Advice for days in Florence and Rome (after spending 4 nights in Venice)

You will not regret spending so many days in Venice. The last time I was there I spent a whole week and was never bored. I think if you were to spend less time there you wouldn’t enjoy it as much because you would be in a rush to fit in all the sights. The most fun in Venice is just getting lost and making unexpected discoveries, and that takes time. Don’t skip Florence, it’s a beautiful city, and the main sights are all fairly close and walkable. Take the earliest train you can so you have as much of that day left as possible. Three nights in Florence would give two more whole days and that would be great, and still leave you a few days in Rome. You could easily spend a lot more time in all of these cities and not regret it, but Rome is a big, busy place, and that means it will take time to get around, and into, the places you want to see, so the more time you have, the better, but don’t skip Florence.

Trains will easily get you between your cities, as long as you can carry your own bags. Use the Trenitalia website to see train times and to book. But since there is no guarantee that your plane will arrive on time or that you will clear passport control and perhaps baggage pickup quickly, consider buying your ticket to Venice on arrival in Rome.

Remember, when using the Trenitalia website or app, to use the Italian spelling for cities: Roma, Venezia, and Firenze. If in doubt as to which train station in a city, just select 'tutte le statione' otherwise, you will use Roma Termini, Venezia S. Lucia, and Firenze SMN.

To get to Venice, you will take the Leonardo express from the airport to Rome Termini. Then change trains to Venice. It will take about 5 hours.

Don't worry about spending too much time in Venice. I don't think that is possible. And Florence is a wonderful city. Try to give it 3 nights, then the rest of your time in Rome.

Will you check luggage on your flight from the US to IT? The reason I ask is If you don’t mind paying $268 for a flight from FCO to VCE you can fly from Rome to Venice instead of taking trains.
There is one direct train from Rome’s airport train station Fiumicino Aeroporto departing at 1:53p arriving in Venice (Venezia S. Lucia) which is the end of line and where you want to get off at 6:34p: https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html. Most likely you will take an earlier train that will involve a change at Rome’s Termini station.
You need a minimum of three nights in Florence and if you visit the Uffizi Gallery buy tickets two months out to guarantee a reservation. Rome deserves four nights if you include a day at Vatican City.

Welcome to the forum!

Your plan is solid.

4 nights in Venice will be perfect especially since that first day is jet lag and long travel.
When you exit the train station in Venice- end of the line Venezia Santa Lucia- you will be standing on the Grand Canal.

The vaporetto passes are a true 24 hours from first use- so you may find you don't need a pass on your arrival day- that's the day you should get out and walk. Start use sometime on Day 2 and a 3 day pass will work well for you since you can walk to train station for your departure.

3 nights in Florence is perfect. If you wanted you could take a guided bus tour of Tuscany hill towns on one of the days but with only 2 full days in Florence- I probably would not. Just depends how many sights you want to see in Florence.
Just checking calendar and notice that May 20 is a Monday- so some of the museums will be closed. There are plenty of other sights that will be open- so check the hours carefully when you make your Florence plans.

Then fast train to Rome for 4 nights. 4 nights is the bare minimum for Rome. Take an early train (less than 2 hours) and you'll have almost 4 full days. Drop your bags at your hotel when you arrive and get going! Use this day for the RS Heart of Rome walk, maybe book something like Pantheon or Borghese for later in day. Or consider doing a food tour in the evening- lots of fun!

Anyway- good plan- your lurking paid off!

Your plan is a good one! And don't worry about allocating too much time to Venice. One can never do that!

Since this is an anniversary trip, consider a fancy meal at Trattoria Da Marco Valla Fava on Calle Stagneri in the Rialto Bridge area. It is definitely pricy so you might want to do lunch there rather than dinner. Some of the best sea food ever!! Try to eat inside rather than outside. The place has been around at least 50 years so they must be doing it right. And you might follow it up with a sit down drink at St. Marks Square at one of the places with live music, and perhaps a dance(?). Expensive, but it's your anniversary!! Also in the Rialto area (on the other side of the Grand Canal) when walking to Piazzale Roma is an out of the way place named Pane Vino e San Daniele on Calle Dei Boteri. Definitely a hole in the wall local place, good food, good house wine, and not expensive at all. A memory of the real Venice.

Venice is best at night when everyone has gone back to their ships and on to their next day trip. Don’t know if they are still doing the bands in San Marco Square but danced with my wife as they played in the palazzo. Just magical.
You are never going to see everything in Rome or Florence. Spend time in both. Enjoy.
Use Bahn or the Italian web site for train info.

Thank you everyone regarding Venice. My nerves are settled. Was worried that I had gone overboard with a 4 night stay.

Don't skip Florence and get there early. Got it.

I did not think about the time it will take to clear customs. I would have probably purchased my train tickets ahead of time. I'll now be sure to not do that.

