Venice or Florence
 

My wife and I are headed to Italy in early Oct. We are going for 7 days arriving & departing out of Rome. we wanted to hit all three places but there just does not seem to be enough time. We were wondering what peoples opinions are regarding which city we should "not miss". we went on our honeymoon last year so this trip being our first to Europe is really more to see the sights and enjoy Italian culture than a beach type of trip. Any hotel recommendation would be appreciated as well. we are looking for nice, clean places, not 5 star, but around 200-250 USD range, if they exist!

Scoob,<BR><BR>I recently went to Venice for the first time and haven't been to Florence in 20 years (so you understand my prejudice) but Venice is unlike anyplace else in the world and I think would be a better contrast to Rome. Rome is a busy city and Venice can be much more relaxing yet with loads to see &amp; do. I'd pick Venice. Pensione Accademia (3*)is where we stayed for 225e/night (well regarded on this site). Tons of other options at the same price(&amp; even less) if you do a search here.

You can easily keep busy for 7 days in Rome but if you'd like to venture to one other place, I would also go for Venice. It's like no other place in the world. On the other hand, Florence is much closer and from there you can also visit some of the smaller hillside towns which is also a great experience. Either way you will not be disappointed. I think you have to consider the logistics and time spent travelling between the cities since you only have 7 days. I love the Hotel Flora in Venice, also 3*, with a lovely garden and full of charm. In Rome we stayed at Santa CHiara which also was very nice.

I would do neither Florence or Venice on this trip. I'd fly into Rome, grab a car and go to a place like Orvieto (a couple of hour drive) for the first night. Spend a few days exploring Umbrian and Tuscan hilltowns. We liked Hotel La Badia in Orvieto (a 12th century abbey with a great restaurant) and Palazzo Ravizza in Siena. Quieter rooms face the garden. Then drive back to Rome, drop the car and spend last three or four days there. I would save Florence/Venice for another trip. If you decide on Florence, we really enjoyed our stay at Hotel Hermitage (next to the Ponte Vecchio and has great rooftop views to sip wine and have breakfast) and in Venice we liked Pension Accademia (nice garden in back for cocktails or wine). Both are within your $250 budget.

Venice will always get my vote. We spent 3 weeks in Italy last Fall starting in Rome and ending in Venice with Tuscany in between. Rome is harried,somewhat overwhelming and no doubt holds a multitude of charms..they evaded me for the most part. But Venice...is unlike any place I have been before, We were in Rome in early October and ended up in Venice lin late October. Many of the crowds will have decreased in both places. The recommendation for the Accademia in Venice is a good one. I might also suggest La Calcina. In Rome..we stayed at the Spanish Steps but our hotel was over $300/noc. Look at Santa Chiara and Albergo del Senato. I actually like the recommendation of the person who advised checking out places like Orvieto. The train ride from Rome to Florence is a quick one(about 1 1/2 hours)and the train to Venice about three hours from Florence. Since you have such a short time and jet lag will also be a factor I might suggest you stay in Rome 2 days and head out from there. I would also like to suggest taking the train to Florence and exploring hilltowns like Siena,San Gimigiano,and Montalcino saving Venice for another day. We spent a week in Venice and it was not enough!

I'd have to say that Venice is not only one of the &quot;do not miss&quot; cities in Italy, but also in all of Europe. <BR><BR>Florence is certainly not Rome but it is more similar to Rome than Venice.

You also might want to consider the Amalfi Coat,if you want something romanic and relaxing it can't be beat.<BR>Positano &amp; Capri are my favorites, if you do a search under: Amalfi Coast and/or Capri you should be able to get lots of info.<BR>Venice is also not to be believed(I am geeting married there next year).<BR>I vote for Venice or the Amalfi Coast.<BR>Fluffy

I would go with Venezia. It is unique and different and would certainly be a nice opposite of Roma. It is very romantic and the perfect place to go with the one you love. A gondola ride at night with a bottle of wine and the stars above you make for a truly magical evening. Do make sure you include a vaporetti trip to the islands of Murano for Venezia's famous glass; and Burano for its lace. Have fun!

I have only been to Venice in Italy (twice) but wanted to post the web address for Pensione La Calcina, which is just lovely, on the Guidecca canal and in your price range:<BR><BR>www.lacalcina.com

My vote would also be Venice. Rome is busy, busy, busy as many have stated. Florence is great, but can also be more like Rome. Venice is unique. You have to do Venice and form your own opinion...love or hate or in between....but you have to do Venice once in your life. Do Venice.<BR><BR>We used the AL GAMBERO on our last trip to Venice in 1999. Clean, recently remodeled rooms. Located on the Calle dei Fabbri midway between the Rialto Bridge and St Marks Square. It was about $120 per night then. We would use this hotel again.

