First time Italy: Rome, Florence AND Venice or too much?

It's rushed but doable. It depends on your travel style. Some people would spend all 7 nights in only one of your cities. Others would consider it even too slow. Your plan would fit perfectly my fast paced travel style, but not others'. I recommend an open jaw flight with arrival in VCE and departure from FCO. Venice to Florence by train is 2 hours. Florence to Rome by train is 1.5 hours. The full train fare is approx €45 each segment (one way per person)
For train info see
www.trenitalia.com

I agree that you should drop Florence. 3 nights in Venice is just about right and 4 nights in Rome is a good introduction.

I like Florence much more than Venice. I've spent weeks there and never been bored. Venice you can see in a magazine, IMHO, but if you just can't stand missing it, then go ahead and drop Florence. All three would have you "packing, unpacking and schlepping"
been there, done that, never ever again! However, you Can Not Miss Rome!

I agree with the two cities rather than a rushed visit to all three. But as for which two----

Everyone has different tastes. We are fascinated with Venice and spent a month there last year; currently planning to go back next year, although not for a month this time.

We have been to Florence twice, two nights each time, and don't feel called to return.

As you can see everybody has his/her own opinions about the length of stay in each place, whether you should drop one city or not, or which of the 3 cities should be dropped or not.

I gave you the facts about the travel time. I also suggested to leave Rome for last if you are returning to America after your Italian getaway ( the VCE airport is hard to reach early in the morn).

Don't let others' opinions dissuade you from visiting a city or another or even to see them all. Do what you like based on what your interests are.

Hi Laurie,

As shown in the other posts, it really boils down to your interests and personal travel style. Rick usually recommends at least 2 nights in each location. You could do all three cities if you are ambitious. Consider starting in Florence for 3 nights. Either fly into Florence or fly into Rome and take the train directly to Florence (trains run every half-hour between Rome and Florence and trip takes 1.5 hours). From Florence, you can take the train to Venice and spend 1 night (trains run hourly, taking about 2 hours), then take the train to Rome for your last 3 nights (trains run hourly between Venice and Rome, taking about 3.5 hours).

Roberto's train advice is much better than Rich's. With limited time, it's best to travel in a straight line than not.

I'm not a blitz fan, but for a sample of three unique cities, go for it. I would allot the time as follows: 3 nights Venice, 2 nights Florence, two nights Rome; or two nights Venice, two nights Florence, three nights Rome.

Laurie, I would have been a Laurie myself, but was born a Lawrence/Larry instead. Your concern about all the time and energy it takes to get from your hotel room in one city to your hotel room in another is very valid. Even when the train ride itself is just 2 hours, all the steps will take probably 5 or 6 hours, plus the drain of schlepping. If you are making these short visits to 2 or 3 busy cities, I see no reason to even consider renting a car. All three cities are terrific, springtime is generally a great time to visit them, and I don't think you can go wrong. The best solution of all would be to extend your trip to 9 or 10 nights, and visit all 3 cities, and maybe incude a beautiful small town in Tuscany or Umbria. If not that, I would say your decision should be based on your answer to this question: given your personal situation, and assuming you really enjoy your visit to Italy, do you realistically think you will return to Italy In the next few years? If yes, enjoy 2 of these cities in a little more leisurely way, the choice depending on your particular interests. You can visit the third next trip. If your answer is no, and this is really likely to be your only visit to Italy for many years, then visit all 3 of these world class cities, as you wouldn't want to miss any of them. Enjoy both Spain and Italy! Larry, almost Laurie

My experience: husband absolutely hated Venice (in spite of our beloved Aurelio Zen). The fact that it rained heavily and constantly the day we had between our 2 nights there probably greatly influenced his "0 star" rating of the city. At least they didn't have to bring out the elevated wooden sidewalks.

Much to my surprise, he loved Florence and would have enjoyed staying longer than the week we spent there. He liked the easily walkable nature of the city, the art and the architecture.

He also liked Rome. Our 4 nights and 3 days there weren't nearly enough.

I enjoyed all 3 and Florence is my favorite, but for your limited time, I'd recommend sticking to your 2 Venice nights and the rest of the time in Rome idea.

Laurie,

Since this is a "Tasting trip", try this:

1. Fly to Venice...Vueling and Easyjet offer cheap one way tickets to Venice from Spain.

2. Venice

3. Venice

4. Venice-Florence...spend the day exploring this beautiful city, guarantee you'll want to come back.

   take an early evening train Florence-Rome

5. Rome

6. Rome

7. Fly home

Use The luggage storage at the station in Florence. http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=9511d0ef6030c110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD.

