My wife and I are looking at going to Italy for a month. We thought about getting a villa/house and using it as kind of a base camp. We have two adult kids (early 20's) so looking for a location for 4 adults. We would like to visit Florence, Rome, Pisa area, and Venice. I've done some searches for September and October (2025) time frame, but not much at an economy rate (5K for the month). Any advice?
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
17264 posts
Hi and welcome to the forum!
First thoughts? With the exception of Pisa as a day-trip from Florence, Rome, Florence and Venice aren't close enough together for multiple days trips nor would that be an economical way to go about visiting them. Without knowing your interests, the rule of thumb for Rome is a minimum of 4 nights/3.5 days just to cover the main sites and get your head around the city. More is better: we've spent much more over several trips without running out of things to do.
I'll say the same for Florence, depending on interests, PLUS that one is a great location for day-trips within the region by inexpensive regionale trains or bus.
Venice? Lovers of that city will tell you that the best time to be in the city is at night - when the day-trippers leave - and there's a lot of exploring to do when you add in some of the smaller islands. You could also day-trip to, say, Padua, by inexpensive regionale train in just 27-48 minutes. The city may also be a less-pricey base for Venice (accommodations tend to be very expensive there), with day trips to Venice itself, Vicenza, Verona and some other locations.
But back to the original desire for a base in the middle, which would very likely be Florence... You'd want to be taking the high-speed trains to Rome (90 minutes) and Venice (2 hours +) for making decent time, and those are not going to be inexpensive for spur-of-moment tickets, for 4 adults, over multiple trips. Personally, I'd prefer to avoid all that backtracking.
So I'm thinking that splitting your month into 3 or 4 different bases is a better idea to provide variety plus put you closer to some day-trip opportunities so you're not spending so much time (and possibly $) on rail. I am, of course, assuming your main form of transport will be rail as none of the cities you list are car-friendly.
Just noodling... Let's see what others of "The Hive" think?
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
8062 posts
Agree with Kathy.
While staying a month in same place sounds appealing- doesn't really work with the places you want to visit- too far flung, way too much time/expense traveling. to and fro.
3 bases should do it.
1 in Rome
1 in or near Florence- if outside Florence this is only place you might want/need a car for day trips to surrounding countryside.
1 in Venice- or maybe Padua or Vicenza (both have good rail connections and will be less pricey than Venice)
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thanks Kathy and Christine. This is big help!
Posted by
Florida, USA
283 posts
Hello. Kathy and Christine both have good advice. My only thought on a single base would be to contact the owner/manager of the property and ask for a possible better lodging rate. It has worked for us even staying for a short term (less than 2 wks).
Posted by
8964 posts
Agree with earlier posters.
Suggest that you could visit some great places in Tuscany by using Florence or Siena as a base. It is best to plan that any travel from a base not exceed 1.5 hours in each direction. You could do Pisa from Siena or Florence.
Also, departing from Venice can be more difficult than other cities.
From Rome, you might be able to visit Orvieto or Ostia Antica.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Awesome information, Thanks!!
Posted by
Calgary, AB, Canada
645 posts
Many years ago we had booked a month long stay at a villa with family. Plans changed and we ended up staying for 1 week at the villa and the other 3 weeks we travelled around Italy, staying 3-4 nights in places. We were so glad that this happened. We had not considered that villas usually are not near your high speed train or highway, and it took us 10- 15 minutes of a windy road, just to get to a more main road. Every trip took longer than we expected when looking at the map. We very much enjoyed that week, as we explored the close area, but a month would have been too long.
The other challenge with trying to daytrip somewhere ( even if it is logistically possible) is that so often the evenings and early morning are the most enjoyable towns in a little town, ( or big city) so you arrive with all the other daytrippers and just see the crowds.
If you prefer to only stay in a few spots, then an apartment in a few top spots might give you more of a feel of a home base.