Ultimate One Week Italy Itinerary for First Timers

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205 Comments

1. Hi Em, thank you for such a detailed itinerary for first timers like me. I will be travelling with my husband and a 4-year-old, during my birthday month (April) and unfortunately gonna be the easter weekend. Do you recommend we take trains or take taxi, in our case? I am worried about the safety and petty crimes. What do you suggest? Also, if i want to do some budget shopping, where can we look at? Thanks so much in advance for your kind help.

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   1. Hi SheerLL,

      Glad to know you like it!

      The trains I recommend in this itinerary are just between the cities, so a taxi would be too expensive/slow for that. But with a party of 3, taking a taxi between the city center and airport instead of using public transport probably makes sense.

      If you mean within the cities, Rome has a metro, but it’s not really necessary to use it if you don’t mind walking (I only used it to go further outside the center or to do day trips). Florence and Venice are pretty compact, so easy to just walk assuming all in the party are able. And you can of course hail a cab in Rome or Florence if ever needing a quick ride home or somewhere further out with the kiddo.

      As for pickpockets, you should be extra aware of your belongings anywhere that it is crowded, which includes metros. There are some groups that work in metros to try to offer you help buying a ticket while a friend pick pockets you, etc. But the same can happen outside of the metro (for example, don’t accept any plant/rose from anyone offering, it’s a distraction). I like to use a crossbody bag so that I can put my hand over it while walking through crowds. I also don’t use backpacks that have normal/outer zippers. I got one that has the zipper on the inside (the part that hugs your back). But besides that I don’t do anythings special.

      Florence is known for some interesting markets. I mention the main one in the post, but there are also thrift ones and others if that interests you. But I’m not much of a holiday shopper so I’m not an expert on that!

      Hope that helps! And happy early birthday! 🙂

      – Em

      Reply

      1. Thank you so much Em for your quick response and early birthday wishes! I appreciate it greatly 🙂

         If I may clarify,
         1) If I take taxi from FCO airport to anywhere in Rome, the fare is still fixed at 55 Euros, or this is the base fare, with taxi meter pricing in addition?

         2) If i have about 7-8 days, assuming first 5 days are the same as above, do you think a day trip is enough to cover Venice or Milan? Which is a must-visit-cum-stay overnight city, in your opinion?

         3) May I know what do you mean by regional trains? Are you referring to the inter-countries trains (e.g. Italy to Switzerland) or inter-cities like Rome to Venice?

         4) What modes of air/trains transportation we should be looking at when we enter/exit Italy, and where we should stay to minimize luggage hassle (the names of other various passes, if any, and their prices)? This is because my husband and i, we are both over 29 years old, so the Rolling Venice Pass may not be applicable to us. 🙁

         Appreciate your kind advice in advance!

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         1. Hi SheerLL,

            You’re welcome!

            1) The fixed price is between the airport and central Rome (within the Aurelian Walls). You can read more at the official airport site.

            2) For Venice, people do visit as a day trip. I think it’d be more enjoyable as an overnight, but it can be done. It’s 2hrs one way from Florence, though, so I think you’d need an early start and late finish. There aren’t many huge attractions per se in Venice, but I think time to walk around all the narrow streets, maybe ride a gondola, etc. is what’s most enjoyable. Milan’s main attractions are definitely “doable” in a day. It’s actually what I allocate to Milan in my 10 day Italy itinerary and my 2 week Italy itinerary. It’s 1.67 hrs one way from Florence, but I think Milan is more about seeing certain attractions than Venice, which, like I said, is more about taking in the beauty.

            3) Regional is just a type of train within Italy. Italy has regions (Florence and Pisa are in the region of Tuscany, Venice and Verona are in the region of Veneto, etc.). Regional trains operate only within one region. So Florence to Pisa or Venice to Verona. You cannot go from Florence to Venice, for example, on a regional train. Other train types, like InterCity and Freccia, can cross over into multiple regions. Freccia trains are high speed trains and make less stops. Those Freccia are the only ones I recommend in this itinerary (besides the Leonardo express for those wanting to take the train from FCO to Rome).

            4) I don’t recommend air transport in this itinerary, I recommend the Freccia trains to move from city to city and list the station names and time estimates. I have an Italy housing guide to match this itinerary. It gives suggestions for places of various budgets close to each train station, for those that want to follow this itinerary without spending on cabs every time they need to get from the train to the hotel. For Venice, on the same site as the Rolling Venice Pass, you can get a regular Venice transport/vaporetto (water taxi) pass. Or you can also just purchase in person once there. If you stay near the train station, you don’t really need it if you are able to walk, except for the day trip to Burano/Murano that I suggest in day 2 in Venice.

            Hope that helps!

            – Em

            Reply

2. Hello That Travelista

   I am planning a trip to Italy in May. My flights are book but nothing else. Looking to see if you’d like to help me put together a very budget friendly itinerary. We do not drink alcohol but would also LOVE some input on best food options. Here’s what I have
   Departing United States on Sat. May 25th@ 6:00pm Arriving in Venice on Sun. May 26th @ 11:45am. I would basically like to do your One Perfect Week for First Timers Itinerary but start in Venice and end in Rome. I will be departing Rome on June 3rd @ 2:30pm on a flight heading to Thessaloniki. Greece. I would like to get input on transportation options from Venice airport to hotel – which has yet to be chosen, etc. Hope your willing to help.

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   1. Hi Amy,

      I’m not sure if you mean a travel planning service outside of the type of questions I answer here in this comment section. If so, I don’t currently offer that at the moment.

      But it sounds like you have 8 full days (1.5 more days than this itinerary!), so to start in Venice and end in Rome, I would just follow this exact itinerary but do the transportation backwards. For example, I say to take the 2.5 hour Freccia train from Florence to Venice. But you will just take a 2.5 hour Freccia train from Venice to Florence instead. Same for Rome, just reverse the order of the stations.

      As for transportation options between Venice airport and hotel, I actually have a section in this post (at the very end of the Venice section) on the options available to you.

      If your hotel is further away from the train station, you will probably use the water taxi system to get there either from the train area (if you take a cab or bus to the train area first) or from the airport if you choose to take the water taxi the whole journey. You will have to pop your hotel options into Google Maps and see the directions it suggests for you from the airport, in order to see how many transfers on water taxi lines and how far of a walk from the water taxi stop the hotel is. That way you can double-check that you are ok with getting to the hotel before your book it.

      You can also check out my housing guide for Italy that I linked in the post. It matches this itinerary and offers suggestions near each train station. That way, you can just take the bus or a cab from Venice airport to the piazza near the train, avoiding navigating the water taxi system with your luggages. I have different budget options, so you can look at the ones for the budget you’d like.

      With the extra day, you can add a day trip from Florence, for example Florence to Cinque Terre, or Siena, or Bologna or a tour into more rural Tuscany, or a day trip from Rome, for example Pompeii. Or you can use it as an extra night in Venice to catch up on some jet lag, etc.

      I unfortunately don’t really have specific restaurant recs. I don’t really jot that down and I also just eat wherever is open/nearby/in my budget, so they aren’t special places. In my two week Italy itinerary, I list the typical foods from each city/region. So you might want to search the words “what to eat in Rome,” then Florence, and then Venice in that post to see what foods to try in each stop.

      Hope that helps!

