Rome, Florence and Venice, newbie questions

We stayed in each city separately. A "day trip" to Venice from Rome would only leave you with like two hours actually in Venice.

Use Rome2Rio.com to see travel times between cities.

You can sign into VacationstoGo.com to see the itineraries of every cruise in the World. The Mediterranean cruises are absolutely bargains--many go into or out of Barcelona but many visit Italy. I would suggest you find a cruise that best suits you and then consider an itinerary for the rest of your time. Now to address your questions:

There are many tours of Rome and to the Vatican. We just went online and purchased our tickets to the Vatican Museum at a specific time. We avoided a 4 abreast line two city blocks long for those walking up. Choosing your day of the week and time of the day can make going there a more enjoyable experience--as we were herded around by discourteous guards.

I suggest anyone going to Rome look at RonInRome.com for the best information on everything about Rome. I've found it very important to figure out how to navigate Rome's public transit system--including buses and subways.

Venice and Florence are too important not to take enough time to see them properly. There are many accommodations in both Venice and Florence close to the train stations. Many travel throughout Venice on the vaparetto's which are large boats. Otherwise, walking and climbing steps to get over the bridges on the canals are required.

To those considering a 2 week vacation, Italy is a destination to itself. Switzerland is very, very expensive and not as easy to travel through as Northern Italy. The Lake Como/Lakes District on the Swiss border is absolutely stunning scenery--and a 45 minute train ride north of Milan. The Italian Dolomite mountains are incredibly beautiful and easily reached just an hour north of Venice via rental car.

I just recently stayed in rome and had a great experience using airbnb it was a apartment we rented very nice and about 4 blocks away from the Vatican and about 5 min walk to the train which very easy to connect to all the main attractions. Let me know if you need the info. In venice we also used a apt thru airbnb we stayed in Venezia mestre which about a 20 min bus ride to venice. You stay tons of money by staying in Venezia mestre specially on breakfast and dinners. You will be surprised how much you save. I stayed about 4 days in rome and 3 days in venice it's about a 3hr train ride to get there I would recommend not doing a day trip since you want take your time site seeing. Hope that helps.

My problem with cruises is that they don't leave enough time to really visit a place. You could fly into Milan and out of Rome if you want to go to Switzerland, or into Venice and out of Rome.

You will need three bases to see even a little of Rome, Venice and Florence.

I can recommend some nice, inexpensive hotels in all three cities (all with elevators). What is your budget?

Thank you all for your comments. We have 2 extra days that we are not sure yet which city to spend it at hence we can adjust our stay. I just noticed that Viator has transports from airports to hotels and back. I think that's one area that I am very nervous about. I guess the idea of being lost in a foreign country is kind of intimidating, The Switzerland trip is In my husband's bucket list so he's kind of excited about that. We know it's not going to be cheap over there so we need to do some trimming in some aspects of the trip.

Thank you to all for the kind advice. Our budget is in the 4000-4500 range for hotels and tours. It does not have to include Switzerland. The lakes sounds like a good way to experience it minus the extra expense. Thank you for the idea.
Buying the Vatican tour in advance sounds like a good idea, David. Were you the herded around by rude guards after buying in advance?

Forgot to reply to Rudy that yes, we would like the names of those places you stayed. I forgot to copy the posts to another place as one can't see the other posts when replying. Thanks.

1. http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do From the airport you can take a taxi at the taxi stand in front of the terminal. It's €48 flat fee.
2. Florence needs a couple of days to be seen. The travel time from Rome is 1.5 hours each way by high speed train. Venice is too far from Rome. It's 2 hours north of Florence and nearly 4 hours from Rome, still by high speed train.
3. No suggestions. I see no advantage in using a limo. They are not allowed in most of Florence city center and they certainly can't float in the canals of Venice.
4. Yes walking is required both in Florence and Venice. Cars are not allowed in large portions of the historical center of those cities. The historical center of Florence and Venice is not too big. But To minimize walking you can make use of the electro-mini buses or taxis in Florence (where possible) and the vaporetti (boat buses) in Venice.

Thank you for the tips. The name of the company is RomeInLimo although they do not necessarily use a limo. Actually a lot of their tours use minivans I think. Am sure limos are used for those who want to spend for them, but not us:) They only have tours for Rome and Florence. The one that's offering a day tour to Florence from Rome is Viator.

