My wife and I are spending 11 days in Italy in late December - and will be there over Christmas. Our current itinerary gives us 4 days in Rome, 3 days in Florence and 4 days in Venice. The two things that I am questioning are how we split our time and which days we are traveling. After reading a bit more in our Rick Steves guidebooks, it seems that we might be better off spending an extra day in Florence - hopefully allowing us a day trip to Pisa. Would we be better off with 4 days in Florence and 3 days in Venice? Also, we currently have Christmas as a travel day (from Florence to Venice). Aside from not enjoying the holiday festivities, would we have any issues traveling on Christmas Day? Is it even worth trying to sight-see on Christmas Day? Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15791 posts
Venice and Florence are both good cities for walking around outside, even when all the museums are closed. I would think that many of the churches would be open on Xmas day. There's not much to Pisa. Instead, I'd use one of the days in Venice for a day trip to Verona. If you haven't made your flight reservations yet, consider starting in Venice and ending in Rome. Venice is a good place to relax and soak up atmosphere, easier to get over the jetlag and potential lack of sleep after the long flight in.
Posted by
OP
Long Beach, CA, USA
12 posts
Chani - Thanks for the reply. We know that Pisa is mainly just something to see, and we don't plan on going to the top, but we don't want to miss it. Is it maybe something we could do "on the way" from Florence to Venice? I know it is really in the oposite direction, but could we go there in the morning and then train straight to Venice on Christmas Day without much issue?
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
David, I would take a day from Venice, visit Pisa in the morning and take the train to Venice in the evening. It will be a long day but at least you'll get to see the Tower. I think 4 days in both Rome and Florence (with the trip to Pisa and travel to Venice) is the way to go. Venice is wonderful but I think 4 days is too much. If you are interested in audio guides of Venice I found some really good ones on pocketvox.com. My husband and I used them on our first trip to Venice and were amazed at the detail of the tours and how easy they were to follow. The ones of the Dorsoduro area were great and took us to places we would not have been to on our own. It's just something for you to think about. (the ones for the rome forum are great too). Donna