and one in Ravenna before heading back to Rome on the 29th. But I'm not sure this is the best approach. From my reading, everyone seems to be doing day trips to Ravenna. Is there a reason people don't do overnights? Note that I will not be renting a car, but rather traveling by train.

Any tips of this leg of my journey would be greatly appreciated.

Best,
Sherry

I can't imagine why a day trip to Ravenna would be preferable in your case.

Venice to Ravenna (change in Ferrara) is more or less 2.5 hours. Why cut 2.5 hours off your time in Ravenna in order to return to Venice and take a train for roughly 4.5 hours from Venice to Rome? Ravenna to Rome is also 4.5 hours (change in Bologna), but you can do it the next morning instead of rushing back to Venice. Also, a night in a hotel in Ravenna will be considerably cheaper than in Venice.

www.trenitalia.com

Hi Eloise,
Thank you for your quick response, and your great advice. This is very much what I was thinking, but was worried I was missing something in my planning.

Thanks!
Sherry

As one Canadian to another, you're welcome, Sherry!

The city of Ravenna has a great Web site that you might want to look at:

http://www.turismo.ravenna.it/index.php?lang=2

I did Venice - Ravenna - Rome years and years ago. The mosaics are absolutely stunning; my personal favourites were San Vitale and the tiny Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Incidentally, Sant'Apollinare in Classe is closed for restoration, according to someone who was there in October, but it does not appear as closed on the Web site above. Be sure to double-check before you go out to Classe for nothing.

Dear Sherry and Eloise,

I am the person who visited Ravenna in October. We visited the church in Classe. It is closed for interior renovation and the posted reopening date is February. The Classe site was upgraded a few years ago and now has a gift shop and a restaurant. These are both open which may account for the discrepency on why the web site still posts opening hours. I would advise checking before heading out there if you don't have a car.

Sherry, I think an overnight is preferable for Ravenna and you are making the right choice. It is an interesting city and both times I've visited we've spent three days there. It seems a pity to only stop there for a day trip. But it is one of my favorite places in Italy and I would encourage others to visit the mosaics if a day trip from Venice was their only option.

Do you know yet where you will stay?

Best wishes, SusanEva