For trains...http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ee13721bdd69a110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD

Use Venezia S. Lucia...Firenze SM Novella,...Roma Termini.

Have a wonderful time.

I would rather have a taste of all 3 and know what I want to return for. As you can see everyone has a different idea of what they like.... So, while they are all great places everyone has their favorite. If I were you and I was that close to all these wonderful places there is no way I would go home without seeing them...that would be a regret for me. I have been to all 3 a number of times but saw them all on a whirlwind trip...if you are fortunate enough to return you can visit your favorite again.... Not to add more to your itinerary...but I would have to make time for at least an afternoon or wine tasting in a Tuscan village...actually I would stay in a village instead of Florence and go there as a day trip..little change of pace..

I agree with Terry Kathryn about the sampling of all three, but with so little time I don't think you'll need a change of pace. I would save the countryside (and the time to rent a car, drop it off, travel to the city snd back) for another trip.

I think Gerri nailed it with Venice and Rome and a stop in Florence for the day. From the train station in Florence it's a 10-minute walk to the Duomo and from there just a few minutes to the rest of the top sights in the city. Pick up some food and wine on your way back to the station and have a picnic dinner on the train. Or have a late dinner in Rome - perfect end to a perfect day!

We just returned from a ten day, first time trip to Italy this past week. Our itinerary was two nights in Venice, two nights in Florence, two nights in Monterosso and three nights in Rome. We felt that since this was our first trip, it was important to see at least The Big Three, and this assumption was confirmed. There is no other way to decide what you will like, love or could do without, you have to experience each location yourself. Your feelings for each may surprise you. For my part, I love each - what a conundrum! IMHO, there is no other place on the planet like Venice, and since it may not be there forever, I was happy to have been there, and would return again to explore it further. My husband did not share my enthusiasm, however. Florence was beautiful, quirky and great fun. We love an urban environment here in the states, which may have added to our enjoyment there. Monterosso was a lovely, relaxing break before heading to Rome, although our hiking was limited to the Monterosso to Vernazza trail, with a boat trip back. Rome is incomparable - part NYC, part Paris, parts ruins and shrines.

As for transpo, after flying into Venice, we railed to Florence, Monterosso and Rome. It was convenient and interesting. Note travel times on earlier posts.

In the end, as long as you build in plenty of time to relax and enjoy the cafes and culture at each stop, you will love Italy. Bon viaggio!

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful and helpful responses! We're taking it all and thinking about options. Thanks!

Since no one has mentioned this, let me just say that all these cities have very different characters. Rome is very large, and the emphasis is on Roman relics and remnants. The Vatican museums and St. Peters can consume a whole day and then there are all the great Roman ruins to see. Florence is the home of the Renaissance, and since I adore that style of art and architecture it's my favorite city in the whole world. Very compact also, and you can walk all over the city and see about 80% of the sights by foot. It should be especially good in April because there will be fewer tourists. Bring an umbrella. Venice is unique because of the islands, the water traffic, the romantic reputation and its own architectural style. People I've talked with recently either love it or hate it. I was in Italy last year and passed up Venice to spend an extra day in Verona. Whatever you do, you'll have a great time, but you might want to consider what type of experiences you want to have and then make your choices.

If you have not yet purchased your airline tickets I suggest that you figure out a way to add a couple of days. I refer to the physical strain of flights (and time lost from being at your destinations) as "overhead". So, allowing for travel time of a day or more each way, streching a 14 day (i.e. 12 days in Europe) trip to 16 days (14 days of sightseeing) is cost efficient. Besides that, I am never sure when (if ever) we will get back to see the places we missed. We take a trip pretty much each year and yet our trip to Italy in April will be our first back there in 20 years.....

We just returned from our first trip to Italy. We are in our late 50's. The train was about 1.5 hours from Florence to Rome. Can't answer from Venice as we arrived in Venice but traveled to other cities before going to Florence. Our favorite city was Venice. To me it's magical. Florence and Rome are also great. If you and your husband are ambitious and early risers you can see a lot of each city in two full days. You won't be able to spend time off the beaten path and it will be go go go but you will be able to see plenty of the major sites. I suggest you figure out the places you want to see in each city. Florence is great and everything is within a 15 minute walk if possible go, you won't regret it. Also, we lived out of our suitcases. Didn't bother to pack or unpack unless needed.