Please let me know any suggestions as planning a trip later this November to Venice(2 days); Rome (4 days) and Florence(4 days). Specifically Airbnb options for family of 6.in each location....2 parents and 4 twenty something year olds... would love an apartment style place with 3-4 bedrooms and family room.. also suggestions in each city for tours, restaurants, places to see..etc.. would like to include wine tour in Tuscany too..more ideas and if you have website link much appreciated. Thanks to all in advance!
Posted by
Wilmington, DE, USA
1059 posts
Try vrbo.com for apartments in each location. not sure how many you'll see with that number of bedrooms but you can try. I think some would end up being pull out couches in the living room. My first impression of your itinerary is too few days in Venice and too many in Florence. Venice has plenty to see but, IMHO, it is an amazing place just to be. It is NOT a museum where you walk around looking at pictures. It is a city somehow still alive in a glorious past. It is a place, environment, culture you walk around IN. Don't be afraid to just turn left at the next corner and try to get lost. There are wonderful experiences besides the Rialto, San Marco and shopping. Honestly, I now stay in Siena and day trip to Florence. It's easy if you do time specific entrances to the major sites on your agenda. Rome never fails to make me smile. It' the only city I know where if you get tired of one century, all you have to do is turn the corner and there's a completely different century or culture to explore. If the family gets together on the planning, you can set your priorities for each city and that might help you schedule your days. Remember, whenever you travel from one city to another, that is basically at least a half day lost from your vacation. Just something to consider. My favorite thing to do is plan the next trip to Italy while I'm on the plane going home! I highly suggest it!!!!
Posted by
Washington DC
27705 posts
I had a similar reaction to the "2 days" you are allotting to Venice. I am guessing you mean 2 nights--the first 2 nights of your trip. That would give you just one full, non-jetlagged day in the city. Some of you may be partially functional on your arrival day; I am not. Short trips to Venice are a particular problem because the most popular sights are utterly swamped by visitors during the bulk of the day. You need to spend enough time in the city that you can wander the back canals and experience the city rather than the teeming hordes.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16409 posts
... also suggestions in each city for tours, restaurants, places to
see..etc.
Dmoss, the best thing you can do is for you and your crew to get yourselves some guidebooks for Rome, Florence and Venice and explore which attractions are of interest to your family. Your four, 20-something offspring should be expected to help; it'll be good training for sourcing their own independent travels later on. See, we don't know anything about the 6 of you so you're going to be the best judge of how you want to spend your time and your money. I can send you to fabulous art museums, churches and bits of architectural history all day long but if you don't like that sort of thing then my suggestions wouldn't be helpful. Same with input from anyone else on this forum.
Time is of the essence, however, if your trip is next month. There are attractions you will need to make timed-entry reservations for ASAP if they are must-see's for your group. Those are typically the Vatican Museums, the Colosseum, and Galleria Borghese in Rome, and the Uffizi and cathedral (duomo) dome in Florence. I'm happy to provide links to the official ticket vendors but it would be helpful in advance to know if you're even interested in these attractions?
The search box at the top of the page can be really helpful as far as seeing what has been recommended for restaurants, accommodations and attractions in the 3 cities you plan to visit, and how to travel between them. Tours? Not always necessary if you're willing to do some homework in advance but more info from you about what you want out of this trip would help us.
A for-instance regarding the search function? I typed "Florence, restaurants" into the search box, and chose "Travel forum" from the "Filter by type" box on the lefthand side of the page. Then I filtered further by clicking on forums "1 year or newer" under "filter by date". This is what came up:
See what I mean? Lots of useful info right at your fingertips! :O)