Italy itinerary

I guess it depends on your total trip time. These are easy transfers by train, city center to city center in a matter of hours. All three cities are very different. If you have 2 weeks, fly into Rome and spend a few days in a hotel, then rent and apartment in Florence for a week, and finish of in Venice and fly home from there. Florence is a little more central for taking day trips, Sienna, Lucca, Pisa, even the Cinque Terra. See if you can persuade him.

Day trips are possible. You could easily see Orvieto or Pompeii as a day trip from Rome. From Florence you have a multitude of possibilities all around Tuscany. From Venice you could see Verona, Padua, Vicenza, and Ravenna.

Even if your husband says no to moving around every couple days, couldn't you at least get him to agree to one move mid-trip? That way you could have a new area to explore from.

Now with high speed trains, Florence (1.5 hours) and Naples(1.15 hours) are reasonable day trips from Rome. But plan on spending 40 euro each way per ticket. You will not be able to come close to seeing everything in one day but you can still appreciate some things. There are some great beaches -Santa marinella, I think a little over an hour by regional train. Lake Bracciano is also a beautiful lake. There are a few towns on that lake I think but I have only ever been to Bracciano. The train takes you into the town and you can walk or take a bus down to the lake. Some of the cleanest water I have ever swam in. Orvieto is also a popular Rome day trip but I have never been myself. I agee with the other poster that Florence would also be a great home base to see a lot of the Tuscany towns.

How long is your trip and what time of year are you going? I love Rome and I love big cities. But a lot of people, especially in summer when it is very crowded, feel overwhelmed when there for more than 4 or 5 days. If you think this would be you, consider splitting your time between Rome and Florence. Since the trains are in the city center and it is a short trip with the fast trains, travel between those two cities doesn't feel that hectic to me.

Diana,

I traveled throughout northern Italy this past June and hit the three cities that you listed. However, I did not take any day trips from any of those cities, so I can't help you on the Rome question. As others have said so far, how long your trip is and the time of year you will be going are two big factors. All cities unique, different, and with plenty to do. I agree with the response above about staying in Florence and taking day trips from there. Pisa is worth a visit. Cinque Terre is a must see (in my opinion). There's also Lucca and Siena, but I can't speak from experience since I haven't been to either. I'm no travel expert in comparison to most users on this website, but enjoy sharing the information. Spend some time on these forums just reading and you'll find plenty of information. Have fun.

Thanks for the ideas & keep them coming please. We are going in May 2015, total time I had planned for Italy was 10 days but that's flexible. We're both retired. Going to Paris for a week after Italy.

We stayed in Florence for a weekend, and moved to an agriturismo 20 miles south of the city for 4-5 days. Since we've been to Venice many times, we made a quick one day run via rental car there. Tuscany is best seen via automobile, as trains don't go everywhere of interest.

We turned our rental car in at Orvieto and took a train to Rome. We stayed on a olive farm 20 minutes south of Rome for 5 nights--taking the commuter train into the city for day trips. We also found many great tourist sights outside of Rome.

Venice is about 4 hours from Rome by train. It would be a shame to miss it. Can you sell it as a couple of nights of jetlag recovery before moving on to Rome?

From Rome you could daytrip to Florence, Siena, Orvieto, Assisi, Naples, or some of the Roman hill towns (Castelli Romani) like Castel Gandolfo or Frascati.

Enjoy your time in Italy!

Many day trips available...Villa D'Este, Tivoli, Villa Adriana, Villa Gregoriana, Ostia Antica, Orvieto.

Here's some info on the area Zoe mentioned. http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/lazio/castelliromani.html.

Rome itself will keep you busy, don't just run from one site to another. Discover the very individual

neighborhoods of Rome.

I realize that I'm not married to him, but your husband is wrong. There is no substitute for the big 3. Aside from the Classical period, this is the basis of Western Culture. And moving every three or four days (assuming you have a two-week vacation) is not actually such a burden. BTW, train service in Italy has improved in recent years. In any case, the transfer is worth it. Has he looked at Rick's book?

