My husband and I are traveling to Italy in September. We plan to visit Florence, Venice and Tuscany over a two week period. Any suggestions on how many days to spend in each location? We plan to fly into one city and fly home from the other. Thank you!
Posted by
Cesena, Italy
791 posts
Florence is in the Tuscan region. You could do a week in each with maybe a couple of daytrips out of town. Verona, Padova, Bossano del Grappa and Vicenza are all close to Venice. Pisa, Siena, Lucca and Volterra are all close to Florence.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15576 posts
I always recommend starting in Venice. It's the best place to enjoy while getting over jetlag and long-haul flights. Relax and soak up the atmosphere. Venice - 3 full days Verona - 1.5 to 2 days Florence - if you really like Renaissance art and architecture, and especially sculpture, 3 days is a minimum. If you really don't care for it, 1 day will be enough. Tuscany - a region. What are your interests? You can rent a villa and a car for about a week, leisurely tour the hill towns, enjoy the wines, the food, the scenery. Siena is a lovely town to spend a couple of days and nights, especially if you don't want to rent a car. The Cinque Terre are another great destination for 2-3 nights.
Lucca, Pisa, San Gimignano are good day trips by bus/train but I'm not sure whether it's better to use Siena or Florence as your base. When you're planning, remember to allow roughly 1/2 day for each hotel change.
Posted by
OP
St. Mary's City, Maryland
11 posts
Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. We are actually revising our itinerary and considering saving Florence and Tuscany/Umbria for another visit and possibly adding Rome and Naples to this trip. We have friends in Naples who have offered up an apartment for our use. Can't beat that!