Italy Trip January 21-31 - First time!

The first thing to do is get Steves' guidebook for Italy and perhaps Rome. That will give recommends for hotels. Second, spent some time at your local library checking out travel DVDs and other guidebooks. You need to recognize that Jan is not the best time for sightseeing since daylight is short and remember how far north you are. Weather can be marginal. I am not sure I would include Venice at that time of year. Third, assume the 21st is your departure date from the US, you only have nine nights on the ground. Your time is short. I would not plan more than Rome, Florence, and Viterbo. If you spend two nights in Viterbo, you have three nights for Florence and four in Rome.

Since Viterbo is between Florence and Rome. I would fly into Florence, train to Viterbo, on to Rome and home from Rome. It is a three to four hour train between Florence and Viterbo and then about two hours to Rome. All by either Intercity or Regionale trains -- it will be cheap to travel by train.

PS -- Where are you flying from in the US?

Hi, Adam, and welcome to the forums!

First things first? How many nights will you have on the ground in Italy? This will affect the number of locations you're going to be able to comfortably fit in.

Have you already purchased your air? If not, it's far more efficient not to fly both in the out of Rome.

What sorts of things are you interested doing/seeing? That determines your choice of location and where you should spend more or less of your time. It'll also determine which attractions to recommend advance tickets for.

Regardless, one of the first things you should do is to buy a good guidebook: Rick's, of course, is the most oft recommended by posters to this site although some of us use multiple publications. You'll need one to take with you, and it'll answer a multitude of questions before your trip...not that you won't also get great help here. :O)

I like booking.com for finding lodging . If you have your airline tickets roundtrip in and out of Rome already, you might do a trip like this (but cut out something and do Venice as a day trip as it is a drag to some checking in and out of lodging 3 times):

21 Arrive Rome train to Florence
22 Florence
23 Florence
24 Florence
25 train to Venice
26 Venice
27 train to Rome
28 Rome
29 Rome
30 Rome edit: (day trip to Vitebro)
31 Fly home

Been to Venice at the end of January and it was great. It was the start of Carneval, but since it starts later this year, there will be less crowds.

If you arrive on the 21st and leave on the 31st, you have 10 nights. A classic Rome-Florence-Venice trip. There is a train every hour from Rome to Viterbo and it takes 1 hour and 50 minutes and costs 5.10 EUR each way.

Jazz -- Read the posting. A day or two in Viterbo is required.

I like the above itinerary suggested by Jazz, give or take a day from Florence to Venice or Rome. It looks like Viterbo is a doable day trip from Rome by train so I would plan to do it as one of your days in Rome towards the end of your trip.

All due respect to Jazz, it won't work, nor will a single day trip to Viterbo, since the OP needs more time there. And if the OP is flying on the 21st, that compresses the time even more. I think the OP needs to scrap Venice for this trip. Taking the train to Florence on their arrival day, then spending one or 2 nights in Viterbo before finishing up in Rome is likely as much as can be comfortably packed into this short a stay. Especially since it's their first time. If flights haven't yet been booked, OP might want to see if flying into Florence and out of Rome on a multicity ticket is an option for them.

You'll take regional trains Rome-Viterbo and don't have to buy the ticket in advance in order to lock in a low fare. Allow time at the train station for slow-moving ticket lines.

Connections to Florence are more frequent, but that trip will take 3-1/2 to 4 hours. A trip partly on the fast Freccia train may save a bit of time but may cost considerably more. Buying early to get a bargain ticket would lock you into a specific departure time (no refunds on promo fares).

You can look at schedules on the user-friendly Deutsche Bahn website. To buy tickets in advance (which you'll want to do for Rome-Florence or Florence-Rome, where there is much money to be saved), use Trenitalia.com, trainline.eu or loco2.com.

