11-12 nights, first time in Italy

I would fly into Venice. Starting your trip taking a boat into Venice sets the mood for the whole trip. Then on to Florence (day trip into the countryside) and on to Rome.

July 9: Fly Montreal-Venice

July 10: Arrive Venice, Overnight Venice

July 11: Overnight Venice (Get Lost, St. Mark's)

July 12: Overnight Venice (Get Lost Some More)

July 13: Train to Florence, Overnight Florence

July 14: Overnight Florence (David)

July 15: Overnight Florence (Day Tour to Countryside for Wine Tasting and Lunch)

July 16: Overnight Florence

July 17: Train to Rome, Overnight Rome

July 18: Overnight Rome (Ancient Rome)

July 19: Overnight Rome (Vatican)

July 20: Overnight Rome (Day Trip to Ostia Antica)

July 21: Overnight Rome (Other Interests)

July 22: Fly Rome to Montreal

The first time we went to Italy we went to Rome, Florence, Venice and had a week in a farmhouse in Umbria. We are not "art" people either but felt like Florence was a requirement to at least experience. Much to our pleasant surprise we both loved Florence. The only two museums we visited were the Uffizi and the Academia so we did not spend our entire time in museums. This past year we went back to Italy for a month and......spent a full week in Florence!!! Lesson learned...be open minded and enjoy whatever experience is before you....you may be surprised! Think of this trip as a sampler!

I like Paul's suggested itinerary. If you would enjoy more day trips, then consider spending one more day in Florence and one less day in Rome. There are many easy day trips from Florence, with Siena (bus) or Lucca/Pisa (train) both being nice and easy ones for first timers. The train from Florence to Rome only takes 1.5 hours, so if you take a morning train you'll have a full afternoon and evening in Rome on your travel day.

There are many, many places to view art in Florence that are small, don't require reservations, and don't require hours and hours in order to see everything - thinking particularly of the Museo San Marco and the Brancacci Chapel.

Thanks for those answers and big thanks for the suggest itinerary.

We thought about arriving in Rome first since we will be jetlag and thet we will have more night there. We also see Venice like a bit of an icing on the cake. Maybe we are wrong about that !

We also like the idea of a day tour from Florenc to see some parts of Tuscany, is someone can recommand a good tour company that would be great. we can also do it by ourselves (without guide our tour guide).

One reason for not ending in Venice is that (depending on what airport you must fly back to) you may find the flight departure times are at an ungodly hour in morning. That can lead to a 4 AM wake-up call and very expensive private transportation back to the airport. So check before deciding that's the way you want to go.

A thumb up for Paul's suggested itinerary too. 👍

As mentioned, seeing some killer Renaissance art in Florence doesn't need to involve big, time-consuming museums. Some wonderful works are in the churches - still in place after umpty centuries - and can be enjoyed for however long or not you desire. Same in Rome...and many in the Eternal City are free for the gazing. Also, San Marco (Florence) and Galleria Borghese (Rome; requires advance reservations) are both smaller museums with excellent collections and fewer bodies to contend with than the biggies.

The reason many of us recommend Venice first and Rome last is that some international flights leave very early out of Venice, and that can create some complexities where getting TO the airport is involved. It's also not a ton of fun getting up at o'dark thirty! Venice - while a rabbit warren of streets - is also very compact; a smaller place to get your head around versus much larger Rome. The historic center of Rome isn't exactly a huge, overwhelming sprawl but, well, let's just say it's bigger.

A lot of time, people recommend flying into Venice vs flying out because generally the flights from Venice to NA leave early in the morning and it can be a royal pain to get to the airport - but since you have a direct flight, it would prob be OK - I was just peeking and it looks like the flight leaves from VCE to Montreal at 1:45pm. (I just picked random dates in May). If there isn't a direct flight on the day you wanted to return home, take notice of the times the flights leave.

The 2nd reason people recommend flying into Venice - it is a pretty good place to just sit and relax and get over jet lag. Rome is def more hectic and may not be conducive to relaxing.

(Looks like 'great' minds think alike...lol)

We also like the idea of a day tour from Florenc to see some parts of
Tuscany, is someone can recommand a good tour company that would be
great. we can also do it by ourselves (without guide our tour guide).

Just to add: day trips to Siena (bus or train), Lucca (train) and Pisa (train) from Florence are easily done: no escorted tour needed. Just do some reading up in advance and take a good guidebook along.

(Looks like 'great' minds think alike...lol)

Right back at you, Nicole! 🙂

If you were on the fence about Florence (we didn't visit until our 3rd trip to Italy, but did enjoy it) you could always do Milan in it's place - well, not Milan so much because - well, it isn't that exciting a spot, but you could def do a few nights in Lake Como.

