Ciao!

1: No wrong answer here

2: There would definitely be something magical about staying your whole time in Rome. Transferring is a hassle and eats up time.

3: If choosing between Florence & Venice I think it depends on your priorities. Do you want to see lotsa art? Do you love the romance of Venice? (personally, I adore Venice).

For traveling to the north, would you be training it or renting a car?

Are you also flying home from home?

If so, my 2 cents is to stay the whole 9 nights in Rome and do the day trips. Save Florence and Venice for the ndxt time.

There is a saying: "Roma non basta una vita!" A lifetime is not enough. There is so much in and around the city. Orvieto and Ostia Antica are excellent ideas. I'd recommend Tivoli only if the weather is good as the two big sites there are strictly outdoors. Also in good weather, visit Parco degli Acquedotti. Fabulous sight, those aqueducts running across the landscape. I recall spending one sunny November 1 there. Is Appia Antica on your list? Such a beautiful place to walk!

That’s sort of what I’m thinking, just feels so wrong to go to Italy and not see Florence or Venice! (As background, I’ve been to both and loved both, but it’s my husband’s first time in Italy so I’m trying to show him good highlights, though the only thing he actuallyyy cares about or Rome and ancient sites. He said everything else is bonus for him)

I don’t have flights booked yet, either will do roundtrip Rome or fly into Rome and out of Venice. Need to decide my itinerary first to know which airports to book!

Thanks for the suggestions Laurel! Yes I am already planning on going to those places if I can! I found an electric bike tour that does appia way, catacombs, and the aqueduct park. Figured that would be a really nice way to get guided around, unless those places are easy enough to visit on our own. Still need to look up those logistics

The host of this forum has a 7 day tour that is just in Rome, including a day trip. The itinerary is listed here: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/rome Does your 9 nights include your arrival day? If so that day is typically lost to jet lag (or at least is a bit blurry). So then you have 8 full days and in November when the daylight hours are somewhat limited. Add one more day trip (Orvieto would be a great one) and you have a full and interesting trip. If your husband is specifically interested in ancient sites and Rome is on his list, you can't go wrong with focusing there. Save the other places for another trip you can devote more time.

Also in Rome for ancient Roman sites and artifacts: the Capitoline museum, the Montemartini museum, Baths of Caracalla, the Pantheon, Baths of Diocletian, the Palazzo Massimo, and so much more. Perhaps he would like the Etruscan museum. None of these museums will make you feel "museumed-out."

How about this --- stay in Rome except for 2 or 3 nights in Orvieto. That will give him a great taste of what the rest of Italy has to offer and just an hour from Rome. You could even go there first, the day you arrive. So quick and easy.

I do understand your pain at skipping Florence and Venice on this trip. But I'm also a strong believer in pursuing your own and your husband's real interests instead of what you "should" do in Italy.

I’d gladly spend the whole trip in Rome
You will never run out of things to do

(I do love both Venice and Florence)

If you decide to do Rome and Venice
Fly IN to Venice, out of Rome
Much easier than flying out of Venice

We did a full Italy tour last fall and barely got to see Rome in 3 days.

If a choice btwn Florence or Venice hands down Venice if you can stay on the island (s). Its busy during the day when cruise ship passengers and others are there then quiets down in the evening and early morning.

Good day trips abound for those in Rome. It's about a 70 minute local train ride up to Orvieto, a very popular hilltown . Civita di Bagnoregio is just south of there, and it's well worth seeing.

We stayed at Zagarolo about 20 miles by commuter train south of Rome Termini. It's where Roman soldiers' helmets were made and where gladiators' trained at a gymnasium. Just east of there is Palestrina, an Etruscan pagan temple rediscovered from the rubble in WWII. We walked down paths from the top of a mountain that go back to the 1500's.

There are just so many sights just outside Rome to see.

Yes, if you choose Venice, fly into Venice and out of Rome.

Do you already know that November 1st is All Saints Day and a national holiday? Major sites will be open, but shops and some restaurants and other things might be closed. Worth checking on what's open that day, if you plan to be in Italy then (as we will be).

Thank you for all of these wonderful suggestions! I will be weighing all of these options as I continue researching.

Yes I’m aware of the holiday on November 1st, was thinking of flying on that day as an overnight so that I arrive November 2nd, although my dates are flexible and we may even push it to the following week. Don’t want to go too late in November as I’m sure the weather gets tricker.

From the posts I’ve gotten so far it seems like if I was to do Rome with only one other city, not two, then most people are saying Venice. That’s sort of my thought. Out of curiosity why is better to fly into Venice and out of Rome and not the other way around?

Also to whoever asked yes our first day in Rome would be after the overnight flight if we were flying in. Having a hard time figuring out what to do with that first day. Obviously don’t want to book big things with set times like the Colosseum or Vatican. Was going to maybe map out some things we can leisurely walk around and see. We typically actually do a walking food tour on our first night in the early evening cause it introduces us to the city and keeps us up long enough to go to bed at a normal time. Works every time to combat jet lag completely for us.

Venice first because the flights out of Venice leave at 6:30am and it's tricky and/or expensive to get to the airport (which doesn't open until 4:00am). Also because being jet-lagged in Venice is almost a pleasure compared to busy, traffic-filled Rome.

Venice airport is hard to get to and a lot of flights leave very early am-those going to USA thru another European city
There are some flights direct to USA -those leave around 11 so getting there by 8 am is doable

For the early am flights you’ll need to get up at ongodly hour like 3-4 am? often need to spend for a water taxi ( about $140) or hope that the vaporetto,/bus combo runs early enough to get you there in time-like 5 am
Many folks choose to spend last night at an airport hotel which means giving up your last night in Venice

Venice is a great place to get over jet lag
Several options to get from the airport to Venice proper

Ahh I see your points about the Venice airport transportation and getting over jet lag there. Okay will for sure have to look into the flight options and map out those logistics. Thanks for the heads up!

If you are going to spend all 9 nights in Rome, I would suggest you consider an apartment, especially if you like to cook. There’s something really luxurious about preparing simple meals with items you’ve purchased at a local market!

We spent 5 nights in Florence and really enjoyed the dinners we spent at “home” and we also loved just having the time to wander and explore at our own pace. We did not have much time for that in Rome because of our packed itinerary, and I felt we missed out on some of that experience.

Orvieto is a lovely town that deserves more than a day trip
Consider heading there immediately after landing in Rome
Spend 2 nights
Nice place to get over jet lag and plenty of things to do

Then to Rome for the remaining 7 nights