Okay, so it's our first time ever experiencing any part of Europe at all. So, from reading all of your books, here's what I have come up with. Arrive mid-afternoon on a friday, stay in Rome till monday in a B and B. Leave monday night to florence, stay 2 nights. Leave on wed for venice for 2 nights. Leave fri to come back to Rome (this is where it gets sticky) not sure where to stay friday night? Advice? Stay saturday and sunday in Rome, we leave monday afternoon. Good itinerary? What do I need to change? Flying in and out of Rome.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23342 posts
I am not following your question very well. What is sticky about Friday night? Stay the same place your did the first time or stay the same place you will stay Saturday and Sunday. What is special about Friday? I would add a day in Florence, and return to Rome on Saturday. Did you consider an open jaw ticket of into Rome and home from Milan for example?
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
It looks to me like you've split your time in Rome in half. We generally suggest flying open jaw (into one city, out of another) but if you've already purchased your tickets to fly in and out of Rome this may no longer be an option.
By my count, you have 9 full days in Italy, plus your flying in/out days. My suggestion would probably be to not split up Rome and either stay there longer at the beginning of the trip, or leave Rome immediately and visit it on your way back, after you've recovered.
One possible itinerary could look like this:
Arrive Fri - train to Florence (3 nights)
Depart Mon - train to Venice (2 nights)
Depart Wed - train OR short-hop flight from Venice to Rome. Stay in Rome 5 nights, and do a day trip to Ostia Antica or perhaps Orvieto.
Fly home
The advantage of doing this is you only have one hotel or B&B to stay at in Rome, which saves you an extra round of packing up, checking out, moving, etc.
You can also flip this around, stay in Rome for 4 or 5 days first, then go up to Florence, Venice, and fly or train back to Rome the day before you fly home.
Posted by
OP
Charlotte, NC, United States
14 posts
Well, obviously open jaw is no longer an option since I didn't think of it when I booked the tickets. I think I will take the advice of going straight to Venice and then spending the bulk of the following days in Rome. Thanks everyone!
Posted by
St. Louis
239 posts
We have followed a very similar itinerary to yours: Rome, then Venice, then Florence, then back to Rome. I was happy to have a few days in Rome to relax and recoup from traveling before heading to Venice; I don't think I would have liked arriving and then leaving immediately--I was so excited to see Rome I would have been disappointed to bypass it for later! After a few days of relaxing, we took the train to Venice and then Florence, and then we returned to Rome for our final weekend. We spent our time in Rome in two different hotels in different parts of the city. I got on Orbitz and found a great deal on a four-star hotel in Rome for our last weekend in Italy. Everyone is different, and, of course, it's always nice to have more time in almost any city, but we found the trip extremely doable and didn't feel exhausted or like we had spent our entire time on trains. We had a fantastic time!