Help with Italy

Maybe Ravenna?

What does two full days mean? How many nights after the 4 nights in Florence?

For what I gather you won’t have a car, so, assuming those 2 full days mean 3 extra nights, you could any of the following:
1. stay 3 nights longer in Florence and take more day trips.
2. Go to Lake Garda for 3 nights, then to Venice.
3. Go to the coast in Tuscany or Liguria for 3 nights, then go to Venice.

Bologna is hot and muggy in July, maybe even worse than Florence, so going near a body of water would be my choice.

There are so many great options. You don't really list your interests but if Bologna doesn't appeal is it because of size? It is one of Italy's biggest cities.

Here are my pitches:
- Don't do Siena as a daytrip but instead spend your nights there and get to see the city early and late and really explore it. Siena is great and will easily eat a whole day and whatever partial days you have. Train or bus from Florence. Bus drops you closer to the city center but I might train back if you are then going onto Venice.
- Brescia is an under appreciated town on the Milan Venice fast train line with amazing Roman ruins (less impressive if you have just been in Rome), great museum with in situ Roman mosaic floors, great piazza after great piazza and castle on top of the hill.
- Verona is a pretty, chic, mostly pedestrian, cafe culture city in the bend of the river with a Roman arena and theater to explore.
- Modena near Bologna has a small town feel, fast car museums, great sights and real foodie culture feel.
- Ravenna has amazing mosaics and is a great place to spend a couple of nights.
- Lucca is about an 1:20 from train from Florence and is a medieval city inside the walls and is within 30 minutes of Pisa by train. Kind of the Tuscan hilltown experience but flat. Fewer blockbuster sights but a great little town.
- Ferrara is a town filled with two days of sights - including a giant castle, frescos, the oldest wine bar in Europe and a ton of things to see and do and is on the way to Venice.

Whatever you choose, have a great trip,
=Tod

I would go to Padua. It's closer to Venice and you won't spend a lot of time trying to get there.

Hi. Sorry for confusion. I have 48 hours. 2 nights before Venice. Big I go to Siena I will be going south then north. Cinq terre looks amazing but long to get to and multiple changes on train for Venice. Bolonga in July looks bleak? Verona feels like big city. I am confused. Wish I planned it differently but alas.

Your July trip may miss the Sienna Palio dates and it's probably too late to find a hotel. It is worth a try for one of your two extra nights if you can be in Sienna July 2 for the spectacle and pageantry.

How many nights are you staying in Venice? I'd spend the extra two nights in Venice with a day trip to Padua. Beside the major sights, you can easily spend time in the smaller museums like Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Mocenigo Palace and Museo Fortuny. Visit Murano, Burano and Torcello. You can also day trip to Treviso. Don't forget to visit the churches such as Basilica dei Frari and Chiesa di San Zaccaria.

Part of the joy of Venice is just wandering around to enjoy the uniqueness of the city. I am returning to Venice for seven nights total, two on arrival plus five before flying home, in September for my fourth visit.

Depending on how much time you already have in Venice, I would add those 2 nights to Venice. Venice is like no other! It is a fabulous city for just wandering and getting lost. Don't use Google maps. Just walk and savor the city.

I do like the recommendation of Verona. It's not a huge city; it's easily walkable; and there are some fabulous sights. To be honest, we enjoyed Verona a lot more than Bologna. If you are wine drinkers, you can take a winery tour to the Valpolicella area not far from Verona. We did this with Pagus Wine Tours.

I agree with the suggestion of going somewhere on the coast because it will be July but that might be more complicated because it might be more traveling to get to Venice. Although I think Lake Garda could be a somewhat convenient choice.

Or spend the extra 2 nights in Florence, as someone has suggested, especially since you plan a daytrip to Siena. There is so much to see and do in Florence. We spent 4 nights there last year, without daytrips, and we didn't see everything.

There’s too much to see in Siena for just a day trip, and there’s more to see in Siena than in any of the towns between Florence and Venice. I would spend the two nights in Siena.

So go from Rome to Siena, then Florence and then Venice.

You don't say what you're looking for but you seem to be rejecting places based on size so here is a revised list of observations.

• You could look at Treviso. Off the general tourist track (for now) but 45 minutes to Venice by train and described by my friends who live in Venice as beautiful - which is saying something.
• Ferrara still seems to meet your criteria and has some great things to see. About an hour to Venice on a direct train.
• Mantua/Mantova is a relatively undiscovered city about 2 hours to Venice (Train to Verona and then train to Venice)
• People will mention Padua/Padova which has some great sites but I didn't really enjoy as a town, but I seem to be in the minority.
• Verona feels like a much smaller city than its population would indicate and the parts interesting to a tourist are easily walkable and there is a good bus system.
• There is Lake Garda but anything beyond the bottom of the lake would require a bus which sounds like it is outside your comfort zone in terms of time. Bus to Verona and train to Venice.
• Lake d'Iseo has a train connection but someplace like Sulzano could work but it would be about 3 hours to Venice. Train to Brescia and then train to Venice.

Seemingly too far:
- Lucca is further timewise from Venice than Siena because of the connection to Florence.
- You are correct - Cinque Terre to Venice is realistically 8+ hours door to door and will take a whole day.

And as mentioned you could add the days to Venice. I love Venice beyond reason and would suggest as much time there as possible but it is reasonable to see as many places as possible with your time.

Yours is a good problem to have - good luck!
=Tod

I agree with Marco that there is so much to see in Siena, and it would be nice to spend the 2 nights there. And the order of his suggestion (Rome, Siena, Florence, Venice) makes the most sense. Is the OP able to switch hotel reservations around? Because right now they are going from Rome to Florence, and since the trip is in a couple of weeks, their hotel reservations are already made.

I also agree with Hiredman that Verona feels like a much smaller city, so if you can get hotel reservations there, I think Verona would be an awesome choice.