Can I see these two cities within a week?(Florence & Venice )FIRST TIMER, Yikes!

How many nights do you have?

You will need to be in Milan night before departure flight so allow for that

3 nghts in each city works well

Florence is less than an hour from Bologna so I would go there first (provided that is not over a Monday when museums are closed)

Stay in Venice otherwise you are just there with all the other daytrippers
Venice is most enjoyable in the early morning and evening when those crowds leave

ETA
Now I see you really don’t have a “week”
You have 5 nights and 1 night needs to be Milan

Pick Florence or Venice for 4 nights
4 nights means 3 full days
Florence is closer to both Bologna and Milan
Both will be hot and crowded

Make a list of what you want to see and do in each, then choose

At a Glance
Florence
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/florence

Venice
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/venice

You need three nights in Florence and three nights in Venice so yes, one week is doable to visit two cities.

I would never recommend someone do Venice as a day trip. Day trippers have to pay a fee when entering, but the big reason is that travelers to heavy touristed Venice should take advantage of sightseeing when the daytrippers are gone.

If you could eek out another day or two, you could get an introduction to both cities.

Doable, but you will have to use your time wisely. In Venice to do that you MUST stay on the island. I love Venice, but not from 10a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m when it is chock full of day trippers & cruise line day tours. I love walking around and grabbing a glass of wine after all the day trippers have left. Or walking in the morning or visiting the Rialto market early in the morning before the day trippers arrive.

As Christine noted, given your fixed departure date from Milan, and the need to be there the night before, you really dont have time to see both cities without doing an injustice to both. You dont have a week; you have 4 nights and 4 1/2 days available (plus one night in Milan). Pick one and plan on seeing the other on your next trip to Italy

Not ideal since the last night (7/17) must be in Milan. So you have only 4 nights for both (2 nights each), instead of an ideal 3 nights each.

It is very doable however. As a matter of fact most organized tours spend no more than two nights in each, including Rick Steves’ Best of Italy Tour.

So go to Florence first, for two nights, then Venice for the next two, and finally head to Milan for one last night. July 13, 2026 is a Monday and some major museums like the Uffizi are closed, so do what you can on Monday, then leave the Uffizi for Tuesday 14.

Welcome to the forum! We may seem a little nosy with questions (well, I might seem nosy, hahaha) but it's to narrow down recommendations that might work best for you!

I think it's great for a first visit to get a taste of both cities. Roberto's right about 2 nights in each. 13/14 in Florence, 15/16 in Venice and 17 in Milan.

I also agree for Venice you should stay IN Venice. I've stayed in Padua on an RS tour and it's a neat town in and of itself but it's NOT Venice. IF you wanted to stay in Padua just to see Padua that would be fine as well if skipping Venice feels OK to you.

I also agree with the suggestion you should be In Milan for the night before your flight. What time does your flight leave from Milan? Asking so people can give you suggestions on whether to stay at the airport or in town. Which airport do you leave from?

HELLO! to all of the Kind 6 or so people that jumped in to help me! :) I really appreciate the solid suggestions in order to make a wise decision since this is unfortunately a short time. Normally I would hope in future to have a well planned two week adventure. So the departure out of Milan back to USA is at 11:40am on July 18th... I just created the account earlier today, excited that I have responses so soon. Its just going to be two person. Since its family we will look for easy safe locations to share a double room. I do have the Rick Steves book called "Best of Italy" to continue to read through. I'm taking notes with research as well as helpful advice from online sources. I really wanted to make a special memory for our shorter visit after my daughters conference...We are both packing extremely light with roller backpack style only baggage. No hardcase wheeled luggage. I definitely see the point in staying within Venice when touring it for short time because of getting in & out does cut into the day. I just thought that during the week days of July we may not find anything safe & budget friendly....? We live in a tourist town so I don't want to be taken advantage of in that way. We would rather seek out the authentic local places to stay & eat around the corners. I understand that Florence is very walkable too. Another concern I have is once first making a plan BUT also buying a ticket or "skip the line" style ticket to reduce time in a line...? Thank you all again for helpful useful tips!!, Laura :)

We really liked this place in Venice. The nicest folks ever and budget friendly. Many on the forum use it.

https://www.cortecampana.com/

You don't necessarily need "skip the line", just check out the websites and book a time. ASAP. In Venice, of course, see San Marco. If you can't book a time, get in line before opening.

