DAY'TRIP TO FLORENCE AND PISA FROM ROME

Umesh; It can certainly be done, but you will have a very full day and really only be able to see a few highlights in Florence. I would start out as early as possible on the 14th. Look at Trenitalia.com, you can catch a fast train from Rome to Florence, time would be about 1.5 hours. From there Florence to Pisa is another hour to 1.5 hours, then Pisa to Rome is 2.5 to 3 hours. So you have about 6 hours of travel, I would then plan out a day. Cost will vary based on when you book your train tickets, just buying the day of travel would cost you 100-150 euro each.

Florence is the birthplace of the modern world. It had paved streets before Paris and London. In addition to having many many great museums, it itself is one of the world's largest open air museums. It is no more possible to do it in a day than it is to do Paris in a day. That said, if you want to go for just one day, then I would suggest just doing a long walking tour. You could easily fill a day with just the things that are outside and/or free/quick. If you were to go inside a museum like the Uffizi or the Palazzo Vechio, you would eat up too much time. I would plan a nice long walk with a lunch break in the middle. Then have dinner at the Piazza Michelangelo taking in the view. Then see a bit more of the historic center at night. Then catch the train back to Rome. Get a good map and you should be able to mark 25 things worth seeing. We were there for three weeks this year, so we have a pretty good idea what you are considering. ;)

Oh, and forget Pisa.

Doing Florence as a day trip from Rome is already a big stretch. Adding Pisa is way unreasonable. Pisa will add 4 hours of travel time to your already busy day just for an hour visit to see a crooked bell tower. I'd skip Pisa if you only have a day and leave it for the next trip to Italy.

Definitely skip Pisa. I ended up skipping Pisa because I couldn't pull myself away from Florence and we were there for four and a half days.

Thanks for the response. If I start by taking the 1st train from Rome, which I understand is at 7amm and take the 10.30pm train from Florance/Pisa than total time avaliable with me will be 13 to 14 hours and after taking out travel time I think that I will have 8 to 9 hours of time to see various best places at Florance and Pisa. Request for the practical itinerary covering the best MUST SEE places with advise of booking the entrance tickets, if required, so as to reduce time wastage. I will also request for the methoth of advance booking of entrance tickets and if possible, please indicate the cost also. Thanks & Regards
UMESH KHOSLA

Do not bother wasting time in Pisa when you have so little time for Florence.It is not worth . Its fine if you have lots of time, or are passing by , but I would in no way suggest it was worth taking time away from a one day visit to Florence!

If you want to hit some highlights of Florence, the Accademia museum (Michelangelo's David and other sculptures, plus beautiful Renaissance paintings upstairs) requires a reservation (there's a ticket office across the street from the entrance, last July people were able to buy tickets 15 minutes ahead of their entrance time). Another would be the Uffizi Museum (you should probably reserve this online well in advance). For something off the beaten path, a couple of blocks north of the Accademia (still on Via Ricasoli) is the San Marco Museum, where Fra Angelico painted a fresco on each friar's room (used to be a Dominican convent). You won't need an advance reservation here since not too many tourists visit (price is about 4 euro). Then just walk around, the squares and old streets are beautiful. The Ponte Vecchio bridge is unique in Florence. When you arrive in Florence, there's a tourist information office across the street from the front of the train station - they'll give you a good map for the day. Unless you have to see the Leaning Tower, I would skip Pisa with such a short amount of time.

Thanks for the response. As I have full day avaliable, as every body advise to skip Pisa, very correct that for 1 hour, I have to spend 3+ hours of journey. For full day in Florence from 9.30 in the morning till 9pm, pl advise how to devide the time as I would like to spend time in Leather Market for which I need advise from where to buy jacket & coat and how to be sure of the quality as for sure I do not wish to buy any branded product as these must be very heavyly priced and also advise me about the possible discount i must ask. Further from train station to the various tourist places advised above and the market places, what is the mode of movement and approximately how far are they. As advised, I will look for the map at the tourist centre at staion but what is the public transport avaliable to reach the place or we have to walk down.
Thanks and Regards

Umesh,
There are 100 must see things in Florence. It is the most important city in Modern Europe. Unlike the most important cities of Ancient Europe, Athens and Rome, much much more has been preserved. It may look small on the map, but it is ENORMOUS. The single most important piece of art in the city is probably Michelangelo's David. It will take you two hours to go see it by the time you go over to the museum, get your tickets, wait in line, go in etc. But the rest of the collection is not of the same caliber. The single most important museum is the Uffizi. But just to go through at a walking pace will take three hours. The single most important church is the Duomo. To see that will take two hours. There goes your day. And you will have seen nothing at all of the city. Nor of the Palazzo Vechio, nor the Palazzo Pitti, nor any of the other hugely important churches, nor the Boboli Gardens, nor the Bargello, etc., etc. There does not exist a must see list for one day in Florence that isn't a joke. The only thing that you can do is walk around and look at the most important places from the outside. Perhaps you should spend some time now reading about Florence, because it doesn't seem you know what kind of place it is. It is the richest cultural destination in all of Europe.

