Hello, My gf and I are planning a 15 day trip to italy. We are flying into venice and out of rome for 15 days (not including the day we leave) My itinerary now is Venice 3n, Florence 4n with a day trip, CT 3n and rome 5n with a day trip. We are a young(ish) couple that does a lot of hiking and really like history and I am interested to hear other peoples itinerarys to maybe make some changes. We would like to have a couple days somewhere with beautiful scenery to take a brake from the museums and recharge bf Rome. We would like to avoid any 1n stays to cut down on the time it takes to change hotels. Thank you in advance for your suggestions!
Posted by
Norfolk, USA
255 posts
Mike, good idea not to try and do one night hotel stays. We have done that occasionally on our trips and it can be quite a hassle. Your itinerary looks pretty doable. We haven't been to CT, so I can't help you there. The only recommendation I might add would be to cut a night from Venice and/or CT and add it to Florence. That way you could do day trips to Siena, Pisa and San Gimignano (my personal favorite). San Gimignano is wonderful for just strolling the town and soaking up the ambience. My favorite memory is finding a spot where a guy was playing the harp in a square at the top of a hill and just looking out over the countryside. Venice is easily doable if you arrive one morning and set out as soon as you drop luggage. We did that and stayed 2 nights. Saw all that was on our list and still had plenty of time for just strolling or sitting somewhere with a glass of wine.
Posted by
Carbondale, IL, USA
1201 posts
Your itinerary is fine the way it is now. The CT will be your laid back recharge before Rome. Although depending on the time of year , there will be tourists, the agenda for most folks is very laid back with maybe some hiking, train or boat rides between the villages and a lot of sitting eating and drinking.
Posted by
OP
Philadelphia
24 posts
We are going the first two weeks of october. The idea of adding a day to Florence for another daytrip sounds good. Probably by cutting a day from Venice as our flight lands at 930 am so we would like hit the ground running.
Posted by
La Jolla, CA, USA
39 posts
Hi Mike,
Send me your email and I will send you the notes from our trip which was fairly identical in reverse (Rome to Venice). I actually recommend staying in bed and breakfasts to get more of a "local" feel and the conveniences of having a frig, stove, etc. (handy when you want a Coke at midnight or whatever) and sometimes laundry and wifi. Apts and B&B's usually have a 2-3 night minimum but are most cost-effective and can put you in a great area for much less than a hotel for the same cost.
Our itinerary included major stays in Rome, Florence and Venice with day trips out of Florence (great home base for Tuscany) to Siena (1/2 day), San Gimignano (1/2 day), Lucca, Pisa (including drinks with the locals on the non-touristy beach of Pisa Marina) and Cinque Terre (a full day for sure, more if you're a hiker who loves beautiful scenery - take the Lover's Walk). We also stopped in Orvieto on the way from Rome to Florence and stored our luggage at a hotel for a few euros.
Our trip felt very full without ever feeling rushed. Some things you need to plan well in order to not waste hours in travel or lines (i.e. museum reservations at Vatican can save you 3 hours in line, or the right time to go to the Colliseum, etc.). It's good to have some plans and also give yourselves the cushion to just explore, i.e. we planned 1-2 museums and no more on any given day with time to explore street markets, shop, or just hop on and off buses using the Roma Pass to explore Rome.
You'll have a great trip.