This will be our first trip to Italy. My husband and I have booked the Heart of Italy tour in 9 days. We will miss Venice. Our itinerary includes CT, Lucca, Volterra, Siena Florence, and Rome. Would you all choose this itinerary, or Venice, Florence and Rome?
Posted by
Tucson, AZ, USA
134 posts
Lori,
Heart of Italy is a great itinerary, especially since it includes both Florence and Rome. We have been on 3 of Rick's Tours to Italy so had been to all of the places you are going except Volterra and we went there on our own this Sept. and loved it. It would be a shame to miss Venice though as it is truly incredible. Any chance you could go a couple of days early and fly into Venice for a couple of days then train to Florence where the tour starts and fly out of Rome? If not, I would still forego Venice to see CT, Lucca, Volterra and Siena which are all fantastic!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32202 posts
Lori,
My suggestion would be the same as the previous post. Using open-jaw flights, arrive in Venice a few days before your Heart of Italy tour begins. Have a look around Venice on your own and then take the train to Florence (or where ever the tour begins). I assume you'll be flying home from Rome?
Happy travels!
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
I like Ken's idea the best. Fly open jaw with Rome and Venice as your airports. I would probably go into Rome and spend as many days as possible there. Then take a train to Florence for two days of seeing the "must-see" sites. Catch up with your tour. At the end of the tour spend two or three nights in Venice before flying home. That would give you a great overview of Italy.
Posted by
OP
Salem, OR, USA
2 posts
I appreciate all the great advice. Thanks.
We're pretty convinced that leaving early and hitting Venice before starting the tour in Florence makes sense. Thanks again!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32202 posts
Lori,
Another good point about arriving a few days early prior to a tour, is that it will give you some time to get over jet lag and get into the "vacation spirit".
If you haven't taken any RS tours previously, you're in for a treat!
Cheers!
Posted by
Hoquiam, WA, USA
1 posts
I notice that both of you are from my neck of the woods. We are planning a trip to Florence in late April. What's the best flight route? Out of SeaTac, Vancouver BC or Portland OR? I am trying to figure out how to get there from here (first step!). We thought we'd fly into Rome and then bus or train it to Florence, spending a few days in Rome, a week in Florence, a few more days in Rome then back home. This will be our first trip. I have no idea what I am doing but I do have a couple of Rick Steves books to get me started:-)
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
1449 posts
Tami, no bus from Rome to Florence. Take the hi-speed train. As for flights, my preference is always to have the connection (if one is needed) be somewhere in Europe rather than the US. There's a limited number of flights across the Atlantic; there's far more flights within Europe. If for some reason your 1st flight is 2-3 hours late and you miss the connection, its a lot easier to get back on track when you're standing somewhere in Europe.