I also vote for Venice and can recommend the Antico Doge hotel. Very nice staff, convenient location. They have a home page with lots of pictures that I found to be accurate. It's on a small canal. After Rome, it's a pleasure to walk down the street and not be dodging motor scooters.

On my first trip to Italy(1985)I was talking to the nice Italian desk clerk at he hotel in Florence. I asked him about Venice having never been there. His response, &quot;Its a the most a unique a city in the world. Definetely Venice.<BR>Mobbed with tourist but very serene.<BR>My wife wants to go back a fourth time<BR>and spent a week.<BR>I have only walked into the lobby but it<BR>seems nice, Pensione Seguso. Located across the island from St. Marks square.<BR>Run by the same family for about 300 years. I got a recommendation from an aquaintance that lives in SF but is married to an Italian race car driver.<BR>About $150.00 per night and includes <BR>breakfast and dinner. If you have trouble finding the number re-post and I will try to get it to you. I'm at home and the number is at work. You might also find it in the book &quot;Cheap Sleeps in Italy&quot;

I know this is redundant, but have to vote for Venice also (just in case you are not already convinced!) We were there last year, and it knocked me out. Everyone else here is so right: there is nowhere else in the world like it; it is so unique. And please do the gondola ride in the evening, even if you think it is touristy. It is wonderful and romantic.

I have been to Rome, Florence and Venice - in Rome last year for 2 weeks and still didnt see everything! However, it is a very busy city. There are so many options. Some people like to go to one place and see as much as they can, the other option is to take a flavour of these Italian cities and then go back again at a later date.<BR>They are all wonderful. Venice is my favourite. If you decide not to stay in Venice and go to Rome and Florence, you can do Venice in a day, as we did from Florence. Get the early morning Eurostar from Florence. When you arrive in Venice, come out of the station and the grand canal is right in front of you. Take the No 1 Vaporetti to St Marks Square (this takes about 30 minutes and you see the whole of the grand canal - this journey is amazing!!) From St Marks Square you can wander around Venice and walk back to the railway station for your train back to Florence in early evening.<BR>We did this several years ago from Florence and recently went back to Venice for a week!!! Whatever you decide, enjoy Italy - I am sure you will want to return!!! Colombina Hotel (4star) has excellent ratings in Venice. Met a laywer from America who stayed there - said it was great. We stayed in Colonna Palace Hotel (4 star) - centre of historic Rome - 5 minutes from all sites but still very quiet as it faces parliament buildings and the square is guarded by police day and night. Some of Rome's hotels can be very noisy due to traffic.

Another vote for Venice! It is not to be missed!

Hi Scoob,<BR><BR> This being your first trip to Europe, I would suggest Paris for a week. <BR><BR> However, if you want to go to Italy, my suggestion is to take the train to Florence immediately upon arrival.<BR><BR> Spend 3 nights. <BR><BR> Go to Venice for two nights.<BR><BR> Return to Rome for one night.<BR><BR> In Venice, the Hotel Marconi (next to the Rialto Bridge) and the Locanda Barbarigo (San Marco) have both been given good reviews and are within your budget.<BR>

Another Venice hotel for your consideration- check out the Ca' dei Conti (www.cadeiconti.com).<BR>Byrd

Thanks to you all for your most thoughtful and helpful replies. Unless everyone of you works for the Venice tourism board it appears we should absolutely head to Venice. If we do take the train to Venice what is the best way to make reservations/get tickets for the trip? We will be arriving via the overnite plane from NYC to Rome but plan on leaving ASAP to I guess Venice. Thanks again for all your suggestions and please keep them coming!

Hi scoob,<BR><BR> The majority opinion on this board seems to be &quot;buy your tickets when you get to FCO&quot;.<BR><BR> You will take the train from FCO to Rome TE (not triburtino). When you buy that ticket, you can book on the ES* to Venice.<BR><BR> Train schedules are at www.trenitalia.com.<BR><BR> For the schedule from FCO to Rome TE, type in &quot;Roma Aeroporto&quot;.<BR><BR> Have fun.

A thought..you are arriving on an overnite flight from NYC and then hoping to leave ASAP for Venice. You can buy your tickets in Rome or you can purchase them through a travel agent in the USA making certain you have first class seat reservations. The only thing you will have to do is &quot;validate&quot; your tickets once at the train station.<BR>We thought about booking on line from the US but weren't certain about it. We booked through AAA travel, paid $30 more total to do so and breezed(relatively speaking) through the train station in both Rome and Florence. It's one less thing to have to negotiate on jet lag if you prepurchase tix and have seat reservations. Take as little luggage as possible. One carry on sized bag is plenty and you will thank yourselves for having done so. You will do well to make certain you place your suitcases in the overhead as close to your seats as possible. Doing so with the standard carry-on is relatively easy. I tried to do it with a 24 inch bag and found it almost impossible. When you exit the train station in Venice(you will have to catch your breat...it is spectacular)..the vaporetto ticket booth will be to your right. Prchase a ticket for either 5 days or a week(depending on your stay I suggest you e-mail your hotel ahead) and remember to validate it there(also a machine) of time and ask them which line and which stop you will need to take. Again, a carry-on each will be plenty as you negotiate your way onto the vaporetto. Have to go to work now..will be back later to give some Venice tips.

