Hi
The wife and I are headed to Cortona for a week. But we were trying to decide where to fly into. We want to spend 2 to 3 days in either location prior to going to Cortona. My question is, if you had only 3 days would you rather see Rome or Florence?
Thanks a bunch.
For you, that should be what your interests are. Are you into roman history, or interested in seeing the treasures of the Vatican museum and the largest church in the world, then go to Rome. If you like medieval and renaissance things, or have interest in the foods and wines of Tuscany, go to Florence.
Me, I tend to be more budget minded in my travels. I would base my trip on whichever city was cheaper to fly in to, and work my itinerary around that. My next trip to Italy has me flying off season onto Rome and out of Milan, because that was the best deal I could get. If all things were the same cost, I would base the flights on whichever city had the best flight itinerary or took the least amount of time to get to where I want to be. Flying from the west coast like I do, sometimes those cheaper flights could have me stuck for obnoxious amounts of time, such as having to do an overnight in Seattle airport like I will be doing on my way home.
If it's really MY opinion you are interested in, for my upcoming trip I will be staying 1 night in Rome before I head to Sorrento, but I will be spending a total of 8 nights in Florence & the Tuscany/Umbria area. So my vote is Florence.
Not sure where you are flying from, but I'd fly to Rome and visit Rome upon arrival or on my way back home before my return flight (even better). Flying to Rome is cheaper in most cases. Then from Rome you can get on a train from the airport to Termini and then to Cortona-Camucia.
You can still visit Florence on a day trip while you are in Cortona, which is not too far from Florence. You can get to Florence from Cortona in less than 90 min. (train or drive), and very cheaply too.
What are you going to do in Cortona for a week? After 3 hours you'll be bored to death. That's the perfect opportunity to get out of Cortona and visit nearby Florence.
Not sure where you fly in / out. In the absence of this info, I lean toward Rome. This will give you a nice mix of the big city & the rustic Cortona area. YMMV
Hotels are less expensive in Florence IMO but Rome gets my vote for sure.
Do you already plan to fly out of Florence or another city to the north? You need not fly in and out of the same cities, of course. Look for a "multi-city" trip on your airline flight search. Buon viaggio!
If you've never been to either, then visiting Rome is an obligation. Once you've seen Rome, you will appreciate Florence more the next time, like dessert.
As someone above said, it depends what you are interested in. Florence is art and a smaller old town center, Rome is huge and layers of civilization. At some point, you have to get to both, but where to start, there is no right answer, and no regrets! Last time I did both, this time we are flying out of Rome, so we must go there.
