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Advice with Travel Plans

Hello,
I will be traveling with 6 people in early April. Wanted advice on this rough itinerary. This is our first time so I wanted to get some advice of the reality of this or if anyone can suggest better routes. we will be traveling by train. Would we need a driver for some of this?
Friday 4/4 Arrive in Rome 11am. Travel to Sienna spend the night and explore Sienna Saturday.

Saturday night do we stay in Sienna or head to Lucca?

Sunday: Explore Lucca (Bikes) Walking and Pisa or stay in Lucca and see Pisa Monday morning before heading to Florence?

Tuesday: Could adjust the top of the trip and travel to Florence this day or could do Venice this day and have an extra day in Florence.
Wednesday: Day trip to Venice

Thursday and Friday: Florence Leave Friday night for Rome Might not be enough time!

Saturday- Monday: Rome 3 days

Fly home from Rome Tuesday morning
I know you can do daytrips to the above locations so not sure if some of them are better as 1 day or an overnight?
We do want some time to enjoy the sights.

Thank you

Posted by
6206 posts

Oh, sleep in Venice. The mornings and evenings are priceless!

Posted by
11910 posts

To make sure you find the correct city, Siena is spelled with one “n.”

Posted by
1422 posts

This strikes me as a bit too much travel for eleven nights. I would suggest as a starting point 3 nights in Venice, four in Florence and four in Rome. Take the train directly to Venice upon arrival - it's a bit of a lost day anyway. If you really want to see Lucca, do as a daytrip from Florence, or spend a night on your way to Rome. Siena as a daytrip from Florence.

Posted by
6045 posts

Out of curiosity, have you looked at Trenitalia for the travel times between these places? Because that should surely inform some of your decisions regarding when (or if) you move from place to place. Siena to Lucca is going to take a good half day. That doesn't leave a lot of time to see much of Lucca that day..

Pisa, if you only want to see the buildings in the Field of Miracles, can be done on the way to Florence from Lucca, and only needs a couple of hours. But again, that will leave less than half a day in Florence that day.

I'm never a fan of trying to visit Venice as a day trip from Florence, when at least 5 hours that day will be spent sitting on a train, never mind the time you need to get to and from the respective train stations. Either spend a night there or skip it. Or better yet, follow tye advice of markcw and do Siena, Lucca, and Pisa as day trips from Florence

Posted by
826 posts

You have a lot of destinations for your 11-night vacation. Especially if it's your first time in Europe / Italy and you have a group of six, I suggest that you slow the pace a bit. Remember that each time you go to a different location, you need to have all six of you at the departure point, ready to go, bathroom breaks taken, all gear in hand, etc. (it's just human nature that someone will have forgotten something, need to stop at a store for a bottle of water, need to go to the bathroom again, etc.)

I'll assume that your flights are booked but your lodging is not?

Make your plans based on the number of nights, not days. It's just easier. For example, you're actually in Rome Saturday-Monday nights, so you have four nights in Rome, three full days plus time after arrival on Saturday and before your plane leaves on Tuesday.

Keep in mind that upon arrival at the Rome airport, you'll need to get yourselves from the airport to the train station, which is in central Rome. You will all be tired and jet-lagged and it will take you at least 4 hours door to door. But keep in mind - you'll be in Italy!!! Note that the train station in Siena is not close to the main part of town (2 km from the train station to the Piazza del Campo, it obviously could be closer depending on your hotel location). If you're ok with walking from the station, then do that, if not, you'll have to get two cabs.

Of the places you mentioned, I would drop Lucca. I've made lengthy stays in Siena and Lucca (and Florence, Venice and Rome too), and prefer Siena, though Lucca is also lovely. You could devote that travel time and time in Lucca to any of your other destinations, depending on your group's interests.

I would also vote for at least an overnight in Venice, Venice is even more magical in the evenings after the day-trippers have left, and in the morning before they arrive. If you could manage two nights, then even better. And, if your group is really into Renaissance art, then definitely visit Florence. But if not, then consider time in Venice over Florence. Even with the crowds in Venice, it's such a special place. And you only have to walk away from Piazza San Marco and that area to start to escape hordes of tourists.

