First trip - Rome first then Florence or Siena??

BC, Have you already bought your air tickets? For a first trip, I'd normally suggest travelling in the opposite direction as it's bit less of a "culture shock". Also, Rome is a great place to have the "grand finale". Is this your first trip to Europe or your first trip to Italy? Does your 8 nights include your 2 flight days? You'll arrive in Europe the day after you depart the U.S. Don't underestimate the effects of jet lag, as you may not be "up to speed" for a day or two. You mentioned "reading all the good RS info". Does that include the Italy Guidebook? There are LOTS of Hotel suggestions in the book for all of the places you're visiting. Spending 4 nights in both Florence and Rome (with day trips) is a good balance (IMO). Rather than change hotels, you can easily visit Siena on a day trip from Florence by Bus. The SITA Bus station is close to Firenze S. Maria Novella rail station and the trip is only ~ 1 hour as I recall (if you use the Corse Rapide Express Bus). The advantage of Bus on that route is that passengers are d®opped in the center of town, rather than at the bottom of the hill. DON'T forget to validate your tickets prior to boarding the Bus! There's LOTS to see and do in Rome, but you may also want to take a day trip to Orvieto. It's a beautiful Umbrian hill town with an interesting history. Be sure to visit the Duomo to see the incredible Signorelli frescoes on the ceiling. St. Patrick's Well is also worthwhile (provided you're not claustrophobic). It was quite an engineering feat in its time! There's also the Orvieto Underground (caves) tour. For travel THIS August, I'd suggest getting some hotels booked SOON! I wouldn't bother with a Railpass. Just buy P-P tickets. Good luck with your planning!

You should definitely stay in Florence. While Siena is a good base for day tripping in Tuscany, it is much easier to get to Assisi from Florence.

I personally like Siena better but Florence has waaay more to see and do. Pick Florence, especially for a first trip. I might change to five nights in Rome and three nights in Florence just because Rome has as much more to see and do than Florence as Florence has over Siena.

Florence totally. If you plan side trips, you will use the train, and you can't easily access the train station from Siena. In Florence you can get a bus or train just 5 min from the Duomo. (the bus station is directly behind the train station in Florence) Purchase tickets the day you plan to travel...or you can plan ahead and get the tickets the night before. Just make sure you validate them the DAY you travel in the little GREEN box at the track.

Thank you all so much for the information. I will plan on staying in Rome and Florence and just do side trips. Since we are a family of 4 I would like to get a quad room or similar. Most of those are booked already, may just get 2 dbls. I would like a nice, clean, fairly quiet place, but walkable or close to bus/train. Since this may be only trip with older kids, will pay more if have to. Any suggestions for hotels you have stayed at? This is so nice of you to help me with this!

I think you should stay in Florence. It is a wonderful city, easy to get around, lots of walking, and great museums and churches. Excellent restaurants and visiting the Boboli Gardens is relaxing, beautiful and will enable you to see some wonderful views. Have a great trip.

Took the 7 day RS tour a few years ago. Arrived two days before. Stayed at the Casa Rovai. It was Christmas Eve. I was the only one there. Loved it. Check reviews on TripAdvisor. The RS tour group stayed here. http://www.hotelaccademiafirenze.com Casa Rovai was farther from the train station but walking to it helped me orient myself to the city. Both accommodations were great!! One VERY important thing to know before you travel to Italy is to understand that you will see graffiti EVERYWHERE. I live in LA where it's prominent but was totally taken aback by seeing it in Italy. Simply didn't anticipate it. There was some around Casa Rovai which, upon arrival, made me leery of the neighborhood BUT once I realized it was a way of life, I restructured my judgement factor. Any apprehensions rapidly disappeared. FYI you can buy train tickets from kiosks at the train station. Very easy.
Enjoy your first trip abroad.

Hello, We took our family of 4 in March of this year. First time, fell in love with Italy! We stayed at the Hotel Europa in Florence. It is in Rick Steves' books. Lovely place. We were lucky enough to get a room that would hold 5, it was 2 huge rooms. Not sure if you will get it now, but all you can do is try. Kind of noisy as it is at the front above a store. However, when you will be sleeping, the store is closed. For sure stay in Florence and day trip. We did a day to Pisa on our own, by train. We also took a bus tour to Sienna, San Gimignano etc. So much to do in Florence. Not sure if your kids are boys, we did the Stibbert Museum in Florence. Have fun!!!

I would like to stay at Residenza Arco dei Tolomei, is that a good choice? Seems to get a lot of good reviews. Since it is our first trip and trying to get familiar with transportation system, would prefer walking (if not excessive). Is this hotel too far to walk to main attractions? Would we have to get a bus each day? Am also considering Hotel Nerva which seems more in the middle of things. Any suggestions would be really appreciated. Thanks.

Speaking only about the logistics, and taking into account that you specifically mentioned you plan to mostly walk, it's about a 30-minute walk from the location of your first choice in Trastevere to the area of the Colosseum, and likewise to the Vatican. Considering that you will be doing a lot of walking while site-seeing, you may want to think about whether you want to add the additional hour round trip to get to/from your accommodations. Your second choice is more conveniently located for all the main sites people typically go to Rome to see.

Thank you all for so much good information. I am still considering a few hotels in Rome and have been emailing for info. I am willing to pay for location and nice hotel. I know there will be LOTS of walking so I want to take that into consideration for the distance from hotel to sights. Have been trying to look at street maps but am getting overwhelmed. Hotels that I have found in RS books and have quad rooms or triple and single (for the 4 of us)are Hotel Nerva (Piazza Venezia), Hotel Lancelot (Colosseum), and Residenza Arco dei tolomei in Trastevere. I really need to just make a decision soon. Is anyone familiar with the locality of these hotels for walking to main attractions. We plan on walking as much as possible, but are some limited with aches and pains! Thank you again...