Venice, Florence & Rome Itinerary Help!

I don't think traveling in the evening is going to work well with check-out/check-in times.

Many years ago, we took an evening train to depart Venice, leaving Italy, to another country. That was one train, and a long journey that involved a sleeping compartment. Probably not convenient nowadays, especially just for the cities you’re considering.

Cinque Terre - not on this trip, with just 8 days. For a 2-week trip, maybe. With a 3-week trip, definitely.

Given that 8 days is what you have, and if you’re determined to include all 3 cities, and not just Rome and Florence, then Rome 4 days, Florence 2, Venice 2. If you dropped Venice, then do Rome 5 and Florence 3. Either way, be in Rome all or at least part of your last day. You’ll have a busy trip!

Eight days is really tight just for Venice, Florence and Rome. The Cinque Terre are not on the express rail line and would mean a lot of additional time spent on trains. A straight shot from Florence to Venice on a Freccia train would take only 2 hr. 18 min. Traveling from Florence to Monterosso in the Cinque Terre and then (a day or two later) on to Venice would take 8 hr. And you'd not have time to do justice to Rome, Florence and Venice.

it's true that if you decide to take move from city to city late in the day, you'll have to make arrangements to store your luggage from check-out time (varies, but could be noon or even 11 AM) until train-departure time. This is not an impossible situation, especially if your hotel is near the train station. However, it's a bigger deal if you're staying in an apartment that cannot store your luggage during the day or in a hotel that's not close to your sightseeing targets for the day or the train station. I don't think all Italian rail stations have luggage-storage facilities these days, so that's something you'd need to check on if your lodgings can't handle the task.

Beyond the luggage logistics, I thinks there's an emotional component to deciding what time of day to travel. I'm usually all about doing what's logical--and that would include traveling late in the day after most of the sights have closed, and with food packed so I could eat dinner on the train. But I feel uncomfortable from the time I check out of one hotel until I've gotten to the next one and at least dropped off my luggage, so I can't convince myself to travel late in the day. I know it works for others, and a very short trip to an exciting country like Italy might be a good time to try out that strategy.

How many NIGHTS will you have on the ground in Italy?
If just 8 then 3 major locations is 1 too many
A 2 night stay anywhere really means just 1.5 days to sightsee. It takes half a day to get to your destination, check in, get settled and find your way around

I would stick with just Rome and Florence this time, maybe add a night in Siena or Orvieto on the way back to Rome
Since you have a RT to Rome- end your trip in Rome with all Rome nights at end. 1 less hotel change and you will need to be in Rome night before departure (can flight be changed to arrive in Venice, depart from Rome?- if so then all 3 cities could work OK)

On arrival to Rome go directly to Florence via train
Florence 3 nights
Siena or Orvieto 1 night- both are easy to get to, Orvieto maybe a bit easier and is closer to Rome- this will give you a "hill town" experience
Rome 4 nights- that's the minimum for Rome

No time this trip for Cinque Terre

If you haven’t purchased airline tickets yet, consider flying open jaw into either Rome or Venice and out of the other city. If you must RT out of Rome, I would travel directly to Venice after arrival. Since you’re already at the airport, you might want to catch a flight to Venice. Alitalia has flights at 9:20 am and 1:20 pm that take 70 minutes and cost about the same as train fare. You might want to check other carriers as well. Train takes about 5+ hours and you must change once in Rome.
With only 8 days, I would not visit the Cinque Terre - just too much travel time in your short schedule and so much to absorb in the Big Three! The travel time between Venice and Florence is about 2 1/4 hours, Florence to Rome 1 3/4 hours. My personal preference is to get an early morning train. You can then comfortably find and check into lodgings and hit the ground running before noon.
To get an idea of planning your days, take a look at the day by day itinerary of Rick’s Best of VFR tour. There is a lot to see in those cities. To make best use of your time make sure to purchase timed admissions beforehand. You might want to take short day trips such as Padua from Venice, Pisa or Lucca from Florence, Ostia Attica or Tivoli from Rome. Most importantly, do your research. Buy Rick’s guidebook and attack the internet.

You can use this as a planning tool of what there is to see in each location... check the 'Itinerary' tab

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/venice-florence-rome

If at all possible fly into Venice and home from Rome.

No, I do not see a visit to CT as reasonable in your time frame.

I do not see a benefit to late day travel

Good luck

Eight nights can be plenty or not nearly enough ! I spent that many on my first trip and saw everything I wanted to. My second, most recent I spent 10 nights.