      – Em

      Reply

3. Hi! This itinerary is wonderful and so detailed, I love it!

   I’m planning a trip for beginning of May with my husband and we are going for a week. I really wanted to see Venice and he wants to go to Rome. I wanted to try and add the Amalfi coast, but not sure if you have any recommendations? Not sure if that’s even a great time to go, but we were hoping to g to relax a couple days before heading home. We are thing 2 days in Venice, 3 in Rome and maybe 2-3 in Amalfi coast?

   Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

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   1. Hi Linda,

      Thanks for the kind feedback!

      Yes, you could do something like that if you’d like. The Amalfi Coast is a little bit of work to get to, so that’s why I saved recommending it for my longer Italy itinerary. But with 3 nights, or 2 if you are ok with just getting a bit of a taste for it by just seeing the main draw, then it’s definitely doable.

      I’d suggest something like: fly into Venice (2 days) > fast train to Rome (3 days) > travel to Amalfi coast (2-3 days) > fly out of Naples (ideally) or Rome. Or the exact reverse.

      The biggest thing for the Amalfi Coast is where you want to base yourself. In the longer Italy itinerary I linked, you’ll see I have transport deets for Rome to the Amalfi coast and also that I suggest Sorrento for a base and then day tripping around from there. This is mostly due to budget but also because it makes the journey from/to Rome reasonable without any private transport (which can also be pricey). But if you want to stay overnight in Positano, you might take the fast train from Rome to Naples and then a cab from Naples train station to your accommodation in Positano.

      Hope that helps!

      – Em

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4. I am an amputee, and although I wear a prosthetic, I can not walk a long way or do a lot of steps. How will your itinerary fit with these limitations? Also is Italy mobility scooter friendly?

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   1. Hi!

      This itinerary as it is definitely involves a lot of walking and climbing steps! So you will have to modify it a bit.

      This can look like removing either Florence or Venice and saving one for a return trip, in order to do something like 4 days in Rome and 3 days in either Florence or Venice. This would allow you to move more slowly than what I have laid out here and in general make your time more enjoyable in each city. The way I have it is with the goal of maximizing sightseeing in the minimum amount of time necessary, only because that is how many people need to travel due to limited vacation days, not because it’s the most enjoyable schedule. It’s definitely more enjoyable to fit less sights into a day and thus and be able to enjoy proper sit-down lunches every day rather than quick ones, wake up in the late morning rather than at the crack of dawn in order to beat the line at an attraction or catch the earliest train, etc.

      But whether you remove a city or not, I think you will want to remove certain attractions.

      For example, the cupola and campanile in Florence don’t have an elevator, and the cupola in the Vatican basilica only has an elevator part way. (But the campanile in Venice has an elevator!)

      In Rome, the colosseum combo ticket that I link to with the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill is a same-day pass, so that might be too much walking in one day. You might instead want to only enter the colosseum and view the Roman forum from above, or, especially if you add an extra day to two cities, you can look into one of the other combo tickets that allow the entrances to be over two days instead of just one day. The colosseum is obviously the most interesting part. And you can see the Roman forum from above, so you could download a free Rick Steves audio guide and listen to it while looking from above. Palatine Hill is honestly more of a “well, since it’s included in the ticket…!” visit, lol.

      You might also want to think about which museums/churches/palaces are most important to you. I for example am not super into paintings, so I always debate whether it’s worth entering some of the “must-see” museums or not. When I go, it’s usually to be able write about it on this site or due to FOMO, lol. I also usually skip palaces at this point, and paid churches too, because I have seen too many to keep justifying the entry price lol. For example, in Florence, the Accademia with The David can be a pretty quick visit, since there is just one main draw. But the Uffizi on the other hand takes a few hours to get through, so if you, like me, aren’t so into paintings, the Uffizi may be worth skipping. Similarly, the only reason most people visit the Vatican museums is to see the Sistine Chapel painting. So you can decide if the entry/crowds are worth seeing just one thing.

      So if you skip enough attractions, plus the things with many steps, that may be a way to keep my original route of 3 days Rome, 2 days Florence, 2 days Venice without walking as much.

      Lastly, I of course cannot speak from personal experience, but from what I observe, I wouldn’t say Italy is super mobility scooter friendly. I would unfortunately say it’s actually hardly luggage friendly. There are a lot of cobble stones in these historical centers, and Venice has a million tiny bridges (some bigger ones have ramps, the smaller/normal ones don’t). So in Venice, you’ll definitely want to use the water taxi system. It’s pretty compact, so between that and using the water taxis, I hope that should be ok. In Rome and Florence, one suggestion could be the hop on hop off buses, to move between some of the further spots without having to pay for a cab each time. I have seen others using mobility scooters, though, so it’s not that it’s impossible, especially if you have others with you, but I just have to imagine the cobblestones are annoying.

      The train stations do have elevators, but I would give yourself extra time to use them, because I’ve sometimes had to take a some minutes to locate the elevator for a platform.

      That’s everything off the top of my head! I hope that’s been of some help!

      – Em

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      1. Thank you so much for the info and the rapid response.

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         1. You’re welcome!

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5. Loved this detailed one-week Italy itinerary! It’s making me so excited to plan my trip. Thankfully, getting an Italy visa from the UK has been quite straightforward — just need to apply early and have all documents in place. Can’t wait to follow some of these suggestions and explore beautiful Italy!

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   1. Thanks, Susi!

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6. Also, this itinerary is perfect. But I cannot find a company with this itinerary and guided tour. If you have some suggestions, they would be appreciated.

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   1. Hi Ann,

      Thanks for the kind feedback on the itinerary!

      I haven’t looked at or used tour companies for Italy, so I don’t know of one that provides something similar to this. I created this itinerary after several visits to Italy myself, as a “what I would have done in retrospect” first itinerary, so that others could plan and book their own trips based on it. That’s why it has all the links to the train website and attractions’ websites to book everything yourself, the name of the train stations and the order/day to see the attractions, etc. If you want, instead of booking the attractions directly, you could hire a local guide for each day or certain days? And then you would just have the trains and hotels to book yourself?

      Sorry to not be of more help!

      – Em

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7. Do you know a tour guide that has this itinerary seven days Italy?

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8. Hi! What a perfect itinerary for Italy!
   My husband and I are traveling in mid April from Dubai. We have total 13 nights covering 3 nights Amsterdam, 3 nights Paris and remaining in Italy. My concern is- how to cover Italy in 7nights? What is the best way to reach from Paris? And which city to start first? We have flight back to home from Bologna. Your suggestion will be very valuable for us.

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   1. Hi Rafiya,

      Thanks for the kind feedback! Your trip sounds like it will be lovely!

      If it were me, I would do something like: flying into Venice from Paris. Spend 2 nights in Venice. Then, take the fast train to Rome and stay 2-3 nights. To visit Rome only 2 days, just take my “day 1” Rome and tack it onto the end of my “day 3” Rome instead of the “wander” part. Then take the fast train to Florence and stay 1-2 nights. You could also fly into Rome, then go to Venice, then Florence, if the flight from Paris is better into Rome than Venice. But flying into Venice saves you about 1 hour of total train time for the trip, so that’s why I suggested that first.

      Then, the final evening, take the train the Bologna just to sleep, because I personally try to be in the same city as my airport, for peace of mind. You can leave your luggage at your Florence hotel reception (or locker storage somewhere if not), then sightsee all day before picking up bags and taking the train that evening. But if your flight from Bologna is not too early, you could also just take the train from Florence to Bologna Centrale station the day of (which is around 40 min) and then Marconi Express from Bologna Centrale to the Bologna airport (around 10 min).

      Hope that helps!!

