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Please help with our itinerary this March! Thank you! (Milan-Venice-Florence-Rome)

Posted by on

Hello fellas,
me and my friends are planning for our Italy trip in 2 weeks, and I have posted once in this forum to seek advice, which we did get (thanks to you wonderful people!), and now we've come up with the following detailed plan (the ones with # is already reserved, others are all flexible) and need your suggestions again:

D1 Milan->Venice

  • #Arrives at Malpensa at 07:15, estimated time to leave the airport: 1~2h
  • MXP1>Cadorna, taxi>Duomo, store luggage
  • Duomo (only rooftop), buy ticket on site, spend 0.5~1h
  • Claim luggage, train>Milano Centrale
  • Lunch near the station or grab a panino
  • Take Italo at 12:35 to Venice, pick up pre-booked ACTV card
  • Vaporetto no.1 to Rialto (R/S Grand Cruise pt.1), spend 0.5h
  • Check in to our room in San Marco
  • Accademia, spend 1~2h
  • Sunset view at Skyline Rooftop Bar in Giudecca
  • Gondola night ride (Dorsoduro?) and dine

D2 Venice

  • Sunrise at Accademia Bridge
  • Breakfast
  • I Frari, spend 0.5~1h
  • Vaporetto no.1 to S.Marco (R/S Grand Cruise pt.2), spend 0.5h
  • #Basilica di San Marco, entry 10:30, spend 1.5h
  • Vaporetto no.14 to Burano, lunch, return by No.12
  • Scroll all the way down to Campanile di San Marco
  • Sunset/night view at Campanile di San Marco, buy ticket on site
  • Dinner
  • #Musica a Palazzo

D3 Venice->Florence

  • Rialto Bridge
  • Breakfast
  • Check-out, leave luggage and claim later
  • Piazza San Marco (Caffe Florian?)
  • Doge's Palace Secret Itinerary, 10:00-11:15
  • Grab lunch to go, claim luggage
  • Italo to Florence at 13:05
  • Check-in
  • R/S Renaissance walk, leave the duomo part for tomorrow
  • Torre di Arnolfo + Palazzo Vecchio
  • Dinner at Central Market

D4 Florence

  • #Climbing the dome at 08:15, spend 45min
  • Cathedral Museum, spend 1h
  • Museo del Bargello, spend 1h
  • Battistero and Campanile from the outside
  • #Lunch around 1.5h
  • #AirBnB agriturismo experience, 1430-2200

D5 FLorence

  • #Uffizi, spend 3h
  • Santa Croce Basilica
  • Vecchio Bridge
  • Palazzo Pitti (only Galleria Palatina and Bobolli garden)
  • Sunset view at Piazzale Michelangelo
  • Walk back alongside the river

D6 Florence->Rome

  • Check-out, leave luggage and claim later
  • #Accademia, spend 1h
  • San Marco Museum, estimated time: 1h
  • Lunch: Trattoria Mario?
  • Post office for international delivery
  • #Italo to Roma Termini
  • Metro and check-in in Prati
  • Taxi to Gianicolo for sunset view
  • Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere
  • Return by walking alongside the river

D7 Rome

  • #Vatican tour 07:00-11:15
  • Climb the dome, buy ticket on site
  • Sant’Angelo Bridge
  • Pantheon, buy ticket on site
  • Heart of Rome scroll (R/S)
  • Colosseum from the outside, preferably at night
  • Trevi Fountain, preferably after 21:00
  • Taxi back

D8 Rome

  • Check-out
  • Sunrise at Spanish Steps
  • Send off one of us at Termini
  • Store luggage
  • Colosseum (entry 09:10) + Roman Forum
  • Check-in
  • Natioinal Roman Museum
  • R/S Dolce Vita Scroll

D9 Rome

  • Check-out, leave luggage and claim later
  • Pincio, Villa Borghese
  • #Galleria Borghese, spend 2h
  • Claim luggage
  • Train to our stay near Ostia Antica
  • OA

D10 Roma->Ciao!

