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Final Itinerary - check it out!!

Florence, Venice & Cortina d'Ampezzo

Day 1 -
two flights connecting with 2hr and 34 min.
Day 2 -
arrive in Rome 8:20am. take Leonardo express to Rome Termini. Hang out. Tickets booked for Frecciarossa 12:10-1:46pm. (Rome to Florence)
Day 3 -
8:30am Accademia Gallery (just to see David)
9:30am Uffizi Gallery
2:15-3:00pm Brunelleschi pass timed entry for climbing the Duomo, (valid for 3 days) (i wish i booked this early or later bc I know its gonna be hot & crowded!)
7:30pm Trattoria Zaza Dinner Reservation
Day 4 -
8:00am climb Giotto's Bell Tower
2:15pm-7:15pm (from beginning to end including transport) Viator wine tour in Chianti Classico Region (meet at Piazzale Montelungo)
9:00pm La Buchetta Dinner Reservation
Day 5 -
7:15am check out hotel walk to train station (less than 10 min walk)
8:20am-10:34am FrecciaRossa from Florence S.M.N to Venezia S.L
ATVO bus to VCE Marco Polo Airport ~ 20 mins
12:00pm rental car pickup at airport, head to Cortina
3-4pm check in to Cortina d'Ampezzo Hotel
5-7:00pm Lago De Braies
8:45pm SanBrite Dinner Reservation
Day 6 -
6:00am drive to seceda
8-11:00am visit/ enjoy Seceda
11-1:00pm drive back to hotel in Cortina
3-9:00pm fishing guide in Cortina
Day 7 -
7:00am check out hotel and drive to Tre Cime Di Lavaredo
8-11:00am (roughly) Hike Tre Cime Di Lavaredo
11:30-3:00pm drive back to Venice, drop off rental car at Piazzale Roma, Venice (4:00pm Drop-Off Time)
3-4:30pm (roughly) check in Venice hotel
Day 8 -
7:00am Rialto Bridge (20 min walk or 16 min ferry from Hotel)
9:30am Saint Marks Basilica
11:00am Gondola Ride off Riva Delgi Schiavoni (it was free, thats why its booked in advance)
5:45pm Doge's Palace
Day 9 -
9:30am Saint Marks Basilica Bell Tower
Day 10 -
Check out hotel 7:30am, walk to Piazzale Roma, take ATVO bus to Airport
flight leaves 11:05am with a 3 hr 25 min layover back home.

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Posted by
367 posts

Wishing you a wonderful trip. Hope all goes smoothly but be prepared for a glitch or two.

Three trips to Italy and there were always glitches.

No matter what, it will be amazing!

Posted by
780 posts

So exciting! I know you have talked through all of the logistics a lot and I am glad you have something worked out that seems to be good.

YAY for Trattoria ZaZa! I can't figure out if it is completely touristy or not (I bet so haha), but I know I always go there every time I am in Florence and love it :) My FAVs are the papparadelle sul chingiale, the filetto di pepe verde, and the crema di mascarpone :) They have a cookbook too if you like the food! :)

Posted by
329 posts

7:00am Rialto Bridge (20 min walk or 16 min ferry from Hotel)

If you’ll be up at 7am, I recommend taking a 7am vaporetto ride up and down the Grand Canal. The vaporetto will be pretty empty and you’ll get great views of the palaces. When the vaporetto is packed, it’s hard to get good views. At 7am, unobstructed views. You can go to the bridge afterwards.

It looks like you like going up domes and towers, so look into going up the San Giorgio Maggiore bell tower, great views.

Posted by
1532 posts

I know you want to cover as much as possible. However, in Italy, logistical delays are common, even with a rental car. Driving in the mountains is different from that in cities.

If you are ultra fit and are very used to mountain trekking in rough terrains, then the Tre Cime loop in 3 hours is maybe possible. Otherwise, no. It took me slightly more than five hours. Most tourists stopped many times to take photos, and so did we. Bring hiking boots and trekking poles.

Posted by
64 posts

Oh ok, what kinda if logistical glitches can happen? I have tried to allow much buffer time in between transport
Is there anything specific I can prepare for?
I have found flixbus as a backup plan in case the train strikes.

Also, yes thank you for letting me know. I will go back and review the loop and maybe just plan to stop at a hut and turn back if anything

Posted by
236 posts

Looks like a great trip! Great planning! Get ready for some fun1

Wish you well. And, yeah, if something goes sideways, that's okay too! It's all part of the adventure!

Posted by
780 posts

Good that you have planned in buffer times. Things could happen like road work detours, train delays, road or train diversions, random strikes (like the other person who ran into a taxi strike). I was going from Salerno to Pisa one Friday morning for Luminaria and I left my house 45 min ahead of the train going to catch a bus, and NONE came for 35 minutes. NOT NORMAL. I ended up running into the train station up to the platform and watching my train pull away with my friends on it......soooo yeah....not fun....

Posted by
64 posts

wow, ok! thanks for the info. I will just have to wait and see how things go; at the worst case scenario i will just have to be OK if i miss some things on my itinerary. Hopefully not!

Posted by
780 posts

I would say just have a plan if something goes wrong. Like having your hotel's numbers to let them know you might be late, know where to find the rental car company's contact info (and if there is a separate number for roadside assistance you need), knowing the website/app to use to look up new train times, etc.....you can't prevent all wrenches, but you can know what to do in case of a wrench.

I haven't driven in Italy before, but at the least I have the contact info of hotels/apartment hosts on my person somehow, and I know how to navigate a train station and the trenitalia website.

You will be ok no matter what happens! You have done a lot of research and that is even putting you more ahead of the game than people who showed up in Italy and didn't know any of this....even if its "oh, yeah, I heard about that...."

Posted by
64 posts

True, thank you so much!!

I have been using this app called TripIt, and it’s absolutely amazing. I was able to consolidate every single detail on my itinerary, and each ticket, reservation, etc is clickable where I can see the venue’s phone number, email, and my confirmation number etc. I can even upload documents on it. So I have downloaded my travel documents on it as well as my pdf tickets to the museums and such.
It seems to be a quick and easy way to find contact info or resources if anything was to happen

Posted by
780 posts

that's great! I have that too, and well, I haven't been able to implement it as well as you, but I have also forgotten about it hahaha