Rome Florence Pisa Siena Venice - 12 - 14 people no tour group!

Serioulsy skip Pisa
( why waste a day for a sight that is worth an hour?) and add a day to Rome,, its worth more time. Seems you will be taking trains, so guess thats what you need to research,, I would pop over to the Transportation forum, there are a few posters there who are whizzes at train travel.

are you flying out of Venice? if possible I would give Venice 1 more night. you can do Pisa in a 1/2 day from Florence. Give Siena a full day. That doesn't leave a lot of time for Florence, if you could add a day to Florence it would be best if you plan on day tripping.
Otherwise the plan sounds good.

Thanks for the responses. I would hate to skip Pisa all together, only because my father is an architect and studied all of these places in school and would love to see everything. How long does it take to get to Pisa from Florence? If we can do Pisa in a half day, is there another place on the way back to florence to fit in so that it is not a wasted trip?

a lot of people tell people to skip Pisa which I really don't understand. It's definitely worth a visit. Of course it's touristy and a little campy but it's also very interesting popular places are popular for a reason! it takes about an hour by train to get to Pisa check trenitalia website for train times Lucca is close to Pisa as well if you are interested but I think your schedule is already pretty full
do a day or half day from Florence to Pisa

Nine nights is not a lot of time to cover 5 cities. You will lose AT LEAST half a day when going from Rome to Florence and Florence to Venice so your time is very limited. I would suggest cutting some things out. I know you don't want your family to miss anything but the alternative is to make your trip so rushed they don't see much of anything. Three days won't allow you to see much of Rome and you'll have even less time in Florence and Venice with the day trips you have planned. I would sit down with the people who are going and ask them what they think. If they are okay with moving every other day then your plan seems fine. If they would like to take more time and change hotels and cities less often then you should find out which city they would like to cut out. As for what to see, only you can determine what you and your family will like. I suggest getting a good guide book and making a list of your own "must see's". If you come back with a list we can help you put it in a good working order for each city to maximize the time you have. Without the list you are just doing someone else's tour of Italy and not your own Donna

It's great that you have so many people that can get together for a trip of a lifetime. You might consider traveling by trains from place to place. To take on so much, it might be better to extend your trip a few more days. Or, cut out Venice and adjust your schedule slightly. Italy is a great culture shock, and a place that's best taken slowly.
Otherwise, the trip will be a blur. Florence and Tuscany has more art than anywhere in the World, and it's the cradle of modern societies. You have a perfect group to rent a Tuscan villa. Rental villas are all over Tuscany--many are south of Florence. They can be found on many web sites, and even on CraigsList.com for Florence. Find a villa close to a train station or bus station. Rent a couple of vans if you want to explore the region. Tuscany has absolutely breathtaking scenery--and is well worth seeing the right way.

Remember when trying to move 12 to 14 people that the whole group will move at the speed of the slowest person. Also, many people will want to make toilet stops and food stops at times different than the rest of the group. So, what I am saying is, leave plenty of slack time as you move from attraction to attraction.

"Remember when trying to move 12 to 14 people that the whole group will move at the speed of the slowest person." Right you are, Nigel- a LOT like herding cats!

Thank you everyone for your suggestions! I do have to remember that it will not just be my fiance and I traveling (who have a TON of energy and love to GO!) I will have several older family members with us so I think I do need to re-plan some of these days. We are very interested in Architecture, Churches, Cafe's etc...some are museum people and many are not - so would not want to plan many hours for museums. I think Pisa will be a half day for us and then back to enjoy Florence...what could we do in half a day there. Also, we are def going to the AC Milan game on April 29th in Siena, but will want to explore the town after the game. Some people will just visit the town and skip the game. For Venice, I have a friend who lives there so we will have a wonderful tour guide to make sure we see the BEST of Venice in such a short amount of time. Rome: Ancient Ruins - full day or half day with colosseo? Vatican City - I am thinking this will almost be a full day Se spanish steps and Trevi and a few other "hot spots" by night just walking around etc Florence: I know is FULL of architecture and beauty so I really don't know what to see and what to leave out - suggestions??? Siena - should we stop at San Gimignano on way back to florence and should we try to squeeze Chianti into this trip for a little wine tasting???
So much to do and so little time - I do NOT want it to be a blur but a wonderful memory. I am having a hard time cutting things out! HELP!

