Considering the other apartments you showed in Venice, I think your final choice is not well situated--way far to one end of the city, definitely NOT "two steps" from the main attractions of the city, at least from the blue circle on the map. It describes it as "two steps" from Strada Nova, which it is not if you go by the blue circle, and the review that describes it as a few doors down from Bar Al Parlamento.

The Florence apartment you like is well located and looks nice. Do note that it is without elevator and on the second floor, which in Italy means third floor by USA count.

Thank you so much ellen for the feedback, I'll keep browsing for Venice So helpful, I appreciate your time.

What area should I be searching for in Venice? Any particular recommendations?

That second apartment in Florence, with no reviews, has a Queen bed and an extra tall and large shower. I think it's pretty and those would be serious considerations if I were traveling with someone as tall as your fiance.

I was once told that apartment reviews were not as easy to come by as hotel reviews. That was a few years ago, but I'm still sometimes willing to take a chance.

In Venice, Dorsoduro is popular here on Fodor's.

I'm searching for that second apartment on airbnb because I think I saw it there, maybe there are reviews on there. I appreciate the information and insight tuscanlifeedit.

Forget about flying to/from Istanbul. Its really way out of the way. Where are you flying from? I would just spend the extra money and get a non stop if possible, or a stop that is one the way not past Italy. Remember you will be saving money by eating in. you really do not want to add unnecessary time flying to and from Italy, and add to the jet lag.

Cheaper flights with stop overs..Air Berlin, Norwegian
Delta/Alitalia has nonstops to Venice and also Rome...not cheap but worth it if you don't want to be worn out before you get there.

Maxima We are flying from Boston. We could also fly from Providence (more convenient) but that tends to mean an extra layover at JFK or Philadelphia. Providence airport is about 10 minutes from us and Boston is one hour.

I ruled out the Turkey one. Right now there is an Are Lingus flight with good travel times and one layover for $1100. I would prefer Delta but it's a good bit more expensive. I don't think I saw any non-stop flights, at least within reasonable price.

The Delta nonstop flights are from JFK in NY but I don't think its worth the extra money and time to fly into NY. Boston to Dublin is a fairly short flight and you wont have a really long layover, and as Ireland is part of the EU, you go through passport control there and not in Italy. you will feel as if you are not getting any sleep due to the time differences so allow for a lazy first day.

I would still go to Venice first.. smaller, less stressful as there are only pedestrian streets, and while some areas are crowded others aren't at all, and at night its wonderful when the day tourists are all gone .

you can take a train to Florence from Venice, and while there do a day trip to Siena. for that I would take a bus, as it will leave you much closer to the old walled city than the train, and you can tour at your leisure before getting a bus back to Florence.

From Florence you can take a train to Rome, and at the end fly from Rome to Boston.

If you are planning on going to the Doge's Palace and St Mark's Basilica in Venice, book in advance. you can also book museums in Florence in advance and the Vatican museums/Sistine chapel and other sites.. it saves a lot of time to do that.

Thank you for the tips! I definitely will pre-book tours and museum tickets. I also want to find a great cooking class for us to do.

I did contemplate taking the train to NY, but there wasn't enough savings. etc to warrantee the extra time of flying or taking a train to NY.

Once again looking for some insight after a lot of narrowing down. Any of these you think are best or any you think would not be ideal?

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/181897
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2668706
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3559131
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/492854
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2288108
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5025859
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1459783
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2732997

For what it is worth, my 6'6" nephew flew Houston to Istanbul, where he switched to a flight to Milan. However, I am pretty sure he paid for Premium Economy. I see that coming from Boston, there are non-stops to Istanbul that are 10 hours in the air. There are several flights a day from Istanbul to Venice, which is a 90 minute flight. Don't know how those travel times compare with flights through Dublin. Is it possible to fly non-stop to Venice from Dublin, or are you thinking of flying from Dublin to Rome?

Hi Sandralist,

All our flight options have one stop. So we would be going Boston to Dublin and then to Venice from there.

Also, I have another question. I was pushing for 15 nights (5 in each city), but it looks like we can only do 14 (a compromise because Ryan doesn't want to burn through too many of his vacation days). I am leaning towards 5 in Rome 5 in Florence and 4 in Venice. Keeping in mind that the day we arrive in Venice we will likely just sleep and eat. We would have 3 and a half days in Venice before traveling to Florence. Is that too few? The main reasoning for 5 nights each in the other places is mostly just because I'm a lot happier about the accommodations we have chosen for those two as there were so many amazing apartments for reasonable prices in Florence and we picked St. Regis for Rome. In Venice obviously we just can't get quite as much for the money.

