First trip to Italy!

I am sure a lot of people will agree that you will only have time to see three cities and you might be stretching that I would stick with visiting the big three, Venice, Florence, and Rome. To do those, you would need to fly into Venice and out of Rome to maximize your time.

Hi there, David and Veronica, and welcome to the forums!

Lake Como or Cinque Terre, Venice, Florence, and Rome are unfortunately too much in 10 days. Also, the most realistic way to measure the time you have to spend is to count the number of nights you'll have on the ground in Italy. For instance, arrival days are almost always partials and can be a jet-lagged haze at that! Departure days also don't really count, and every time you change locations you lose about a 1/2 day of sightseeing time. So, to do more fun stuff and less sitting on trains, packing/unpacking and checking in and out of hotels, fewer moves are the usual recommendation.

You'll also want to fly into one city and out of another to eliminate backtracking time. You'll want to end your trip in the city you fly out of.

An oft-recommended first-timer's trip is Venice, Florence and Rome (in that order) as all three are different, there's speedy train service between them, tons to see and do in all, and all are well used to hosting visitors from anywhere and everywhere. That said, it's always best to choose based on your interests.

So, what are you most interested in seeing and doing in Italy?
How many nights will you have on the ground there?

Hi,
I'd recommend Rome (3 days), then on the way to Florence (2-3 days), stop at a small hill town, like Orvieto (2days), to get a little variety in your trip (not all big cities). Rome and Florence are two very different cities, in terms of size and things to see.

Here's Rick's bit about Orvieto.

Take your time, relax, eat food, drink wine, walk around each evening!

And what exactly does "approximately 10 days" mean? Kathy's suggestion to count nights is dead on. Arrival day may or may not be fulfilling; departure day is even worse.

I would opt for choosing just 2 places. For me it would probably be Florence and Rome for a first trip. Or Venice and Rome. Or Venice and Florence. You don't realize until you actually do it how much time it takes to get from one city or town to another. Checking out of your hotel, getting to the train station, travel time, finding the new hotel, checking in and unpacking - it can eat up the better part of a day.

Keep it simple. As Rick says, assume you're coming back.

Hello! thank you so much for the responses so far. We're planning on being there a total of 10 nights.

Based on the great advice I do think we'll need to shorten our list. I know Rome is a must for my husband - I definitely want us to see some of the beautiful art and sights Italy has to offer but I want it to be a balanced trip with time to enjoy or meals and wine, relax a bit, and just walk around and enjoy the culture.

10 nights - I'd pick two - three locations that offer some opportunity for day trips .... I'm not a huge fan of Venice but love the region. I'd pick Florence and Venice for this first trip or you could use our last trip in September we did Florence, Bellagio, Venice because we really wanted to visit Lake Como. It was the highlight of our trip but we had more nights.
I might recommend
Florence 4 nights - 3 full days
Lake Como 3 nights - 2 full days
Venice 3 nights - 2 full days

I found the CT less interesting than I'd hoped. After our second visit to Florence I would probably not return but it is a great base for day trips.

My husband and I went 4 years ago, had 13 nights. Spent 2 nights in Venice, 1 night in Florence (we aren't that in to art but wanted to see/climb the Duomo); 3 nights in Cinque Terre, 1 night in Sienna, 2 nights Naples and 4 nights Rome. No we did not see anywhere near the amount of things there is to see but, honestly, you could spend a week or more in each of those places. We saw the things we wanted to see and, yes, wish we'd had more time in some spots (Venice and Sienna) but if we had to do it over again we would do it exactly as we did.

If I had 10 nights, I'd fly into Venice and out of Rome and do the following:
2 nights Venice
2 nights Florence
2 nights Cinque Terre
4 nights Rome

Some posters will probably tell you to skip the CT and use those nights for extra night in Venice and Florence. You may decide that doing so would fit with your interests (like I said, we aren't that into art so 1 night in Florence was enough was us as it gets very crowded). To be honest the CT was my favorite place. We went the first 2 weeks of September so still had great beach weather. Stayed in an apartment in Riomaggiore that had a wonderful big rooftop terrace (and a lot of steps - LOL - 82 steps from street to apartment door then 22 more to roof but we loved it). My second favorite was Rome (yes, what a contrast). Loved Rome and attended a papal audience (we aren't Catholic but seeing Pope Francis riding around in the Popemobile and then speaking was one of the highlights of my life, so far).

Whatever you decide, you will have a wonderful time. Italy is amazing.

I agree with Shawn, you need to divide your time between the big cities and smaller town to get a better feel for Italy.

Since you're going in October, I'd check to see what harvest festivals will be held during your time there and try to attend.

I know it is all "must see", but I'm thinking along the lines of Rome - Orvieto - Florence, with more days in either Rome or Florence according to your interests. For some the Vatican is a pilgrimage and seeing the Trevi Fountain and Coliseum are essential. For others, seeing "The Birth of Venus", David and the Duomo are required. My heart is torn between Rome and Florence, but I lean more towards Florence.