      – Em

      Reply

      1. Thank you so much! It’s really helpful. We are trying to add lake como also in our trip. Do u think, will it be a good idea?

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         1. Hi Rafiya,

            You’re welcome!

            You won’t be able to fit everything on this one week itinerary plus Lake Como. For those without time to spend the night on Lake Como, I recommend a day trip from Milan to Lake Como. But that requires at least 1 but ideally 2 nights in Milan, in order to have one full day in Lake Como. So that will require removing either Rome, Venice, or Florence.

            Alternatively, you could remove 1 night from 2 of the 3 primary stops. For example, visiting Venice as a day trip from either Florence or Milan, plus removing one day from Florence or Rome. But at that point, you really will be rushing through and spending a lot of time on trains rather than taking in each location. Because this 7 day itinerary as I have it is already the bare minimum amount of time in each spot.

            Hope that helps!

            – Em

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9. Hello dear, I find your explanation very helpful. We are planning 8 nights 9 days trip to Italy. Starting from Milan -1 night, Venice-2 nights, Florence-2 nights and Rome 3 nights. Will cover Naples’s in day trip. We are first timer in Italy and are planning to do it ourselves. We intend to cover some historical sites. Should we engage with guides or can we do it ourselves? Your guidance will be helpful

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   1. Aditya,

      Glad to know this is helpful!

      You can definitely do your Italy trip without guides, unless you like the information/leading that a guide does.

      I have done guides for specific attractions (like the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pompeii) and audio guides for other attractions (Uffizi Gallery). I have also used “free walking tour” guides (not in Italy, but in other European countries), where the tour is “free” but you tip what you think it is worth at the end. So if it fits your travel style, you can use a guide in part or in full, but it’s not necessary.

      Hope that helps!

      – Em

      Reply

      1. Thankyou for your response and valuable feedback.

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         1. You’re welcome!

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10. Thank you SO much for this one week break down. I’m going for 12 days and so hoping to add in Amalfi coast, Tuscany
    and another place perhaps Naples or Como or Capri (not sure). Can you please send some tips and suggestions for these places as well as you did above? Again, grateful for your advice and information !

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    1. Hi Saavita,

       I’m glad to know this was helpful!

       You can check out my Italy itinerary for 14 days to see how to fit in Capri and the Amalfi Coast. If you remove Cinque Terre and Milan, that will save you 3 days from that 14, bringing it down to 11. You can also base yourself out of Naples in stead of Sorrento, if you want. And then only spend 1 day in for example Positano as a day trip from Naples (via ferry would probably be most comfortable) so that you can spend 1 full day in Naples.

       With the remaining 1 day, you can follow my guide for a day trip to Lake Como from Milan.

       So something like: Rome (3 nights, 2-2.5 full days minimum) > Naples/Sorrento (3 – 4 nights) > Florence, which is a city in Tuscany (1-2 nights, but 2 full days minimum) > Venice (2 nights) > Milan (1-2 night, just to have one full day to day trip to Lake Como).

       Like I mentioned in the line above, Florence is in Tuscany. If what you meant by adding in “Tuscany” was adding in a more rural part, you might consider removing a night from elsewhere to add it to Florence and thus do a day trip into a more rural part of Tuscany.

       Hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

11. Thank you so much for all this information.
    Am planning to visit Europe with my son in August. We have 28 days planning to visit 5 countries (Hungary, Germany, ltaly, France and Spain ) its our first .
    Please advise if the 28days will be enough for 5 countries.
    Thanks Ruth

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    1. Hi Ruth,

       That sounds like a nice trip!

       You can definitely get a good flavor of those countries with 28 days, but it depends on how much you want to see in each.

       For example, if you only visit the 3 cities in this 7 day Italy itinerary and the 5 cities in something like my Spain 10 day itinerary, that brings you to 17 days. So that leaves you with 11 days for the other 3 countries.

       I would suggest 3 days for Paris with one of those being a day trip to Versailles. That brings the tally up to 20 days. I’m not sure if you need to see other parts of France on this trip. If not, that leaves you with 8 days for Germany and Hungary.

       Hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

12. Thank you so much for all of these information and ideas. I’m planning to travel with my two daughters end of this year and this is so useful. Thank you sooooo much

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    1. Hi Madiha,

       Thanks for letting me know that this was useful!! 🙂 Enjoy your trip with your daughters!

       – Em

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13. Hi! Im planning to visit Italy for the first time for my bday.. however, it is in July- do you absolutely advise to not go during this time? I would appreciate your honest opinion and maybe I can save this trip for another time 🙂 and maybe help steer me into a couple other places worth visiting in Europe in July? Also, we only have 6 days of actual exploration +2 days for flying. Thanks so much! i love this itinerary!!

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    1. Hi Marilyn,

       Thanks for the kind feedback on the itinerary!

       I don’t absolutely advise against doing this itinerary in high season. I just advise avoiding it if you can. And if you can’t, like I said in the post, just come mentally prepared for the crowds.

       I went in August on my first visit to Rome, just after visiting Paris the same month, and I enjoyed both in spite of the high season crowds. (It was also my first time being a real tourist in Europe though, so I had nothing to compare the crowds to. Nowadays, my tolerance is a quite a bit less, lol. But I also have flexibility to travel in the shoulder seasons nowadays, whereas back then, I didn’t.)

       That being said, this year is Jubilee, which I don’t know a lot about but seems like is going to bring even more crowds than the norm to Rome. So I think that tolerance for crowds is going to have to be a lot higher this summer in particular. You will definitely enjoy this itinerary more in shoulder season of next year if you are able and willing to do that. But whether or not you will NOT enjoy it this July is going to come down to your personal tolerance for crowds and whether you’re a glass half empty or half full type of personal when you travel lol.

       As for alternatives, every place in Europe is going to be at its peak tourism in July, so in order to lessen the impact of crowds, you’ll have to go to less-visited countries and/or less-visited parts of countries.

       Have you considered Portugal? Six days could be a good amount of time there (2 days Lisbon + 1 day trip to Sintra, 2 days Porto, 1 day elsewhere). And its weather should be a lot milder than the spots on this Italy itinerary.

       Northern Spain could also be nice, especially if you are willing to rent a car, starting at San Sebastián and ending on the Atlantic just above Portugal or visa versa.

       Croatia is stunning, but my experience with the walled old town of Dubrovnik in May was on par with Rome in August, so since you are trying to avoid crowds, I’m a little hesitant to fully recommend Croatia.

       Hope some of those ideas help! Feel free to respond back. 🙂

       – Em

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       1. Thank you so much for this!! I really appreciate the advice 🙂 this is going to be my first time in Europe and honestly i am just excited to go anywhere but i really am grateful for the recommendations. And yes! I was actually debating between Italy, Spain, or Portugal. I saw your Spain itinerary as well, but I also saw that you advise against July travels due to really hot summers. But Northern Spain would be nice and then we can try to go again to Barcelona/Madrid another time 🙂 thank you so much! I wish we had longer than 6 days but this definitely helps us!

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          1. Hi Merilyn,

             You’re welcome – I’m glad to know it helped!! You’ll have a lovely time whatever you decide!

             – Em

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14. Hi, were planning a 10/11 day trip to Italy this coming June. I loved reading your blog to get a better idea of everything such as logistics, costs, etc. I would love your input on this schedule that we have.

    Arrive to Venice from the US. Spend 1-1.5 days there. Just see the museums and historical landmarks/bridges from the outside and do a gondala ride.

