Order of travel around Italy

Venice, Florence, Rome, CT. You will need to spend the last night in Pisa, as you should get to the airport by 5:30 a.m. I would try to find the closest hotel to the airport. If you don't care about seeing Pisa, then spend the entire last day in CT and arrive at the hotel in the evening.

Andrea, your response is so much appreciated. You confirmed my suspicions about the order. I am searching for a train either after dinner from CT to Pisa or at the crack of dawn, but I don't think either exist :( I wonder if Florence became our last destination, if they would have round the clock trains from Florence to Pisa because it's a bigger city, and that way we can still enjoy our last night? Last nights are always kind of special, don't you think?

You did not specify a date or location in CT. My reading of the www.trenitalia.com site shows nonstop departing Monterosso 9:03 pm arriving Pisa Centrale at 10:14 pm.

We will be staying in Vernazza Oct 25-27, flying out of Pisa early the AM of the 28th, so I can easily leave from Monterosso. The 9p train is a lovely option. Thank you for pointing that out. :D

'southern Italians ...... in terms of friendliness' Only if you're obnoxious.

For your travel, I would suggest Venice, Rome, Florence and then the Cinque Terre. Rome is your most distant destination. After Rome, you begin working your way closer to Pisa. In fact, when you travel to the CT from Florence, you will stop in Pisa. I agree with Andrea that you need to spend your last night at the Pisa Airport. Your flight is too early to do much else. Trains and buses go to the airport from other locations such as Lucca and eve Florence but not early enough for you to make your flight.

Katie, The most efficient order of travel (IMHO) would be Venice > Florence > Rome > Cinque Terre. Here's a brief summary of the rationale that I used. > Travel times are relatively short and efficient with that route. Venice to Florence 2H:08M, Florence to Rome 1H:31M and Rome to Cinque Terre (La Spezia) as short as 3H:41M if you choose one of the direct trains. You didn't specify which of the towns you'd be staying in, so I used La Spezia in the search (since you'll have to come through there anyway). It's only a few minutes from there to any of the towns. > For the trip to Pisa Airport, the earliest trip I could find departs La Spezia at 05:15, arriving at the airport at 06:43 (one change at Pisa Centrale). Since that won't get you there in time for check-in, etc., staying in Pisa would be advisable. The trip from Pisa Centrale to the airport is only 5-minutes, so staying somewhere within easy access to the station would expedite your departure. Your Hotel in the Cinque Terre should be willing to store your luggage for the day, so if you want to continue touring the C.T. on the day before your flight, that shouldn't be a problem. If you leave for Pisa in the late afternoon, you can have a relaxing meal and then "crash" early as you'll have to be awake VERY early. The Hotel likely won't have breakfast ready by that time, so you'll have to grab something at the airport. Happy travels!

Katie, don't worry about friendliness in Rome. Italians are friendly everywhere unless they are stressed or rushing through their lives - gee, sounds like human nature. And I thought the previous poster was making a positive comment about the South Bronx and Philly, since my experiences there have been good, too.

I was in Rome in early September and found Rome to be noisy and chaotic. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had not been our first stop on the trip. I think you are wise to start in Venice and get over your jetlag there. I don't know why it would be suggested that you get Rome "out of the way" as if it is just an inconvenient part of your trip.

The first line of my own post is exactly why I wouldn't recommend it as the first destination, especially for someone who has not been there. In my opinion it is easier to get acclimated when not sleep deprived and thrust into the middle of noise and chaos. Maybe you get a charge out of chaos Ralph, but I prefer to deal with it when I am not so tired. I was happy to escape Rome after 3 nights there. I'm sure I will return, but frankly it is not on the top of my list. To each their own.

I can relate to the point being made by Andrea. I completely agree with her sentiment that Rome is a loud and busy city and in my opinion should not be someone's first experience of Italy. I understand that it often is because people tend to fly into Rome. Don't get me wrong, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE ROME. It is a world class city of course. However, I prefer to get acclimated in a smaller, more slow paced city/town and save Rome for the end of my trip. This is all the more true for someone visiting Italy (or even Europe in general) for the first time. Rome can be overwhelming for a novice. Everyone has thier own preferences on this though.

Actually, it would be in the middle of the trip, as she is flying out of Pisa. All anyone knows is their own experience. You can't say that Rome would have been okay for the beginning of a trip if in fact it wasn't actually at the beginning of the trip, but later after acclimating to the country and being more rested. Just as my experience of starting in Rome has influenced how I feel about it. I didn't hate Rome, but knowing what I do now, I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been my first destination.

Agree with the girls.'06 we came to Italy via Austria. Stopped in Venice, though busy in the squares/shopping areas, it has a slow fluidity about it i.e. the water. Loved Rialto brdg.take Vespa thk pier 1? just b4 sunset. Loved Florence, our next stop with its lovely people. It is quaint town &you can sit outside @ a cafe & just people watch & then do a museum & absorb the beauty. Next went to Rome which was a step up in noise & overloaded with history, history, history, & facts, fact, facts. To me not the place to recover from jet lag, but fine after your mind is back in gear. Flew out of Rome that trip. 2010 we wanted to spend more time in Venice & found a great hotel just refurbished at the accadamia boat stop, right of accadamia from water. We did the lace/glass boat trip, waste of time/money. Rushed you thru like cattle. We returned to our favorite, Florence, took the bus tour to Pisa; we enjoyed the info along the way & while there. We had walked to see David (inside) museum 1 day & on another day did Uffici Museum, if going there buy tickets in US to avoid the queue, then just walked & rewalked the city & absorbed the culture, architecture & fabulous food. We skipped Rome since did 5 days in '06. Cont.

This year skipping Venice & Florence, returning to Rome @ the end of a month touring Lake Come, Milan, Verona, the wine country, Almafi Coast & fly in/out of Sicily then fly out of Rome. In Rome staying at Waldorf, outside city cuz quiet & shuttling in to do sites with our last night staying near the train station for 8am train 2 airport. But for 1st time in Rome best to stay in the middle of the happenings, noise, over saturation of facts + Vatican area, a whole different thg. A world in itself & a little outside the hub. Think you have order right, check out of CT hotel leave bags with your hotel visit a village, have an early dinner, pick up bags & train to hotel near Pisa airport, u never know when taxis/trains will go on strike & not worth missing your plane. Few years back we were in Barcelona and got to train station to go to booked hotel in French Riveira and the train we were booked on decided to strike that morning. Since we had booked all our hotels & no idea how long the strike would last we ended up taking the taxi to our next destination. About 500 euros later we were settled in our hotel. We chalked it up to an adventure. I still remember my husband coming back from the ticket office and asking me, well do u want to hear the good news or the bad first? I said I guess the bad. He said there will be no train out of here for they decided to go on strike this morning. Isaid, ok what's the good news? He said, you always said you wanted an adventure. We laughed & said well let's get on to our adventure.