5 Day Itinerary

Rome 2-3 nights and Venice 2-3 nights. Arrive Rome day one, explore and stay overnight. Day two take train to Venice. Stay at least two nights then take an early am train to Florence (two hours). Spend a concentrated half day in Florence (or overnight) then return to Rome for the remainder of your time. Forget Naples. Traveling on the fast trains, you can get to Venice from Rome in around 3 hours. If you make reservations for hotels near the train stations (Termini in Rome and Venezia S.L. in Venice) you can get settlted in your hotels and be out exploring quickly.

for 5 days pick 2 locations such as Rome-Florence or Rome-Venice.

With flights in and out of Rome, I would probably not go farther than Florence. You will lose too much time going to Venice. Not only does the train take longer, but it takes longer to get from the train station to anywhere else in Venice. Most of the sights and hotels in Florence are no more than 15 minutes on foot from the train station.

With your time constraints I'd eliminate Naples, Venice and Florence and go with Rome, Orvieto, Siena and back to Rome.

With only 5 days I would say to go directly to Florence after your flight into Rome. Stay there for two nights and finish your trip off in Rome.
with only 5days you won't really have time to see most of the things in these two cities so I wouldn't add anymore or you end up spending most of your vacation changing hotels. Donna

If you really want to include Venice, I suggest taking the first train to Venice out of Florence, spend the day in Venice then take a later train back to Florence. I did this during one of my trips to Italy and it worked fine. There is a water bus stop right outside the train station. Take it to St. Marks Square then walk back to the train station through the streets of Venice.

Brittany, That's a long way to go for only five days! Keep in mind that you'll be jet-lagged for the first few days after arrival, so probably won't get as much touring done as anticipated. There are lots of possibilities, but limiting the visit to just two or three locations would be the best idea. As you've already booked flights, it won't be possible to use open-jaw flights which would have been a more efficient method for such a short trip. Here are some possibilities to consider: > Rome 3 days, Orvieto 2 days (possible day trip to Civita di Bagroregio?) > Rome 3 days, Siena 2 days > Rome 2 days, Florence 3 days (with day trip to Venice, as suggested in earlier reply) You won't actually have as much time in the second location as planned, as part of the time will be used for travel to and from Rome. Depending on which places you choose, it might be a good idea to reverse the order and tour Rome at the end. That would make things a bit easier for getting back to FCO for your flight home. If this is your first trip to Italy, be sure to read the "Rail Skills" chapter in Europe Through The Back Door very carefully, as there are some potentially expensive "pitfalls" to be aware of (ie: not validating tickets when riding Regionale trains). You may find it helpful to peruse This Excellent Website. Plan your touring carefully, so that you don't waste ANY time. Buon Viaggio!