    Then head to Florence. Thinking to spend 2.5-3 days there. 1-1.5 days for Florence things (again see everything from the outside-skipping out on a trip to Pissa) and do a pizza/pasta cooking class and then 1/2 day to the country/hill top area of Tuscany for a vespa tour.

    From Florence we would go to Rome for 2.5-3 days. Rome is where we would go inside most landmarks and either do a self guided tour via audio or an actual tour. Probably do the Colasseum, Forum, Pantheon in 1 day, then Vatican City the other day. We would squeeze in Trevi Fountain, Trastavere, and Spanish steps on either of the above days.

    Then from Rome we’re thinking to go to Naples. Maybe spend half a day there or 1 night. Unsure what to do there.

    From Naples we would head towards the Amalfi Coast. Train ride then ferry? Not sure if we stay a night in Amafi since I head it is expensive but do a day trip to Amalfiinstead and see the major things? And go back to Naples to fly home back to the US.

    I wold like your input on that order to traveling or if you would suggest anything different. It would get us really close to 10.5 days. Naples to Amalfi is where we are getting confused, especially the actual travel journey of it. We’re not swimmers so Amalfi is more for the view, and maybe dip our toes in the water.

    Can you also recommend an cheese/oil tasting events we can book in either city?

    Also what are the logistics for carrying luggage around if we can’t check into hotels right away?

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    1. We also don’t drink wine so if you have any recommendations for non alcholic drinks to try to places to go for that let us know

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    2. We’re also looking into the option of doing it all in reverse so Naples –> Amalfi –> Rome –> FLorence/Tuscany –> Venice

       Would we plan on using the train as main travel besides the ferry or bus ride from Naples to Amalfi and back to Naples

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    3. Hi Sonum,

       From what you’ve said, I’d suggest something like:

       Venice (2 nights) > train to Florence (3 nights) > train to Rome (3 nights) > train to Naples (2 nights) OR the exact reverse

       I haven’t properly visited Naples yet myself. I’ve just stopped in it twice while passing through, so I can’t personally suggest much. But there does seem to be plenty to see on the day of your first night there.

       On day two, you have two options to day trip to Positano (the main star in the Amalfi Coast) from Naples. You can take a ferry from Naples to Positano if the times work out for how many hours you’d like to be there. I don’t think the summer schedules are up yet. Or you can take land transport. I detail how to get to Sorrento from Naples by train in the “how to get to Sorrento from Pompeii” section of my two week Italy itinerary. Then just below that section, I detail “how to get to the Amalfi Coast from Sorrento.”

       Hotels usually let you drop luggage off at reception if you arrive before the room is ready. You can skim comments in the reviews to double-check.

       I don’t have personal recs for tours but GetYourGuide is one popular site to book things like that in advance. I also don’t drink, but I usually just order water lol.

       Hope that helps! Sounds like it will be a lovely trip.

       – Em

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15. Hello. I find your blog so helpful and detailed which helps so much when trying to squeeze in multiple cities while not missing out. I am going to Italy in September for 6 full days. I am leaning into flying in/out of Rome. I am most interested in the Amalfi Coast. Is it possible to add Florence and/or Venice in there?

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    1. Hi Lorena,

       I’m glad to know this has been helpful! Squeezing in as much as possible without missing out is exactly my goal with my itineraries. 🙂

       With just 6 days, I would actually say you only have time for Rome and the Amalfi Coast, if those are your two priorities. I believe 3-4 days is the minimum amount of time necessary to see the main spots in the Amalfi Coast area and make the effort of getting there worth it (I detail how in my two week Italy itinerary, which you’ve maybe already seen). So that plus another 2-3 days in Rome brings you to 6 days.

       If you want to just do a rushed day trip tour to Positano from Rome, then you could also add in a rushed one night in Florence and one night in Venice before heading back down to Rome. So something like Rome (3 nights: 2 days Rome and 1 day Positano group tour) > Florence (1 night) > Venice (1 night) > Rome (1 night before flight). But if you can return to Italy in the future, and prefer to “see everything” in a city rather than rush through, then I’d recommend saving Florence and Venice for a future north Italy trip and sticking to just Rome and the Amalfi Coast for this trip.

       Hope that helps!

       – Em

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16. Hi Em! We are a family of 5 traveling to Italy for the 1st time in early April. We have 8 glorious days and we land and leave from Milan. Should we follow this itinerary but backwards? Or do you recommend a different itinerary? We definitely want to hit Venice, Florence and Rome as well. We are most likely training it from city to city. Could you also recommend an alternate itinerary that includes Sicily and Amalfi?

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    1. Hi Janice,

       Sounds like a nice time to visit Italy!

       From what you’ve said, I’d follow this same itinerary that I have here for 7 days, but start in Milan with that 1 extra day. So Milan (1 or 2 nights) > Venice (2 nights) > Florence (2 nights) > Rome (2 or 3 nights) > fast train back to Milan for flight home. If you need to free up more time to fit in the transport, you can squish my day1 Rome with my day3 Rome plan and/or remove the Burano/Murano day trip I suggest from Venice.

       As you can see, that’s already pretty packed! So adding the Amalfi Coast would require cutting out at least 2 – 4 nights from Venice, Florence, and Rome. If I absolutely had to suggest something, I’d say that you could try Milan (1 day) > fly to Naples > transfer to Sorrento (2-3 nights – day trips to Positano, Capri, and/or Amalfi each day) > train to Rome (2-3 nights) > train to Florence OR Venice (1-2 nights) > train to Milan for flight.

       Doing Sicily justice will be difficult if flying in and out of Milan with just 8 days. You might have seen on the map that Milan is very high north, just below Switzerland, and Sicily is the furthest south possible, just above Africa. So it’d require another two domestic flights. But, again, if I absolutely had to suggest something, I’d say that you could try Milan (1 day) > fly to Palermo or Catania (3-4 nights in the area of your choosing) > flight to Florence (2 nights) > train to Venice (1-2 nights) > train to Milan for flight. That way, you could save Rome to combine with the Amalfi Coast on a future trip.

       Hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Thanks Em! I actually meant if you could give me a 2nd separate itinerary from Milan to Sicily and/or Amalfi and any other cities you think we could squeeze in in our time frame.

          Reply

          1. Hi Janice,

             I’m not sure I understand what you mean by itinerary from Milan to Sicily. Do you want to travel between the two over land only and then fly back to Milan from Sicily on the last day to get home? Or do you mean an itinerary including only Milan and Sicily, and maybe Amalfi Coast if possible?

             – Em

             Reply

17. Hello. I quite enjoyed reading your one week guide to touring Italy and subsequent comments. All so very helpful as planning a first time European trip can be overwhelming. We will be in Italy for two weeks and staying at a villa in Montefalco for 6 days for a family wedding. We arrive in Rome 2 days before checking into the villa. We plan to visit Rome for the historical significance, then off to Florence, Venice and perhaps Amalfi Coast or Cinque de Terre. Further my son and girlfriend don’t care for churches and museums so only visiting such in Rome. Question – is it possible to have day trips/return to from Montefalco to see other cities on my list. Maybe only Florence? Is this itinerary too ambitious? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thank you

    Reply

    1. Hi Charlene,

       I’m glad to know this has been helpful!

       From what I see, it’s going to be difficult to day trip to the spots you have mentioned from Montefalco. It seems to be a 2.5hr drive each way to Florence, so I wouldn’t put that in the day-trip-able category.

