I'm planning a two week trip in Italy. Starting in Rome, then Florence, then Venice. I would like to work in some of the smaller picturesque cities, but not sure which ones or how best to incorporate them into my itinerary. Day trips or allotting additional days to stay overnight. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Grazie.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32222 posts
steve,
Some thoughts.....
- Orvieto is an easy day trip from Rome, about an hour each way. It's a beautiful Umbrian hill town, and well worth a visit;.
- Siena is an easy day trip from Florence, about an hour each way by Bus. You could also visit Lucca or the Cinque Terre (the latter is longer and will take a full day).
- Padova is an easy day trip from Venice.
Posted by
Atlanta
4898 posts
In addition to Ken's suggestions (all of which are spot on) you can do an easy day trip to Verona and / or Vicenza from Venice. With an early start and a late finish you can do both in one day. In Rome consider a side trip to Ostia Antica - the original site of Rome. Easy and cheap to get to with public transit.
Posted by
Carmel, CA, USA
2455 posts
You don't mention which season or month you are planning to be in Italy, important as crowds, heat, weather and what time it gets dark would all influence your plans. Every possibility mentioned so far is very nice, although some are small towns, and others like Siena, Verona and Padova are actually small or mid-sized cities. One limitation of day trips is that, especially in high tourism season, you are generally only there when the town is filled with other day trippers, while some of the most magical times are early in the morning, and then late afternoon and evening, when things are much quieter, much less crowded, and in some cases misty, illuminated and/or romantic, and more a local town and less a tourist site. For this reason, I would encourage you to build a one night or even two night visit to one or more of these towns. Orvieto is a natural, as it is just a 70 minute train ride from Rome, plus a neat funicular from the station up to the beautiful old city, and then it is easy to continue by train up to Florence.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15269 posts
San Gimignano. Between Florence and Siena.
Take bus or train to Poggibonsi. Then short bus ride to SG
Posted by
North Carolina
2467 posts
Closer to hand, from Venice proper, you could visit the islands of the Venetian lagoon (Murano, Burano, Torcello), accessible by the vaporetto (you'd need a multi-day pass, which is a good thing to have anyway). In Florence, you could catch the #7 bus, from alongside the Museo San Marco, up to Fiesole. From Rome, you could go see Ostia Antica.