Second City to Visit After Florence

Hi there-
You'll probably get all sorts of suggestions but my own would be to limit it to Florence and Rome; lots to see in both!
Sunday - Tuesday (3 nights, 2.5 days) in Florence
Wed - Sat (4 nights/3.5 days) in Rome.
Fly home from Rome on Sunday.

I know the distance between Figline Vardarno (note spelling) and Florence, and Florence and Rome isn't all that far but I'll still count your transfer days as partials versus full due to the time it can take to pack up, have some breakfast, check out, make the transfer, find the new hotel and check in. If arriving too early to do that - which you probably will be - have the hotel stow your bags until you can do it later in the day. :O)

Editing to add: this itinerary will be very easy by train. I see that Firenze Santa Maria Novella (Florence's main train station) can be reached from Figline Vardarno in a little over 30 minutes or so, no changes, depending on the train you choose, and "fast trains" from SM Novella to Roma Termini (Rome's main train station) take just 90 minutes, no changes. Florence's historic center is more compact than one might think; we didn't need public transit even once during our 5 days there. Rome is a little more spread out but very walkable (and the best way to experience it, IMHO) as well unless one has some sort of mobility limitations. We've only used public transit (metro/urban train) a couple of times there over a couple of trips.

Do you already have flights ?
Which airport will you fly in to and out of? ( doesn’t need to be the same, but your departure airport city should be where you visit and spend your last few nights)

Can’t ever go wrong with Florence and Rome

You should see if you can fly into Florence and out of Rome.

Thanks for the feedback. I was leaning on just doing Florence and Rome, but wanted to see if there were any opinions on why that wouldn’t be the right move.

No flights booked yet. Thanks, Kathy, for the spelling fix! Never realized there was an extra “r” hidden there, but makes sense with the river right there!

I vote for Venice.

Easy 2 hour 15 minute train ride from Florence’s Santa Maria Novello station to the Santa Lucia station in Venice.

Personally I found walking out of Santa Lucia and seeing Venice for the first time a memorable travel experience.

Venice is unique. Meander, don’t rush, see St Marks in the evening after the hordes depart.

Learn some basic Italian phrases and understand Getting lost is part of the experience.

Lastly, September’s Labor Day is a US holiday, not a universally recognized holiday.

US labor day or May 1? If you mean the latter, be aware that Easter falls on the 17th of April in 2022 and that April 25 is a national holyday.

Rome? Cinque Terre area? Venice? Milan/Como?

What are you interested in? Where are you flying home from? The problem with Venice is that direct flights to the US depart in the early morning.

From Florence SM Novella station you can get to Rome in 1 hour and half and to Venice in 2 hours and something. It's 3 hours and 30 minutes (or a little less) to Como San Giovanni station via Milano Centrale. It's less than 2 hours and half from Florence Campo di Marte station to Monterosso, the biggest of the five villages in the Cinque Terre.

Incidentally, it's VALdarno. Meaning Figline in the VALley of the Arno River.

Incidentally, it's VALdarno

Oh for Pete's sake.... I got it wrong too!!!! 🤣
Well done, Dario. 👍

You are in Figline and you are not visiting any of the following?
1. Arezzo
2. Cortona
3. Chianti Hills
4. Loro Ciuffenna

You are practically there already.

Rome with all its history would be my choice for the second city.

I also recommend a day trip from Florence to Siena meaning add an extra night to Florence. Sounds like you should fly home from Rome but I would prefer Venice. As Dario said flights to the US depart early in the morning but I would still check to see if there are any late morning or afternoon flights before buying a ticket.