We'll be in Italy for two weeks this summer visiting Rome, Cinque Terre, Florence, and Venice for 3-4 nights each. Trying to pin down airfare. Do either of these routes sound markedly less stressful or more enjoyable for any reason, or should we just go with whichever airfare ends up being cheapest?
OPTION A:
Fly into Rome
Rome --> Cinque Terre --> Florence --> Venice
Fly out of Venice
OPTION B:
Fly into Rome
Rome --> Venice --> Florence --> Cinque Terre
Fly out of Pisa
Can you do Venice - Florence - Cinque Terre - Rome? Arrive Venice, return from Rome? Starting in Venice is a very nice thing to do, sort of ease into Italy. And Cinque Terre to Rome is easy with the highspeed train out of La Spezia.
I like Laurel's sequence. Arriving tired and potentially suffering from jet lag would be much nicer in Venice than Rome. Save Rome for last.
I agree with Laurel.
Otherwise, I'd weigh things like:
- total travel time (by train assume) between places? I'd go to Trenitalia and add it up
- flight out of Venice or Pisa: departure time? If early, you probably need to stay in Lucca or Pisa; do you have time or want to? Option A means you don't have to stop in another city as you departure (like Pisa or nearby Lucca). If your flight out is in the afternoon, you might get away with taking an early rain from the CT directly to Pisa airport.
Laurel’s plan would be my plan as well:
Fly to VCE> Venice> Florence> Cinque Terre> Rome> Return home from Rome FCO.
If you can’t switch, then A is the second best option.
I don't want to add a fifth stop to the trip, so I'll skip the Pisa airport option. I had originally ruled out starting in Venice because we were interested in seeing the Angelus in Rome, but that only overlaps with our trip if we start in Rome. (There's a second date that MIGHT fall near the end of our trip, but it's not confirmed yet.) If Venice to Rome is significantly cheaper, it may be worth missing the Angelus. All good things to consider -- thanks!!
Does starting in Venice and ending in Rome have you in Rome on a Wednesday, when you could attend the Wednesday Papal Audience?
Another reason for not ending in Venice is that quite often the flights from VCE for the USA leave at o'dark ugly, requiring a rather expensive trip to the airport.
Unfortunately no -- we're going in August, and there are only two Angeluses (can that be pluralized...?) and no masses scheduled while we're there. So unless we start in Rome, we won't be able to make it to the Angelus. With that said, while it's something I'd like to attend if possible, I don't want to end up paying much higher airfare or dealing with a crazy flight schedule just to try to squeeze it in. I'll compare the into Venice --> out of Rome airfare in the morning. Thanks!
I will give you the advantages to starting in Venice, then you can evaluate them against the opportunity to experience the Angelus.
Venice is quiet, small, low-key sights, a great place to relax and soak up the atmosphere while you get over jetlag. Getting lost in the back canals is a joy. Rome is the complete opposite: a big, noisy, bustling city with major sights and getting lost, while not quite as easy as in Venice, is very frustrating and usually means wasted time and more walking than you'll want in the heat of August. Getting to the airport in Rome is easy and not expensive, even for an early morning flight. Getting to Marco Polo will usually take a long time or can be pretty expensive - though if there are 3-4 of you, a water taxi won't be too bad.
If you want to see Pisa, it's quite easy to stop on the train between the Cinque Terre and Florence. There's a left luggage room at the train station. It's a short taxi ride to the Leaning Tower, then you can walk, take the bus or a taxi back to the train station. If you want to climb the tower, you should buy tickets in advance - they often sell out. Or you could day trip from Florence, even combine a 1/2 day there with a 1/2 day in Lucca.
If the Angelus is on one of the first few days of your trip, here's another less-optimal option to consider. Spend the first couple of days in Rome and attend the Angelus, take a train to Venice, then visit Florence and Cinque Terre, ending your trip with a couple of days in Rome. Fly in and out of Rome.
I'd check the timing of the flights. I don't do early flights in Europe and it strikes me that many people seem to fly out of Venice at ridiculously early hours. That would be my priority in choosing the direction. Flights.
Luckily the flights back to EWR from Venice seem to leave at a pretty reasonable afternoon hour! However, Chani makes a compelling point about the airport transfers -- I get anxious about airports (not about flying; I'm just one of those people who ACTUALLY checks in three hours before an int'l flight) and I feel like the boat ride from VCE to the city center would be nice and relaxing and scenic after a long flight, but less enjoyable en route to catch a plane :)
Frank, we've talked about the Rome round trip option. It's significantly cheaper and nonstop flights both ways, which is tempting. I just can't decide whether the extra logistics (an extra train ride at the end of the trip, an extra night in Rome, one more hotel check-in/check-out) is worth the savings ($250-300 per person, with four people in our party, so it's significant).
If you decide to fly in and out of Rome to take advantage of the huge savings, then, to avoid the extra night and extra hotel change in Rome, simply leave Rome for last.
That means to take the train to either Venice or Cinque Terre upon landing.
The train trip from Rome is about 4 hours (either destination). There is a train per hour going to Venice from Roma Termini (Rome main station). Actually two of them originate from the airport station (at 11:08 and 3:08pm). If you catch that, you don’t even need to change trains.
I know 4 hours on a train after a transatlantic flight seems hard, but it is actually very relaxing and comfy. You can sleep the whole trip.
That's true -- I suppose a 3-4 hour train ride after a nonstop flight really isn't much different from connecting through Paris or Munich, when it comes down to it! Okay, so I won't completely rule out round-trip. Going to try to make a final decision tonight (and stop driving myself crazy with options!) Thanks!
I did the "Land in Rome, train directly to Venice" option a few years ago - same calculus, I was able to get a direct flight to Rome vs. a connecting flight to Venice. I prefer a train to a flight and extra time in an airport. It all worked out fine for me.
Alright, we (FINALLY!) decided to go ahead and do the Rome round-trip option and deal with logistics on the ground rather than in the air! We'll most likely head straight to Venice when we land and then meander our way back down to Rome. Thanks for all the input!
