Hello again. So we are still trying to finalize itinerary for early April. We had originally thought of Florence for three days then Orvieto and on to Rome. We also want to include Tuscany so I had thought maybe Siena for a few days between Florence and Rome, (skipping Umbria till next trip) but looking at train map Siena may not be ideal (we are not wanting to rent a car). Wondering if it would be best to split time between Florence and Rome and do a couple day trips, and or tours of Tuscany possibly Lucca and Ostia Antica out of Rome. We have 9 days/nights
Any thoughts are appreciated
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15832 posts
You should spend 3 nights in Florence and 4 in Rome just for those two cities. That would give you at least 2 full days and 3 full days respectively.
If you have 9 in total you can add the remaining 2 nights to the above according to your preferences.
You can add one night to either city for each day you plan to take a day trip to from that city.
Siena is an easy day trip from Florence (75 min each way by bus) and is a popular day trip people take from Florence. There are numerous other possible day trips you can take from Florence, which is Tuscany’s capital city and the transportation hub for the region (Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo, Chianti hills, San Gimignano, Pistoia, Cortona, and many more)
From Rome you can take day trips to Orvieto, Tivoli, even Naples and Pompeii, just to name a few. Ostia Antics is just outside the city center of Rome, therefore it can be visited in a few hours, a local commuter train goes there.
Since you plan to use public transportation the above plan minimizes hotel changes, which are time consuming.
I don’t know where you are flying into and out of in Italy, but you should leave the departure city as last in your itinerary.
Posted by
Rural Georgia
2180 posts
Roberto's advice is spot on. I also suggest you just use Florence and Rome as home bases to avoid having to move. Moving once, Florence to Rome instead of moving twice (Florence --> Orvieto -->Rome) or more, will save you at least half a day or more likely a full day that you could use to see more sites instead of moving. We just returned from a trip to Vienna, Ljubljana and Salzburg and each move used up a full day.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
Thank you for the advice. We are going to split time between Florence and Rome and possible day trips from each.
Posted by
Rural Georgia
2180 posts
Thank you for the advice. We are going to split time between Florence and Rome and possible day trips from each.
Good plan! I hope you and your family have a wonderful trip. There's lots of tour groups offering day trips. I suggest you consider the Walks of Italy David and Duomo Walking Tour in Florence. It takes a morning and will help you familiarize yourself with the city. I also recommend the "Welcome to Rome: City Stroll and Gelato Tasting" in the evening when you arrive in Rome. I also recommend you buy the Rick Steves guide books for Florence and Rome and also watch his videos on YouTube.
I don't know how much you travel, but we are big believers of Rick Steves travel philosophy, especially packing light.