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From the beginning....

Posted by on

We are a family of 5 planning our first trip out of the country during Spring Break (April 2017). It will be myself, my hubby and three boys ages 14, 13 and 11.99 ;-)

We are narrowing down our travel dates by considering work commitments and school absences. But, given that we are traveling during the Easter holiday, we have a few things to consider. My hope is you all may be able to chime in relating to these considerations.

At this point, the things we know:

  • we hope to spend 10 nights between the cities of Rome and Florence;

  • it would be best for us to fly out of Charlotte, NC because the rates are great and they have non-stop to FCO;

  • The dates would be Friday, April 7 (flying overnight) to April 18. During that period, Good Friday will occur on April 14...AND this will also be the day my son turn 12, Easter will occur on Sunday, April 16. This leaves us 10 overnights to plan.

  • We would likely like to avoid Rome during the Easter weekend. We are nervous about our first visit out of the country and I think that our anxiety would be amplified during such a large celebration. If possible, we would love to be in Florence for that long weekend.

Things we are considering:

  • Should we break Rome up and choose to fly in/out of Rome? If we fly in to Rome and out of Florence, it adds another connection and about 4 hours to our journey.

  • How can we best plan around the holiday? What transit concerns should we consider?

So "if you were in my shoes," what other things would you consider and how would you break up the holiday?

Posted by
23666 posts

....If we fly in to Rome and out of Florence, it adds another connection and about 4 hours to our journey......

We are big fans of open jaw flights. Generally find it cheaper and more convenient. It is generally easier and more convenient to fly into Florence and out of Rome because Rome airport will provide more return options and you don't have to be at the airport at 6am which is sometimes the case when flying from smaller airports.

Once on the ground the best travel options is the train. If you purchase the Super Economy tickets well in advance the train expensive can be very low. However, those tickets are no refund or no exchange. Even the Pope cannot change that.

Easter in Rome is big deal so there is just no way to avoid that. l would participate for the experience recognizing that the crowds will be huge with a limit on what you can do. The crowds in Florence will not be as great but it will be crowded. Just cannot avoid that weekend.

Posted by
2487 posts

If flying in and out of Rome is by far to be preferred, I strongly advise you to break up your stay in Rome. You don't want to have to deal with trains at an unfamiliar railway station after a long flight. And you certainly don't want that if not everything goes according to plan: flights can be late, luggage can take a long time, there can be a long queue at Immigration.
On the return flight, you also want to be close to the airport, especially when it is an early morning flight.
Regard the Easter crowds as a part of the experience. And when it gets too much, you can always escape the city (Tivoli or Ostia from Rome; Pisa and Lucca from Florence).
There is only one real transport option: the high-speed Frecce train, which does the journey in 1,5 hrs. Buy the tickets some 2, 3 months in advance to get them with 50 percent discount. Use the website of the Italian Railways (www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en) and have »Roma Termii« and »Firenze S M Novella« as departure and arrival stations.

Posted by
16238 posts

I think Easter in Rome would be great. In any case you need to be close to the airport where you depart from the night before your return trip because flights to North America depart in the morning and Florence is too far if you fly back from FCO.

Assuming you fly non stop to and from FCO, which is probably a good idea since you'd avoid a layover somewhere (FLR has only European flights), it is best for you to spend the first half of your vacation in Florence, and the last part in Rome before your flight home.

In your shoes, since your flight will arrive at FCO in the morning, I would go directly to Florence, by train on the day of arrival, that way you don't need to split your hotel stay. The high speed train from Rome to Florence takes 90 min and there is at least 2 per hour departing from Rome main station (Roma Termini). 2 of them, even depart directly from the FCO airport train station (at 11:08am and 3:08pm) and go directly to Florence, after a brief stop at Roma Termini. In all other cases you need to take the Leonardo Express train from FCO to Roma Termini, then switch trains at Roma Termini.

In any case, you can easily be in Florence at lunch time or early afternoon. I go to Florence every year, and if I fly to Rome, that's what I do. I do not recommend buying train discounted tickets online ahead of time for the day of arrival. Those tickets come with restrictions (non refundable, non changeable) and the risk of missing the train you book is too great (flight delays, immigration delays, baggage claim delays, etc.). Just buy the tickets at the FCO station when you arrive.

Posted by
11613 posts

I don't recommend buying train tickets in advance for the day of your arrival. You might consider spending the first night in Roma, take a look around, get some good sleep, and take the train to Firenze the next day. Then when you come back to Roma, you will have had a bit of orientation. If you do this, you can get super-economy train tickets up to 120 days ahead from Roma Termini to Firenze SMN.

Posted by
9079 posts

How about flying into Milan, train to Florence, and finish in Rome? You can find direct flights from/to Milan from the US.

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