       But you could do something like Rome (2 days) > Montefalco (6 days) > Florence (1-2 days, since you seem to not want to enter anything there, you might be fine with just 1) > Cinque Terre (2 days) > Venice (2 days). I think Cinque Terre will be easier to include than Amalfi Coast because it is in the same direction-ish (north) as Florence and Venice relative to Rome and Montefalco, whereas Amalfi Coast is the furthest south of everything listed.

       If you feel short on time, you can also consider this itinerary for a day trip to Cinque Terre from Florence. Then you could tack that second night in Cinque Terre elsewhere, in case you need it for a travel day, for example.

       It seems like the closest train line stop to Montefalco is Foligno. So if you are without a car, it seems that would be your stop between Rome > Montefalco and then Montefalco > Florence. If you will have a car, you could drive Rome > Montefalco > Florence and then drop off the rental in Florence OR return back to Rome to drop off the car and then take the fast train up to Florence from Rome. I’m sure there are cute smaller towns you could day trip to from Montefalco if you will have a car rental, but just not any of the bigger name destinations like you’ve mentioned.

       Hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

18. Hello. I quite enjoyed reading your one week guide to touring Italy and subsequent comments. All so very helpful as planning a first time European trip can be overwhelming. We will be in Italy for two weeks and staying at a villa in Montefalco for 6 days for a family wedding. We arrive in Rome 2 days before checking into the villa. We plan to visit Rome for the historical significance, then off to Florence, Venice and perhaps Amalfi Coast or Cinque de Terre. Further my son and girlfriend don’t care for churches and museums so only visiting such in Rome. Question – is it possible to have day trips/return to from Montefalco to see other cities on my list. Maybe only Florence? Is this itinerary too ambitious? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thank you

    Reply

    1. I’ve responded to your other comment. 🙂

       Reply

19. I would like to know your thoughts on Pompeii & Herculaneum?

    Reply

    1. Hi Eva,

       I include Pompeii in my 14 day Italy itinerary, because that amount of days allows for more time to see the next tier of “must-sees” in Italy. I haven’t visited Herculaneum yet but I’d love to to compare the two. I hear it is smaller but actually better preserved than Pompeii, but Pompeii is of course the more famous site.

       You can visit on a day trip from Rome (just use the steps in the 14 day itinerary from Rome to Pompeii and then do the exact reverse to get back). You’d of course then have to add a day to this one week itinerary to still fit the other 3 stops in, or remove a day if you only have seven. If doing that, I’d consider squishing my day 1 Rome and day 3 Rome into one day and/or removing the Burano/Murano day trip from Venice.

       Hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

20. Em, excellent write up for a week in Italy for a first timer! We have never been to Europe! We are planning an Italy trip, possibly in April during spring break. We will have 8 days, 2 days for flights leaving 6 days to visit Italy. Rome, Florence and Venice in a week sounds nice. We don’t mind skipping Vatican. I was more interested in the day trip to Cinque Terre which sounds like fun and also see some country side in
    Tuscany. We like the idea of using trains. What would be a good way to modify this trip?
    Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Hi Mohan,

       Thanks for the kind feedback!

       Since my suggestion here is for 7 days and you aren’t interested in the Vatican, that brings things down to 6 days, which is exactly what you have. So any additions like Cinque Terre or venturing off into the Tuscan countryside will require you to subtract from either Rome, Florence, or Venice.

       I personally wouldn’t take any more days away from Rome.

       If you aren’t interested in the day trip to Burano and Murano from Venice that takes up most of day #2 there on this itinerary, you can plan to visit Venice for just one day and squeeze everything else that interests you into that. That would free up one day to do a day trip to Cinque Terre from Florence.

       If you don’t plan to enter the Uffizi (it warrants more time than the Accademia) nor enter everything else, you could try to squeeze what’s most important to you in Florence into one day, too. That would then free up a day to visit the countryside from Florence. You could book a tour or hire a car for a day. If you book a tour that doesn’t take the whole day, you could always continue exploring Florence after returning from the excursion.

       So it could then be something like: Rome (3 nights) > Florence (3 nights) > Venice (1 night)

       Hope some of those suggestions help!

       – Em

       Reply

21. Thanks a mil for sharing the itinerary and the plan. It’s very impressive.

    So I’m planning to do 9 day trip, along with your itinerary what other places can I go to?

    I’m starting at Venice then Florence and Romw

    Reply

    1. Hi Adi,

       Thanks for the kind feedback!

       If it were me and going to be a month with decent weather, I’d add Cinque Terre (but base myself in La Spezia). I’m not sure if you’ve checked out my 10 day Italy itinerary, but I’d basically suggest that minus Milan. So Venice > Florence > La Spezia (either direct from Florence or with the half-day stop in Pisa for the photo op) > Rome. There are a few direct trains between La Spezia and Rome.

       Alternatively, you could just add one extra night to Florence and one extra night to Rome and do a day trip from each. From Florence, you could day trip to Cinque Terre, Sienna (I recommend going by bus instead of train), San Gimignano, Pisa, or book a tour/rent a car and venture off into the Tuscan countryside and do some wine tastings etc. From Rome, you could do a day trip to Pompeii and/or Herculaneum. I explain how to get from Rome to Pompeii in my two week Italy itinerary.

       Hope some of those suggestions help!

       – Em

       Reply

22. Hi,
    Good day to you. We are planning a family trip, husband& wife and 3 kids, (Age17, 14, and 12). We like your 7 day plan. We are arriving on the 28 in Roma and 3 days later to Florence and last 2 days to Venice. Flying out on the 8th March from Roma. Will return to Roma on the 7th night. Landing in Roma 2pm on 22nd. I m not sure if the kids will like Venice ?
    If you have any other recommendations.. pls do share. Thanks

    Reply

    1. Hi Suresh,

       I’m glad to know you like my 7 day plan!

       I guess to give you personalized suggestions, I would need to know why you think your kids might not enjoy Venice. Do you think it’s too much to just look at / walk around, compared to other stops on this itinerary with more things to enter or “do”/tick-off?

       If so, you might consider just spending one night in Venice, doing a gondola ride that afternoon or evening (which I don’t see why the kids shouldn’t enjoy! 🙂 ) and entering the main sites that interest you. With the extra day freed up, you could add another night to Rome or Florence. If you think the kids might find Pompeii and/or Herculaneum interesting, you can visit them as a day trip from Rome. With an extra day in Florence, you can take a day trip to Pisa, which the kids might enjoy for the photo op.

       You could also just throw in an activity your kids might like, like a cooking class in any of the stops, or glass blowing class in Murano (the day trip from Venice), etc.

       Hopefully some of those ideas help!

       – Em

       Reply

23. Hi,
    Good day to you. We are planning a family trip, husband& wife and 3 kids, (Age17, 14, and 12). We like your 7 day plan. We are arriving on the 28 in Roma and 3 days later to Florence and last 2 days to Venice. Flying out on the 8th March from Roma. Will return to Roma on the 7th night. Landing in Roma 2pm on 22nd. I m not sure if the kids will like Venice ?
    If you have any other recommendations.. pls do share. Thanks

    Reply

    1. I’ve responded to your other comment. 🙂

       Reply

24. Hi there! Our first trip to Rome is coming up soon, and I’m so excited! I was hoping you could help me figure out the online ticket system for the Colosseum. From what I understand, tickets are released 30 days in advance (underground and arena) but I’m unsure of the exact time they become available for purchase.

    I saw on their website that they open at 8:30 AM Rome time, which is 11:30 PM for me since I’m nine hours behind. I’ve also tried checking the site at midnight my time (which is 9:00 AM in Rome), but I still haven’t been able to pinpoint when the tickets go live.

