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Italy/ France Trip Oct 2021 itinerary

It’s time to start planning as I’ve done some tweaking to our plans. I have checked all church and museum websites as of today for hours/ closures(did an excel sheet to make it easier) Curious on your thoughts. I have eliminated some museums in Florence due to a time crunch or it being closed via there websites as of now. Ones I removed were: San Marco, Medici Chapel (closed tuesday) and Pitti Palace. Also Just curious are people buying there flights for October now or waiting until July 1 when more restrictions are suppose to be lifted! As always I appreciate the responses from everyone as they have made things so much easier!!

Well here you go:

Venice 3 nights
9/29-Oct 2
 
29th: Venice
Check in around 1pm via private water taxi
Rialto Bridge 
Frari Church (9-6pm)
Accademia (8:15-6:50pm)
San Marco Campanile in the evening 
Stay Outside and wander/ recover from jet lag
 
Sept 30
La Salute (0900-1200pm)
San Marco/ St Marks /Doges walks of Italy tour at 2pm
Gondola Ride
 
Oct 1st
Explore Venice Lagoons/Islands 
 
Florence for 4 nights:
10/2-10/6
 
Oct. 2nd
Train from Venice to Florence 
Uffizi Gallery (8:15-6:50pm)
Galileo Science Museum (9:30-6pm)
Palazzo Vecchio (0900-1900hrs)
Piazza della repubblica (La Strega Nocciola Gelato)
 
Oct 3rd
Bargello (8:45-1:30pm)
Brancacci Chapel (10am-1pm) 
Santa Croce Church (1-5:15pm
Piazzale Michelangelo/ San Miniato
Ponte Vecchio
 
Oct 4th 
Day Trip to Siena
 
Oct 5th
Walks of Italy VIP tour of Duomo/ Accademia (8am)
Santa Maria Novella (10-5pm)
Medici Ricardi Palace (10:30-6:30pm)
 Check out Piazza SS Annunziata 
Basilica Santissima Annunziata
 
Rome for 5 nights
Oct 6-11
 
Oct 6th 
Florence to Rome by train
Check in Vrbo in Trastevere neighborhood 
Explore Trastevere after lunch for the day
 
Oct 7th
National Museum of Rome (0900-17pm)
Borghese Gallery (2-7:45pm)
Dolce Vita Stroll via Rick Steve’s Guide
 
Oct 8th
Walks of Italy Early am Vatican Tour (7am)
Afternoon:
Heart of Rome Walk via Rick Steve’s Guide
 
Oct 9th 
Walks of Italy VIP underground coliseum, Palatine, Forum, Arch of Constantine tour (8am)
Capitoline Museum (9:30-7:30pm)
 
Oct 10th 
Free Day to do what we want
Capuchin Crypt?
Pompeii Day trip if closed on Monday Oct 11th via Website
 
Depart Rome to Positano
 Oct 11-15
 
Oct 11th: Train to Naples
Private Car Pick up to Pompeii for 3 hours
Explore Positano in the evening after check in
 
Oct 12th: 
Positano for the day some R and R time
 
Oct 13th:
Explore Capri for the day
 
Oct 14th:
Path of the Gods hike from Agerola to Positano 
Afternoon/ Evening in Positano
 
Oct 15th:
Private car to Naples Airport
Fly to Paris/ Train to Bayeux, France
Tapestry Museum (8-6pm)
 
Oct 16th and 17th 
Overlord 2-day tour day (D-Day/ Band of Brothers tour)
 
Oct 18th-22nd: Paris
 
18th:
Arrive from Bayeux check into the hotel 
and just walk along the river up to Notre Dame 
Sainte Chapelle (9-6pm)
Walk thru the Latin quarter and eat dinner at Les Dux Magots 
 
19th:
Walk to the Arc 
Eiffel Tower (9:30-10pm)
Musee Rodin (10-6:30pm)
 
20th:
Cafe De Flore from breakfast and then Musee d'Orsay (9:30-6pm)
The Louvre afternoon (9-6pm)
 
21st:
Palace of Versailles first thing in the morning and head back to the city and walk around and see the Eiffel Tower at night all lite up. Before we head back home
 
22nd- Head Home

Museums Skipped from original Itinerary are:

Florence:
Medici Chapel (closed on tuesdays)
San Marco
Pitti Palace

Posted by
5953 posts

I think it looks pretty good, well thought out and not too overpacked.

