Venice, Florence, and Rome trip in October.

Hi Aaron,

You'll find plenty in Rome to keep you more than occupied for 4 days! If you do happen to get bored (unlikely) you can always take a day trip to Pompeii or Orvieto from Rome.

I think your assignment of time between the three cities is very balanced and smart. Some travelers might tell you that you should take one day from Florence and add it to Venice or Rome, but I really think what you have planned is very solid.

Thanks for the reply. The 3-3-4 setup worked well on my Belfast-Edinburgh-London trip last fall so I think it will work good in Italy as well.

3-3-4 is perfect for your itinerary. If you plan your transfers well I think you can do day trips to both Pisa and Siena.
Day 4 Venice to Florence
Day 5 late am to Siena for day
Day 6 full day in Florence
Day 7 am store bags at Florence station then Pisa til mid afternoon
Day 7 pm collect bags again when transiting Florence en route to Rome

I think it sounds like a good first trip plan. Leaves you flexibility in each of these major cities to venture out for day trips. You can plan most of these at the last minute. I can only do just a certain amount of time in a big city before I need to get away. I would look into Burano from Venice, Siena or San g( my preference) from Florence, and Pisa was a fun diversion and kind of an iconic must see... (most people who tell you not to bother did go) :)

Aaron,

We have a little more time to play around with so we are doing a 5-5-4 Venice-Florence-Rome trip in early October. We are taking a couple day trips from Venice (Dolomites and Padova/Vicenza). We are also day-tripping to Pisa/Lucca and taking a Chianti wine tour while in Florence.

We chose to spend only 3 1/2 days in Rome because it takes at least two weeks to do anything more than scratch the surface anyway. Our main intent with Rome is to show my mother the highlights while learning the lay of the land for a future trip.

Good luck,
Todd

I may do a day trip to Pompeii from Rome. It all depends.

And thanks for the helpful advice and tips everyone.

3-3-4 works great!

I don't think you'd want to take anything less than two full days in Florence. We didn't do Pisa but spent 2 nights in Siena which was really nice.

Instead of Pompeii, you might want to look into Ostia Antica. You will see the same quality ruins, spend less time getting there (30 minutes on the Metro), and be hampered by less tourists and tourist traps. We took a half day trip there while in Rome in March and really enjoyed it!

I will check that out. Thank you very much for the tip! Ciao!

I'll just add my voice to the chorus - don't change your allotment of nights and stops. They're great for a first visit.

In addition, flying into Venice and out of Rome is easier than the reverse. Flights from Venice back to the US often leave very early, and getting to the airport early is expensive and/or time consuming. Flights from Rome can leave later, but even if yours doesn't, getting to the airport early is easier and cheaper.

You don't even need to plan your day trips now, unless one of them includes a must see sight for you. Just be aware of the options, and see how you feel when you actually get to each city. If you're entranced by a place, you can spend your whole time there with no other places. If you're not, you can then take day trips.

Thanks Harold!

Aaron

Well this time I booked rooms in 2 of Rick's suggestions from the 2015 Italy book. Hopefully they are good. The one in Rome was very cheap compared to what he had listed as well. Under 100 euro a night in the Pantheon neighborhood in a hotel Rick says in beautifully located. In Florence I'm also trying one of his suggested B&B. In Venice all the places he suggested were booked up or not where I want to be so I got a place off Expedia for a nice price that is a few steps from Piazza San Marco. The Italy 2015 book is coming in very handy so far. Much more than the Best of Europe 2014 book I was using in the UK last year, which was still quite helpful in London though. October hurry up!