As for how to get around, you want to walk. There aren't really buses in the historic center. I know the bus map very well. But it mostly serves the periphery of the core and the outer areas. The core is compact. It takes about 25 minutes to cross it walking quickly. The leather market has many vendors. We found a nice shoe store and got some good deals. But I don't know that there is any easy way to get a good deal except to get in there and tell them what you are looking for and what you want to pay.

Thats a bit harsh Paul. Of course you can't see everything in one day but you can certainly do more than walk around and look at everything from the outside. Umesh, you should get a good guidebook. I'm sure everyone here would recommend Rick Steves. Then you can decide what you're most interested and concentrate on that. If you love art and museums then go ahead and do the Accademia and Uffizi just be sure to get reservations ahead of time so you don't wait a lot of time in line. If you prefer churches you can easily visit several. Just know it will be a very busy day.

Not harsh at all. I'm just trying to tell him the truth. He's got 11.5 hours. Subtract out two hours for lunch and dinner. OK, so we are down to 9.5 hours. Subtract out 1 hour for getting in and out of the train station. We are down to 8.5 hours. The Uffizi requires that you walk through the entire building on a circuit. Even when you are done with exhibits it is a long trek back through the bottom floor and what seems like half a dozen different book shops. Minimum, that will take 2.5 hours. That is assuming that you don't stop to look very long at the most important pieces. That is assuming that you don't make use of any audio guides. OK, so we are down to 6 hours. The Accademia will take another hour. We are down to 5 hours. Let's say he goes to the Duomo and the Baptistry. That will take 2 hours. We are down to 3 hours. Now just to walk between these three paces will take about 30 minutes each time. So there goes another hour and a half. Walking to and from the train station is another thirty minutes times two. There goes another hour. That leaves you thirty minutes. But we have left out the fact that most things close by 5 or 6. We have left out the fact that he is going on a Saturday when the crowds will be heaviest. We have left out the delays for buying tickets. We have assumed he never gets lost. And no time for gelatto!

What is harsh is to lead him to believe that he can do Florence in a day or that there is some kind of one day must see list. That can only lead to disaster. And seeing everything from the outside is nothing to be scoffed at. This is Florence we are talking about. How else are you going to see the different Logge and the grottos of Boboli? How else are you going to experience the pre-Renaissance towers? How else are you going to experience the hospital? I could go on. A full walking tour is the only thing that can possibly give one a sense of city when one is limited to a day. Any other kind of plan will have huge gaping holes in it.

Thanks Julie and Paul as you both are correct at your place but I agree with Joulie that I have to decide where to see from inside and what to see from out side and Paul your explanation of approximate time required to cover various important places will be very helpfull to me in deciding One more information I expect from Paul that in the art gallary, is it possible to skip the area which is of no intrest to me and short close the visit?. I am aware that no city, which is having a historical importance can be covered in a day but one can best feel the place in case such important tips are avaliable as you both have given. But friends I have 14.04.2013 free and I want to make best use of the day with the valuable advise from you all. Therefore WHAT COULD BE ANOTHER INTRESTING PLACE/CITY IN ITALY WHICH CAN BE BEST COVERED FROM ROME IN A DAY. I will be waiting for the advise to decide for my planning. Thanks & Regards
UMESH

Since you want to visit Pisa and don't mind a long day, try this option. Take the 6:57 high-speed train to Pisa arriving 9:29 (stops in Florence but no change of train). After you finish your Pisa visit, buy tickets at the station for the next train to Florence (about 3 trains per hour). Buy a ticket for a late train back to Rome. The last high-speed train departs Florence SMN at 22:04 and arrives in Rome at 22:30. For lowest prices (sometimes as low as 9 euro each), purchase tickets for the high-speed trains on the Trenitalia website up to 120 days prior to 14 April.

Florence is wonderful. I wouldn't waste your precious time with Pisa. Orvieto is an easy inexpensive trip from Rome and you will experience a lovely hilltown.

Unesh: So many tourists go to Rome City Center, but they overlook all of the sights in the Roman suburbs. One could spend a week outside Rome and never see all the great tourist sights.
This past April, we stayed in Zagorolo, 20 mi. south. Our host carried us to a fortress 2500' above the valley, and he explained 3000 years of history of the valley below us. We hiked down to an ancient pagan temple called Palestrina. It was a great day. Next trip to Rome, we'll again stay in the same B&B, but we'll keep our rental car so we can efficiently see all of the palaces, gardens and historical sites closeby. We also very much enjoyed Orvieto, another large hill town fortress 1 hr. north of Rome by train. There are some incredible sights to the west of Orvieto, and rental cars are available across from the train station.