Rome, Florence, Venice

I guess if you're really into museums thats probably about right, especially with the day trip from Florence. Me personally, I would shave a day from Rome and stop off at the CT for a night on your way to venice, but there aren't any museums there that I'm aware of.

Seems pretty sane to me but I'd probably take a day away from Florence (even with your side trip) and add it to Venice to allow for an island boat trip to Burano and maybe Murano. Are you flying in to Rome and out of Venice?

Good generally, but I think it would be better if you could manage an additional night in Venice, to allow for more wandering-around time.

That's a pretty good division of your time in Italy.

I recommend the Hotel Balestri in Florence. It is a nice four star hotel on the Arno River.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187895-d203902-Reviews-s1-Hotel_Balestri-Florence_Tuscany.html

How many of you are you on this trek? If more than 3 persons I would recommend you book an apartment rather than a hotel.

Yes we are landing in Rome and leaving from Venice. My thinking behind that was Nov-June will be extrely busy and stressful at work so I thought we could have a few amazing and relaxing days before heading back. I would love to do three days in Venice but wasn't sure we could squeeze everything in I thought we could leave very early for Venice to have at least half a day on travel day. We have two day trips for Florence, Pisa and Lucca and the Fiat 500 Wne Tour. We divided Italy up into three trips and CT is on the next trip!

Just my husband and I we always do AirBnB, VRBO or Homeaway. We only do hotels if we have points and we depleted our Hilton points last trip! Love apartments!

For Rome

Borghese: you only get 2 hours in the museum. You must reserve your tickets in advance. They open up sales 6 weeks before the date you want to go. Amazing art at Galleria Borghese. You can pair this with a trip to the Capuchin Crypt, Piazza del Popolo, Trevi Fountain, and/or Spanish Steps (currently closed for restoration). All are very close by. There are also other museums in the Villa Borghese to visit.

Colosseum/Forum/Palatine: You could spend an entire day doing these three things. If you find yourself with extra time after these things you can always walk through the Imperial Fori and Visit Trajan's Market.

Vatican: Very crowded and I thought it was completely overrated. There are much more interesting churches in Rome than St. Peter's with just as good - actually even better - art. But I understand if it's your thing. Most people want to see it when the go to Rome. Vatican Museums are also crowded with tourists. They're huge. You could actually spend 2 days there. You spend most of the time elbowing tourists to see famous works and shuffling in a long line of tourists in halls full of art just to get to the very, very crowded Sistine Chapel. Again, I understand many people want to see the Sistine Chapel when they go to Rome, however consider Galleria Doria Pamphilj or Capotiline Museums instead. Both house really great art with less crowds.

Cannot advise on your other two visits; I've only been to Rome and Tuscany (excepting Florence).

For all the sites in Rome you mentioned above PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS IN ADVANCE to avoid waits and make the most of your time. Enjoy!

Also, if you want a break from museums but want to see some interesting stuff in Rome consider either a day doing Appia Antica and Catacombs or Ostia Antica.

For Florence - check out the Firenze card. You could really benefit from this pass. 72 hour pass from time it is activated. Start it around 10-11 am and you can add one last attraction entry on day #4. You can day trip easily by bus to Siena.

I call myself a museum mouse (similar to a bookworm). I love museums and spend more time at them than most.

Rome: The Vatican Museums are huge and crammed with great stuff. I've spent the better part of a full day there on both my visits to Rome. It's worth booking online to avoid the long security line (there's a separate one for people with reservations). There are cafeterias inside where you can take a break and get something to eat and/or a cold drink. There are also a couple of outdoor places where you could eat sandwiches you bring with you. The Borghese is 2 hours from when they open the doors until the last person is out. To maximize your time, line up 15-20 minutes early and be among the first to enter. Most people start on the first floor then go up to the second. If you start at the second, you'll see it with fewer people around, then go down to the first when most everyone has left it. You need to arrive 45 minutes or more before your entry time to get your tickets and check your bags (there will be lines for both). You can also pick up an audio guide and use the toilet before you go up (there are toilets upstairs, but why waste your precious time in the galleries?). Other museums that are outstanding: Capitoline (2-3 hours) and the National Museum of Rome. It has 4 separate locations. Its Palazzo Massimo alle Terme has beautiful mosaics and frescoes from the villa of Livia (1st century). If you visit the Pantheon, then walk around the corner to the San Luigi church (there's a Bernini sculpture in the piazza), which has 3-4 Caravaggios.