In terms of day trips, check on the length of any train trips. You don't want to end up spending most of your day on the train (don't forget to include time getting to and from the train station). For example, the train between Florence and Venice is about four hours each way. You could easily choose three destinations out of those that you listed, and not have enough time at each destination to see what you want to see - and make sure you allocate plenty of time for sitting at a cafe for a coffee, glass of wine, Spritz or whatever, and people-watching.

Enjoy your trip!

Posted by
113 posts

I whole heartedly agree with markcw. Three nights Venice, four nights Florence ( with day trips to Sienna or Lucca if you wish) and four nights Rome. Take the train directly from Rome to Venice on the day of arrival.

Posted by
7760 posts

Agree with markcw. Your plan has too many locations and some of the transits are just not easy.

A 3 night stay is really only 2.5 days in location for sightseeing.
Each location change eats up at least a half a day.

If you can’t give Venice a fewnights then save for next trip
Those that hate it usually spend only a day

I would suggest 4 Florence, 3 Venice, 4 Rome

There is usually a 1:53 train direct from FCO to Florence which should be easy to catch. If not it's an easy transfer- Leonardo Express to Termini- and there are several trains to Florence each hour

Head to Florence on arrival - journey 2--3 hr depending on which train you catch rather than Venice- just because it's a shorter trip and you can give first location 4 nights

Florence 4 nights with 1 day trip- Siena would be my choice- do this on Monday when museums are closed- bus to Siena is better than train
(Or do a guided group tour that takes you to Siena and Pisa-if Pisa is a must)

Train to Venice 2hr 14 min
Venice 3 nights
Train to Rome 4hr- take a picnic on board
Rome 4 nights

Wait til you arrive in Rome to purchase train tickets- you never know if flight will be delayed or how long passport control/luggage etc will take.

Get the app- easy to use.
https://www.trenitalia.com/content/tcom/en.html

Station names:
Fiumicino Aeroporto
Roma Termini
Firenze SM Novella
Venezia S Lucia

Posted by
232 posts

Train between Florence and Venice is actually about 2 1/2 hours. (Four hours from Roma Termini to Venice)

Nonetheless, this short travel time should not in any way encourage your thoughts that a day trip to Venice is sufficient.
I believe there are two reason people say they hate Venice - 1) They went on a day trip when crowds are the thickest. 2) They only went to the most touristy spots - Piazza San Marco and Rialto Bridge where the crowds are the thickest. Maybe both (does that make THREE reasons?)

The BEST times in Venice are before and after the crowds arrive - mornings and evenings. Once the cruise ships let out their passengers, look for somewhere beside San Marco and Rialto. I was in Piazza San Marco one morning around 8:30 and birds outnumbered people there. 2 hours later, looking from a tower on a neighboring island, I could see the same plaza was shoulder to should with people, mainly from the three cruise ships I saw passing by earlier in the morning.

Just wander.

You CANNOT get lost because no matter where you walk, you will eventually come to an "edge" of the island and have to make a turn toward somewhere else. PLUS, there are signs in many places with arrows showing San Marco this way and Ferrovia (railroad station) that way.

Do yourself a favor and stay at least one night in Venice (on the island, not in Mestre where lower lodging cost might tempt you).

As for Siena: I've stayed there for a few days, and I've made a daytrip from Florence. I could do either again and be happy.
For a daytrip, bus from Florence and back is a better choice. The bus terminal in Florence is very close to the railroad station, so not much difference there.
The arrival in Siena is a different story. The bus drops you in town, a short walk from the places you want to go. The railroad station is on the "edge of town" and arriving there entails a much longer walk or a taxi. Plus, the bus is actually faster if you pick the right ones (as little as 1hr 15mins vs train of 1 1/2 hours)

One other thing to consider about Siena. When you hear it called a "hill town," they don't just mean a town on a hill, which it is, as much as a town with a lot of hills. The up-and-downs walking through the city on my longer stay really surprised me.

Have a great time on your trip.

Posted by
3009 posts

I have traveled to Europe twice with a group of seven people-once to Greece and once to Italy. You want to simplify what you are doing if you are going to enjoy yourself. Like you, I was the planner and arranger which is a lot of responsibility. When we went to Italy we had 12 nights and stayed in three places. I agree with others that three places makes the most sense.
Believe me, you want to herd a group as infrequently as possible.

Personally, I would go to Venice on day of arrival. It really is better to go to furthest place the first day if you have to return to airport you started in. And Venice is wonderful but not so much in middle of day when all the day trippers arrive.