" I do NOT want it to be a blur but a wonderful memory" You have way too much on the agenda before you started talking about adding a few more. Time to really think this through.

You're asking such basic questions (no offense) that I suggest you get yourself a copy of the RS Italy book pronto. It's especially helpful to first time travelers. You'll be able to read about lots of different options in each destination and figure out what works best for your interests and for the time you have available. Avoid the temptation to try to cram everything into this trip. If you really enjoy it, you'll go back. And here's a vote for Pisa, even though I agree that it's only a half-day visit. The architecture of the tower, the duomo and the baptistery are very impressive. Here's a small set of video clips and photos from our trip to Pisa in May 2008 Consider trains to get you from place to place since you don't have to worry about getting lost and there are bathrooms on board so that won't slow you down. Happy travels. And best wishes.

Most trips end up being a blur whether I see a lot or not... it is such intense living. I would not leave out Venice (especially if this is a once in a lifetime for some) I would rather have walked the streets of Venice than to see the inside of yet another museum, but that is what I prefer. I took my grandson a few years ago and he wanted to go to Pisa.... (I didn't care) He loved it, we bought some cheap souvenirs and he sat and sketched the tower (he was 9) and it is one of my favorite memories. If it were me I would spend less time in the cities and a bit of time in the Tuscan villages. With a family group I think it is as much about enjoying the Italian lifestyle and family as it is seeing the sights. I would plan a few really special dinners for the whole group. I also think the train time can be more time to share stories with family members, especially if you are doing some different things during the day. Have you looked into setting up your own tour ? Logistics can be handled very easily. We have done a few with groups that are small like yours. You can PM me for more info. Everyone traveling by bus together seems like it would be easier than doing the train.

A few years ago, we had 10 family members spend 14 days in Hawaii - and we all agree that it was the best vacation we have ever taken. I think what made it so enjoyable is that we all agreed ahead of time that we were not going to be joined at the hip. If some folks wanted to go off and do something different from the rest of the group, there would be no hurt feelings. So, if you have some family members who are "museum people" and others who are not - let the musem folks go to a museum and the others go somewhere else. Let the "go, go" types do multiple things in one day while others can take things at a leisurely pace. We always stayed in the same place (hotel/apartment) at night and spent our evenings together. But during the day, we did not feel obligated to do everything together. No matter how compatible everyone is, too much togetherness can frazzle the nerves....

A patient of mine was telling me about his vacation to Rome: him, his wife and their 6 kids and their spouses rented a 8 bed room apt/villa. I asked him if it was tough to travel with so many people. Because he thought it would be, he made 1 rule: do what you want all day long, but at 7pm EVERYONE is to be back at the apartment to share their photos, drink wine, and go to dinner. He said it was the best trip of his life.

In Sept 2006 I coordinated a group of 17 friends for a trip to Tuscany. My advice - don't plan too much. We had 8 of us start in Rome for 3 days. There were also 5 others from our larger group that arrived in Rome the day after group 1. So those 2 groups met up for a tour of the Vatican and lunch one day. Then everybody could do their own thing and we met the following evening for dinner. Then once the entire group was in Florence together (4 days total) we went with the plan for no more then 2 things per day. Generally 1 muesum in the am and 1 church in the pm. People could choose to join in or not. Dinner was everyone together every evening. For the most part the group stayed together but not everyone wants to see everything. And some get burnt out on sights fast. It really helps to have people know they don't have to stay with the group. Arrange things that need reservations for early in your stay for the new city before people burn out and want to cancel. (ie. arrive in Florence and do your reservation sites days 1-2, not days 3-4). We had one day of a bus tour through Chianti. Then one "free" day where some wandered, some went to Pisa and others just slept in.
We traveled only by train. After Florence, 8 of the group went for 2 days to Venice. Send me a private message if you want more details of how I planned this trip.

With all those people, Pisa will not be just a half day, unless you all move really fast and don't eat lunch! Plan more time than you think because of the large size of the group. You can spend as much time or as little at the Colosseum/surrounding area as you want, I spent all day the first time but I like to look at "rocks", some people may not be as interested. A tour of The Colosseum is definitely worth it. Same with the Vatican, you can spend an hour doing highlights of the museums or spend all day. I think this is one area where you might want to discuss with people the feasibility of splitting up....And if possible, I would start in the north and work south