With 11:40 flight you will need to be at airport by 8:40
You can stay in Milan-it’s a bit less than an hour to the airport via Malpensa Express

( Assuming you are departing from MXP)

Start searching for lodging on Booking.com
Use the filters for budget, # beds, location and amenities-you will want AC

You could also consider a monastery stay-usually budget friendly and quite nice

www.monasterystays.com

*WOW! I will definitely look into the suggested Venice budget friendly accommodation. I've never heard of the Monastery stays website! Sounds safe, clean, & interesting especially if within walking distance to central areas. Yes we do depart out of MXP Milan airport. Well, its eastern time zone late here so I'll probably have to check back on more info in morning. This really helps. The other item of Train concern would be how far in advance do I purchase a ticket on high speed rails? Using for my arrival to meet daughter ( MXP to Bologna) then next morn to a destination city fast speed..... Thanks

There are multiple trains every hour on those routes
No need to worry about now, can even wait to purchase day of at station

Get the apps-
Trenitalia
ItaloTreno
Are the 2 train companies

Once you firm up itineray and have lodging booked we can help with trains, museum tix etc

Make sure you are booking on the official sites-ask here

On our first trip to Florence and Venice, March 2023 (couple in our 60s) we spent 6 nights in Florence, 3 nights in Venice. Loved both. In 2025 we brought another couple with us and they didn't think they'd like Venice at all and weren't sure about Florence, we flew into Venice, arriving ~5pm and spent the evening wandering the city (rainy but fun), the full day we spent several hours on Murano and Burano) with more evening wanderings back in Venice proper. The next day we had sunshine, did an early morning vaporetto trip to San Marco listening to RS audio tour. We wandered around the crowds for a bit, then headed back to our hotel and took the train to Bologna. Our friends ended up falling in love with Venice! Even though we didn't 'do' any of the famous sites (i.e we didn't go inside the basilica, palace or any museum) we had a wonderful time just exploring the area. Venice is actually quite safe, the biggest concern is pickpockets in the crowded areas which is true everywhere.
At the end of our trip (after time in Bologna, Tuscany countryside, Lucca) we spent 2 nights in Florence. We had prebooked tickets for the Galleria dell’Accademia and also went to the nearby Opificio delle Pietre Dure. Otherwise we spent our time walking around (did the RS audio tour) and eating great food. Again, my friends ended up loving Florence, and were just in awe of Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, we stood in the piazza just marveling at the facade for awhile.
I'm telling you all this because if you are happy to have a taste of both cities and not too worried about ticking off all of the major attractions, I think you could do it. If you prefer to really experience a lot of what a city has to offer, I'd probably say 4 nights in Florence is the better choice, but you'll want to prebook timed tickets for the major sites and since it's summer time, plan to be up very early to get in as much as you can before the heat of the day. My guess is crowds will be overwhelming.

It can come down to style: the DH and I prefer longer versus shorter stays in attraction-heavy locations so we can sightsee at less than a dead run. HA! You? You might be fine with 1/2 day + 1 full day in Florence, and the same in Venice (last night in Milan). Both cities will be very, VERY busy, and will likely be hot...another reason to avoid dead-run sightseeing In my book.

But your interests weigh in as well: I lost my mind over the Renaissance art and architecture in Florence but if you're fine with just an appetizer-sized sampling then so be it. The choice is only wrong if it's wrong for YOU. :O)

I will mention that almost all Italian State Museums are closed on Mondays, and you'd be landing in Florence on Monday July 13 if choosing to do two cities. It doesn't mean that ALL museums are closed but many of the biggies on a lot of must-see lists are (Uffizi, Accademia, Medici Chapels, Bargello, San Marco, etc.) You might consider seeing the duomo complex on this day, climbing up to San Miniato, or visiting Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella.

3.5 days/4 nights in Florence would allow you a day trip to, say, Siena, without packing up and moving to another accommodation. Hmmmm?

Ohh, Sooo many great tips and thoughts from everyone. As I ponder on going toward Florence first with the Monday factor in play;... if something was closed then we could just tour it on Tuesday I guess. I believe soaking in the beauty of surroundings with authentic food and sites is the goal. We will not have the time to spend a lot in lengthy tour of museums. So getting the most meaningful high points would be great. I will put the train apps on iPhone and pre download offline map of cities. If possibly (not sure) of pulling away from her Bologna location on evening of 12th as to wake up in a city morning of 13th would be nice. But we may have to wait until morning of 13th to head out of Bologna. Actually when I - by myself land in Milan MXP and train into Bologna to meet her it will be
midday of the 11th!!
Plan lands at 9:25AM MXP airport. Therefore I can venture around on my own & possibly go to a local visitor center in town while she finishes conference on the 12th.....
I will make a note of ANY Local authentic ( Gelato & restaurants,Cafes) that you travelers advise!! - in the two cities.
I already know to Never visit the ones with pictures signs on menus etc.... Thanks!

A recent thread about restaurants in Florence: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/florence-restaurants-70a3c5bb-2ddc-44d9-b763-db3c4439db7a

I'm pretty sure that somewhere Rick Steves lists what is open in Florence on Mondays.

Open Mondays:

Brancacci Chapel, churches (including the Duomo, Santa Maria Novella, Santa Trinita, Santa Croce, San Miniato), and the Benozzo Gozzoli chapel in the Riccardi-Medici palace.