Hello (apologize in advance for the length),
We are going to Venice (2 nights), Florence (3 nights), and Rome (5 nights) on our honeymoon, March 20-31st (yes, we will be in Rome for Easter), which we have now finalized. Now that I've done some research and booked some tours (with Walks of Italy), I wanted some other suggestions. (Please note that we did the Costco package so we cannot change the amount of days in each city at this point); we also want to see as much as possible but we do not want to over-exert ourselves.
Day 1-Sun: travel from the west coast (2 hour layover in London);
Day 2-Mon: arrive in Venice around 4 p.m.; private car transfer to the Westin Europa near St. Mark's Square. I assume we will be getting over jetlag but I would like to try to find somewhere for dinner (not super expensive or touristy)--any suggestions?
Day 3-Tues: Only full day in Venice. We have a 7 p.m. tour of St. Mark's Basilica so I wanted to spend the day just walking around and exploring maybe the Rialto, market, etc. I thought about heading to Doge's Palace before our tour like around 5 p.m., to avoid the crowds...do you think I would need to buy tickets ahead of time if we're going that late?
Day 4-Wed: Take first class train to Florence in late morning/early afternoon. Any suggestions as to the best way to get to the train station (with luggage)? Water taxi?
Arrive in Florence late afternoon. Staying about 15 min walk from city center. The Duomo is closed the rest of the time we are there so if we have enough energy, I wanted to try to climb it that evening. Should I buy tickets ahead of time?
Day 5-Thurs: morning walking tour of Florence that includes David but only the outside of the Duomo (since it opens later that day due to Holy Thursday) so we will want to tour it afterwards. Should I buy tickets for that now or wait until we get there?
**Day 6-Friday (Good Friday)--NEED SOME ADVICE HERE---Should we stick to Florence and maybe go to Fiesole; or do we have enough time to do a day trip to Siena or Pisa? (and which one do you recommend?). Keep in mind that this is our last full day in Florence and it is Good Friday.
Day 7-Sat: late morning or early afternoon train to Rome. We are staying near the Spanish Steps. No evening Rome plans yet.
Day 8: Easter Sunday: I did obtain tickets to mass but may not be in Rome in time on Saturday to pick them up. If we do not go to mass, then I wanted to use this day to just explore and walk around the Spanish steps, depending on how crowded it's going to be. Any dinner suggestions (again not too expensive and touristy); I assume we should make reservations because it is Easter?
Day 9-Easter Monday--suggestions on what to do? I assume some places might be closed.
Day 10-Tuesday: Pristine Sistine early morning tour of the Vatican; free afternoon
Day 11-Wednesday: Colosseum tour; free afternoon
*** Enough time either Tues or Wed to take an afternoon trip to Tivoli or Osterio Antico?**
Day 12-Thursday: 1 p.m. flight home
Money question: we would prefer not to get Euros from an ATM (for safety reasons); any other places where we can obtain cash without a super high transaction fee? We plan on getting a bit of Euros at Wells Fargo or B of A here.
Thank you!