We are wanting to go to Italy in Feb. to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We will have about nine or ten days in Italy. Does anyone have a suggested travel itinerary?
We were thinking of flying into Venice two days after Carnival has ended. Will that be an okay time to be there?
Thanks for any help you can offer!
Lisa
Congratulations on your 25th wedding anniversary.
Rome Florence Venice or the other way around.
Fly into Rome and out of Venice or Florence the other way around.
Like most the airfare and air route will be the deciding factor.
Get your airline tickets Today!
For flights I use https://www.google.com/flights/ and sometimes https://www.expedia.com/
If you don't plan to drive book your long distance train tickets at
http://www.trenitalia.com/
or
It's helpful to count the amount of nights versus days you have IN the country as it can make a difference: overnight travel days and departure days don't count. Assuming you have 10 nights in Italy:
Day #1: arrive Venice, sleep Venice
Day #2 - Venice
Day #3-Venice
Day #4 - Venice to Florence, sleep Florence
Day #5 - Florence
Day #6 - Florence
Day #7 - Florence to Rome/sleep Rome
Day #8 - Rome
Day #9 -Rome
Day #10 - Rome
Fly home from Rome
This is 3 nights Venice, 3 nights Florence, and 4 nights Rome, and is a pretty standard itinerary for first-timers. You could subtract a day from Florence or Rome and add it to Venice but I wouldn't, personally.
February is cold, so stick to the cities, so you have lots to do even with bad weather.
The very bare minimum for me would be 2 nights in Venice, 2 nights in Florence, 3 nights in Rome. If you have more than 7 nights, allocate the extra to the above 3 cities according to your liking.
Kathy's allocation is good for 10 nights.
We were in Rome this past February and the weather was perfect. Light coat with a sweater. We stayed in Rome the entire 8 days and had plenty to see and do and eat and drink. You could do a few day trips such as Orvieto. We liked not having to pack up and move around. Like most posters say, plan on returning; so we figure we will do a week in Florence another time.
We were skiing in Innsbruck one February and took a quick trip down to Venice. We just about froze our tails off and the tides were high enough to flood St. Marks Square. They had the elevated wood sidewalks out.
Have you considered putting your trip off 5 weeks?
Thank you, everyone for your replies. Once we get our tickets I'll be able to nail down the days. I think we will add Florence. I'm tied to the school calendar so have to go in Feb. But I figure I can have a cold week off at home or a cold week off in Italy 😀
I've been to Italy 3-4 times in recent years and had a great time on each visit. The worst weather spell I had was slip-sliding through slush in Padua (as the snow began to accumulate I ducked into a cafe for an early lunch, after an hour or so, the snow had stopped and the warm air had melted most of the slush. Then next day, I arrived - with my wheelie - in Venice to acqua alta. I got to within 200-300 meters of my hotel and couldn't get any farther because of the flooding. It just meant another cafe for an hour or so until the high water subsided. Both were experiences I wouldn't trade for the world. By my 3rd day in Venice, I was basking in sunshine and shedding layers.
Fewer tourists, low season hotel prices. . . but this past February, even at the end of February, the line to the Vatican Museums was long and slow. So plan to book in advance for the popular sights
agree about a week in Italy even in cold weather better than being cold at home.
I am also tied to my school calendar for February vacation and have had some wonderful trips throughout Italy during that break over the last 15 years. (Venice, Rome, Florence, Torino, Bologna, Verona). Husband and I don't mind the cold coming from New England and have found the weather to be a nicer than at home.
Have been to Venice after Carnevale and found it to be peaceful and magical. Be sure to seek out Italian hot chocolate (delicious, thick pudding like) and vin brule (hot spiced red wine).
Happy Anniversary!
agree about a week in Italy even in cold weather better than being
cold at home.
Amen to that! 👍
Just pack layers (a waterproof outer layer is recommended) and enjoy all three cities with lighter crowds and shorter queues! You'll have a GREAT anniversary.
Posted by Barbara Brooklyn, NY 09/29/17 09:03 PM 475 posts Report We
were in Rome this past February and the weather was perfect. Light
coat with a sweater. We stayed in Rome the entire 8 days and had
plenty to see and do and eat and drink. You could do a few day trips
such as Orvieto. We liked not having to pack up and move around. Like
most posters say, plan on returning; so we figure we will do a week in
Florence another time.