We've done both of the Walks of Italy Rome tours you have planned and both were terrific. Good choice.
Capuchin Crypt is creepy/fascinating/different.
I would not day trip to Pompeii- just too far/too long for a day trip so hopefully it works on your travel day to Amalfi. An alternative would be a visit to Ostia Antica- have not been there myself but it gets mentioned here a lot as worthwhile and easy to do from Rome.

If you want something just fun and different on that last Rome day consider a food tour with Eating Europe- the Trastevere am tour was great, and I've only heard good things about the twilight tour as well
They do offer discounts- RS and others I think the code is still EAT10
https://www.eatingeurope.com/italy-food-tours/

Versailles was a really long all day event for us, good that you are not planning anything more that day! Might consider a boat cruise on Seine at night- really lovely - no need to book in advance- your feet will thank you. Leaves from Pont Neuf, time it so you are approaching Eiffel when the lights come on. Beautiful.
https://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/cruises/

Happy to see Musee Rodin- a favorite of ours.

Florence- always a pain fitting things in around closed days! The Musee San Marco was one of our most favorite- didn't take too long and nobody there- I'd try to fit it since you will be right there.
Do visit Mercato Centrale- maybe lunch there on Oct 5th.

Have a great trip!

FWIW- we have booked flights for a trip in Sept- we had so many flight credits from canceled trips we went ahead and booked when the price was right. Fingers crossed we get there.

Posted by
827 posts

In Paris, consider Musée de l'Orangerie. For dining, Le Relais de Venise.

Posted by
945 posts

What an amazing trip! And thank you for posting all of the attraction open times! We will be in Florence the same days: Sat - Tues; is everything closed on Tuesdays?

Posted by
71 posts

I will be heading to Italy in November. I love spending time in Florence. Have you looked into the Firenze Card? It is €85/72 hours and covers entrances to most museums and reservations. It is a great time saver especially if you are trying to get to the top museums.
Have a great trip.
http://www.firenzecard.it/en

Posted by
26829 posts

For any sightseeing card like the Firenze Card, I'd check very carefully to see whether it is currently working as a pass you can more or less flash and walk right in. A lot of museums have implemented capacity controls that require timed tickets, so entry procedures may have changed, with or without a sightseeing card.

Posted by
3809 posts

This is a great-looking trip.

An alternative would be a visit to Ostia Antica- have not been there
myself but it gets mentioned here a lot

I thought Pompeii was great and cannot imagine hitting Naples and the Amalfi Coast without seeing it. Full disclosure: I took Latin in high school and college, and I watched the Great Courses' course on Pompeii before my trip to Italy. So, I was highly motivated to see Pompeii!

Posted by
260 posts

Thanks for the replies! When I first was looking at places to visit our list was twice as long, so with more planning we had I’m hoping what we plan on seeing is good and not to overpacked. In Florence if we can squeeze in the places we took off for an hour if that’s all we can I will be happy to do that. my hope is that Firenze card is available. And hoping by October I won’t need as timed entry, but have no problem buying tickets beforehand online if I can. I’m so hoping Pompeii is open on our travel day to Positano which is a Monday. On the website it said open everyday starting June 7th thru the summer. I’m hoping October is included in that. We really want to see Pompeii so worse case we do it from Rome, even though it will be a long day. But than we can rest in Positano. Keep the ideas coming! It means a lot

Posted by
75 posts

I was checking hours at Florence attractions this morning because we’ll be there on a Tuesday/Wednesday in October. Most museums/churches showed they were open those days. I purchased our airline tickets a couple weeks ago.