Advice about Italy - travel time between Florence/Rome/Venice - costs - where to go, what to see, etc.?

Question

I am going on a week long trip to Italy with my boyfriend & his family next summer. We're considering staying in Florence, & making a couple day trips to Rome and Venice depending on how far away they are. Questions: what's the estimated travel time between Florence & Rome, & Florence & Venice? Best way to travel between cities, and appx. cost? How will the weather be in June/July? If you live in or have been to Italy, what are some good local spots to site see and/or eat at that might not be crawling with tourists?

ANY advice about costs, food, what to wear, where to go, etc. will be greatly appreciated!!!

Answer 1

I live in Naples, Itay and have booked many trips for my family when they came to visit me!! We drive everywhere but I can drive a stick which is a big help. Since most cars are stick. If you want to rent a car we go though Europcar www.europcar.com and we never had a problem and they do speak some english.  I have taken my family to all of these places plus some in a week and this is what I did It is about 2-2 1/2 hours between Rome and Florence and 2 1/2-3 hours between Florence and Venice. In Rome we usually spend two days. The first day we do all the ancient city side of the city the colousum, Roman forum, the "spainish building next the roman fouram all the things in that area. The second day (1/2 da) we do vaction city the musuem and then the church. It seems to work out well. For the musuem you must get there really early in the morning becuase the line gets really long and you can not buy tickets in advance and they close at like 2 or 3 for there break time. They also have a double decker bus tour  which we do for the other part of the day) that you can do which we did once and you hoop on and off all day all over the city and they also give you a tour of the city in English i think its around $20 for the day. In Florence we spend one day its kind of small we go to Michalgo plazza to take pictures of the city because it over looks the city and is a great place to stop. Then walk though where the famus art musuem is and there is a square there which is nice. Ponte  VEcchio (big bridge over the river) has tons of jewerely store Florence is known for gold and leather. Then there is the Dumo and the leather market all of this can be done in one day. If you want to go to the art museum or see the real david struture need to get tickets in advance I usually get them at www.selectitaly.com but I didn't really like the art musuem I really though the vatican musuem was way better. and the daivd struture you pay a lot  to walk around it and thats about all. In Venice we spend one day and I would go to San Marco church /square the square has lots of shopping but its costly u can find the same stuff other places cheaper thoughout venice the square also has a bell tower you can go into and the view is awesome from the top the church is cool too. VEnice has lots of shopping for glass and crsytal things. You can do a gondala ride but they are expernice it cost us E80 for 2 people for 20-25 mintues. It cost more the more people you have. Venice is very very experience to do anything in.

Now You can also take the train but it can be a pain with luggage and lots of people in a group. the price of the train tickets depends on the type of tickets you buy and I can't really tell you how much that will cost you. The website is www.eurorailways.com for more ticket infor. I would firgure at least E15-20 for lunch and dinner if you are in a tourist area. Breakfast is usually just a roll and cafe maybe E5. Lunch is usually a sandwich or pizza and a drink and dinner can be anything from pasta to several couses depending on what you want to do. The weather in June and July should be hot hot hot. What to wear. GOOD walking shoes.  You can not wear shorts or tanks in any churches or the vatican museum so you must have your knees and shoulders covered. Most italians dont wear shorts or gym shoes but americans do for the most part and its becoming more and more accpeted here. The pickpocketers and gipses are really bad so go and get a money belt for under your clothes to keep your money and passport in because I know lots of people that have had everything taken when over here. Hope this helps and good luck. I also use www.selectitaly.com to find hotels to and they have some for all the cities you are talking about and they are usually cheap.

Answer 2

The advice from maxmarm8 is all excellent - just a couple of details to add.

If you use the Italian language interface on the train site, you have to use the Italian place names Firenze, Roma, Venezia rather than the English versions. The English interface for the trenitalia site is: http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html You can use the English names there.

Check the train website for special offers when it's nearer to you're travel date. There are sometimes good deals.Right now some tickets to Munich or Budapest are as low as 29 euro. Switzerland is as low as 19 euro.

The Eurostar from Florence to Rome is 1.5 hours (33 euro each way 2nd class). Florence to Venice is 2.5 to 3 hours (30 euro each way 2nd class). The intercity prices are about 7.50 euro less with a seat reservation (in some cases mandatory). A regional train from Florence to Rome is only 14.90 euro, but it takes 3.5 hr to get there because it makes frequent stops.

In Florence, try the fiorentina (steak), ribollita ( a peasant soup) and for dessert cantucci and vin santo. In Florence, see the main attractions in the guide books, but take time to walk up to Piazza Michelangelo enjoy the view, then continue to San Miniato al Monte (the church on top of the hill that you can see from the street along the Arno. Then walk back down through the rose garden. The Orsanmichele is also worth seeing.

Answer 3

I live in Padova, 40 km from Venice. Staying in Florence is a good choice. Its center is not too big, you can go around by foot and there is a lot too see, even without getting into museums.

So, Florence to Venice is about 3 hours with the train, which is definetely the best way to travel in Italy. If you like to be comfortable, get the Eurostar type of train. It makes a few stops (Bologna, Ferrara, Rovigo, Padova, Venice), has air-conditioning and an assure place (reservation is mandatory). For costs and time schedules go to www.trenitalia.it and fill in "partenza" (start) and "destinazione" (destination) and see trains and costs between any city.

The same type of train would be in Rome in a couple of hours

IC trains have air conditioning as well, but no mandatory reservation... the risk is they have more people than seats. However you can reserve on those as well. They cost less and takes longer

Venice is vey small, is absolutely worh going, you need a full day to see around, that is if you don't want to get into any church (there are more than 100) or museums. Obviously go to San Marco square, but don't be afraid to be lost in any "calle"... small streets of Venice.

Rome needs at least a couple of days just to walk around and see main spots... vatican museums excluded (If you plan to go, dedicate one full day to it).

Nice cities around Firenze to see are Pisa (leaning tower...) and Siena (Palio, i.e. horse race)

June/July is a nice period, though July is a little too warm in the big cities (temps around 30-34°C, with high humidity). Choose June if you can. Both are sunny months with very few thunderstorms.

Buon viaggio

Ciao

Answer 4

I'm currently in Italy for my 8th time so I'll have some of your answers for you.

FOR FLIGHT HOURS: It takes around 8 hours to arrive in any terminal from America to Italy and it takes just over an hour or two to travel from Florence, Venice, and Rome.

ADVICE: Don't take a train to travel nationally. I once took a train from Calabria to Torino which took one day. In that one hot day, the train broke down numerous times and the ar conditioning didn't even work. On top of that, beggers went inside the train between every stop.

BOTTOM LINE: Take a small plane.

--------------------------------------...



WEATHER: June and July will be a scorcher, espeically around Rome; etc. so put on shorts and remember to buy a fan!

--------------------------------------...

PRICES: Well for food, it's so much cheaper then America. As for stuff like electronics, they are usually over priced.

OVERALL: everything is basically cheaper and they are always some friendly Italian that set up little stands to sell there goods (usually one sunday).

--------------------------------------...

Sorry but for airline prices, all I can tell you is that its around $1300 for a (direct flight). I'm still a minor (only 15) so my parents deal with that stuff, lol.

Take Alitalia and avoid Delta. Last summer they completly screwed my dad over with so many delays and such and we had to threaten a law suit to get anything out of them. So many misplaced luggages...