Viterbo has a walled city center yet is remarkably non-touristy. The historic core is very atmospheric and a great place to wander around, free of other foreign tourists. A few years ago the tourist office was friendly but a bit, umm, clueless, lacking the ability to tell me where I could catch the bus out to the Villa Lante, which is one of the top sights in the area (for its gardens; not necessarily a good destination in January). I don't remember whether English was spoken; it probably was, but don't expect that at places like the bus station and train station.

I'd suggest printing out a map of Viterbo's historic core from Google Maps so you can get yourself around if the tourist office happens not to be open when you arrive. It's possible it will not have really long hours, or be open 7 days a week, especially in mid-winter. Mark your map with points of interest in case there's not much information at your hotel (which probably will be able to give you a map).

Viterbo isn't a particularly large city, but unless something has changed since 2015, it uses two train stations. Traveling to/from Rome and Florence, you will be using Porta Fiorentina, which is just east of the walled center. I see that most of the hotels are clustered to the south side (many less than 1/2 mile from the station), but there is one hotel, the Balletti Palace, quite near the Porta Fiorentina station. You can find a lot of reviews on booking.com.

The average high in Viterbo will be about 50F, which means some days may be rather cold, especially when you head out in the morning and after the sun goes down. I agree that with time so short and January weather, Venice is a candidate for being skipped this time around. You would not have time to do it justice, anyway.

I haven't done the high-traffic Roman sights recently, but people speak of needing to take line-avoidance action for these:

• The Vatican Museums are mobbed, with most people recommending an early-access tour. Refer to the "Out of hours" options on the ticket website.
• The Vatican Scavi tour sells out very early
• The Colosseum is busy; book especially early if you want more than the standard visit. The official ticket agent is Coop Culture.
• Domus Aurea tickets are snapped up far in advance.
• The Borghese Gallery requires pre-purchased tickets and sells out early.

The Roma Pass might be worthwhile.

I'll add this that was skipped in my rush to type up the original post:
Leaving USA on 21st, so not arriving until 22nd.
Plane tickets are already purchased, along with a rental car reservation. The car reservation isn't in stone and might not be necessary anyway. (I suppose we could look into swapping or changing and flying into one and leaving from another major city.)
I realize there is a lot to see and do and we won't get it all in, but just looking for some ideas. Sounds like Venice is out and that's fine with me. What about Pisa? Worth it?
Viterbo doesn't have to be anything but a day trip, possible on the way through to or from Florence/Rome, but it sounds like it could be expanded to two based on what I read so far in the responses.

We are coming from Idaho, so we are used to the cold weather for the most part.

Thanks for helping!

I think the advice from @acraven is spot on. If I were you, I'd plan 2 nights in Viterbo given the family connection as well as the fact that it's a lovely town.

My suggestion would be to spend your first 2 nights in Rome to get acclimated, then off to Viterbo. After your 2 nights in Viterbo, leave for Florence in the morning after the second night. Then enjoy Florence, but return to Rome for your last night before your flight, even if it is an afternoon flight. You don't want to be traveling from a great distance and stressed over any transport delays that could occur.

If you want to rent a car, just do it for a day or 2 from Viterbo to visit outlying (ancestral) villages. Rail service to all major cities in Italy is excellent. If it is indeed your first time in Italy, driving is problematic. Read all the posts complaining about speeding tickets from automatic cameras for tiny amounts over the limit, ZTL violations, bus lane violations. If you don't know what a ZTL is, google it. First the rental car company dings your credit card for 50 EUR or so just to give the police your home address, then 6 months later, the actual ticket shows up in your mailbox.

Pisa? Its got a leaning tower. I like Lucca a lot better.

I'm with Sam; I prefer Lucca to Pisa. But the good news is that this is something you can play by ear. You may well decide you are enjoying Florence too much to leave. For one thing, it has more indoor sights and will be more pleasant if you are unlucky with the weather. So you can wait and see. The trains to both Pisa and Lucca are regionals, so there's no price advantage to buying the tickets in advance. And there are no assigned seats, so they never sell out. You can get up in the morning, check the weather, and make the decision at that point.

