Planning 11 days in Italy in latter half of January

I really, really liked Ravenna. It has lovely architecture as well as the fabulous mosaic sites, and it's not terribly touristy. However, I don't know what it's like in January, and one of the reasons it's not terribly touristy is it's sort of isolated location. It takes over 3 hours to get to Ravenna from Venice, and it's another 2 hours from Ravenna to Florence. If you travel straight from Venice to Florence, it takes just under 2 hours. So including Ravenna adds 3 hours of train time, plus the time to get to and from the Ravenna train station, plus checking in and out of a Ravenna hotel. I would recommend not doing it on a trip of this length when you already plan to go to Venice, Florence and Rome.

The days will be very short in January, so you won't be able to squeeze in as much sightseeing as is possible during the summer. I'd be really cautious about planning a lot of day-trips, because you may find you're happy to spend your time in the three major cities.

I am very fond of Orvieto, which can be a day-trip from Rome, but I don't know what it is like in January. It's up on a hill. Would it be cold, wet and windy? That would be very disappointing, though Orvieto does have a really fine cathedral and two good museums you could hide inside.

Trying to cram Pompeii/AC into the time you have is a poor idea.

Ostia Antica will give you a good view of Roman life 2000 yrs ago and the trip there will be much less wear and tear. Save Pompeii etc for a trip that you can devote to that region

Look at the itinerary for the RS Best of Venice/Florence/Rome for inspiration--- https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/venice-florence-rome

In 11 days you will just scratch the surface of the 3 main cities you've listed (Venice, Florence, Rome). I would divide the time as follows:
Days 1-3 Venice
Days 4-7 Florence
Days 8-11 Rome

Since you're coming from London, you won't be jetlagged upon arrival in Venice, so that works in your favor. Days are very short in January and the chance of bad weather is significant, so that works against you. In your favor, though, there will be fewer tourists in January.

Pompeii is very much an outdoor experience -- you are basically walking the streets of an ancient city with the buildings open to the air because their combustible parts all burned away. Getting to Pompeii from Rome involves a change in Naples, potentially confusing. Or you could sign up for a day tour by van from Rome, or give yourselves the red carpet treatment and hire a private driver. It will be a long day in any case, so one less day to enjoy all that Rome has to offer.

2-3N Venice
2-3N Bologna
2-3N Florence
The rest in Rome.

Bologna is a good base for day trips to Ravenna, Padua, Ferrara, Modena . . . . I was in Ravenna in drizzly February. If you want to see all the sights you need at least an overnight, but you can see a lot on a day trip from Bologna. Verona is great on a sunny day. Siena is an easy day trip by bus from Florence.

To see all the places others "loved", you'd need at least 11 weeks. Every trip I've taken to Italy has meant cutting out more places than I want. On this trip I would consider "short-changing" Rome since it it the most likely place that you'll be back to.

To all who have responded to my post so far,I say a big "thank you."
You are definitely helping with my planning. Any further ideas or comments will be appreciated as well.

While we are definitely proponents of Italy travel in winter, it is with the caveat that you may (probably will) have to make the occasional daytrip adjustment because of weather. If you're living right, the 11 days will be snow/rain free, but I wouldn't count on it. We traveled late February last year and had a beautiful week in Rome and then some horrendous weather in Sorrento, so go figure.

What does this mean? It means pick 2 or 3 bases where you will enjoy yourselves regardless of weather, and this means urban centers. Not familiar with Venice, but in Florence stay within a 5-10 minute walk to Santa Maria Novella station, and then a central location in Rome. Posters say they have no problem staying near Roma Termini station, but I'd rather lodge in the Piazza Navona/Campo de' Fiori vicinity, and that time of year to get to Termini the bus system will work famously for you--by contrast, in high season buses are crowded and a real pain.

Enjoy your planning!

I concur with others who suggest that three bases for those 11 nights will give you time to really immerse yourself in the beauty and joy of those three cities, but still give you the opportunity for some day trips. If, as you say, you have 11 full days bookended by travel days, this might be one very preliminary itinerary. (Mix up what is done each day if weather is bad.)