I did think the train from FCO into Venice was going to be shorter than 5 hours. Now I know, 5 hours. Glad we arrive 7am into Rome. So I'll go FCO (Leonardo express) into Roma Termini, then onto Venezia.

I am going to go with 4 nights in Florence, maybe even 5, and cut Rome short. I realize that is not enough for Rome but there are always tour packages for Rome from Chicago that I could do in the future, maybe even in the off season.

ChristineH thank you! I was wondering if the ACTV passes were actual 24 hours. I too was thinking that if I time my ACTV purchase/validation as late as possible I could get away with a 3 day pass.

I just watched a Rick Steves visit blog from about 3-4 months ago. Looks like they are still doing the bands in St Marks Square. Looking forward to that.

Thank you everyone. Looking forward to this trip!

J&B

Be sure to validate your vaporetto pass every time you board a boat

The Leonardo Express takes 32 min, runs every 15? Min

The fast train -Frecciarossa-from Termini is a 3hr 59 min journey in a DIRECT train
Make sure you choose a direct train means no changes, not non stop

They run frequently
You’d probably be able to make a 10:30/11 train
But always wait til you arrive

Customs is no big deal-
Passport control might be a wait but FCO has really improved

Hello there, just got back from Italy last week and Rome was more crowded than I expected for February but was lovely.

I use Omio for my train/bus tickets, the high speed trains really make things easy.

I have no advice for Venice or Florence but Rome you can literally wander around and run into things to see and do. I did a Vatican tour at 8am and already busy, the Colosseum in the afternoon and saw the Pantheon on my way by accident lol. You can walk most places in Rome and people are very helpful and friendly.

While in Rome I did a street food tour (Trastevere) with Streaty Tours that I thought was really good. It was in a more "authentic" neighborhood and tried some really nice food.

Have a great time!

May 26h 9am flight out of Rome back to Chicago

In this case, I heartily recommend staying at the FCO Hilton your last night. You can either take a short walk to the terminal or take their free shuttle. Check with your carrier about how much time to allow before departure. The rule of thumb is between 2 and 3 hours.

Study up on Venice. You could spend a month and not get bored. Most of the tourist activity is in the heart of Venice, neat St. Mark's square. Plan to see the out of the way sites during the busiest times, leaving St. Mark's for the evening when the day trippers have left. Since it's an anniversary, splurge on an evening gondola ride.

You did a good job planning. Congratulations on your 30th anniversary! My wife and I met on a high school trip that included Venice, Florence and Rome. She was 14 and I was 15.at the time. We shared our first kiss in Florence. We've been going steady ever since and in August we'll celebrate our 54th wedding anniversary.

Yes, the validation thing is confusing. I am guessing validation puts a marker/timestamp on the ticket itself for the boat conductor. Will be sure I do that prior every boarding.

54 years Doug. Wow. Congrats! I was thinking I might want to stay at FCO Hilton just in case as well. I don't want that extra stress of missing a 9am flight. Ok so that is what I did. I booked FCO Hilton for our last 2 nights. Was able to use some points to cut the cost a bit. Not ideal for sightseeing but convenient for leaving in the morning. Plus easy access to the train going into Rome Terminal (Leonardo express) from the Hilton I presume?

I wound up cutting Rome to just 2 days. We'll be back another time I am sure and we still have 2 days, probably long days since we'll be at the airport already.

Now I just have to figure out where to stay in Florence for 5 nights.

Thanks everyone

TBH- I would stay IN Rome those 2 nights.

You would have to train to Termini then the LE to FCO walk to Hilton to drop your bags- then LE back to Rome for sightseeing then LE back to hotel to sleep. Get up next am and LE again to Rome- sightsee for the day- back to hotel via LE again- that's a minimum of 5 rides on LE. I think it is 15 euros/person now so add all that up x2.
Unless Hilton is running their shuttle again- I know it was not for a while- and if so check the scheduled times/places to make sure it is useful to you.

You can stay IN Rome and simply have your hotel call for a taxi at about 5:15 am- it will take well less than an hour to get to FCO at that time- 50 euros flat rate.
You actually would have to get up at about the same time staying at FCO Hilton.

Now I just have to figure out where to stay in Florence for 5 nights.

Anywhere in the historic center between train station-Duomo-Ponte Vecchio.
Everything is walkable.

Understood. I will take staying in Rome into consideration. Luckily my reservation is actually cancellable.

Only stay at FCO one night, not two. Rome is magical, a big favorite of mine.

How safe to walk from the Florence train station to my hotel with bags, 7 minutes approx. Or am I better off cab over to hotel even if that close to train?

Florence is quite safe. Don't count on perfectly flat and smooth sidewalks, though. Hopefully your suitcases have robust wheels.

Thanks. Yeah actually might get new luggage suited for stones.