    Any insights or tips you could share would mean so much to me—I really appreciate your help!

    Reply

    1. Hi Brenda,

       For some reason, the colosseum’s site isn’t loading for me at the movement, on neither my laptop or phone. I’ll see if it fixes itself tomorrow and will follow up with you!

       But I don’t know that there will be info available on what time tickets are released. For example, with the Last Supper painting in Milan, which really can be difficult to snag tickets for, I couldn’t find that info or guess it myself from the calendar. I don’t think the colosseum is as intense to get tickets for, though, and I think you should be fine to get tickets without purchasing them the second they are available. But as I said, I’ll plan to get back to you once I can load the site…!

       – Em

       Reply

    2. Hi Brenda,

       Just doubling back to say I still can’t get the colosseum site to load for some reason! But if you can, like I said, I don’t think this attraction is one that needs to be purchased the second tickets go live, if that helps at all.

       Enjoy your trip!

       – Em

       Reply

25. This is awesome and very helpful and thank you so much for sharing. We will be taking a cruise between Rome and Ravenna next year and are planning on spending a week exploring Italy before or after the cruise.. The itinerary has stops in Portofino, La Spezia and Salerno as well as Beginning and ending in Rome and Ravenna. I’m trying to put together an itinerary that gets my family members who haven’t been to Italy to the sights in Rome, Florence and Venice with maybe a wine day in Tuscany and/or a day in Naples somewhere in there. We’ll probably spend two or three days days in Rome (depends on if we take a train to Naples for a day) before starting towards Venice / Ravenna.

    Your advice is going to be very helpful and thanks again again. I also would like to say you have a very well done and impressive website!

    Reply

    1. Hi Byron,

       Thanks so much for the kind feedback! And I’m glad to know I could help in what sounds like is going to be a very awesome trip next year!

       – Em

       Reply

26. This helped me so much! I have a trip to Italy planned in a little over a week and I had the few basic things planned, but I didn’t really know what I should go see until I found your blog. And the fact that you broke down how many days in each city and how to travel between them was seriously trip saving! I can’t wait! Thank you so much for helping me plan!

    Reply

    1. Hi Alex,

       I’m glad to know I was helpful in your planning! I hope you love your trip to Italy!!

       – Em

       Reply

27. Thank you for posting this information. This would be my first trip to Italy and it’s very overwhelming to try to plan. My question is how much walking is involved? My mom is mobile, but almost 80 years, so I need to make sure she’s able to get around.

    Reply

    1. Hi Traci,

       It is quite a bit of walking (minus day one) and a pretty go-go-go itinerary…! You can always cut things out, though, or hire transport to make it easier on the legs.

       For example, you don’t have to climb up to the view points like the Florence Duomo and Campanile or the Venice Campanile. In Rome you can enter just the Colosseum instead of also the Roman Forum and Paletine Hill (I rank them as Colosseum, Forum, Paletine Hill). Museums are also quite a bit of standing, even if not always a lot of distance covered, so you can debate the Vatican Museums and the two galleries in Florence (the Academia can be quite a quick visit though, since there is only one main draw).

       There are also hop on hop off buses, which I have never used, for Rome and Florence. In Venice, using the water taxis (you can look up routes on Google maps when there) would save going up and down bridges if too many stairs could be annoying.

       I hope some of that helps!!

       – Em

       Reply

28. Is January 2025 going to be a busy time to visit Rome due to the Jubilee? What is the weather is January? Thank you for the itenerary it will be so helpful!

    Reply

    1. Hi Julie,

       I’m glad to know the itinerary has been helpful!

       I’m not sure about how much busier than usual it will be in Jan, since Jubilee seems to span such a long time. But I have read that monuments have been covered up this year as they renovate them. I imagine that should all be done by when Jubilee starts this Christmas? But I’m not particularly knowledgeable about the celebration, I have to say!

       As for weather, it’s much milder than winter in central Europe or the mid/north part of North America. You can google “Rome monthly weather” to see the typical high and low average as well as typical number of rainy days.

       Hope some of that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

29. This is amazing! Thank you soo much for all this, its been extremely helpful! My husband and I are planning our honeymoon in Italy and are going for the end of November for 7 days. I’m curious to understand if you think that we should explore the South of italy more than the north? I am concerned about the weather/floods I’m reading around Venice. We also aren’t big on seeing so many churches and museums. In this case would you still recommend we visit Florence and Venice after Rome? If not, where do you suggest we go after Rome?

    Reply

    1. Hi Sahilaa,

       I’m glad to know this has been helpful!

       Yeah, the thing with Venice is that it’s really just up to chance – it may rain a lot, it also may not rain at all, so that risk will technically always be there no matter when you visit unless you are booking a week or two out. There just may be statistically higher chances of it happening in certain months over others!

       As for churches and museums, Florence is still a nice city if you decide to not view the two main art galleries and not enter the main church to view the famous dome. The church’s dome is more famous for the architectural feat that it was than for the artwork painted within it. You can always just spend one day in Florence and then use the second day to day trip elsewhere in Tuscany, like Siena or San Gimignano, since you’ll have more time if you cut out the museums and church-related things. It’s also known for leather markets and such, if you like that.

       As for the south, I was booked to spend all summer there this year, but unfortunately had to change plans due to a fam emergency, so I can’t speak personally on it (yet!). But going further than the Amalfi area to somewhere like Sicily will probably make more sense with a domestic flight, so I’d in part make your decision on if you want to add two more flights to a week-long trip. If you do, you might consider flying to Palermo and including a day trip from there to the valley of the temples, or flying into Catania and day tripping to Taormina, Mt. Etna, Syracuse, and/or Noto Valley.

       I know I didn’t answer your questions directly, but hopefully those things to consider help a bit as you weigh your pros and cons!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Thank you soo much!1

          Reply

          1. You’re welcome!

             Reply

30. Hi! So glad to come across your site. Great recommendations! I’m planning my first trip to Italy coming December. Flying into Milan first, then Florence, Venice and flying out from Rome. Would love to hear your opinion and suggestions on this route? Also, how should I spread out my itinerary over ten days? Thank you!!

    Reply

    1. Hi Melo,

       I’m glad you like the site!

       Your route sounds fine, but you would save around 2hrs of total train travel time doing Milan > Venice > Florence > Rome instead.

       I would allocate 3 days to Rome, 2 days to Florence, 2 days to Venice, and 1 day to Milan to start. That gives you 8 days and is enough to see the main things. With the extra two days, I would tack them onto whichever stop(s) of the four interests you more. From Florence, you could do some Tuscan day trips like Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, etc. so that might be a good option for an extra night or two. From Rome you could day trip to Pompeii. From Milan you could day trip to Verona, Bologna (Bologna also could be from Florence), Bergamo, etc. Or you could just use the two days to go slower in any bit of the trip that feels too rushed to you.

       Hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Yes certainly. Many thanks!!

