Florence or Rome?

You can do both, all of the above if you fly into Rome and spend four days and then head to Tuscany where you can rent a villa, or stay at an agriturismo. You will be able to travel to see Florence easily (as it's in Tuscany) and enjoy all of it. Don't try to work in another region with jut ten days, however.

Thanks Donna. I'm just not a whirlwind type of person. I like to really get a good feel for a city. I could always go back and do the other on another trip. I can't imagine spending less then four days in Florence for instance! I am really interested in doing an agritourisimo. Good idea to find one near Florence and then commute in....

Do both.

Florence: 3 nights (2 full days)
Rome: 4 nights (3 full days)
To me that's ideal for the 2 big ones.

If you want to add smaller places and countryside, in Tuscany for example, you can add nights to Florence and visit the small towns/country side from Florence in day trips (recommended if you rely on public transportation).

The agriturismo (farmhouse) or an out of town villa/B&B option requires a car in almost all circumstances. If you decide to do so, then you can stay there the whole time in an out of the city place in Tuscany and visit the city (Florence) from there. It's up to you. Some people prefer to stay in the quiet countryside or smaller village, others prefer to spend evenings in a vibrant city environment.

However staying in a small village or an agriturismo in the countryside without a car is inconvenient (or even impossible in many cases since farmhouses are often isolated). Therefore the choice of mode of transport will likely drive where you end up staying.

Florence: Think Medicees, art, churches, Galileo, and more art.
Rome: Think Roman Ruins, Churches, Churches, and more Churches. You really could do half and half.
We spent 5 nights in both places and still didn't see everything. Either way, you will have a great trip.

This is so tough because both cities are so uniquely wonderful and meet your requirement of "art, history, culture, architecture, and beautiful landscapes". What are your plans in the countryside? I'm curious as to whether you hope to rent a place with a pool and just hang for a few days, or do some exploring via a car. If you will have a car, then do Rome, rent a place in Tuscany, and just do a day trip to Florence from there. Watch out for the ZTL zones if you do plan to drive in that area.
How many in your party?

First, do whatever you can to extend it beyond 10 days. Really, two weeks if at all possible. If you're stuck with 10 days (in reality probably 9), then I would do 4 nts Rome, 2 nts Orvieto and 3 nts Florence. Orvieto will give you the taste of the countryside, as you can see from this little video clip I took there: View from Orvieto walls

More photos and clips here: Orvieto in May 2011

Maryam, we will have 4-7 in our party, not quite sure yet! Honestly hoping it'll be just a girls trip with myself, mom, and two sisters. The more people you have, the harder it gets to accommodate everyone!

Michael, Orvieto looks amazing. Thinking now about Rome, then Orvieto or Siena for a couple nights, then Florence. My mom recently mentioned Cinque Terra but I think it's out of the way, unless we skip Florence. This is my mom's 60th bday and sister's 30th bday trip so trying to accommodate them. I am excited they want me to plan because it's my passion. :) Just have to keep everyone thinking realistically!

Tough decision! I love both cities for their differences, which Barb has done a good job of explaining. If you've never been to Italy before, I'll go along with the others in voting for some time in both so you can experience those differences yourself?

As a first-timer with a group, I'd probably choose locations which do not involve the need for a car: it'll be so much easier to bop around by public transport, and all of you can just relax, enjoy the scenery, and not have to worry about finding parking, avoiding ZTL (no drive) zones, etc. I also like Michael's idea of Orvieto - although if push came to shove, that one can also be done as a day trip. And yes, see about adding to your 10 days if at ALL possible. The single largest expensive you'll have is airfare so make it worthwhile!!

You've listed your own interests (for you, I'd say Florence for sure) but I notice that this is a 60th birthday celebration for your mom? Other than the Cinque Terre, what sorts of things is she interested in? It would seem that, because she's sort of the Guest of Honor, her preferences weigh into the decisions as well?

The nice thing about cities is that if you end up with, say, 7 people with different interests, it's easy for individuals to run off and do whatever it is that rocks their boat while others do the same? That's harder to do in small, isolated locales.

I'm nervous about posting after Quirite, but here goes. I'm in Rome right now, here from Florence, and I can say that it's never Rome versus Florence. It's always Rome and Florence. Florence is only 1 and 1/2 hours from Rome on the fast train. You must see both cities as they are quite different.

Oddly when I'm in Rome I forget I'm not in Florence because I keep looking for those huge beautiful bright sparkling Piazzas that dot and connect that city. Mostly because they offer beauty, space, light, and a place to sit, lots of places to sit. Rome is always moving, there's No places to sit like in Florence. You can sit outdoors at bars and eating places, but you have to buy something. There are No places in Rome where great numbers of people just sit and enjoy. Even at the Vatican, crowds are always moving, there's No sitting. The cities are colored
Differently too.