Day 1: Arrive Venice. Do the vaporetto down Grand Canal. San Marco basilica and Doge's Palace (pre-book Hidden Itineraries tour)
Day 2: Venice. Get off the most-beaten path. Frari Church (use Rick's audio guided tour); See Guggenheim museum (or other museum). Do a cichetti crawl in the evening with Alessando Schezzini (pre-book by email).
Day 3: Venice. Take vaporetto to islands; Murano, Burano, (Torcello?). Or get a "Chorus Pass" and visit a number of gorgeous Venetian churches.
Day 4: Florence: early morning train to Florence. Explore Mercado area, lunch there, afternoon reservations at Accademia
Day 5: Florence: Uffizi first thing in the morning. Pre-book timed entry tickets. Afternoon: Walk around Oltrarno
Day 6: Florence: take train or bus in the morning to Siena for the day (1 hour each way). Or to Fiesole.
Day 7: Florence. Do a day tour to Tuscan villages and/or wineries with Tours by Roberto, or take "Best of Tuscany" day tour with WalkAround Florence (tour goes to Siena, agriturismo for lunch, San Gimignamo, Pisa)
Day 8: Early morning train to Rome. Do Rick's walk around the center of the city self-guided tour (Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps). Maybe Jewish ghetto area in late afternoon, and for dinner
Day 9: Colosseum/Forum. Get tickets in advance. Late afternoon: Borghese Gallery. Pre-book timed entry tickets
Day 10: Day trip to Ostia Antica.
Day 11: Early morning early entry to Vatican Museums. Get a tour that includes Vatican Museums and entry to St. Peters basilica (thus shortening your walk around to basilica by at least a mile.) Afternoon in Trastevere neighborhood.

This plan would give you only one major museum a day, with lots of other walking around. Adjust around Monday and/or Tuesday museum closures, and Sunday services at Vatican.
Do day tours to Ostia and Murano/Burano on days it isn't raining.
Once your days are set, you will save much $ by purchasing your train tickets (Venice-Florence; Florence-Rome) on-line on trenitalia.com
Maybe shorten Florence by a day (take out one of the day tours) and insert an overnight stay in Orvieto on your way to Rome. The town is right on the main train line between Florence-Rome, and is easily accessible by funicular/bus combination right from the train station; it has a fabulous church and much Etruscan history, artifacts and caves. Great food and views, too.

You do not want to visit open air museums in January: it will be cold and it will be dark by 5pm. Reserve Pompei (and, I would suggest, Amalfi coast) for another time. Late January is not a bad time to visit Rome and Florence as cities are not crowded, some may even consider it the best time in the year. Venice in January may be damp and have high water.

I really appreciate a lot the specific itinerary suggestions we have been given by all of you so far. We have a bit of time to ponder and research,, but not too much. But...now I am nervous about Venice, given the weather there right now, and possibility of a disastrous viisit there. Being a New Yorker I do know very well that weather can be unpredictable. Winters can be horrible or sometimes mild...rainy, snowy or not..I was married in late January and that day was in the high 60's F and sunny!....not typical NYC January weather. We are used to negotiating the city in winter weather to visit destinations of interest to us, mostly indoor.
But...Venice seems especially of concern because of the difficulty visiting if the canal waters are high.
We had planned to fly into Venice from Luton Airport, but have not booked that flight yet, so could alter it if it seemed advisable or just take our chances, since Venice has a lot of appeal, and I really wanted to go there. Flights from Luton are cheap, so, though we wouldn't iike to forfeit the airfare, if we reserve hotels that we can cancel, we might be able to change the destination fairly last-minute. We found last year that the smaller airlines might refund the taxes and fees even on a non-cancelable flight. Taxes and fees seem to be the bulk of the cost of the ticket.. (last year we found that to be true when we had to cancel a Norwegian Air flight from Gatwick to Spain)
Rain and flooding is of more concern than cold. Opinions?
Thanks.

For what it's worth: I was in Venice for three days, first part of January this year. There were a few inches of water in Piazza San Marco one day. We bought the plastic boot/leggings from the street vendors at the Piazza and splashed around in the water with other silly tourists. Other than that, the rest of Venice was fine, no rain, no wet streets, just a bit cool, and even sunny one day. I understand the flooding often is related to moon and tides; wiser ones than I might be able to tell you where to go on-line to research that further. (And I am planning a return to Venice during the first part of January 2019!) And re. bookings: If you get cancellable-at the-last-minute Venice hotel bookings through booking.com, you could still plan to fly into Venice, and have a back-up plan of taking a train to Verona and/or Ravenna if Venice is too wet for your liking when you land.

jmauldinuu...Ha! I think I cut my research short when it comes to researching how moon and tides will affect the weather, as predictive as it may be, but thanks for the suggestion! ( on the other hand, maybe I can put my my nephew to work on this. He a compulsive budget traveler and master at knowing massive amounts of trivia, when it comes to travel, science, and a host other things that interest him but nobody else!)
I liked your description of your days in Venice in January. It puts thinking about it in perspective, and puts it back high on my list. After all, who doesn't love splashing around in puddles? (I can save the plastic bags my Sunday newspaper is delivered in. They will pack well, and probably fit over my shoes, if needed. )

So...thanks a lot!

