Someplace In Addition to Rome- 7 day trip

Definitely Florence. 90 minutes from Rome via high speed train. While in Florence you can stay all 3 days in Florence or you can also take day trips within Tuscany to Siena (1 hr to the south), Pisa (1 hr to the west), San Gimignano and Volterra (1 hour to southwest), and many other places. If you want to stretch it you can even do Rome, Florence and Venice in 7 days (3+2+1). If you don't want to go back to Rome for the return air trip (although from Florence it's only 90 minutes + another 35 min from Rome station to the airport), you may want to consider an open jaw ticket. It might be cheaper once you factor in the price of the train back to Rome. Arrive in Rome FCO, then come back to the US flying from Florence (or Venice). There are no direct flights to the US from Florence, but you could fly from Florence to Frankfurt (Lufthansa/United) or Paris (Air France/Delta) or Amsterdam (Alitalia/Klm/Delta) and then from those cities catch a connection to your home airport. Venice has the 3rd largest airport in Italy and has even more options for your return (via various European big airports). There are also non stop flights to the US from Venice, to JFK (Delta), PHL (US Airways) and ATL (Delta), however I don't think they operate in winter (maybe only JFK or ATL). Alternatively, from Venice you could go to Milan and catch a flight back to the US from Milan (Milan is closer to Venice than Rome). Wherever you decide to fly back from, remember that you'll have to depart early in the morning since all US bound flights are in the morning. Therefore the night before your return trip you must spend the night in the city you'll be departing from. So if you depart from Rome, you need to spend the night in Rome the night before the return flight.

Most Us direct flight will leave in the afternoon. However if you need a connecting flight to your US bound flights then those flight tend to be earlier morning to the connecting city.

Joel, As I said flights from Rome the US are mostly in the morning and you have to be at the airport 3 hours ahead of time for flights to the US, due to extra security. From Florence to Rome airport via train you need at least 2 and 1/2 hours, therefore it's best to spend the night in Rome the night before. On Dec 28 there is only one flight in the afternoon to JFK, with Alitalia.

I would spend the entire week in Rome. So much to do and see that three days isn't enough.

Joel,
In considering another location, pay attention to what you can/cannot do in a location on Dec 24, 25, 26. Closures start early afternoon on the 24th, and things are buttoned up on the 25th and 26th (St. Stephen's Day is also a holiday). If you fly into Rome on the 21st, you'll have the 22nd and 23rd "business as usual" although quite festive and a bit crowded. The morning of the 24th many places are open, but on the 25th there are few "sights." Churches are open, some special presepe (nativity scene) museums are open, and of course you can just walk and enjoy the city. On the 26th in Rome, some other sites open like the Forum, Colosseo, but many museums are closed. We spent 9 nights in Rome last year over Christmas, prior to moving here. We never ran out of things to do! You might reconsider just staying here given the season, with maybe that day trip to Ostia Antica or Orvieto. In the evenings, just walking around and seeing the lights is amazing! Piazza San Pietro, Piazza Venezia, via del Corso and all over the city. Simply lovely and beyond what I've ever seen in America. Do be sure you have dinner reservations on the 25th! It can be difficult to find a place on the fly that day. Many Italians eat out, from what I observed, and of course all of the tourists still have to eat, and the number of restaurants open is reduced for the holiday. If yo do decide to go to another location, be sure to check wherever you may go for what's open each day in this period and if it fits with what you want to do....

We found so much to see in Rome and were there for 9 nights. We took a day trip by train to Orvieto and another day trip to Ostica Antica. Traveling does take up time so whatever you decide, fly home from the other city.

Thanks for all of the advice. Day trips are making sense to us. Grazi! Joel