Ticket lines at Italian rail stations can be slow, but you'll probably be able to use a ticket-vending machine. (Occasionally such machines don't like US credit cards.) If not, at least trains to both Lucca and Pisa are frequent.

Adam, are you flying out the 31st or the 1st of February? If not arriving until the 22nd and flying home the 31st, you may realistically have 8.5 days to work with, and arrival day (the .5 day) may be a jet-lagged haze.

I realize there is a lot to see and do and we won't get it all in, but
just looking for some ideas.

That's why it would be good to know what you're interested in? I'm a huge art, architecture and history geek so can send you old churches, archeological sites and art museums all day but they may not do it for you. I wouldn't send you to Pisa or Lucca or anywhere else without knowing how you want to spend your time. Let's just say, other than to visit family, why did you choose Italy? What is it you've seen or read that appealed to both of you?

Depending on where you go, the car will be a bigger liability than an asset: definitely true for places like Rome and Florence.

How do I contact family back home while away? I've got Google Duo on our phones. Will that work? Do I need to get an international plan or just get an international SIM? Hopefully I don't need to get anything special. I think Google Voice will work, but does anyone have any experience with it or Google Duo?

Do you need anything more than email for the short time you are the Reason?

I do not know your situation but consider with the time zone difference and since your trip is not that long You can email and use Facebook using internet in your lodging.

Don't know what type of phone or tablet you use, but if it's just family, and not work that you need to stay in touch with, we just use Google Hangouts on WiFi. No data needed.

I agree with Jazz’s itinerary for the most part. Fly intoRome and take the train to Florence. Don’t take the advice of one poster and stay in Rome your first 2 night and again at the end of your trip. Waste of time checking into Rome hotel at two different times. If you spend three nights in Florence, two nights in Venice, one night in Viterbo and And the rest in Rome. You’ll have a grand time. I’ve done itineraries like this the last five times I’ve been to Europe. Very doable. Please rethink the rental car. The train system is phenomenal and easy to use; plus, you enjoy the ride. You don’t enjoy the scenery when you are driving and it will be stressful. Possibly, The only time you will need a car is in Viterbo so just rent for the time there. As for connection back home, there is plenty of WiFi spots so just use email etc.

Thanks!

Is Venice worth seeing in Winter/January? I've heard both sides.

Where do you rent cars from for the trip to Viterbo?

What about pickpockets at that time of year? I've heard there aren't near as much tourists in January. My wife is a photographer and won't relent on taking her DSLR camera. We plan on walking light. I won't have much on me, just possibly a camera and I don't need a bag for it. Cell phone and money inside money bag. Will she be okay with a small over the shoulder camera bag?

Hi Adam,

I'd do the path a little differently.

Arrive FCO. Train from the airport to Viterbo.

2N. Viterbo. Rent car here.

Drive to Florence. This 2H15m drive is thru the Val d'Orcia on the SP2. Drop the car either in Florence. Or at the airport, while it's full of construction, there are no ZTLs.

Read this carefully and download their PDF.
https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/dont-mess-with-ztl-zones

Or bite the bullet and take the 3 1/2 hour train ride to Florence.

From Florence train to Rome for your last 3-4 nights.

Is Venice worth seeing in Winter/January? I've heard both sides.

I went first time in February 2002; there is no place like it when you see it for the first time. Maybe not for the person that would find chilly weather traumatic it is always worth seeing; going that time of year maybe lowers the number a tourists spoiling your photos.

Where do you rent cars from for the trip to Viterbo?

Rent at the Hertz near Rome Tiburtina. Ask your hotel for help info also

What about pickpockets at that time of year?

Thievery is always in season it is not limited to someone stealthily taken money out of your pocket with out you knowing it. Wear the camera around your neck and don't sit it down. I was in Italy last May and a tourist sat her Iphone down on the train and when it reached the end of the line it was gone. Any thing you don't want stolen put it in a neck pouch under your clothes close to your skin. Some people use money belts. Don't put money in a bag and don't carry all your money or methods of payment in one place.