Visiting Italy for 5 days...please help!?

Question

My husband and I have finally managed to geta few days off from work TOGETHER and we are planning to go to Italy for about 5 days. This will be first time in Europe and would love to get the most out of it and would appreciate any advice/suggestions from natives/others.

We will be going to Rome and are then planning to go to either Florence or Venice. I dont know how far these are and whats the best mode of transport, should we do one or both and which one? What are the "must see" places in these places and how do we schedule our days. What areas are the best to stay in and should we rent a car or use public transport or take a taxi? What are the "must do" things while in italy and are there things/places we should stay away from?

We both are vegetarian, so its that going to be a huge problem to find food?

Pls share any experiences, ideas, suggestions.

Answer 1

Hi! I'm Italian. If I were you, after visiting Rome I'd take the train to Venice. Florence is very beautiful, but if you don't have enough time to visit, prefer Venice as it is also  unique in the world for its canals, architecture and history.

While you are in Rome you can take buses, quite cheap, but also keep a taxi telephone number with you, you could prefer to move quickly to gain time.

There are many Eurostar trains from Rome that bring you directly to Venice (4-5 hours far). The Station of Venice is so near the centre that you don't need any transport.

Venice is small so you can visit it in one day and you can also go mostly on foot. Gondolas are VERY expensive, but you can have a beautiful trip among canals with the very cheap water bus: the "vaporetto".

Tips: Many articles in Rome, souvenirs included, are cheaper than in Venice, so if you want to buy dresses or typical food prefer Rome.

When you're in Venice also enjoy the peace of a city without cars!

You don't really need to go to a vegetarian restaurant, you can go almost everywhere and if you say you're vegetarian, the waiter suggests you vegetarian dishes.

I think you could programme you trip this way:

1st Day Rome: Saint Peter's Square with the Saint Peter's Basilica. Vatican City, Vatican Museums.

2nd Day Rome: Roman forum, the Coliseum, and the Domus Aurea.

3rd Day Rome: The Pantheon, Catacombs, Sant'Angelo Castle and of course Trevi Fountain.

Train to Venice.

last day Venice: tour of the center on foot to see the many craftsmen' shop. San Marco Piazza, Ducale Palace, Ca D'oro, Ca Rezzonico, Casanova's House, Arsenale. Tour with vaporetto (water bus)  or Gondola through the canals and under Rialto Bridge.

Then you can decide to go to San Marco Airport in Venice and take a plane to come back home.

Must do: launch a coin in the "Trevi Fountain" in Rome! Also take a photo of the moment. Eat an ice cream at the "gelateria" on the right of "Fontana di Trevi", it's one of the best ice cream I've ever eat.

Have a romantic dinner in a restaurant in the center of Venice. Take a photo with a gondoleer.

Watch your steps, there's no protection near canals.

Shouldn't do: Rome is a big capital with good and bad things: don't get lost in unknown lanes, follow touristic paths.

Welcome to Italy, have a nice stay!

Answer 2

Go to Rick Steves website and look at the itinerary for Italy.  He can tell you everything that you need to know about all of the places to go and see in Rome, Florence or Venice.  

www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/i...

Answer 3

Train is the better choice: http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

explore the site, look carefully here: http://www.trenitalia.com/en/area_client... and also here http://www.trenitalia.com/en/treni_stazi...

Inside Rome, take the subway of buses; in Florence, buses.

Of course you can get a taxi, and of course it's more expensive :)

In five days I suggest you can visit two cities: three days in Rome (way bigger) and two in Florence or Venice should be a good compromise. Remember Florence is a little more than one hour and a half from Rome, while Venice at least four hours.



http://www.ristorantiverdi.it/

http://www.viverevegan.org/guida/ristora...

http://www.veganhome.it/acquisti/locali....

here you can find lists of vegan/vegetarian restaurants by region; you could also post on Veganhome forum (you must register for posting) for any advice; the site is in Italian, but you can post in English and the English speaking people on the forum would be glad to give you some further first-hand advices.

Answer 4

hello

Italy is very different. it depends on where you are, you need different means of transpirtation. if you stay in Florence, you don't need any cars, nor in Venice, nor in Rome. if you want to visit the countryside too, which is very worth, it's nice to drive around and visit places. the big cities are well connected by train - Pisa, Florence, Lucca, Siena, Roma, Venice. I would suggest taxi only in extreme situation. if you are vegetarians dont worry, we, Italians, have many many vegetarian exquisite dishes. for more info about Tuscany, counteyside and maybe vegetariona cookig classes I suggest you to visit www.ariannandfriends.com. have fun!

Answer 5

Hi i'm italian.....i think that if you wanna stay in italy for only 5 day, it's very difficult to see those cities!....florence is about 3 hours of train far from rome, but if you wannna visit venice (in my opinion it is more beautiful than florence) the better choice is to go there by plain..indeed by train is about 7-8 hours from rome...

Answer 6

Well, you could technically see all three cities in these five days, but you will be really tired.  

I loved Florence.  It was by far my favorite city of the three.  This would be my suggestion for 5 days.

1.  Arrive and visit the Trestavere district in Rome.  It's great day or night and very safe.  I believe it was the 72 bus from the Termini, but don't quote me on that.  Have a great late dinner and head back to your hotel for a good nights sleep.

2.  Get up at the crack of dawn and head to the Termini and catch the 110 bus.  It's one of those double decker on/off buses, but it's run by the city, so it's a lot cheaper.  You can hit the Campo di Fiore in the morning, grab some fresh stuff for lunch and head off to most of the major sites in Rome.  Make sure you end your night at the Campo di Fiore, it has great pizza, music and nightlife.

3.  Again, the crack of dawn take a train to Florence.  If you take the Eurostar you should be there in about an hour.  As soon as you get off the train there is another double decker bus that will take you to all the major stops in Florence.  If you have the time make sure you stop at ZaZa.  The food is delish!  

4.  If you can, spend the night in Florence and head to Venice the next morning.  Again do the Eurostar it's a lot quicker.  Just wander around the allies, it's so much fun.  Head back to Rome at the end of the night.

5.  See whatever you missed in Rome and head home sadly.

As for food I would leave the vegetarian at home.  Most of the soups, sauces, and gravies are meat based.  You can definitely not eat meat, but honestly I would let it go for these five days so you can get the best of the cuisine.  I am not saying eat a steak, but don't limit yourself.

Also, I did a ton of research and made myself hugely uncomfortable trying to look like an "Italian".  It was a waste of time.  It seemed like there were more tourists and foreign workers in these major cities that Italians.  Bring comfortable shoes.  Ignore the whole jean thing except if you are visiting a big cathedral.  Walking the stairs at the Duomo in Florence is a feat.  It's worth it, but taxing.  Don't eat anywhere on the beating path, not worth it in most cases.  Drink lots of wine.  Don't pay for busses, I think only tourists pay for them, just get on in the back.  Don't spend too much on hotels, you only sleep in them.  Don't go to Pisa unless you have a real desire to see the leaning building, there's nothing else there.  Don't get sucked into the English walking tours, if you look around every site has either a cheaper audio tour or a pamphlet that will tell you everything.  At the Colloseum walk up to the Palentine hill and get tickets to both, you don't have to wait in line.  If you didn't already book hotels, book them outside of the tourist district.  Definitely get the "Let's Go Italy" book it will tell you a lot more than anyone here could ever.  It was a saving grace when we were there.  And most of all, don't go with expectations, fly by night, and have fun.