10 days in Italy - Venice & Florence

So how many nights in each city?

As with just about every historical city in Europe, much depends on what sort of traveler you are. How many sights listed in your guidebook do you want to go inside? Roughly how many hours do you figure you'll spend that way? Keep in mind that you may spend a fair amount of time walking or taking the vaporetto between sights.

Are you big on wandering around historic neighborhoods, just soaking in the atmosphere? You could spend many days just doing that in Venice.

Do you want to take the vaporetto out to the islands of Burano and Murano? That can chew up the better part of a day.

People who do rushed trips to Venice often don't like the city much, because they spend a large percentage of their time surrounded by other tourists, walking from the train station to the Rialto Bridge to San Marco. Those folks then return home and tell their friends not to spend much time in Venice.

I like your original plan. In the unlikely event that you get tired of Venice, the city of Padua is a very short train ride away, and you can fill a full day sightseeing there (you'd need to book the Scrovegni Chapel at least a day in advance, and I don't know whether that is always sufficient lead time). Vicenza is a smaller, quieter place but very picturesque. It's also a very reasonable day-trip from Venice.

I think 4 nights Venice (almost 4 days) and 5 nights Florence (I don't see how you get 7 days, but you might get 6) would be about right. If you find once you get there that you think 4 days is too much, there are numerous day trips you can take - Padua is only a half hour by train and is a delightful Italian city. Vicenza and Verona are further but also doable in a day trip. But you may find 4 days is not too much, many people use part of a day to see Murano and Burano (the islands near Venice). I'd leave it the way you have it.

Thank you for the super helpful response “acraven”. We are in fact travelers who are very into history and architecture and love to just walk and stumble upon neighborhoods. We aren’t big on seeing major sites (with the exception of a few).

And even though we won’t do all of the major sites in Florence (to avoid the crowds), Florence itself just seems amazing to wander around in.

Since you're interested in architecture, this may be a delightful addition for one of your days.

https://www.venetoinside.com/tours-activities-in-veneto/tour/burchiello-cruise-among-brenta-riviera-villas/

Since you're interested in architecture, this may be a delightful addition for one of your days.

https://www.venetoinside.com/tours-activities-in-veneto/tour/burchiello-cruise-among-brenta-riviera-villas/

We did this same trip, Venice to Padua a couple of years ago.
The villas are really interesting, but unfortunately the day we went it was pouring rain, so we all huddled inside the boat to keep warm while it was moving, and didn't see much along the way!
I think on a sunny day , it would be great.
The actual villas were wonderful.
Know that if you are dropped off in Padua, you have to make your own way to the train station to get back to Venice.
I think it might be too far to walk?
We didn't, as our boat broke down half-way, and we went by (nice and warm) bus the rest of the trip.
The bus then dropped us at Padua rail station at the end of the day.

Most of us on this forum do not use a travel agent since lodging is easily booked on-line through sites such as Booking.com, and flights can be booked through the airline sites. Trains for Italy can be purchased through Trenitalia.com. or you could buy them as you travel. I would be wary of a travel agent that is trying to change your preferences. Stay with the plan for three days in Venice, especially if it’s where you are beginning. It will go so quickly!

I should probably add - make sure your hotel in Venice is on the islands, not in Mestre or mainland Venice. And, have a hotel in Florence that is near the Duomo, not on the edge of town. Location will save you a lot of time and much more atmosphere!

While in Florence you can day trip to Siena, by bus, or Pisa/Lucca by train.

Disclaimer: Venice is my second-favorite city in the world.

I don't think 3 full days is too much. You are likely to be jetlagged and sleep-deprived. This will give you time to adjust while just soaking it all up. I took one of these free walking tours and highly recommend them. You have to register in advance but there's no penalty for no-shows.

The Secret Itineraries tour at the Doge's Palace is great for history buffs. There are only 2-3 small group tours a day, so sign up early, they sell out.

our travel agent said that 2 full days is plenty for Venice

In my opinion, two full days in Venice is not enough. Like Chani, Venice is one of our favorite places and we never tire of it. Personally, I'd drop a day from Florence and add it to Venice. But that's just me. No real right or wrong answer as to the number of days in each -- it just depends on your interest.

I'm with TC and acraven. Actually i think acraven's remark:

People who do rushed trips to Venice often don't like the city much,
because they spend a large percentage of their time surrounded by
other tourists

is one of the best descriptions of Venice I have seen.

I recommend you to visit https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/ for a lot of good information.

I spent one full day in Venice my first time. I liked it, didn‘t hate it. Spent two full days last spring. I liked it, didn‘t hate it. Three days would be nice. We stayed in a nicely located nun operated guesthouse.

Allocating a full day to travel between Venice and Florence is too much. Even on my first visit years ago on ancient trains it was only a 4 hour ride.

Thank you all for your responses.

Yes, allocating an entire day to travel from Florence to Venice is way too much. I think the train ride is about 2 hours total. I just like to block off the entire day to plan for the unexpected. That way we aren’t disappointed if we end up with only a half day there. 😌
So realistically if we left it as is, we would have closer to 4 full days in Venice.

After doing more research and hearing your advice we’ve decided to keep the trip exactly as is.