Just curious if there is a reason you are going with apartment rentals vs hotels? There are actually many great hotels that are quite affordable and most vacation rentals end up being just as much if not more once you consider the deposits etc. Might I make a suggestion? You do not need 5 nights in Venice but could very well use more time in the Florence area. An itinerary suggestion would be fly into Venice stay 2-3 nights in Venice rent a car and drive to the Florence area ( not right into the city mind you) decide which smaller towns you would like to see then book a villa possibly an agriturismo Villa that is centrally located to what you would like to see stay there for three days and do day trips from there. You do not want to miss the Tuscan countryside which is beautiful at the end of Sept. trust me! And you will need a car to expore the countryside and villages. This will also be a nice break and slow pace between Venice, and Florence and Rome. Then return your car when you go to Florence and spend two to three nights there with no car ( driving in Florence is a headache) then take the high speed train to Rome.

My husband and I loved both the Villa we stayed at in the countryside as well as the hotel in Florence which was located directly across from the train station and within walking distance to all the sites in Florence, it also included a great breakfast. I will leave the links to both.

You will have a wonderful honeymoon!!

http://www.vignamaggio.it/index-english.html
This Villa is where the movie Much Ado About Nothing was filmed and the real Mona Lisa lived here as well .... we loved it!!

http://www.hotelambasciatoriflorence.com/
This is the Hotel in Florence that is directly across the street from the train station, which made it easy when we left to catch the train to Rome so no need for a cab with our bags we just walked right across the street when we checked out.

Sorry but I thought of one other idea. If you are planning to see Pisa might I suggest doing it right before you go to Florence and returning your car there then taking the train which is only about 30 min I think, into Florence. We had a little bit of a difficult time returning our car as the city is confusing and you are actually only allowed to drive in certain areas. Anyway, just a thought. Also note there are multiple train stations in Florence. The Ambasciatori is located across from Santa Maria Novella Train station.

Happy planning!!

Yes, your plan for 4 n Venice, and 5 each for Rome and Florence is a good one. I would just suggest you think carefully about how you might most enjoy your time in the Florence area to make the best lodging selection. If you are big fans of art, architecure, the Renaissance, etc. you would likely have fun soaking up every corner of the city over five days. In this case, choose something near the heart of the city, but not right among the tourist throngs. Someplace Just across the river (Oltrarno) might work very nicely.

But perhaps you rather spend more time exploring the Tuscan countryside. In this case, you might prefer a villa, hotel, or agriturismo in a smaller town as suggested above. You would likely want a car to explore the countryside in this case. Though look for a place with easy access to a train station for a day trip into Florence (you wouldn't want to drive in Florence)

Or, for a combination of these two ideas, you could stay in Florence someplace reasonably close to the train station and make a few day trips to places such as Pisa, Lucca, Siena, etc. this would give you a few days to enjoy the city, and a taste of some of the rest of Tuscany.

Each of these options is wonderful in its own way. Just think carefully about which would best fit your personal desires for this trip. Happy planning and buon viaggio!

Thank you so much for your thorough suggestions!! So helpful!

Brenkjtravel, I have been to Pisa and spent two weeks in Florence with my mom. I don't have a strong desire to go to Pisa. At first I was planning for us to stay in Siena, but I prefer not to rent a car so we are going to take public transport into other areas in Tuscany to explore and possibly spend one or two days with a private guide/driver. The reasoning for doing apartments for part of the time is that Ryan eats very specifically (healthy) and he eats a lot! He's 6'7 and 250 lbs. and pretty much always eats an omelet at midnight after getting home from work so he doesn't wake up starving. I prefer staying in hotels, so that's why we are doing Saint Regis for the 5 nights in Rome. That villa in Chianti looks lovely, makes me wish we could add a whole other week to the trip! Here's what we picked for Florence, but the choice was hard because Florence had the best options for rentals. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/607143

Here are the runner ups (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2606661 and http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p628733vb)

Thanks again msteacher. I definitely had dreams of staying in the Tuscan countryside, but after talking it over and such because we would prefer not to rent a car and we don't drink or spend much time just relaxing being in Florence seemed like a better option for just being able to walk around and explore and then take day trips into the countryside (really want to find a great cooking class there)

Good for you. Sounds like you are making a clear-headed plan that matches your personal needs and desires. Go and enjoy!

on another post someone listed this for an apartment

http://www.palazzettodaschio.it/ Apts. in a real 16th century villa

I don't know if it fits your budget but one apt features a long bed good for tall guests. lots of reviews on trip advisor

I think you are most likely to find a one day cooking class in Florence. you can try a separate post asking just about that and perhaps you will get some recommendations

Thanks maxima, I'll look into those!!