10 days to see CT, Venice, Florence, Siena, Rome - suggestions?

Five cities in 10 days is too much. You will spend your trip on trains traveling from city to city and little time sightseeing. Book in advance as you are traveling during peak time. You will find many places are already full.

I agree with the other comments to drop at least one city. I think that, ideally, you would have 3 nights in each place, or at least 2 in CT and even 4 in Rome.

Also, as much as I love being spontaneous, it is extremely risky to go without reservations.

I'm with Kent and Sam and echo their thoughts... I would cut down to 3 cities!

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in ... where else - Venice! We stayed at the Hotel Danielli on the Grand Canal.

Kent's right... there's probably no more romantic a spot in Italy than Venice at sunset... makes me want to head back now!

Ciao,
Ron

Ditto to prior comments - you should make reservations ASAP. Although I love the CT, I too would recommend dropping it just based on the amount of travel time required to get there and back. I'd also suggest dropping Rome - although it's one of the world's best cities, staying a bit north will allow you to have the best experience in the very short time you have. Venice is the best bet for anniversary planning, so build your itinerary around that.

WOW!! What wonderful and prompt responses. I am grateful. Thank you. Dang the luck, I am glad I posted because I honestly thought we could do them all. I really want to go to CT. Perhaps, dropping Rome and Siena would be best. I really would like to enjoy a small Tuscan town for a night or two...perhaps we should stay in Pisa for a couple of nights, unless you have any other suggestions. Any thoughts?
alan

I agree with all about dropping CT but wouldn't drop Rome unless I had to. It's got the most to see. We "did" Venice in a day - not the best but do-able. The best advice is this - you will go to Italy again so don't rush through things.

Paula

It's a toughie, so much to see not enough time. There's a lot of travel time between these places. Each stop deserves at least one full day, two if possible to really enjoy. Venice is a long train trip from Pisa, or could you fly from Pisa to Venice? Same from Venice to Florence. Florence is definitely worth the time. Siena is an easy day trip from Florence. The CT can be seen in a day, if you arrive there early.

Alan: In your 2nd post, you added a question about spending 2 nights in Pisa. The consensus here on this board in the past has been that Pisa is not in any way comparable to the other locations on your itinerary. Given your short amount of time, Pisa should only be the place you fly in and out of, plus making a quick stop to see the Leaning Tower. If you want to add 2 nights in what you called a small Tuscan town, you will have to reduce by 2 nights something else previously listed on your itinerary. To select a town, you should read Rick's book where he covers them in detail. Adding a small Tuscan town also introduces the new subject of whether to rent a car; your other destinations were best reached by train--although train service exists to some extent in the Tuscan countryside, it's limited and this introduces a complication into your planning.

Other posters here have more experience with Italy than I do, but if I were putting together your trip I would probably go for something like:

Fly into Pisa, see the tower. I would overnight in Pisa since you are landing in the evening and if you get delayed at all you will have a challenge.

Then I think you are forced to make a tough choice: Cinque Terre that you really want to do, or romantic Venice for your anniversary. Venice is on the opposite side of Italy from the rest of your locations, so if it were me, I'd probably drop it. Otherwise, I would look into either flying or a possible night train instead of overnighting in Pisa.

If you skip Venice, I would work my way south a couple nights at a time. 2-3 nights in CT, 2 nights in Florence (day trip to Siena possibly?), 1 night in Orvieto (a 'hill' town that's on the Rome-Florence train line), and 2-3 nights in Rome, depending on what time you need to get back to Pisa. It's a lot, but I think it's doable.

A couple of questions:
1. how long of a train ride from CT to Florence?
2. how long train ride from Venice to Rome?

I want to fit everything in. How does this sound, realistically:

Pisa over night first night (5th). Visit tower next morning (6th), then a train off to CT for 2 nights (6th, 7th).
CT to Florence for 2 nights (8th, 9th).
Florence to Venice for 1 night (10th).
Venice supertrain to Rome for 2 nights (11th, 12th).
Back to Pisa for return flight (13th).

How long would each of those trips from town to town be on train?

Your thoughts (again much appreciated)?
alan

Great advice, everyone! A nice alternative to Pisa would be Lucca, in my opinion.

We just got home from a Venice, Florence and Rome trip. I would say Venice 2 - 3 days, Florence the same and Rome is 2 - 3 days. We stayed in Florence at a european hotel next to Duomo, in Rome we found an apartment near the vatican. Awesome way to go.
Venice we stayed at a hotel on the grand canal. Great but pricey. The Rick Steve's guide book on Italy is the way to go.

Hi Alan, We just returned from our trip which was very simular to yours. We had 13 days and still felt rushed at times. Do not try to squeeze it all in unless you don't plan to enter any museums. Each one usually take a solid 2 hours to go through. Vatican takes up 4 hours of the day. For beauty and romance, my favorite place was the CT. You are very dependent on the weather there for a fabulous time, though. We had it sunny & in the 70's and had a rooftop terrace with a WOW view...felt like royality. With such a short time, give up Pisa. Nothing there but tower...not worth it. Would also choose Orvieto for a hilltown...we fell in love with it!! Train rides from Venice to Florence is 3 hrs, Florence to CT 2 1/2, CT to Rome is 4 1/2, Orvieto to Rome is 1 hr. Whatever you decide to do, fly into one city and out from the city you end with. Do not go back to your arrival city...too much wasted time. If you have any other questions, please write me. Linda

Alan,
Hubbie and I will be in Italy from June 18-28. We are flying in from Greece so won't have jet lag. We are doing the following: 3 nights Cinque Terre, 3 nights Florence, 4 nights Rome. Just an idea. My only recommendation is to book major cites like Uffizi & Accademia in Florence and the Vatican in Rome in advance. We just reserved tickets for Uffizi and they're already nearly booked for Sunday, June 22! Also, if you're going in June I would absolutely reserve your hotel in advance - especially Cinque Terre & Florence. I'm sure many places are already filling up.
Have a great trip.

What a trip! Make your reservations asap. Flying into Pisa and out of your last city would save a lot of time and wear and tear. I would see the tower that afternoon, spend a night and head out. CT is about a 2 hr car ride from Pisa--but I don't advise driving. I would eliminate CT for time reasons. We stayed a night in Volterra (Tuscany) which was relaxing and not crowded--Rick's recommendations are good there. Have fun!

I have been very busy since getting everyone's input. thank you all!! We have decided on first night in Pisa, leave the next morning for 2 nights in CT, then 2 nights in Florence, followed by 2 nights in Venice. We will have two days left. We have scrapped Rome until another time. We will spend the last two days driving in a relaxed manner in the Tuscan countryside. Any quaint and lovely towns you can suggest to visit during the last two day? Where would your starting point be renting a car if we must end in Pisa, where we leave on the 14th? By the way, booking hotels has been a challenge so late in the game, but we are taken care of in CT and Venice. We are still tossing around places in Florence.
alan

Hi Alan...I have justed booked my trip as well flying into Milan June 17th. If you have 2 days to see the Tuscany countryside people have recommended Chianti and Siena to me. They are both not far from Pisa. You can rent scooters for the day and go through the countryside (beware the wine tasting when on a scooter LOL). What a lovely way to end your trip and then take the train back to Pisa. Have a wonderful trip. A romantic Gondola in venice for your anniversary would be wonderful - pricey but a once in a lifetime memory

Lucca is nearby and is a lovely town with wonderful restaurants!