  • Check-out and taxi to Fiumicino airport

Thank you for reading! Any advice is welcome!!

Posted by
1274 posts

I admire your ambition. Maybe as a highly driven 20-something, you can make all this work, but I'm stressed out just thinking about it, lol.
Please let us know when you return how it went. I am super curious and hope it all works out for you guys! :)

Posted by
150 posts

I got stressed out just at the Milan-Venice-Florence-Rome itinerary direction. Why not Venice-Milan-Florence-Rome? It’s a bit more in order geographically. But all of that PLUS staying and wandering four cities is pushing it a bit it’s your trip but personally, as a 25 year visitor and some time resident of Italy, I’d never attempt an itinerary like that for such a short time. If it were a month I’d say, go right ahead, but I cannot even suggest this. You’re spending more time going from place to place instead of enjoying it.

Posted by
350 posts

You have listed so many beautiful and wonderful sites. I can hear your enthusiasm for your trip and you certainly seem highly organized—-and it looks as if you are adept at rising early and being on the go.

If you are listing every thing you are tempted to do, and you are asking people to help you prioritize, I’m sure many people on this form can advise. If this is your actual itinerary, I think many people on this forum will advise you to ruthlessly reduce your sites. Prioritizing what YOU most want to see or must do and building in down time are crucial for the success of your trip. I’m an active traveler, and I would not want to see more than 2-3 sites in one day.

Thumbs up to seeing the Colosseum at night. The Pantheon and Galleria Borghese is a must do (read about Bernini before you go). I would completely skip the Spanish steps (they are frequently on list of the world‘s most overrated tourist ) and instead move the proposed visit to Trevi fountain to the day 8 time slot so that you are not overdoing it on day 7. I cannot advise you.Oon days 1-3 except to encourage you to dramatically decrease your proposed activities to only those things you are very much interested in, and not to forget that you might have some fatigue from traveling or jet lag in the first days of your trip—-down time and some quick naps can rejuvenate your energy.

Enjoy!

Posted by
16 posts

@Celeste
Thank you, would definitely update!

@jonrossjan
Yes I agree but it's because the direct plane from my country to Italy only lands in Milan or Rome. This itinerary is essentially of the other 3 cities, as the Duomo di Milano part is only stuffed into. And yeah I understand your point which one most probably need more time per stay to enjoy in a place especially Italy, but sadly due to my career, I'm only going to be busier with every year past; and I could hardly see another chance of having a long vacation like this time (aside from honeymoon) before retirement. Sad...

@Aussie
Sorry I didn't say it clear in the post, not everything in the itinerary is a must (except for those already booked), the plan is mostly for a direction.

@SuzieeQQ
Thank you so much for your kind and helpful words!!! It means a lot, you've almost brought me to tears... I haven't had a proper sleep for weeks reading guidebooks, zooming in-n-out on Google Map for the most efficient route, but I always tend to be overly optimistic, that's why I have to seek people like yours opinion.
Would definitely take into consideration of saving energy in our trip, I believe there are plenty good cafes and galleteria in Venice haha. Switchinig Spanish Steps for Trevi is a good idea!
Also I'm considering to drop Burano, and move the Accademia on Day 1 to 2, with more free time in the main island instead.

Ok these are the musts of mine:
Day 1: the Grand Cruise(R/S), Gondola night ride
Day 2: San Marco Basilica, Musica a Palazzo (The Lady of the Camellias)
Day 3: Palazzo Ducale, Renaissance walk(R/S)
Day 4: La Cupola, Duomo museum, Agriturismo tour (learning how to make spaghetti)
Day 5: Uffizi, Piazzale Michelangelo and Otrarno
Day 6: Accademia, Bargello, Trastevere and Lungotevere
Day 7: Vatican tour, heart of Rome walk including Pantheon (R/S), night (closed hours) of Pantheon and Colosseum
Day 8: Colosseum and Roman Forum complex
Day 9: Galleria Borghese (Read about Bernini, capiche! I've seen someone recommended Simon Schama's Power of Art )

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