Check all the skip the lines options. I took tours by Walks of Italy for St. Mark‘s andDoge‘s Palace, Colosseum and Forum, and Pristine Sistine. All good tours.

In Florence, be sure to visit the Duomo Museum. When we visited, there was no waiting line.

Hi. You don't say / we don't know what your interests / priorities are. You can pack a lot in in 8 days if you want. If going in early October, I wouldn't rule out Cinque Terre. If so, good order would be Venice, then Florence, then Cinque Terre, then Rome. Or vice versa. We spent 10 hours in Venice, 5 hours in Florence, 2 days in Rome, and 3 days in CT, and that was fine for us! But that's us. Think about YOUR priorities and let your timing reflect what YOU like. Enjoy your trip!

If you can’t fly into Venice and out of Rome, assume you’ll be back and visit Venice and the Cinque Terre another time. Instead, hop on a train from Rome’s Fiumicino Aeroporto to Roma Termini (45-minutes) and transfer to Firenze SMN (1h 45m) and sleep in Florence for four nights and include a bus to Siena (1h 15m) for the day.
Go back to Rome and sleep in the Trastevere neighborhood and spend a day in Vatican City. You can then take a direct train from Roma Trastevere to Fiumicino Aeroporto (30-minutes).

We booked Rick’s Venice-Florence-Rome tour, arriving two nights early in Venice, stayed three extra in Rome, then continued by train to Naples and boat to Ischia. With three weeks available, we still had a tight calendar.

A recommendation for only 8 days: use Rome as your base, budget a day for a visit to Ostia Antica - an amazing site,- consider a two night visit to Orvieto, a beautiful, quiet ancient hilltop town, then take an easy train trip back to Rome. Trying to scurry about to distant points like Florence or Venice might be more frustrating than fun.

Train takes about 5+ hours and you must change once in Rome.

There is a direct train from Fiumicino airport to the "floating" district of Venice, run by Trenitalia. It departs at 13:53 and takes 4h and 45 minutes. Walk-up fare is € 106.

The journey with a change in Rome takes either 4h and 56m or 5h and 15 m, depending on the hour of departure and on Where in Rome you must change.

If you are Flying from Rome to Venice on separate tickets the direct train is faster: by train you would arrive earlier at your Hotel in central Venice.

In October Trenitalia may return to the pre-Covid schedules and run another direct train to Venice departing from Fiumicino.

As others have said, try to fly into Rome and out of Venice or vice versa. If you're already booked into Rome, then go straight to Venice after you land and work your way back. My suggestion would be 2 nights in Venice, 3 nights in Florence, and 3 nights in Rome. IMO there are more things to see in the latter two that will take up your time whereas in Venice the place itself is the sight (although St. Marks Basilica and the Doge's Palace are two sites definitely worth visiting). Trying to squeeze in the Cinque Terre is too much unless you like spending your vacations in transit and checking into hotels. On our first trip to Italy we flew into Rome (3 nights) and then took the train to Florence (2 nights), Venice (3 nights), Lake Como (2 nights), and Milan (1 night) before flying home from Malpensa. In hindsight we spent too much time moving around. Regardless of your final plan you'll enjoy your trip!

I vote with KBK. 2, 3 and 3 nights in Venice, Florence and Rome, in that order going straight to Venice on the day you land in Rome. Of course, landing in Venice is far preferable, then work your way back, but if your airline tickets are already booked, then going on to Venice on your first day would be best, in my book. Also, I REALLY LIKE traveling onward in the evenings. I usually use hotels, not B&Bs, and one reason that I do so is that I can check in and out on my schedule, not theirs, and I can leave my luggage with them in the morning, for pickup in the evening on my way to the train station. By the end of a sight-seeing day, I am tired and just happy to eat a simple dinner on the train, check in at my next destination, clean up and go to bed. The train stations in each of these cities have multiple bistros and "coffee shops" where you can pick up sandwiches, fruit, and other simple foods easy to eat on the train.

You have lots of good advice so far. One of my favorite things we did in Rome was a food tour through Eating Europe. Enjoy your trip!

You’ve received a lot of great advice but the problem is we don’t know who “we” is, what your budget is nor what your interests are. If you could fill in some of that info you’ll get more specific advice.

You say “about 8 days” does that mean your flight is not booked? can you add a night or 2 or 3 to the trip?

The best thing you could do is try to change your flight to arrive in Venice (much easier to arrive Venice than depart). That will give you more usable time and a better flow to the trip.