The other thing to keep in mind - July is gonna be hella hot. We usually travel mid-Late Sept, but a few years back did early Sept. Almost every day we'd have to return to our room mid-afternoon - if we were nearby - to take a siesta. Half the time I'd have to take a second shower to cool down...and also to take a nap. You def want to make sure wherever you stay has air conditioning. Plan to go out early and then go out in the evenings - don't discount how much the heat will zap your energy.

Venice is the perfect place to get over jetlag - no major sights, lots of atmosphere. Sit back on the vaporetto and watch the city float by you along the Grand Canal. Wander to a back canal, find a little cafe and have a coffee or glass of wine and people-watch.

Instead of Florence, consider spending a few nights in Bologna. You can day trip by train to explore neighboring towns, like Ferrara, Modena, Ravenna, Padua, even Florence. There's nothing wrong with skipping Florence or only spending a day or two there.

wow a lot of answers in a shourt amount of time ! Thanks a lot !

juste some information befeor adding more questions or comments:

1) Flights from Venice to Montreal leave at 13:00-13:45 depending on the day so transportation to the aiport should not be a problem. We will take a direct flight for sure, we can change dates to get one. Arrival in Venice and departure from Rome is more expensive (something like 120$ per ticket)

2) I understand the idea of fighting jet lag in a more relax (as relax venice can be !) place. In the last 2 yeards we have fight jetlag in Barcelona and Berlin and we were with our 5 and 9 years old kids, not this time so Rome could be ok too.

3) Skipping Florence or stay only one or 2 nights ins not out of question. generally we like to spend at leats wo night somewhere (hotel arrival and departure takes time). So we woul have 5 nights in Rome, 3 in Venice...that leave us with 4 nights. Maybe 2 in Florence and 2 in Bologna ? 4 nights in Florence + daytrip could be good too.

I know bologna is famous for food and Florence it's renaissance sights...So food or sights...tough choice !

You can easily flip Roma and Venezia in order of visit, but there's nothing wrong with eating the icing before the cake!

My husband and I were in Italy this past August for our honeymoon, and we did a guided wine tour from Florence to the Tuscan countryside--we went with a company called Grape Tours and LOVED our day with them. I know many folks are not "tour group" people here which is totally fine, but with it being our first trip to Europe we did not feel comfortable renting a car which you really need if you want to get out to the vineyards in Tuscany. They keep their groups to 8 people and we got to visit two wineries/vineyards, have lunch at a famous butcher shop and also made a stop in Greve in Chianti and got to explore a bit there. It was my favorite day of our 3+ week trip!

Thnaks once again ! After all doing a Tusacany ourselves would be better. It would be our 6th time in Europe and we never use tour or guide so I guess it would be the same this time ! Thanks anyways for the suggestion !

And some thoughts:

1) I know that 12 days is not a lot. We are teacher and we have 8 weeks vacation in summer, but his time we leave the kids (6 and 10 years old) with grandparents so that's why we have to limit our time.

2) Hot and crowdy is not ideal, but we don't really have the choice. It,s the only time of the year we can take vacations.

3) We love art, but it's not top in the list. Good food and history would be.

4) thanks for the itinerary chester9cat. Flying out of Venice is not a problem . Direct flight (with Transat or Air Canada) to Montreal leave between 13:00 ans 13:45. It's not super early in my book !

5) We don't know what future will be, we don't have plan to make that trip the only one in Italy but it must defitnly the only one we two as a couple before at leat 10 more years. If we come back it will be with the kids. So we are looking to do things that would be less appealing to them.

3) We love art, but it's not top in the list. Good food and history
would be.

I wouldn't skip Florence simply because you're not wild about art. All three of the "Holy Trinity" cities (Rome, Florence and Venice) have their own long, rich histories and culture so if history is your thing, there's more to be learned than can be managed in a lifetime! Art is unavoidable because it's such an important piece of individual, cultural patrimonies; it'll pretty much be everywhere you look, inside and out, and makes things interesting. Some, like Michelangelo's "David", have stories that are as captivating, if not more, than the works themselves, and are part and parcel of a city's historical fabric (do some background reading about that one if you haven't already).

Food, wine and long walks? Check. All three are to be had in all three cities. This forum is loaded with suggestions for good places to eat so a search for, say, "restaurants, Venice, Italy" will turn up what you need to start a list.

And there are all those day trips which can be so easily done from Florence....

Anyway, it's just fine if you decide to go elsewhere or shorten your stay but it can be helpful to know that for fans of history versus art, Firenze is more than the Uffizi and Accademia? :O)