          Reply

          1. You’re welcome!

             Reply

31. Absolutely fabulous information and directions!!! It will be my first trip and looking forward to 2025 vacation.
    I appreciate how detailed you covered Rome, Florence, and Venice in just one week, advice on how to get around. Very, very helpful. I have been searching the web, and your blog has been the best, easy to read and follow. Thanks much

    Reply

    1. I think your comment posted twice 🙂

       Reply

32. Absolutely fabulous information and directions!!! It will be my first trip and looking forward to 2025 vacation.
    I appreciate how detailed you covered Rome, Florence, and Venice in just one week, advice on how to get around. Very, very helpful. I have been searching the web, and your blog has been the best, easy to read and follow. Thanks much

    Reply

    1. Hi Bridgett,

       Thanks for your kind feedback! I’m glad to know you like the itinerary 🙂

       – Em

       Reply

33. Have you considered skipping the typical tourist destinations in Italy and exploring lesser-known regions off the beaten path for a more authentic and unique experience?”,
    “refusal

    Reply

    1. Hi,

       Yes, I have! I’ve visited plenty of lesser-known places in Italy that I haven’t written about, and even some that I have. It’s the whole reason I left my previous career – to not be limited in the amount of time or season I could travel places.

       But for a one week Italy itinerary for first timers, as this post is named, who probably only have limited vacation days per year and might not be able to make a repeat visit back to the country, I’d personally recommend visiting the three biggest destinations.

       – Em

       Reply

34. Whoa, this is such a thorough and practical schedule for visitors to Italy for the first time! I appreciate how well you covered Rome, Florence, and Venice in just one week, along with some excellent advice on how to get around without a car by taking the trains. You’ve made some excellent recommendations for traveling during the shoulder seasons. It’s obvious how much effort you’ve put into making sure everything goes well and is pleasurable. I will definitely keep this for my upcoming vacation!

    Reply

    1. Hi Shilpa,

       I’m glad to know you like it!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Thank you so much for the terrific information you’ve provided. I am planning a nine day trip to Italy in April 2025. Planning to travel with my two 30 yr old sons and their girlfriends. We are food and wine lovers. I was considering a couple of days in Sorrento, but I’m wondering if that’s doable. Maybe I should spend more time in Tuscany. Would you have any advice on planning a nine day trip for some young adults. They are not as interested in seeing so many churches and museums.

          Reply

          1. Hi Rita,

             I’m glad to know you like the post!

             If you guys don’t care for churches and museums, I’d consider asking if you really need to see Florence. If you’d like to see it out of curiosity and to tick it off a list, just a day could be OK, if you won’t enter the Duomo (main cathedral) and the two art main galleries, which are the main draws.

             You could also remove one day from Rome, the 3rd day on this itinerary. It is devoted to the Vatican, which is a church plus its museums. You can just view it from the outside, if you’re OK with that.

             With those 2 – 3 days saved, you can allocate them to Sorrento and do day trips from there to Positano, plus Capri and/or Amalfi. That would be within 7 days still. Since you have 9, you can tack on the 2 remaining days on wherever you feel is most interesting to your group. If you keep at least one day in Florence, you can use it as a base to do 1 – 2 day trips from there, since it is in Tuscany. Siena and San Gimignano are popular, as well as Pisa if you are interested in the photo op. You could also book a tour or rent a car to go into more rural parts of Tuscany.

             You can tack Sorrento on after Rome in the itinerary as I have it written. Or, if you can swing a flight into Naples, you can start there, then go to Rome, then Florence (if you want), then Venice. Or the exact reverse, of course.

             Hope that helps!

             – Em

             Reply

    2. Please help me plan a trip!
       Cmldavis@bellsouth.net

       Reply

       1. Hi Christina,

          I’m not sure if your comment is for me or for Shilpa, since you responded to their comment. If it’s for me, I don’t provide travel planning services at this time. But I’m happy to answer questions you might have in this comments section!

          – Em

          Reply

35. Thank you for putting this detailed itinerary together, it’s like you’ve read my mind 🙂 We’re planning exactly this but we want to give an extra day for Florence as we want to spend a day in the Countryside possibly Sienna and San Gimignano.

    Do you have any suggestions about places to visit or ways of transport? The idea of renting a car scares me a little and feels more like a hustle after reading reviews about people getting ‘scammed’ by rental companies – but then the bus or tours limit what you can see around the area.

    I’m sure we’ll have an amazing time and we’ll be definitely keeping notes from your recommendations 🙂

    Reply

    1. Marsi,

       I’m glad this itinerary is helpful!

       You can definitely do a DIY day trip from Florence to Sienna if you don’t want to do a tour package. You can take the train, but I recommend taking the bus instead (which is what I did). This is because the Sienna bus stop is in the central part of the city, but the Sienna train station is a ways out from the center and would require a cab ride.

       You can buy the tickets in person, close to the area with the main train station. I’m sure your accommodation could help point you in the right direction. I bought my round-trip ticket the morning of, in mid-Sept, but buying it a day or two in advance would be a good idea. I also do see tickets for purchase online, but I can’t speak to those. In any case, just try make sure the Sienna bus station is the one in central Sienna (maybe google maps the name before purchasing)!

       I haven’t visited San Gimignano yet, so I can’t give much help on that day trip. Sienna was very pretty, and I heard from fellow travelers that they liked San Gimignano, too. So you won’t go wrong either way!

       Hope that helps! You’re right – you’re going to have an amazing time!

       – Em

       Reply

36. This is such a helpful guide for first-time travelers to Italy! Love the detailed itinerary for Rome, Florence, and Venice. Planning a trip from Dubai? Don’t forget to sort out that Italy visit visa!

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Shilpa!

       Reply

37. Thank you for sharing your itinerary! It’s incredibly helpful. We’re planning our first trip to Italy and are excited and nervous about the planning process.

    We’re aiming for a 7-day trip, with Rome, Venice, and Florence on our must-see list. Your itinerary is a great starting point. Is it possible to incorporate a visit to the Leaning Tower of Pisa into this plan?

    We look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your help!

    Reply

    1. Hi Brenda,

       I’m glad to know this itinerary is helping you!

       Pisa can be a half-day trip from Florence. You can see train details on how to get there from Florence in my 10 day itinerary for Italy. Then, just do the exact reverse to get back to Florence.

       You would need to take a half-day out of one of the other 3 cities in this itinerary. I would suggest Rome, since I leave some flexibility in your flight arrival time in day one and also the final day after finishing up at the Vatican, or Venice if you want to remove the half-day trip to Burano and Murano and switch that out for Pisa.

       Hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Thank you so much for the helpful information! I appreciate the suggestions and will definitely consider adjusting the itinerary as you’ve recommended. Your guidance is making the planning process so much easier! 🙂

          Thanks again!

          Reply

          1. You’re welcome! Glad to be of help. 🙂

             Reply

38. This itinerary is incredibly detailed and exactly what I needed! It’s clear you’ve put a lot of effort into making this guide as comprehensive as possible, and I really appreciate that. So many itineraries out there just give you the basics, but you’ve gone above and beyond to include everything from how to get from place to place to what to do each day.

    I especially love the tip about validating train tickets—definitely something I wouldn’t have known! And the fact that you’ve included all the transportation details and even a suggested breakdown of days for those with limited vacation time is just perfect.

    I’m definitely saving this for later and can’t wait to use it on my trip. Thanks for putting together such a thorough guide!

    Reply

    1. Hi,

       Thanks for the kind feedback! I really did/do want my itineraries to be comprehensive and save people from toggling between a million different types of sites to put together a game plan, so that’s great to know you feel that they are. You’re going to have a great time in Italy, whenever your trip is!

       – Em

       Reply

39. Reading about Italy always amaze me, such an refreshing write up!
    Thanks

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Nanajee!

       Reply

40. Thank you so much for putting this together. We are planning a trip to Italy sometime end of November and plan to cover everything you have in your itinerary. Do you think Nov is good time to travel Italy or will it be too cold.