Number 2: You couldn't easily see San Francisco as a day trip from San Diego. You can't do Venice as a day trip from Rome.

Viator do not run any tours. They are only a middleman, selling other company's tours. Your contract is with the tour provider.

If anything goes wrong you have no comeback with Viator, they won't want to know and will refer you back to your tour provider.

If you search this website, or others like TripAdvisor, you will find lots of stories with people angry at Viator because of the lack of support.

Better is to do more research and hire a small well respected private company who specialise in what you want to see, where you want to see it, and who you know you can find. If you read around this website, and particularly the Italy forum where this question is, you will find all sorts of good reviews of good tour guides.

Regarding your Rome in Limo company, I've never heard of it before your mention. That means nothing, but it is interesting.

I would suggest skipping the cruise and just flying to Italy. I also recommend using 3 different hotels instead of having a home base. Day trips mean you will miss out on a lot by not being in the city in the evenings and cutting into your time going back and forth. We have been to Italy dozens of times and lived in Florence for a while.

For Florence, you'll probably like the rates and hotels here:

(1) Hotel David www.hoteldavid.com email- info@hoteldavid.com
(2) Best Western Hotel Rivoli- www.bestwesternhotelrivoli.it email- rivoli.fi@bestwestern.it This hotel has a free shuttle service to get you and your luggage to and from the hotel.

In Venice, you might like these-
(1) Hotel Colombina www.hotelcolombina.com You can come by train and get a water bus (not water taxi) to the hotel
(2) Best Western Premier Hotel Sant' Elena www.hotelsantelenavenice.com Again, use water buses for transport.

You can use hotel shuttles for free transport to the hotel and back to the airport. Ask them at the time of booking for details on having them pick you up.

As for Rome In Limo, they are top notch. We have used them and they give excellent service. In fact, TripAdvisor gave them a Certificate of Excellence this year. They will offer you a driver, a very comfortable auto to ride in, and can arrange tour guides for you in museums, etc. They get rave reviews on TripAdvisor- including mine with 5 Average reviews and over 2,000 excellent reviews (I gave them an excellent review) with NO poor reviews at all. They also offer tours in Florence and Milan.

For your Vatican and other tickets, go to to www.romeinlimo.com/packages/rome-and-vatican-2-days-package.htm and there are links there for you to order your tickets in English. Be sure to order for the time they say your particular tour will be and the date. They can also give you links to order museum tickets, etc when you book. They have some great drivers- Stefano, Enrico, Fabio, Stephania, etc in Rome and Clara and Marco, etc in Florence. We have used them numerous times in Rome, Florence and Milan.

For tours of Venice, I recommend See Venice. The owner received a Certificate of Excellence for 2014 (and well deserved). Check out her tours and see clips from them at www.seevenice.it/seevenice/tour_guide_in_Venice.html She has 100% excellent tour ratings.

Cruises don't give you enough time "on the ground." You have to get in a line to disembark and have to return at a certain time. As a result, not too relaxing. It's better to stay in each place as much as you can. I would allow more time for Rome and Florence and only one night for Venice if you are flying into Rome. No more than 2 nights in Venice. We used trains with no problems. The public buses in Rome and cabs aren't bad either. Recommended hotels from me - Hotel Pendini Florence (elevator). Hotel Delle Torre Argentina -Rome (elevator and central location). If you can't handle many steps - avoid Hotel Tivoli in Venice (no elevator).

I know people do it, but I don't get how people visit Italy from a cruise ship. It seems such a sterile way to travel to a country that is so chock full of gorgeous, historic, artistic and culinary delights.
Also, I can understand the temptation to visit another country while you are there, but Italy deserves as much time as you can possibly give it. If you just try to check off sites that you have heard about (although certainly important to see) you miss the most wonderful part of Italy-- just absorbing the incredible surroundings.
You have time to plan the trip-- and you can get a lot of support in the logistics from this and other forums. Getting from the airports to the cities is not a problem.
Just my 2 cents. Have fun with whatever you decide.

green_liza You sound like an ideal candidate for the RS tour, Venice-Florence-Rome. Take a look at that tour on this site, and at least you will see a good itinerary.

First off, I would never book a cruise for these three cities: the ports for Florence and Venice are some distance away, and you really want to stay in the cities themselves in the evenings to experience them. Cruises also don't give you nearly enough time to explore, and their tours are very expensive.