So were we, Barbara! Got to Rome February 25, stayed for a week at an apartment. 40's in the morning, 50's/60's during the day, rained once. Without the tourist throngs, you can--if you want--assimilate into Roman life a heckuva lot easier, I think. We took the bus all over, took an easy daytrip from Termini station to Orvieto, back to our Roman neighborhood at Campo de' Fiori in time for dinner.
We also stayed a little less than a week a couple years ago--same time of year--at an apartment in Florence. It was fine, but there were more tourists it seemed, certainly more 'semester abroad' students from the US, and their parents visiting too. It was pretty chaotic on the weekend, even that time of year.
Both cities were great in their own way, but given a choice I'll be returning to Rome to do the apartment thing again sometime in the future, maybe for two weeks or even a month if I can swing it. We have friends we met on a previous trip--also from Chicago--that 'winter' in Rome, rather than in Florida or Arizona. Works for me!
The only problem with winter travel is the fact that weather is completely unpredictable. Not only local weather.
Sure, you can get lucky and experience sunny 50's/60's, but you can also be unlucky and get miserable weather. In winter, you also have to consider the weather on travel days and how it may affect your departure, landing, and/or possible cancellation, depending on what's going on in various locations.
I've worked in Italy a lot during the winter months. There are less tourists to work around. I have experienced plenty of unpleasant weather, canceled or delayed flights, and sleepovers on an airport floor. I've often said to myself in these situations: "I'm sure glad I'm not a tourist experiencing this. This is not my idea of a vacation."
Be aware that flying out of Venice to the U.S. you might have a problem getting to the airport in the early morning if your flight is an early departure. Much easier to fly back home from other locations.
I've worked in Italy a lot during the winter months. There are less
tourists to work around. I have experienced plenty of unpleasant
weather, canceled or delayed flights, and sleepovers on an airport
floor. I've often said to myself in these situations: "I'm sure glad
I'm not a tourist experiencing this. This is not my idea of a
vacation."
Agreed, NYC. Traveling around the interior of Italy through some of the little (and not so little) towns during cold, windy, rainy weather in late winter is not idyllic by any means. Two years ago we did a geneological daytrip to the village of Sant' Arsenio, up in the mountains about 55 km SE of Salerno, and it was foggy, damp and Transylvania-like. Still enjoyed it.
And while Rome was temperate on this last trip, to the south Sorrento ended up being absolutely beastly for 3 of the 5 nights we stayed there. You work through it, and use Plan B or Plan C if it's suitable. And Italy in the winter is not like London or Scotland--the sun eventually comes out!
I think a key to handling unpleasant weather is simply being there long enough to experience the good weather too, and planning daytrips around the forecast, which we did for Orvieto this year. And focusing on the cities will give you many more options on things to do should the weather be nasty. It is most definitely rolling the dice, but again having the run of the place most of the time is well worth the inclement weather risks.
I think a key to handling unpleasant weather is simply being there
long enough to experience the good weather too
The slow travelers have it the best. Being some place long enough in Italy is key to experiencing true nirvana.
I've written about my first trip to Chianti on another travel board. It was in early April decades ago. Seven straight days of rain. I couldn't believe it. They were some of the most beautiful photographs I have ever taken. But I was so tired of being wet all the time.
April is still a favorite month to visit Italy. I have a German-made, hands-free umbrella now, so I'm better prepared.
If you stick to the 3 big pearls of Italy, Venice, Florence, Rome (preferably in this order) you will enjoy your trip no matter what the weather is. There are tons of things to do and see indoors: museums, exhibits, churches, palaces. Also, given the low altitude of those cities (Florence, the highest, is at 150ft of elevation) snowfall is extremely rare, and February is not particularly rainy either. Just be ready for low temperatures in the low 30s F at night.
So we are back from our trip and had a great time. We won the lottery on our 10 hour flight going over, only 30 passengers in a 777. I loved Venice but found it crowded even in Feb. I wouldn’t want to go there in the really busy summer. Florence was lovely. The second day was a bit cold but we still had a fun and informative bicycle tour of the city and getting a room with a view of the Duomo at the Hotel Duomo was magical. We did experience some rain in Rome but not enough to slow us down. I highly recommend The Walks of Italy Pristine Sistine tour. We were able to be in the chapel with only 30 to 40 people for a full half an hour.
Hi Lisa. Thanks for reporting back. Living in Rome, we relished the winter when sites were not so crowded. Yes, Venice can be crowded any time, but the cooler weather and relatively fewer people make for a much better experience than heat and crowds!
