My husband and I will be traveling to Italy to attend a wedding. The actual wedding will be held near Perugia, but we will be flying into Rome to start the trip. We have about 2 days to enjoy Rome, my husband wanted to check out the beaches there, and I wanted to see Florence. The rough idea for the trip is to fly in to Rome on a Monday, arrive Tuesday- rest up a little if needed- start wandering around Rome for the rest of the day. Wed possibly squeeze in a trip to the beach?? (I'm not even sure what's close to Rome by train) Thurs take train to Florence for the day. That evening take the train into Perugia where we will stay for three days for the wedding. The majority of everyone will be flying out of either Rome or Florence on Sunday. I was trying to understand the train system to see if it is even possible (or sane!) to try to catch the train on Sunday back to Rome to catch our flight out. I was talking to my brother about transportation options and he was trying to get more info about a shuttle ( like a van or some equivalent) to get us to the airport in time. I'm almost tempted to just stay another night in Rome on Sunday and try to fly out Mon.
So I have a couple questions...
1) Is there a beach somewhat close to Rome that we could take a train to visit- and is it even worth it to make that trip?

2) How far in advance can you book train tickets ( it was looking to me like about 2 months?? Is that right?)

3) Anyone know of some sort of chauffeur system in Italy that I could recommend to my brother to utilize to help his guests get around while we visit Italy?

4) Can you recommend a good itinerary for visiting Florence in one day?

Thanks!

What month are you talking about?

The beaches around Roma are not scenic or particularly well-loved. They are urban beaches, reachable by a short commuter train. In recent years, the beaches of Fregene (buses depart near the Vatican) have been spruced up somewhat. Longer train trips to places like Sperlonga or Gaeta are possible, and fun, but you may feel swamped by the logistics.

You don't need to buy your tickets in advance unless you are traveling during hoildays or the last 2 weeks of August.

I recommend staying the extra day, but I believe there is a direct bus from Perugia to FCO. You can look on the FCO website.

Driving in Italy is not difficult if you are going to the airport.

Perugia is a great city, and its museum of art is one of the very finest in Italy. It is not huge, and it is beautifully labeled and arranged. It is very worthwhile to see.

The standard itinerary for Firenze includes seeing Michaelangelo's David, the Uffizi, and the Cathedral and Bapistery, but if you have special interests -- like jewelry, the angelic paintings of Fra Angelico, perfume, gardens, fine leather goods, or classical sculpture, internet-recommended itineraries often bypass the unique offerings of Firenze that would most fascinate you. You are really well advised to look at guidebook. Everything in Firenze is reachable on foot in a compact area, and there are taxis if you get footsore.

Thanks so much for your reply!
We will be there from May 3rd through 10th (if we stay the extra day). I was looking at other sites about the beaches around the area. Sperlonga looks perfect for a day trip. My husband was the one to slip in the last minute trip to a beach, and I was thinking if we were in Rome or Florence we would have plenty to do. It's still negotiable. From what I've read so far, you need to make a reservation to see Michaelangelo's David. I haven't even looked at gardens yet. Oh man! Any recommendations about the gardens there?

The Boboli Gardens are historic. May should be a beautiful time to visit them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boboli_Gardens

May, however, is not considered beach weather in Italy by Italians, but if the weather is good, you sometimes see non-Italians enjoying themselves swimming in the Mediterranean, while Italians stare at them and predict early death. (I live by the sea in Italy.) Anyway, getting to Sperlonga is not wildly complicated, but requires some research into the train or bus schedules. Sometimes if you check out hotel websites -- hotels in Sperlonga -- they'll tell you how to get there.

You do need to make a reservation to get into the Accademia museum to see Michaelangelo's David IF you don't want to wait on a long line. (You surely don't want that.)

In Firenze and Rome in May, you will want an air conditioned hotel.

May 1 is a big holiday in Italy. If May 3 is a Sunday or Monday, you will need to book accommodations and travel in advance.

Do I understand this correctly? You have only one full day in Rome...and you'll spend it traveling to a beach?

Perhaps you could fly into Pisa instead. From there, stay in Cinque Terre for a couple of nights.