Assuming flight is booked and you are set on Venice-Florence-Rome then travel to Venice first is the way to go. Train info above in Dario’s post.
I would give Venice 3 nights (or 2 if you stay thru day 3 and take train to Florence in the evening) your first day is a wash, nothing but a blur of travel and jet lag.
Stay near the train station in a hotel so you can check in/check out early and leave bags for the day if you choose to train to Florence in the evening.
Also means you don’t spend to much time on arrival getting to your accomodations, you can get your vaporetto pass and start touring almost right away.
I’d take vaporetto down Grand Canal on that first evening and enjoy Piazza San Marco, then vaporetto back to your hotel and have dinner near there. Wandering around Venice is delightful but not when you are new to the place and jet lagged. Even those of us who know Venice get lost. That wouldn’t be fun on arrival night!
Next am- get up early and visit Rialto Market, take a walk thru the neighborhoods there -San Polo, see Frari church, etc. I believe RS has a walking tour of that area.
Use your vaporetto pass to ride over to San Georgio Maggiore for a fabulous view without the waits in P San Marco. Check hours.
In the evening see if Alessandro is still doing his Cicchetti tours- tons of fun, not too expensive. That can be your dinner too
www.schezzini.it
Next am- head to Basilica San Marco early- get there when it opens- you will need to prebook an entry time. (Check dress code!- they are very strict)
I don’t know what is on offer now or will be in Oct but the Secret Itineraries tour of Doges Palace was wonderful.
If time take vaporetto over to Burano- our favorite of the islands.

*Here is where you might consider leaving Venice in the evening and heading to Florence. You’ve spent 2 full days and 2 evenings there. I think any less than that and you’ll come away not liking it much.
By heading to Florence this evening- you can start the next am running- (again stay in a hotel so you can drop bags if you choose to arrive early am)
Florence has so much to see and do, especially if you are interested in art. If art is not your thing that is perfectly fine as well. There are lots of smaller /less crowd museums to enjoy- San Marco, Bargello, Medici Chapels, Galileo and you can see a very good replica of the David in P Signoria. Santa Croce church is just a few euros and has lots of history.
Visit Mercato Centrale for lunch or dinner one day
If you do want to visit Accademia and Uffizi you will need to prebook your timed entries. Hopefully all are open on your days (Sun, Mon are the issue in Florence as a lot of things are closed those days).
Head up to P Michelangelo for the views, wander the Oltrarno neighborhood and have dinner there.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with not paying admission to anywhere- just wandering around, sitting in piazzas sipping your favorite beverage, people watching, eating gelato. That’s pretty much what intend to do in Sept- but we’ve been to Florence before.

Cont.

Then off to Rome for the final 3 nights- take an early train. We prefer to stay near Pantheon, others like near Termini.
All major sites require a pre booked timed entry. If Vatican isn’t a priority consider the Borghese- you have a 2 hour time slot, less crowded, not such a time investment as Vatican will be.
So many sights in Rome are simply walk by/walk thru- Campo de Fiori, P Navonna, Trevi, Spanish steps. Pantheon is free and only needs 20-30 min. Churches are free, full of art.
Use RS Heart of Rome walking tour
You don't even really NEED to go inside the Colosseum. You can tour the Forum on your own using RS guide.

We love a good food tour, Eating Europe does an am Trastevere or a Twilight Trastevere- both are excellent.

Be sure to arrange for your COVID re-entry to USA test, you will need to do that in Rome or at airport before departure.

And lastly- if you have not yet done- get RS Italy guide to help with your planing, invaluable.

Hi Emma!
I'll echo the request for info regarding how many NIGHTS you'll have on the ground in Italy? What with trying to cover 3 cities in roughly a week, one night plus or minus count make a difference. Consider that the day you arrive can be a fog of jet lag, plus if you MUST fly in and out of Rome then you'll lose a big chunk of that day getting to Venice. (Yes, if you MUST do Venice then I'll agree that you should immediately go there and work your way back to Rome.) Long and short of it? By the time you got off the plane, to the train, to Venice, found your accommodation and got settled, one of your days is pretty much shot.

Yes, knowing what you're interested in doing/seeing can make a difference in where you spend your time. You asked about "lesser known" things? If you're planning to cover the "biggies" there may not be time left for much else! There's also an exhaustion factor in trying to cram too much in at breakneck speed; everything becomes sort of a blur. That said, if you have 8 nights on the ground, I'd vote for 4 in Florence - go directly there upon arrival - and 4 in Rome with a day trip out of Florence to Siena or Lucca. Or you could do 3 nights Florence, 1 night in the CT (I really don't recommend that one as a day trip) and 4 nights in Rome.

