VFR Alumni and your recommendations for non-tour activities

Not a tour alum, but have been to Venice and Florence. For Venice, I’d recommend taking a vaporetto over to the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, visiting the Palladio-designed church (which regularly hosts modern art), and taking the elevator up the bell tower for incredible views. Also, you could visit the Squero di San Trovaso, a gondola boatyard. You can email them to arrange a tour. Right across the canal from them is my favorite cicchetti bar.
For Florence, I’d suggest the Museo San Marco, the Bargello (sculpture museum), and San Miniato al Monte.

I've done Best of Italy and Heart of Italy but not VFR.

For Venice, I in particular wanted to see the Canaletto paintings that are in his home city so I visited the Ca' Rezzonico Museum. That might not be of interest to you at all. I also booked entry to St Marks as well as the Secret Itineraries tour of the Doges Palace. This was last October, early but it was still pretty hot and I felt it was fairly stifling in the Doges Palace. Your sensitivity to heat may be vastly different from mine. In past visits to Venice I also walked out to the green space at the end of the island near the Biennale area.

Florence - In the past I've been to the Galilleo Museum which was wonderful. This was well before Covid so not sure if you need timed entry or not. This last time I went to the Basilica Santa Croce where Galilleo and Michelangelo are both buried along with some notables. I've never had enough time to get over to the Boboli Gardens/Palace.

Rome - Last time I stayed an extra day and was able to get a ticket to enter the Domus Aurea, Nero's Golden Palace which is now buried. That was fascinating. It's only open Fri/Sat/Sun as the other days it is an active archeological dig. I also went to the Borghese Gallery. Someone here on the forum had posted a youtube video about Bernini and I was "gob-smacked", lol. I HAD to see the Rape of Proserpine. It was every bit as magnificent as the youtube narrator led me to believe, lol. I've done the Capitoline Museum several times and enjoy that a lot.

I am a museum person so my likes may not resonate with you! Have a wonderful time!

I had several extra days in Venice and in Rome before and after this tour, so I got to do a lot. In Venice, that included the Frari Church, Ca' Rezzonico, Naval Museum, Ghetto, Santa Maria Salute, San Giorgio Maggiore, and a day trip to Padua. In Florence, I skipped the cooking class to visit the Bargello, Or San Michele, Duomo Museum, and the Medici Tombs. In Rome, I went to the Borghese, Capitoline Museum, Ara Pacis, National Museum of Rome (the one near Termini), Baths of Diocletian, and Ostia Antica.

This is a great tour but I'm glad I got some extra days on each end of it. During the tour, it helped to have a plan for each block of free time so I could move onto it without delay. Some of my tourmates seemed unsure what to do, and ended up hanging in cafes or taking unstructured walks. Nothing wrong with that if you're tired or a less relentless tourist than me. ;-)

We've always found that we enjoyed using our free time to just wander, shop, and stumble across unplanned things, like a free concert in a church hall or just a nice park to decompress from the tour. But, on the VFR we also enjoyed the markets in each of those cities, as well as the leather market in Florence. Sometimes I'm saturated with art, architecture and history, and want to be around real, contemporary life.

One of my favourite stops in Venice is the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. It’s got a small sculpture garden as well as interesting displays of modern art plus some of the original furnishings from when it was her home. I find it refreshing after all the Renaissance and religious art that abounds in Venice. There is a nice cafe in the garden for a light lunch.

Please note that the Ca'Rezzonica has been closed for renovations, so check the website for current info. We were so disappointed - had wanted to tour the palace this past spring. Maybe next trip!

@Pat! Oh my...so sorry I might have given misleading information! I must have gotten in right before the closure last Fall...it looks like from my notes I visited 10/5. I think from their FB page they are open now although I was not able to get the ticket page to work to buy a ticket (no need to pre-buy a ticket here but just wanted to see if it worked!). Oh yes, now delving into their website, I see they reopened June 27 after the closure to repair flood damage. I can see how the ground floor is easily flooded. The terrace out back is right at canal level.

This was an interesting and uncrowded museum. Also a little difficult to find so CityMapper is recommended, lol!!

A day trip to Padua via train is worthwhile.

This is a great tour, I did it in 2015, I arrived a day early and bought a one day vaporetto pass and made my way out to Murano and wandered into all the glass shops I could, then rode the entire length of the grand canal and went up the tower at San Giorgio. During some free time from the tour several of us went into the Doge’s Palace which I enjoyed enough to revisit on my visit last year. In Florence my free time was spent climbing to the top of the Duomo, and also shopping for a leather jacket. In Rome I stayed after the tour and visited Ostia Antica, then walked down the Appian Way and visited some sites there.

In Rome stay an extra day and get tickets to the Borghese. There are timed tickets only and while we were on our VFR tour the timing of our day in the Vatican ( when I would have booked it) changed at the last minute and we would have missed an afternoon slot. Book a tour as our guide on the Rome tour offered so much info and insight.

By far the most amazing thing we did was go under St Peters for the Vatican excavation tour. You see the bones of St Peter and an ancient necropolis. They only allow 12 people at a time. It is hard to describe the experience but it was the highlight of our trip. To get to be in such a holy space with only 4 people while thousands were walking above us was truly amazing. You reserve by emailing the excavation office and pay about $20 a ticket. Here is the link to the office.

http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en/ufficio-scavi.html

https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/The-Vatican-Scavi-Tour-Visiting-the-Necropolis-of-St-Peters-Basilica

In Venice, the Jewish Ghetto is an off the beaten path spot that has quite a history. It may be closed due to renovations, so check before you go if interested. In Rome, a short day trip to Ostia Antica is well worth a half day of free time.

Thank you all for the great suggestions. We've booked tickets for the Bell Tower at St. Mark's, the tour of St. Mark's Basilica, the Secret Itineraries Tour of the Doge's Palace, the Giotto Pass in Florence, and the Borghese Gallery. We're staying 2 extra days in Rome after the tour ends and are going to Ostia Antica on one of those days.

We also plan to go to the Bargello Museum (gosh, I wish it didn't close at 2...as it is, we'll probably skip the cooking class just to fit it in that day) and to the Galileo Museum after the Uffizi.

The VFR cooking class is a lot of fun and was one of the highlights of our RS Tour- don't skip it!

...going to Ostia Antica on one of those days.

If you get an early start and are on site when it opens, you should have plenty of time to have a good experience, and still be back in Rome by early afternoon.

Right now, the plan is to head to Ostia Antica right after breakfast on Day 10. When we take the train back, we want to stop and explore the Testaccio neighborhood and, especially, the “Protestant” Cemetery where Shelley and Keats are buried.