1st Trip to Italy - Itinerary for Winter Months

I have not been during those months so cannot speak directly, but I believe attractions often have shorter hours during non-peak seasons, so that might offset some of the time savings from lack of crowds.

Hi Kathleen,
If you are spending just two nights in Venice, that will mean only one full day there. Not enough time for exploring Venice, the neighborhoods, cicchetti bars, and the Islands. My SF photographer friend goes to Venice around that time of year and finds the light is enchanting, with maybe some Acqua Alta, and less tourists and groups. Getting over jet-lag took us a few days. Figuring in your train travel time etc, I would skip Bologna and add those days to Venice. The rest of the trip looks fine to me.

We just spent 3 weeks in a Rome apartment and were busy with art, museums, long walks, churches, and hanging out "people watching" in Campo de' Fiori. One one the hidden treasures we discovered on the Italy Magazine site was: Le Domus Romane Di Palazzo Valentini, an actual Roman villa recently unearthed. Fantastic! Make reservations for a tour in English. Groups are small. The tour ends with a half-hour movie about the explanation of Trajan's column carvings. ( which is right next to this villa!). http://www.palazzovalentini.it/scavi.php?lang=eng

A good book to read before going is: "A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome" by Alberto Angela.

You should be fine w weather; it'll feel warm compared to MN. I've been to Rome a few times in the winter, and the weather has always been similar to San Francisco. Crowds will be much smaller.

One issue w winter travel: scheduled day tours, particularly special-interest tours, may not run because not enough people have signed up. So investigate carefully whether those Bologna tours are guaranteed to run. This is the one notable issue I've confronted in winter travel in Italy.

I think you should try to add at least one more day to Venice, particularly since that's your arrival point. You may be tired or jet lagged that first full day after arrival. One possibility would be going from Venice to Florence, adding one day to each city, and visiting Bologna by train as an easy day trip from Florence.

You'll easily be able to fill your planned days in Rome.

I would have no concerns about going at that time, although daylight and sightseeing hours are shorter. See also Timing Your Trip. In my experience, a discerning shopper/menu reader can eat equally well in all of those cities, making Bologna not that special. I also would prefer more time in Venice and would be sure to include the Siena side trip.

Since train travel time from Venice to Florence is only 2 hours, it may be possible to do one of the Bologna tours you're considering on that transit day, and then continue to Florence. On the way from Florence to Rome, Orvieto is an easy hill town stop that you also have time for.

I agree that you need more time for Venice. You could take one day from Florence and add it to Venice, if you want to keep Bolonga in your itinerary.

I'm sure the weather will be far better in Italy at that time of year than in Minneapolis!

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I think we'll drop Bologna and maybe see about some food tours in or near Florence instead and add 2 days to Venice.

Is a budget of $100 per day per person for sites and meals reasonable? The hotels we are looking at all include at least a light breakfast. I've budgeted train tickets, transportation to and from the airports, hotels and flights separately.

If there is a particular activity you want to do in Bologna (food tour, specific restaurant, the famous food markets and stores, etc), remember that Bologna is only about an hour from Florence. So, you could do it as a day trip from Florence, or you could leave Venice in the morning, stop in Bologna for the day, then get to Florence in the evening (probably even after dinner, but check the train schedules first before assuming this). The only catch is that if you're taking high speed trains for any of the route, you need to be on the EXACT train you're ticketed for, or you get a heavy fine. So if you want to stop over in Bologna, you have to have two separate tickets (Venice to Bologna and Bologna to Florence).

Kathleen,
You asked "Is a budget of $100 per day per person for sites and meals reasonable?" I would say more than adequate. We average $50 per person for food with plenty of wine included. Some days much higher, some much lower. That leaves $50 per day for entertainment (on average) which is a lot unless you take an extraordinary number of guided tours.

Agree with your plan to drop Bologna in favor of more time in Venezia. Love that place! Have been 5 times and will go back again in December when it is quiet and lovely.

Ciao!
(I am a St. Paul, MN native, BTW. Italian winters have MN beat.)

I've been to those destinations twice in February in the past few years. I believe weather then is more wintry than Nov-Dec. The temperatures were 50's and 60's, and some drizzly rain, but also some sunny days. Rome was warm enough to be outdoors without a jacket on my first trip, on my second it snowed - but for the first time in 25 years or more. It was funny to see how they dealt with snow clearance, sweeping it up with brooms and shoveling it into dump trucks, just like cleaning trash from the streets. But even then, it was not bitterly cold and in the morning the sky was a bright clear blue.

Rome seemed pretty crowded, but that's probably relative. I'm sure that the lines at the Colosseum and the Vatican were much shorter than they are in summer. There weren't lines anywhere else or hordes of tourists.