Florence: The Uffizi is at least 2 hours. I didn't stay any longer since it was very crowded. The "stars" of the Accademia are the works of Michelangelo - takes about 1/2 hour to see. There's much more to the museum but I'd spend the time at other places. The Duomo's museum (Museo dell'Opera del Duomo) is one, the Medici Chapels is another.

Regarding the Sistine Chapel. Disagree that it can be missed. To me the Sistine Chapel houses the most amazing works of art in the World. Do not miss it.

Also, St. Peter's Cathedral in itself was built in over 150 years with several architects. Find a source on its history and take some time there. Consider going up to the top of the dome (on the roof). The history of the place is amazing, with the plaza out front formerly being Nero's circus were many Christians were slaughtered. The Egyptian Obelisk was originally in a different place in the circus and moved with some difficulty to its current site.

I agreed that St. Peters is not to be missed. It is spectacular.

We did two days in Venice in April and I wish I would have added another day. Doge's Palace was a great stop...we did it late in the afternoon and basically had the place to ourselves. Looks like you have a great itinerary but an extra day in Venice would not hurt....enjoy!

In Rome, don't forget the other churches - fabulous architecture with some of the greatest masterworks in Italy. Many are free and uncrowded and open late afternoon/early evening - a quiet respite after you have beaten back the crowds earlier in the day.

Don't omit a visit to the church of San Clemente while in Rome. You descend through 4 layers of history, the lowest one being a Mithraeum. Beautiful mosaics in the uppermost.

Chani,
I like your description of yourself - museum "mouse". I would have to describe myself that way, I am both a bookworm and a museum mouse. I love art museums and it is one of the reasons I love Europe so much, is the amazing art. I will go to Italy for the first time in October and can't wait!

Judy B

All very good tips and advice. After reading suggestions and also talking to a friend who lived in Italy we are shaving a day off of Florence and adding to Venice. Thanks!!

That's a great decision to add 1 more night to Venice. I only had 1 fully jam packed day in Venice when I went and really wished I had a second day so you won't regret your decision. On your day trip to Pisa and Lucca, just follow Rick's advice on how to catch the train from Florence to Pisa then the bus to Lucca. His advice is on the money. You don't need reservations for these trains but do pay attention to any announcements of train strikes because apparently they announce it in advance. We were lucky there was a helpful train agent in Lucca who helped us get back to Firenze. If you have time for another day trip I suggest Sienna and hiring one of the guides that Rick recommends.

We just returned from Italy. Agree on adding a day to Venice. We loved the water bus and our visit to Murano Island to see the glass museum. We didn't see the Correr Museum, but enjoyed also the Guggenheim which is full of lovely modern art. Not many opportunities to see that in Italy. I was most impressed with the architecture overall. Not sure on the weather at that time of year, but everything felt convenient because of the water busses. Get a transportation pass as soon as you get there so you can hop on and off.

One of the highlights of our trip to Rome was a tour by Walks of Italy called "Pristine Sistine" where we had a group of 10 (normal size is 12) that did a 4+ hour tour starting at 7:30 AM. We got to enter the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel before it was open to the general public and our guide was really knowledgeable and we got to see many things quickly as well as a great visit to the Basilica. It was expensive (relatively), but was worth it. We did few guided tours overall, but this one was worth the money. If you have a Rick Steves book there is a discount available.

