Suggestions for 2 days in Italy?

Posted by Seamae (San Diego) on 04/07/09 10:16 PM

My husband and I will be visiting in June's second week (8days/7nights). We fly into Rome, have 2 nights booked, have 2 nights thereafter which I am having difficulty planning, and then will spend 3 nights in FLorence, one day of which is a San Gimigiano and Siena trip, before flying back from Florence.

Now for those two days between Rome and FLorence: I have toyed with the idea of a 2 day trip to Venice or an escorted tour of Naples/Sorrento/Capri but am afraid that either of these scenarios may exhaust us? CT and/or Pisa was another option, but seem too far and best to save for a longer trip. Not sure. I know I can't go wrong, but I don't want to overplan and do want to see at least one other place. I also thought about traveling to a Tuscan village for a couple of nights to relax but don't know which one, nor how best to get there.

Please advise,keeping in mind that my husband doesn't want to rent a car, nor spend too much time on a train or bus, and is also prone to getting seasick (which is why I think the idea of Venice is scaring him as I was leaning toward that option, when he reminded me that he did not want to wear his Dramamine patch for 2 days in a row).

Thanks in advance!

Posted by Kent

US Pacific Northwest

04/07/09 10:27 PM

10344 posts

No worries re sea sickness in Venice, you're in canals or the lagoon--unless he's extremely sensitive to motion sickness.However, there's a question whether you have time to include Venice, given your concern about trying to do too much. Add up the time to do this: pack up, check out, get to the Rome train station, buy train tickets, wait for the train, then the station to station time is 4hr30mins, then get from the Venice train station to your hotel, check in, freshen up a bit, and hit the streets--that's the daylight hours of one day, gone.The concern about spending too much time on trains, but yet wanting to go from Rome to Venice to Florence--you're going to spend a fair amount of time on trains."a 2 day trip to Venice or an escorted tour of Naples/Sorrento/Capri but am afraid that either of these scenarios may exhaust us?"I think your concerns are well founded.CT & Pisa involve significant travel time also. "I know I can't go wrong"Actually, I don't think that's true in your case, you can go wrong here, if you make a choice that results in having no time in Rome and exhausts you at the beginning of your trip, then you prove that sometimes more is less.Given what you've said and the concerns you have about trying to do too much, I'd suggest one of two alternatives:If you're flying into Rome from the US, and this is a first time trip to Rome, then 2 nights is not enough time in Rome. Your 1st day is a short day due to jet-lag, despite your best intentions exhaustion will shorten at least your 1st day. Why not give the extra time to Rome?If that's not enough, given that you need to fit the extra 2 days in between Rome and Florence, I would suggest train to Orvieto, 2 nights in Orvieto, one of the days being a day trip from Orvieto to Bagnoregio and Civita di Bagnoregio, if you're up for a public bus trip from Orvieto to Bagnoregio (but not on Sunday).

Posted by Seamae OP

San Diego

04/07/09 11:11 PM

2 posts

Thanks, Kent.

I forgot about jet lag....thanks for the reminder.

I've been to Rome before but my dear husband hasn't. Hmmm. Perhaps more time in Rome is the answer, but I am also yearning for country views (thought a train to Venice or Naples might be a beautiful trip?).

Orvieto and Civita sound nice but I would probably try to squeeze them into 1 day instead of 2? Also,
would it be easy to get to Florence from Orvieto?

Posted by Molly

East Lansing, MI, USA

04/08/09 08:14 AM

30 posts

If you really want to go to Venice but you are concerned because it takes about 4-5 hrs on the train, then perhaps you should consider an ivernight train from Rome to Venice. We just booked one from Venice to Rome. Ours leaves around 11:30pm and arrives at 7 AM. It costs quite a bit more because we want our own cabin (safety issues for us and our luggage while we sleep), but you save on a hotel room that night and you are getting the extra advantage of not wasting day light. We just booked our overnight through Eurail and it only counted as 1 day on our 4 day pass!