Actually- if we plan this right- we will fly in and arrive in Rome on Tues (so we have all of Tues minus a nap if needed) Wed is when we can take a day trip to the beach, but I'm not planning on staying there the whole day. And when we take the train back to Rome on Sunday we will have about half a day or so there as well.

@ zeppole I take it tides are wild in May then, eh?

I should also mention that we are a young couple and are interested in seeing what staying in a hostel is like. Any recommendations (ie- air conditioning)

beach....do the beach at home and enjoy rome one of the best cities of the world....depending on where you are coming from, you may be very tired upon arrival...

day tour to florence...skip it and stay in rome....you will spend all your time on the train going and coming...but if you must, just plan to stroll around the center of florence...there is plenty to see....its not a huge city...

Agree with staying in Rome. You will have to find a place to store luggage in Florence if you're just spending the day. Not impossible, but I'd stay in Rome and do round trip to Perugia from there.

I've got to add my 2 cents - going to Rome is not a beach holiday. It's not even a coastal city. Why waste the extremely short opportunity you have to experience one of the world's most incredibly historic cities in the first place? And you will end up spending the entire second day going to/from Sperlonga. It's a silly idea, IMO, but it is your vacation.

So now that you know all about NOT attempton to go to the beach (I only half agree, BTW-I LOVE Italian resort beaches off season, but its an acquired taste), lets tackle that Hostel booking...what is your budget? do you mean an actual hostel (like for students, sleeping in bunks and sharing a bathroom/shower) or do you mean as in inexpensive, but private bath et al?

I'm neutral as to whether you should go to the beach, but the issue is not the tides for Italians (although you can get storms in May). The issues is the water temp. Italians don't like chilly anything. Also, a trip to the beach in Rome is very likely to eat up a whole day. Transporation is not zippy.

I think you need to post your itinerary. My impression was that you would be in Perugia for a wedding for 3 days.

It's not a hostel, but check out the Pensione Barrett in Rome for something not stuffy. They have a website.

For everyone's clarity, I'll try to create the OP's intended itinerary:

dep Monday
arrive Tuesday - Rome
Wednesday - Rome (daytrip to beach?)
Thursday - train to Florence for day; train to Perugia in evening; stay in Perugia
Friday - Perugia (wedding)
Saturday - Perugia (wedding)
Sunday - train/shuttle to Rome for departing flight
OR
Sunday - train to Rome
Monday - depart Rome for home

I, too, would skip the beach for this short visit. I would probably also skip visiting Florence on the way to Perugia since it isn't really on the way to Perugia. For this brief visit, I'd concentrate on Rome and the wedding.

I think this may be worth repeating: If you're going to spend so little time in Rome, think about this:

Arrive Tues in Pisa--train to Cinque Terre (beach)
Wed - CT
Thurs - to Perugia, perhaps stop in Florence

ohmigosh. I live near Cinque Terre and I certainly wouldn't want to start out from here for Perugia by public transportation.

How about Lago di Trasimeno for a swim? (Can be done in May.) It's a stone's throw from Perugia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Trasimeno

By the way, Lago di Trasimeno is where Hannibal annihilated the Roman army in the Second Punic War.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Trasimene

And you might want to read this about Fregene from the New York Times "Where Rome Goes for a Swim"

http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/travel/09day.html

and here's how to get to Fregene

http://www.frommers.com/destinations...064020290.html

I'd also skip the beach from Rome as you barely have time to make a dent in all that Rome has to offer and, depending on where you're flying from, you will likely be quite tired from jet lag.

However, I also love Florence and would encourage you to spend a day there. Why not spend the night there as well and travel to Perugia the next morning? If at all possible, I would try to add in extra days to your trip so you have a chance to enjoy Italy and the wedding.

zeppole:

Please enlighten me. How does one travel from Florence to Perugia? I had assumed train....no?

Yes, Florence to Perugia is good by train -- takes about 2 hours.

I was wondering why zeppole said:

"...I certainly wouldn't want to start out from [Cinque Terre] for Perugia by public transportation."

The OP said she wants to go Rome to Florence to Perugia. Seems to me the trip would be fairly cmoparable starting from CT.