1. I wouldn't book a limo/vehicle tour because (a) Rome is reasonably easy to walk, and best seen on foot whenever possible (b) public transit is very easy (although we've never needed the buses, only the metro a few times) and inexpensive, and (c) vehicles can't drop you directly at all of the attractions because of no-drive zones. If anything at all, take the hoho one day to get your bearings (read reviews carefully on those, though). Skip-the-line tickets for the Vatican Museums should be ordered directly from the Vatican website Roberto provided. Other S.T.L. tickets may be pre-ordered for some other attractions - such as the Colosseum and Galleria Borghese - as well. We can provide those websites if you're interested.

2. For Rome, we like the shuttle buses (Terravision or SIT) from Fiumicino airport: they are inexpensive (only about 4 euro, one-way), clean, safe, comfortable, and run frequently. They take a little longer than the Leonardo Express train but they work for us. We purchase our tickets at kiosks right outside baggage claim when we arrive, and haven't had long waits for a bus. They deliver us to Termini train station (other locations in Rome are available depending on the service), and we book a hotel within walking distance. Otherwise, you can take a cab from the train station. Trains from Rome can be taken directly into the center of Florence (Santa Maria Novella station, usually).

http://www.adr.it/web/aeroporti-di-roma-en-/pax-fco-bus

1. Yes, book at hotel for each city. Venice is much too far to do day trips from Rome, and while high-speed train is available to Florence from Rome, you'd still spend a lot of time/money traveling back and forth. All three cities deserve more than a day or two, and again, evenings are a wonderful time to walk about.

2. Tours: same answer as Rome: we never use them, and the cities are very easily seen on your own with a guidebook and some homework. This way, you can choose exactly what YOU want to see, and how much or as little time you wish to spend at each attraction. Combo tours of the Vatican/St Peter's are available through the Vatican website, if you wish, and a little benefit to tours of those two is the ability to go directly from the museums into the basilica via the Sistine's backstairs; reserved for tours groups. Otherwise, it can be a long way around, and the line for the basilica can be lengthy (but moves quickly). I'm sure some R.S. member have other suggestions for walking tours if you're interested. For instance, Walks of Italy gets very good reviews, and I've seen that one recommended by some R.S. members as well.

Regarding your knee problems, to heck with fashion: wear your most comfortable walking shoes regardless of what they look like. You'll be trotting on all sorts of uneven surfaces - such as cobblestones - and yes, you will have to navigate stairs at restaurants and whatnot as the "loos" are often in the basements.

Wow, everyone had been so nice to share your experiences/knowledge, we sincerely appreciate all the help! It looks like we are going towards doing the tour on our own instead of joining the cruise. Will look up the hotel, tours suggestions, much appreciated! I was hoping to hear back from Rudy and Zoe regarding their accommodation tips from yesterday. Terri, Barb and Kathy, I will certainly keep your suggestions in mind. Thank you, Kathy for the train/bus tips from the airport…. I feel better about that part of the trip now. As for joining the RS tour, it sounds nice, Stan but we still want to visit Switzerland so we need to stick to our budget. Thank you all again!

Liza

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I didn't check the posts on this thread for a couple of days.

My hotel requirements are: historic center, private bath, wifi, breakfast included if possible. Elevator a plus but not essential.

In Florence, I like Hotel Bigallo (around the corner from the Duomo, quiet side street) and Hotel Paris (a block or two from the train station, also a quiet street). Both have private baths, breakfast, elevators (although Bigallo has a few steps to get into the building and to the elevator). Very good front desk staff.

In Venice, I've had a hard time finding accommodations that I like in my price range, but last year I found Locanda San Marcuolo, just 50 meters from the vaporetto stop (a few stops from the train station). Quiet area, easy to walk or take the vaporetto to all other areas. Private bath, breakfast, garden, quirky elevator (you have to press the floor button until you arrive).

In Rome, I've tried lots of places, but I like Hotel Genio for its rooftop terrace (breakfast served here, terrace is open until 11pm), private bath, breakfast, very good front desk staff, just across the street and up the block from the north side of Piazza Navona. Best part is the bus stop and taxi stand just a few meters from the front door. I also like Hotel Teatro Pace, no elevator, breakfast served in the room, but a beautiful central staircase with shallow steps.

I found all of these on booking.com, check their site for photos and reviews.

I hope this helps.

Try to look in http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/. They have some special advice for people with knee problems.