I write that as someone who often quotes Rick's mantra that includes, "Assume you'll return". But most people don't go to Europe more than six or eight times in their lives. You and your husband will miss a lot if you aren't willing to move more often. My wife doesn't like moving more than every three or four days. But when necessary, we have stayed one night in a place - i.e. late arrival, or really special sight.

On our first European trip, in 1987, we spent a summer week in London and a week in Paris. In rained in Paris and was hot and sunny in London. Who knew? On the plus side, it's impossible to spend too much time in any of the big three-within the American vacation time schedule.

We were in Rome for the third time this summer. But it seems so limiting to sit in one place for an entire vacation. OK, Rome has the most daytrips, enough for two weeks. I hope he's willing to go a different place for dinner every night in Rome. I get the feeling that once he is served a beer that he likes, he'll want to return to that place.

It's out of print, but I have an old paperback (pre internet) of Daytrips In Italy, by Earl Steinbicker. Based on railroad, under Rome, he lists: Ostia Antica, Tivoli, Viterbo, Orvieto, Asissi, Perugia, Spoleto, Gubbio. Now that there are some high-speed trains, you really could include Naples and similar distances, especially with far-in-advance discount (NON-CHANGEABLE) tickets.

But having been to Pompeii, Baths of Caracella, and Hadrian's Villa in the same week (2014), I have to tell you there is such a thing as too much Roman ruins!!

Tim, you and I both know he's wrong. LOL I'm going to continue with my trip planning & hopefully convince him that we need to see all 3 of these cities in Italy. We are both in our 60's so we will likely not return to Italy. We did London & Paris this May and got the same kind of weather...our week in London had perfect, sunny weather and it rained every day but one while we were in Paris. But we loved both cities anyway.

A couple of points: Spending 3 nights in each location is really not moving around too much. It's really not enough for any of the locations you want but it's better than 1 or 2 nights. It might make sense to arrive in Venice and depart from Rome. Rome departures are usually at more convenient times. But planning a visit to Italy which you think might be your only one (more on this below) and spending the entire time in Rome would mean you are missing out on so much that Italy has to offer which cannot be done as day trips from Rome. You should also consider that after a while, day trips can be very tiring.

As to "We are both in our 60's so we will likely not return to Italy": We are in our early 70s/late 60s. Our first trip to Italy was in 2009, intending to visit only once. Well, we returned in 2011, and 2014 each time for 3 weeks or so, and we spent one month in Sicily in 2013. We hope to visit Italy again in a couple of years. So much for likely not to return.

Good luck in coming up with your itinerary!

Venice is too far for a day trip. If you can spend a few nights there it will totally be worth while. Otherwise, the rest of the advice on here is good.

Not to be a "bossypants," but I notice you were in Paris last year. Any chance of either skipping it, or moving a couple of Paris days to give you adequate time for Italy, since this may be your one and only trip there?

Hubby isn't terribly wrong, here IMHO! I did a trip of entire Spain in two weeks, and repacked my luggage and got on a train or bus every two/three days once, and vowed Never Again!

If you're flying in from the U.S., a great 'soft landing' place is Venice. Spend 3 nights. Train to Florence, spend 4 nights. Do one day trip from Florence, perhaps indulging in an all day wine tour, in which you depart with a guide, and drive through beautiful Tuscany, have a nice lunch at the Vineyard.........there are lots of them, and your hotel should be able to arrange it.

Last four nights Rome. Do ONE day trip, Ostia Antica. Smaller (some people think better, and certainly closer) version of
Pompeii.

That's my Best Advice. If it were my trip, though, I'd save Paris for another trip, and add days onto Rome and Florence.

I think trying to do day trips by train from one location is just as challenging as moving three times. Also it could be quite expensive taking a train or bus everyday. I would arrive in either Rome or Venice for 3 nights and then to Florence 3 nights and reverse to fly home. Otherwise stay in Florence and do day trips. I don't think you will be able to visit Venice for a day trip from Florence. You can visit Siena, Rome, Pisa, Lucca, some of Cinque Terre or go east to San Marino from Florence. How about Rome 5 days then Sorrento 5 days. There are many day trips to take for these locations. As a first time visitor I would take the recommendation of Rick Steve and his forum. Have fun!