Must keep Venice? 2 nights there (1 full day + some odd hours), 3 nights Florence (2.5 days) and 3 nights Rome (2.5 days). You mentioned that you have "about" 8 days; does that mean there might be the opportunity to extend your time? 3 nights Venice, 3/4 nights Florence and 4 nights Rome would be optimal if at all possible.

One warning about the CT: there is little to do there if it rains.

But again, where you should go/how long you should stay depends on personal interest. So, what can you tell us about yourselves? Also, have you aquired any guidebooks yet to start your list of things you want to see/do?

Sorry, but don't try to do all three cities in 8 days. Absolutely forger Cinque Terre for this trip.
Suggest doing Rome and Florence, with 5 days in Rome and 3 in Florence.
Travel will eat up much of your precious time.

Thanks for all the great advice! So we (my boyfriend and I) will have 9 nights- we land in Rome at noon on the 15th, and fly out of Rome the morning of the 24th. Sorry, I realize now that that’s important information to have! As for our interests- history, art, shopping, and just enjoying the culture of the city we’re in. Thanks everyone for all the good suggestions, I already feel a little less overwhelmed!

....we land in Rome at noon on the 15th, and fly out of Rome the
morning of the 24th...As for our interests- history, art, shopping,
and just enjoying the culture of the city we’re in.

LOL, sounds like you and everyone else. 😊 OK, so you have 9 nights, and if you HAVE to fly into and out of Rome, I'd do:

3 nights (2 days + a few odd arrival-day hours) in Venice
3 nights Florence (2.5 sightseeing days)
3 nights Rome (2.5 sightseeing days)

That's tight for Rome and Florence if you like art and history. You don't have time for the CT, or to observe much of the culture of the 3 cities you'll be visiting but that's OK. Hopefully you will like what you see and come back for longer stays in your fave places the future? 🤞

Obviously if you could fly directly into Venice, and out of Rome, then you might save a bit of time.

This may have already been addressed within the details but I am planning a very similar situation in and out of FCO. Keeping in mind I have yet to be in Italy, the things that I have found to be worth consideration in planning my travel between the cities:

---Use Rome2Rio, Google Maps, or ItaliaRail to find train times and avoid "last trains out". That way, there is a second chance in case of problems. I've not yet seen a conversation on it, but I will be booking my long distance travel in advance due to CV19 restrictions.

---There should be plenty of options to store your luggage if the lodging can not do it for you. Check the train stations and / or nearby storeage lockers. Many apps let you reserve in advance. (and obviously, load all the apps on your phones).

---Early / Late Departures versus Arrivals. Consider what you want and can do in the early AMs and late nights in your locations. Maybe you want another half day in Venice or you want to be in Rome for a sunset dinner.

---Whenever you do get on the train, use the train time as time to relax, review upcoming plans, treat yourself to first class, social media, etc.

---Check the lodging in / out times and look for flexibility and / or longer windows.

----Check when the museums / sites are open and closed and plan accordingly. (i.e. if in Florence for three days, being there on a Monday might be a problem, etc.).

-- Pacing ---Since you will probably end your tour in Rome, where do you want someplace like Venice - at the front of the vacation or would you like to be a break between Florence and Rome?

---Do what you want to do! If you have concerns, find another solution. If it feels right, do it!

A couple of comments:

Check when the museums / sites are open and closed and plan
accordingly. (i.e. if in Florence for three days, being there on a
Monday might be a problem

Absolutely, this is a must if working with tight itineraries. Also, don't use guidebooks for those checks as things are pretty fluid due to COVID so what's in a book might not be current. Go directly to the official websites for open/closed dates/hours. Italian STATE museums are generally closed on Mondays; other museums are generally close at least one day a week.

Whenever you do get on the train...treat yourself to first class...

Maybe a personal preference but we've never felt the need to spend the extra for 1st class and have found the 2nd class carriages of Italian "fast" trains to be just fine; MUCH more comfortable than coach seats on a plane! I might spring for an upper price-tier carriage only if the cost difference between the two is small. You will want "fast" trains for journeys between Rome and Venice, Venice and Florence, and Florence and Rome. Use either the Trenitalia or Italotreno sites for bookings, whichever of them has the desired departure time and price as both have speedy trains that run regularly between these cities. The CT is a bit different; ask about that one if you decide to spend at night at one of the villages there.