If you want to get a little further into Tuscany, you could consider Montepulciano instead of Orvieto. I'd even consider a town I want to go back to for three nights - Volterra, but getting to it from Rome or Florence isn't as easy unless you rent a car.

Agree that you should limit your trip to two (or three at the most) locations and do day trips from each. Perhaps concentrate on Venice, Florence, and Rome. The rational for that suggestion is that it usually takes much longer to go from one place to another than one anticipates. It's not just the travel time, it's also the time spent checking out of the hotel, getting to the train or bus station, getting to the new hotel, checking in, and etc. There is a RS tour that does those cities in about your time frame. Check the site under tours and see if you can adapt that to your plans.

I agree with other posters that Venice, Florence, Rome is the way to go, and in that order as the weather will be cooling as you travel. We really prefer smaller towns to big towns, but I think you need to visit the big towns to get a good overview. A good option is to take a day tour or two into the countryside, a food tour of the city your staying in, etc.

In Venice, try a Cicchetti tour with Alessandro http://www.schezzini.it
Or https://www.urbanadventures.com/?aff=1730

In Florence, try a day long wine and Tuscan countryside tour with Roberto http://www.toursbyroberto.com

The point of Italy is to enjoy Il Dolce Far Niente (the sweetness of doing nothing) so if things get too fast paced or hectic, just find a restaurant on nice piazza, order a half carafe of house wine, sit down outside and people watch. It’s one of our favorite things to do in Italy. :)

I definitely want us to see some of the beautiful art and sights Italy
has to offer but I want it to be a balanced trip with time to enjoy or
meals and wine, relax a bit, and just walk around and enjoy the
culture.

OK, that's great. Here's what I'd do with your 10 nights (knowing that Rome is a must):
Venice - 3 nights
Florence - 3 nights
Rome - 4 nights

Easypeasy. 3 nights in Venice will allow you to get over the jetlag and do some pleasant, non-rushed wandering. The art in Florence is crazy wonderful and there's MORE than enough of it to fill 3 nights/2.5 days. I consider 4 nights/3.5 days a minimum for Rome; tons to see in that one plus it's the largest with the most ground to cover.

Agree with everyone about limiting your locations to three max, two is even better otherwise in 10 nights you will be running helter skelter to see everything and you'll definitely need to omit "relax" off your wish list.

I agree with the majority here that 3 stops is best. The question then is which 3 and in what order. Since Rome is non-negotiable, that's one down. I'd leave Rome for last . . . it's a busy, bustling city with major sights, not the ideal place to start your first trip especially when you're likely to be in a sleep-deprived jetlag haze. It's also the easiest airport to get to for your flight home.

Venice is my favorite city after Paris, so I would never ever tell you to skip that. It's a perfect place to start an Italian experience. You can ride the vaporetto up and down the Grand Canal and watch the city slip past you, wander the back canals, sip coffee or wine at a sidewalk cafe, and simply soak up the atmosphere. If your other stop is Florence, then Venice > Florence > Rome is the ideal trip. However you might consider skipping Florence and choosing Lake Como instead. Here's where I can't give you much info since I haven't been there yet. It would add a completely different "Italy" - great scenery and what I imagine to be more serenity than Venice (known as La Serenissima, the Most Serene . . . but probably not for its serenity in the past, certainly not in the present). If you choose that, fly into Milan and take the train to Como, then Venice, then Rome.

While Florence is the best place to see Renaissance art (especially sculpture) and architecture, there's hardly a place in Italy that doesn't have lots of beautiful art - Venice has gobs and Rome has more than you can see in a year. Then on your next trip you can concentrate on Tuscany and Umbria. Then a trip to the south . . . Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi . . . and another trip just for amazing Sicily. Darn, Italy is habit-forming.

Ooh, just had another idea. Fly into Milan, stay in/near Como, then Venice . . . but on your way to Rome, leave Venice early and take the train only as far as Florence. Stash your bags at the train station and spend the day seeing the city's highlights (it's all walking distance from the train station), then take a late train to Rome.

Another vote for three destinations on this trip. I know the first time I went to Italy, I never expected to return. BUT I threw that coin in the Trevi fountain? And while I've only changed planes again in Rome, I have now done three other trips to other parts of Italy. It's such an amazing country.

But the one thing I have appreciated when we travel is learning that we do not have to see everything at once. Also, less is sometimes more. Allow for some free time to simply explore and see what finds you.

I recommend Venice-Florence-Rome in that order--3-3-4 nights. With such limited time Cinque Terre is out of the way and not on the way to any of the other places. Venice-Florence-Rome is a snap logistically.

Thank you all for your responses! It has been very helpful!

I think we've narrowed it down to Venice, Florence, and Rome OR Florence and Rome with maybe a day trip from Florence? We love wine and love cooking (and eating of course) - I've seen day trips from Florence for truffle hunting, vineyard tours, etc. - any recommendations if we go this route?