Another vote for Venice after Rome, but how about you take a morning train from Rome to Florence, and spend three or four hours in Florence before catching a train to Venice? Its just a short walk from the train station to the city center. That way you can enjoy a gelato in Florence while sitting in the piazza in front of the Duomo and any number of small things that IMHO are enough of Florence. Of course, I'm assuming you have only a little luggage so you can deal with it during this 'pitstop'.

Leave your luggage at the station in Florence if you take marge20's suggestion--a reasonable fee per bag will free your hands and spirts for the day.. You might be too tired to deal with a train ride, an afternoon in Florence, and then another train ride, and then finding your Venice hotel all after your overnight flight.<BR>However, if you plan to head straight to Venice, why not fly from Rome to Venice and eliminate the long train ride just after arrival. You could be in Venice by lunch time. Take the train back to Rome once you've had a few lovely days in Venice to adjust.

Hi Scoob,<BR>We were in Italy for 12 days last month and visited Rome, Florence, Venice, Siena &amp; Lucca (too much but we aren't sorry we went to any of those places). I agree that Venice is divine, and a more restful contrast to Rome than Florence, where we perpetually dodged scooters. Don't know if you're already booked, but in hindsight we wondered if we would have been smart to fly into Rome and out of Venice so that we didn't lose so much time to train travel. But you may already be locked in. As for hotels, we were in nice 4-star places: the Savoy in Rome is near Via Veneto and the Spanish Steps; the degli Orafi in Florence(our favorite) lovely, new &amp; our room had a view of the Ponte Vecchio; and the Concordia in Venice, nice but a bit close to St. Marks - the bells in the morning sounded as if they were right outside the window. Charming but LOUD!!<BR> Wish we were going back in October. We loved it. Have a wonderful time.

I just returned from Italy a couple of weeks ago and traveled to both Venice and Florence. I've got to tell you Florence is over rated. Yes, there's a famous bridge and some lovely musuems but that's it!!! Venice on the other is very charming on the water and too has lovely musuems. My vote is Venezia!!!

Re: &quot;Unless everyone of you works for the Venice tourism board...&quot;<BR><BR>In our dreams...sigh. :)

Ah to return to Venice..sorry for the typos in my earlier post..I was caught up in the idea of Venice and hurrying off to work..so..since it seemed a bit jumbled..check with your hotel before arrival to find out what vaporetto to take and what stop you will need. The ticket booth is to the right as you exit the train station. Purchase a ticket for several days and validate it right there before climbing on the vaporetto of your choice. We did fly into Rome and out of Venice. It gave us more time in Venice,thankfully. I would recommend you pick out some of the places you absolutely want to go in Venice and then allow for wandering with the intent of getting lost. Venice is an immensely safe city and the neighborhoods are great to explore. Ask here for people's favorites and you will get lots of ideas. I liked the Carnneggio,the Castello,San Polo and Dursodouro. Check out Campo Santa Margherita. This was a great neighborhood that seemed to have a mix of young and old. We loved ambling about in it(have a drink or an espresso or two at Margaret Du Champ. The Guggenheim is a must. We had a great day when we took a side trip to Burano. Eat at Da Romano(the grilled shrimp). Some folks &quot;do&quot; all the little islands in a day..I think this is too ambitious. We did not make it to Torcello and hope to return so as to be able to. Depending on your tastes and your $$ I'd say check with this forum about places to eat. There are high end and good relatively inexpensive eats. Since you are leaving from NYC it might be hard to imagine there could be great pizza anywhere else in the world..but I do recommend you check out Ae Oche(there is mention of it in the post on the little gem restaurants) It serves pizza at least 40 ways..one is big enough for two people..I had a great speck,brie and arugala one. It is in San Polo-San Croce area which is a fun place to wander and get lost. Two more absolute tips..go to the terrace near the top of the Danieli Hotel and have a drink. Expensive but you are paying for the view of all of Venice below you..definitely worth the trip. And..do have a coffee (and perhaps toasts) inside at the Florian. This place is so completely over the top it warrants at least one stop when you are in Venice. You will be just off Piazza San Marco.

we just got back from rome, venice and florence. rome was great, florence even better,, while venice is unusual,, it was outrageously expensive and the only place more touristy than disneyworld. two days there were more than enough and I can;t imagine going back

Jerry, We are planning to visit London, Rome and Florence in October. Any great hotel, dining or trip experience to share? Thanks!!