Venice to Rome
 

Hi all. This is my first trip to Italy. I will be cruising from Rome to Venice but flying round trip Rome. I have a few days to get back to Rome from Venice and would love advice on what I should not miss. Considering staying on in Venice and taking days trips or would it be better to board the train and travel towards Rome stopping on the way. What do you think? Heard I should train it to Florence and spend a couple days there. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What time of year will you be traveling? What are your interests--art? scenery? shopping? If we knew we could advise better. Both your suggestions might work.

Well I love Venice, so I would just stay there after you get off the cruise for however long you have, then take a train back to Rome the day before your trip home.

Hi b,

I love Florence, but I love Venice more.

I would stay in Venice and train direct to Rome.

((I))

<<Considering staying on in Venice and taking days trips>>

Stay in Venice for the few days - without the day trips.

You could stay in Venice and go to Murano and Berano. The glass houses in Murano are a sales pitch but you can walk the island and the main streets. Berano is a world of its own. Take a lot of photos of the houses and have a nice lunch.

EllenM,
Good thought about adding my interests. Never been to Italy but I love to do it all: art, churches, monuments, food, you name it. Even riding the various modes of transportions like ferries, rail, etc. Really want to feel like I saw and did the most during the trip to expereince Italy even if it is touristy. We will be traveling end of September 2007.

Will you have visited Rome before your cruise? I assume the cruise leaves from Civitavecchia . . . How "few" is "a few days"? I love both Venice and Rome and would encourage you to give each a chance. Either one could satisfy your interest in art, churches, monuments, and food.

However, Venice is like no where else in the world never mind Italy, and Rome, though full of historic and artistic wonders, is a teeming metropolis. Since you're so adventurous, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to get another taste of Italy in the mix, even if it was just an overnight stay between Venice and Rome. Florence certainly is an option. Or how about Orvieto? It is closer to Rome than Venice, but it might make a nice overnight break--a real hilltown convenient to the train station and you get to add on another mode of transportation, a funicular from the station to town center.

Of course both cities you could spend days in, but you can also spend a couple of days in Venice, then do a quick overnight in Florence on the way to Rome and still see a little of the city. Venice is nice, but not worth sacrificing Florence in my opinion, only because of the crowds and the astronomical prices.

When we went, we spent two nights in Venice, then took a train from Venice to Florence (about 2 hours), and saw several highlights of Florence in a single afternoon. We dropped our bags at the Hotel Enza, a budget hotel (about $60 a night), which is centrally located, then headed to the Duomo, on to see David at the Academmia, and ended our afternoon at The Uffizi. We then wandered back, stopping at a place for dinner before calling it a night. We took the train in the morning to Rome (about 2.5 hours).

You don't have to buy tickets in advance, just take a look at the schedule when you arrive (if I recall correctly, they leave practically hourly from Venice & Florence to Rome), and buy tickets before you go.

For me, seeing David was worth it alone, much less some of the Da Vinci paintings in the Uffizi. The climb to the top of the Duomo was also fabulous.

Have a great trip whatever you decide,

Jules