With 9 days in Italy- and if you are starting in Rome I would do Rome 4 nights, Florence 3 nights, Venice 2 nights.
If at all possible I would take a night from Switzerland and add to Italy --4 Rome, 3 Florence, 3 Venice. 3 nights is really just 2.5 days when you take jet lag, travel time, check in, etc, into account.

Your first day will be a jet lag day.
Rome is pretty intense although we found it very walkable and did not use public transportation there at all- (took a cab to Vatican for our early am tour).
I am pretty sure you will encounter a lot more steps using Metro etc than just walking to/from sights.
You did not mention all that you wanted to do there but I would stay in historic center if possible- Get familiar with the city on Day 1 (1/2 day/arrival day) RS Heart of Rome Walk is perfect, Day 2 Ancient Rome- Colosseum/Forum OR Vatican St. Peter’s- then do other on Day 3. Both of those sights take a big chunk of time. That leaves a day for whatever else- maybe Jewish Ghetto am- Borghese in pm- or vice versa (Borghese is fabulous- a don’t miss to me!) or do another tour.

We used Walks of Italy for 3 tours in Rome, Pristine Sistine, Colosseum/Forum and their Crypts/Catacombs tour- we enjoyed all 3 very much-very knowledgeable guides. They do offer a RS discount.
http://www.walksofitaly.com
Certainly all can be toured on your own- but we were glad we booked those tours. We were at the end of a 18 night vacation and it was really nice to have an expert guide lead us around at that point! I am pretty sure we would not have enjoyed or learned as much about the Ancient sites or Vatican on our own.

We stayed one night at Hotel Regno- right on the Corso- then moved around the corner next am to Albergo Cesari for 4 nights- both were excellent hotels in perfect location. Steps to the Pantheon, Piazza Navonna, Trevi, etc. Walk to Colosseum was only about 15 min. We took a cab to our early am Vatican tour but walked home from there- about 20/25 min?

Take train to Florence- for 3 nights (really just 2.5 days) Florence is also a very walkable city- flat and much smaller than you think! again- stay in historic center. Can be hard to plan if you happen to be there on a Monday when most sites are closed! We loved everything in Florence.

Then train to Venice- wander on your first half day, get used to using vaporetto etc, tour the Grand Canal in the evening. Get 48 hour Vaporetto pass.
Get up early next morning for St. Mark’s, Doges, etc. You could take a vaporetto ride out to the islands in the afternoon (we skipped Murano- just went to Burano and really really enjoyed that!)
Choose a hotel that has easy access to vaporetto- Hotel Ala was perfect- does have elevator but still a few stairs to get to that elevator.
We really liked the Secret Itineraries Tour of Doges- but there is a lot of stair climbing involved with that! We also did a Cicchetti Tour with Alessandro- super fun!

This website has some good suggestions for diff length of stay itineraries.
http://reidsitaly.com/itineraries/city_itineraries.html

Also- just wanted to add- don't be worried about getting to and from, the logistics of all transfers, etc. We found everything to be a lot simpler than not. We spent 18 nights in Italy and I can honestly say we did not have a single snafu. Do your homework, ask questions, really... it couldn't have been easier for us as first time visitors to Italy.

What places do you wish to see in Switzerland? April is not a good time for the alpine areas---it is cold, often cloudy, lots of mud and snow about, no beautiful green meadows. It is too late to ski and too early to hike. The cities at lower elevation should be free of snow, but since most people go to Switzerland to see thebAlps I thought I should mention this.

Uh-oh, just noticed an error in my previous post:

I meant to say that the ports for Florence and ROME are far from the city centers - not Florence and VENICE. Not that it matters now as you've taken the cruise off your list but should anyone else be mining this thread for advice, thought I'd better correct that! My head must have been elsewhere...

When you visit Venice, you can purchase the day ticket for the water bus ( vaporetto) and enjoy cruising the canal then just get off
at the popular stops ( San Marco & Rialto). My mom & I just visited Venice and didn't want to walk too much, so we cruised the whole canal then got off at a non-popular stop, found a market & ate the best picnic on the trip! We then embarked the water bus & got off at San Marco to check out the popular sites. Enjoy your trip!

Loved http://www.walksofitaly.com
Don't know how bad your knees are, but these are walking tours. Extremely thorough and small groups. Pristine Sistine was great to beat the crowds.