And, yes, I can have a back-up plan. I always book hotels that can be cancelled, if possible, even though it usually costs a bit more for that option.
Now...back to the itinerary planning!

If you look at news photos of the recent flooding in Venice, you will see folks with green, blue, or orange booties/leggings up to just below their knees. These are sold by street vendors in Venice who magically appear at events of acqua alta. The booties/leggings fit over your shoes and pants and come in several sizes; the vendor will look at your shoes, determine what size you need, and reach down and put them on your feet. I believe we paid 10 euros, this past January, right at the edge of Piazza San Marco (near the museum entrance to the piazza). Much sturdier and more dependable at keeping feet dry than newspaper plastic bags, I reckon!

Oh, yes, I agree...much, much nicer than newspaper plastic bags. (You do know I was kidding about that, right?)

Yep. Though I considered actually taking newspaper plastic bags for myself, once, before I tried them on my feet. The Venetians are way ahead of us. I'm learning, I'm learning!

You know...you could still leave your air alone, and if, even on the day of travel from London, Venice looks like a bit much for whatever reason, just take a Freccia train from Venice airport (might want to check to see if this can be done direct) 2 hours to Florence and get started there. Yes, you'd have to re-book your Venice hotels in Florence, but that time of year you should have absolutely no problem finding something decent.

In this scenario, the next question would be...how do you see Pompei, one of your ultimate desires on this trip? By the way, it should not be missed, nothing is a substitute. You could stay a couple nights in Naples--might as well get a flavor of this wild city--and besides visiting the ruins (30 minute train ride from Naples Centrale) you could see the Archeological Museum while you're at it. You state you and your husband are into spectacular art--well, this is that, a perfect bookend to Pompei.

Yes, you can do the Pompei ruins from Rome, but it's a long day--leaving hotel at 8AM, back to Roma Termini by 6-7PM. Perfectly doable if you want to make Rome your second and last base--not the worst idea, plenty to do. One advantage of not staying in Naples to do Pompei is the fact that if you're in Rome for, say, a week, you can cherry-pick a good weather day to hit Pompei. If you stay in Naples, you gotta do it then, you know?

Enjoy your planning!

Thanks Jay...I will tuck away your suggestion about going directly to Florence from the Venice airport, should it seem like a better plan at that moment.
I think I am ruling out a day trip to Pompeii from Rome. I didn't mention that we are not staying Rome proper, but in Bagni Di Tivoli, visiting and staying with close cousins that we haven't seen in years. That is really the reason (not the only reason) we chose to go to Rome in the first place. One of the cousins is happy to drive us into Rome while we are there, but to make an early tour to Pompeii, leaving from Rome, exhausts me just thinking about it.
However, the idea of a couple of days in Naples, (and going to Pompeii from there) is definitely on the "to be considered" list.
It would mean shaving off time in one of the other places, though, so I don't know. . I have been to Pompeii, but my husband hasn't. (Well... it was 50 years ago that I was there, so I don't know if that counts!)
Assuming our health holds up, (as well as our finances) we plan to go someplace in Europe yearly...short trips leaving from the U.K where our daughter lives, so we could save Pompeii for another trip doing a more southern itinerary, and maybe in the spring.
It's so tempting, though, to squeeze it in. If we skip Venice we could.

For train travel and research I suggest using a site called Loco2.com- a poster on here recommended it to me and it was a great user friendly site that will show you all trains-Regional and Freccia (fast) from both Italo and Trenitalia- and oddly does not have a mark up-you can also create a free account with them to make it easier.

Happy Travels

I arrived in Venice once, by train, at the beginning of an acqua alta. I got to the Dorsoduro without a problem, but large puddles stopped me at the campo about 200 m. from my hotel. I could have made it, maybe even without the flood "bootees" if I hadn't had my wheelie suitcase with me. I popped into a small cafe, had a drink and chatted with some of the other patrons for about an hour until the waters subsided. My hotel had high rubber boots and umbrellas for their guests, but I never needed them.

The flooding happens when a combination of factors converge, including exceptionally high tides, rain and wind. The waters rise as the tide rises and subside as the tide ebbs. After many years experience, the city knows where the flooding will occur and when. There are siren warnings a couple hours before the beginning of an acqua alta as well as at least one website where you can get a good idea of the likelihood, based on the expected tide levels by the hour. Workers then deploy the elevated wooden walkways that are otherwise stacked on the sides (you'll see them most noticeably in San Marco).