Should I spend equal days in Venice and Florence? Venice seems like the easiest to traverse, but then there's day trips to Padua, Verona, etc... Same with excursions From Flo to Pisa, Lucca and Siena.
If you had to spend just one extra day in one of the two, which would it be?
Thank you!
Jack
It is hard to wrong either way. You don't say how many days you have in each. I prefer Venice. However, if you already have 2-3 days in each town, I would consider staying an extra day in Florence and taking a day trip up into Tuscan hills. There are organized trips (bike rides, castle tours, wine tours, etc) or you could do a bus trip from Florence to Siena. There is a bus that goes through the hills of Chianti and you could get off in the some of the small villages to walk and explore.
I believe Florence has more to offer than Venice. Venice is beautiful but for me a while walking the canals and the major sights was happily sufficient. Florence appealed as a center of nonstop art and we walked for days taking it all in. We also did several daytrips. From Florence we took the train to Lucca and Pisa. We stayed in Padua and did daytrips to Vicenza, Verona, and Venice. We stayed in Siena and daytripped to San Gimingano. All were very easy to do. It would be hard to go wrong in any event Jack. Good luck!
With more days in Venice you can take a trip to Burano and Torcello. Yes, Padua and Verona are reasonably good for day trips (Padua especially).
I agree you can't go wrong either way but I would tend to favour Florence as there is so much to do there plus the day trips you mention. I found Venice very easy to negotiate and, being quite small, I was able to cover at lot each day, more so than Florence.
I don't favor Florence only because the lodging is too expensive and not that great.
Two good days in Florence is plenty, then save money and enjoy yourself more by getting a place in one of the Tuscan towns you visit.
I would spend an extra day in Venice because it's an interesting combination of a lot to do but also very relaxing in the evening after the tourists leave.
My take on Pisa is the area around the leaning tower is spectacular once you get past all the souvenir shops. It's good for an hour or two depending on if you plan to climb the tower.
We didn't think Lucca was great. The wall was interesting but looked more modern than what I was expecting. The rest of the town is flat and plain, not really a hill town. I was there in September and it was lifeless. Other people seem to have really enjoyed it as a less crowded place to see in the summer. It's possible they also liked not having to walk up and down hills like other towns.
Siena is really nice, a night in Siena might be a good option.
Verona was a great surprise for us. It was one of our favorites (maybe because we weren't expecting much). The medieval center and Roman wall and ampitheater were worth seeing. We stayed at the Villa Francescetti Hostel and wouldn't recommend it. Everyone was nice and helpful but it's run down and the water pressure wasn't great.
Did 10 days in Italy in October. Flew into Venice and spent that day and the next there and saw all that we wanted to see. My recommendation would be Florence for the extra time. One poster stated that Florence was expensive, but our experience was that Venice was much more expensive for everything except gelato. :) Lots to do using Florence as a base. We hired a private driver, a little pricey but well worth it, for a fabulous day trip to San Gimignano, Monteriggioni (where we had lunch) and then on to Siena. The only downfall was that we loved San Gim so much that we spent a little too much time there and didn't have enough time for Siena.
With Florence, there is probably more to physically do and to tour. With Venice, it would be much more laid back and less active. If Venice is the last on your stop, it is such a relaxing town and wonderful for soaking in the scenery and ambiance. Perfect for anyone that is burnt out on sightseeing and being on the run.
So for me, if these cities fell at the beginning of a whirlwind trip - I would give extra to Florence and tour the hilltowns and wine tours and sights. If it were the end of my trip, I would give the extra time to Venice just to relax and enjoy the local eateries after hitting it hard at the beginning.
I'm just the opposite of Amy. We fly into Venice and I usually spend an extra day there to help with the "jet lag" adjustment...so instead of just staying 2 nights, we stay 3 nights...our first trip to Venice, we stayed 5 nights and we were never bored or at loss for things to do or see. We stayed 3 nights our first trip to Florence, and only two nights our last trip...it was just about right.
Jack,
Although Venice is beautiful I did not find much to other than walk around and shop. Florence has much more to see. We also took a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano booked through Expedia.com. It was wonderful. We found a reasonably priced hotel located just down the street from the Duomo and close to the train station. It is called Hotel Balcony. The rooms are clean, nice breakfast included and the staff was warm and friendly.