Of course if you want to spend even MORE time and don't mind crowds, you can do it yourself.. but the Vatican can be really crowded. We were there on a National Holiday in late May when many other things were closed, so it was especially lucky for use that we had the tour.

We enjoyed the Roman Forum and Palatine Museum. The Colloseum was so crowded, but perhaps if you took a tour it would be more interesting. There are lovely gardens near the Borghese Gallery that are worth a wander.

Pisa was a very pretty spot, too. Hope you have a great trip. It will take me a long time to remember everything we did.

We are just winding up our Florence, Venice, Rome trip. I am traveling with my 13 year old who is not a fan of crowds or art museums so that has colored our trip. But I thought I would mention a few things that we enjoyed.

In Florence we hired a private driver to go to Lucca and Tellaro. This was a major splurge (400 euros) but it was a delightful day. We rented bikes in Lucca and rode on top of the wall (this was inexpensive). We also climbed the Torre Guinigi, which has trees growing out of the top. My son particularly liked this because you could climb all the way to the top. (He also liked climbing the leaning tower of Pisa, but there is another level you cannot climb, which disappoint him slightly). We ate at Il Delfino in Tellaro and the service was lovely and the food was wonderful. I chose Tellaro because I kept reading about how crowded Cinque Terre can be during the summer and I wanted to see a fishing village. This took most of a day. The time in Lucca was probably two to two and a half hours.

We liked Venice a lot. We both enjoyed Murano. I liked Burano, but my son was a little over it by the time we got there. We could have done both in about three and a half to four hours, but we also had lunch on Mazzorabo (island adjacent to Burano.). FYI, We both got a lot of mosquito bites in Venice, despite having an air conditioned room.

In Rome, I booked a Colosseum after dark tour through city wonders. It covered more than just the Colosseum, but ended there. Because of the time of year, it was not actually dark, but the Colosseum had only a few tour groups in it and felt nearly empty. (Also it had cooled off enough that we were not sweating through the whole thing.). I felt this was very worthwhile. It took two and a half hours.

We also had a city wonders tour to Ostia Antica via train. For us, this was worthwhile as it would have taken a lot of research and planning for me to be able to understand (and convey to my kid) what we were looking at. The site was huge, uncrowded, and very interesting to me (somewhat interesting to my kid.). We went on a Sunday and the train to the site was extremely crowded due to people going to the beach--one stop further. So I would suggest a weekday if you are traveling during beach weather. This took a bit more than half a day.

I also booked breakfast at the Vatican through the official website. The food was meh. We did get to the
Sistine Chapel well ahead of the crowds which was very worthwhile, IMO. The line to get into the museum when we came out was appalling. I think some sort of skip the line/early access is Important though I'm not sure I'd do the breakfast again. And fwiw, there seemed to be some preference for outside tour groups.

I hope you have a wonderful trip.

If Chani is a Museum Mouse, I'm not sure what I am: we spent 5 hours at the Uffizi! Only an hour, maybe, at the Accademia.

We were both underwhelmed with the Medici Chapels. I'd skip those in favor of Convento di San Marco: go see the delicate Fra Angelico frescoes still on walls of the monk's cells where he painted them. Very nice museum. Glad to see you're doing to Bargello as a lot of tourists miss that one. I think we spent a couple of hours there? Other than I assume you're doing the Duomo (more impressive outside than in, IMHO) you haven't listed any churches? If you need ideas there...? Oh, the Baptistry is a MUST! It doesn't take long to see but it's a piece of work.

I loved Florence; the amount of art is just ridiculous.

As mentioned, you are only given 2 hours at the Borghese so no choice there. It's enough time to see everything, though, and we much preferred that one to the Vatican because of the crowd control. I think 3 hours was all we could handle of the V. museums. St. Pete's is also not my favorite of Rome's many churches but of course you must see it once! Do at least see Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Maria Del Popolo and San Giovanni in Laterano if you can? There are so many more but hopefully you'll be back to Rome.