Both Rome and Florence have everything you like, but take those hop on hop off buses into the hills South of Florence and your love for beautiful landscapes will be satisfied. There are three routes. all go into the hills, blue is more inside, red and yellow span out more East and West. Look at their map before you board. Hop on hop off in Rome will take you near to all the major historical sites. But in both cities you have to get off to see the site up close.

If you stay half-time in each city, you can do the countryside too. Orvieto is a day trip from Rome, and Siena is a day trip from Florence. You just climb hills in Siena, a day of that is all you can take. Pisa and Lucca is a day trip from Florence. Cinque Terre is a day trip from Florence. The Italian Riviera on the Ligurian Sea is a day trip from Florence.

Stay inside the cities to get their flavor. City buses in Rome are easier to take because Piazza del Cinquecento at Termini is so well planned with platforms and Diagrams and an Information Kiosk. In Florence city buses surround SMN, and it takes practice to use them, but Google will find the right bus. But Hop on Hop off is easy to use in Florence, they are at SMN too. Rome's Hop on Hop off buses are at Termini.

When I visited family in Amaseno, 70 miles South of Rome along the coast, townspeople would come and find me at the top most square and ask about the food of Florence and Ponte Vecchio. No one asked about Rome.

Oops, people do sit at Trevi Fountain, but it's tucked away, not quite the same thing, but I have to concede that Trevi offers places to sit.

Re: sitting down for free in Rome: There are benches all around Piazza Navona, as well. The Spanish Steps are, well, steps, sitting on them has been a tradition for hundreds of years. Practically any place with steps attracts sitters. Some places to sit at the Pantheon also (free entrance and pews inside). In fact, almost all churches in Rome are free and have seats, as well as some beautiful artwork. They are also usually cooler than anywhere else on a hot summer day.

Even the Via Giulia has some stone benches against the wall, Piazza Farnese has some places to sit along the walls of buildings as well.

I think this may become my area of expertise. Years of practice.

I'm going to up set the apple cart and ask you consider adding Venice to this special excursion of Italy. Why? Simply because it's so unique and it's sinking. However, if you are traveling in the summer months to ignore my suggestion.IMHO far too crowded to truly enjoy If you are traveling off season especially when the cruise ships aren't in port, then by all means go. In regards to Rome vs Florence do them both. Ciao.

We are flying into Rome and spending one night and day - Coliseum, forum and some night sights like Trevi fountain, etc...and than we'll take the train from Rome to Florence. Spend 4 days in Florence, rent a car and go to Chianti region within Tuscany and spend two days. Next, we'll return car and take train to Venice for two days. From Venice, we'll take the train back to Rome and spend two nights with additional sights...

So, we'll end up spending a total of 3 days in Rome, 6 in the Florence/wine region and 2 in Venice...we purposefully divided the Rome days up...

SPOILER ALERT: Trevi Fountain isn't currently romantic -- no water. Reconstruction work. Rome is still gorgeous though. Trevi may be back in operation by your visit. Check on what's open when you get your plans set.

thanks so much everyone for your advice. I'm thinking we will do both Florence and Rome with some side trips in the Florence region. I loved all of your suggestions. So if we had 10 days I would do a few days Rome, few days Florence, and a few days in another in-between or nearby area.

Kathy, I know it's my mom's trip but besides the Cinque Terre she hasn't mentioned anything specific. She has very similar interests to me though. She's also very go with the flow type of person so I know she'll have fun no matter what. :) she likes when I'm the planner.

Sounds like your mom will be a perfect travel companion! Her wish for the CT is entirely possible if you find those few extra days...

I will only say this. If you don't figure out a way to see them both, you will regret it when you get back
home. My wife and I have done both on one trip and we are glad we did. Don't worry about sleeping you can do that on the plane back :)

Have a good trip
Nate

Thanks Nate, I think that's probably very true.

Not true about Trevi. I was at Trevi just last week. Yeah there's no water, but the Italians made a bridge that surprisingly takes us right up to those huge winged horses and their master gods, not covered by any scaffolding.

This may never happen again, we may never get that close to any statue on that monument again in our lifetime. The experience was exhilarating!

And it was Not lost on the visitors who took advantage of the new foto op. The fun and the joy was heightened and contagious as people from all over the world took fotos of a lifetime from the bridge.

On the flight home I sat next to a couple from New Orleans who turned back when they saw Trevi had no water. When I shared what sight awaited us on the bridge, they were truly saddened at not taking the walkway.

People even made a game out of throwing coins into the little pool opposite the monument at the top of the stairs. They would toss coins off of nearby poles, but I went for the direct hit.

I am so glad I went back to Trevi, it added a dimension that I will treasure forever.