    Reply

    1. Hi,

       You might have read in this post that I recommend this itinerary outside of winter. This isn’t due to the temperatures themselves (I personally hate cold/gloomy weather, but I realize that is of course personal preference, and Italy’s winter is milder than many other places in the world), but rather because Venice is prone to flooding when it rains there. But you can just check the forecast closer to your trip to see if it will be raining much in Venice and either pack rain boots or buy them once there.

       If that doesn’t bother you, then you can definitely do this itinerary in December. 🙂

       – Em

       Reply

41. I am planning a trip to Italy next year and this is almost exactly what we were planning. I’m so glad I found your blog; I will be referencing it often while planning!

    Reply

    1. Hi Carrrie,

       Thanks for the kind feedback! I’m glad to know this itinerary will be of help in your planning!

       – Em

       Reply

42. Thank you so much for this itinerary. I am planning a trip to Italy next year, 2025. We are planning on visiting Rome and Venice for sure. I am wondering if you have any recommendations on going to Sorrento or Amalfi Coast. We were considering adding one of these locations to our itinerary. If you have any insight I would greatly appreciate it.

    Reply

    1. Hi Leeann,

       If you haven’t already, you can check out my two week Italy itinerary‘s section on the Amalfi Coast. Start from “Pompeii” and end at “Capri,” and you’ll see all my recommendations for the area. I allocate 3 nights to it to see all the spots I lay out, but you can cut out Pompeii and/or Capri if you either need to fit it into one less day or want to be able to move around more slowly.

       If you decide to keep Capri, in the part of the itinerary about getting to Florence from Capri, you can use the instructions there on how to get to Naples from Capri. From Naples, you can get back to Rome or continue further on up to Venice. You can also look for flights from Naples to Venice.

       I’m not sure where you are coming from, but if you are coming from within Europe or able to get a flight into Naples airport, then I would start there, got to Rome next, and end in Venice (OR the exact reverse order). If you can’t, you can fly into Rome and go to the Amalfi Coast from there.

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. He Em,
          Thank you for curating this amazing itinerary. Senior relatives are considering visiting Italy June 2025 during the Jubilee. They are not as concerned about the warm temperatures. They are concerned about the crowds for some of the historical sights and museums.
          What are your thoughts? Thank you

          Reply

          1. Hi Sheela,

             I’m glad you like the itinerary!

             I know Rome gets very crowded during Easter, which is why, as you might have read in this itinerary, I recommend avoiding it during Easter. So I would image Jubilee will be that x100 lol. So I personally would steer clear of it unless you are looking to partake or observe. Even though people are coming for religious reasons, they will take advantage of being in Rome to enjoy the sites while there, so everything in the city will be more crowded (and accommodation will be more expensive). That being said, the attractions have a set number of tickets per day. So they might sell out quicker and so you might need to book them further in advance, but there shouldn’t be more people INSIDE an attraction than the normal max.

             It seems like there is a lot of construction going on in Rome leading up to Jubilee. So perhaps your family might prefer to visit in September or early October if possible? Once it is over, but still in the shoulder season?

             Hope that helps!

             – Em

             Reply

             1. Thank you Em,

                Very helpful information.

                Reply

                1. You’re welcome!

                   Reply

43. What a great blog! How do you recommend traveling from Milan to Venice? We will be following your 7 day itinerary, but would like to add Milan between Florence and Venice. Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Hi Suzanne,

       Thanks for the kind feedback on the blog!

       I recommend taking the fast trains from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Milano Centrale and from Milano Centrale to Venice Santa Lucia.

       You can also add Milan at the end, after Venice, just so you know that you can look for flights out of both Milan and Venice.

       Have a great trip!

       – Em

       Reply

44. Hello, I’m trying to plan a first trip to Italy with some family members and your blog is very helpful. But we will likely do the trip in the reverse order and are thinking about visiting Cinque Terre instead of Florence. Can you tell me how we would get to Cinque Terre (probably staying in La Spezia) from Venice, and how long would it take?

    Reply

    1. Hi Sharon,

       I’m glad my blog has been helpful! From Venice, take the fast trains to La Spezia, which will require two transfers — one in Florence and one in Pisa. The total journey time should be a little under 5 hours.

       Hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

45. What a fantastic week in Italy! See the Vatican and the Colosseum first in Rome. Then ride the train to Florence to see the history and art. See the countryside of Tuscany before travelling to Venice to see its stunning canals. Come to an end in Milan’s breathtaking Duomo. Savour the ideal fusion of history, culture, and landscape.

    Reply

    1. Hi Fathima,

       I’m glad you like this itinerary!

       – Em

       Reply

46. Hi Em,
    Thank you for curating this amazing itinerary. I’m planning a trip to Italy in October and this is saving me so much time and effort, thank you so much!
    I’m looking forward to a post about your accommodation recommendations.
    As Italy is known for its delicious food, could you please also talk more about where to eat and the must-eat places?

    Thanks in advance,
    Anandita

    Reply

    1. Hi Anandita,

       You’re welcome! I’m glad to know it’s saved you time in your planning! 🙂

       I’m not sure if you’ve taken a look yet at my two week Italy itinerary, but recommends what foods to try in each destination. It has more destinations than this one week itinerary, you can just search “What to Eat in Rome,” Florence, and Venice.

       I don’t have specific restaurant recs, except that for I like the Grom ice cream chain, and that I think Trattoria al Gatto Nero is where Anthony Bourdain ate in an episode of his show where he visited Burano (the day trip from Venice). I didn’t eat there because I wasn’t visiting during their opening hours, but I had it on my list.

       I hope that helps a bit!

       – Em

       Reply

47. Hi Em,
    Thank you for curating this amazing itinerary. I’m planning a trip to Italy in October and this is saving me so much time and effort, thank you so much!
    I’m looking forward to a post about your accommodation recommendations.
    As Italy is known for its delicious food, could you please also talk more about where to eat and the must-eat places?

    Thanks in advance,
    Anandita

    Reply

    1. I’ve responded to your other comment. 🙂

       Reply

48. Hi! We haven’t booked anything yet but we are planning to have 7-10 days trip in Italy. I wanted to know if it is practical to have a RT flight to Milan or Venice or Flying into Milan and leaving from venice. Would 10 days be enough to be able to visit Rome – Milan- Venice – Florence? Sorry to ask you a lot of questions since this will be our first trip to Italy.

    Reply

    1. Hi Demi,

       Ten days is enough to visit those 4 cities. Milan would require just one more day on top of this one week itinerary for the other 3 spots.

       Any combination of airports is doable, especially since you have extra days on top of my recommended 8 for these 4 spots to travel back to your airport of choice. But what I recommend is doing a flight that starts in Rome and ends in either Venice or Milan. OR the exact reverse. This will save you a couple hours of train time overall vs not using Rome as an airport.

       The order would then be Rome > Florence > Venice/Milan > Milan/Venice (whichever you didn’t see after Florence) OR the exact reverse.

       You could the extra days to add extra time in the 4 spots, and/or use one of the days tack on a day trip to Lake Como from Milan.

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

49. Hello there,

    Thank you for such a detailed and lovely site. I am taking my hisband to Italy next week, and am oplanning to do Venice, Florence and Rome. Would you please assist me with the travel portion, as I would like to take the fast train from venice to Florence, and the Fast train from Florence to Rome. I would also like to know if taking the bus around Florence and Venice is convenient and worth it, or just walk.

    I have been to Florence and Rome before, and have seen all the sites. I was considering doing something more romantic with my husband and maybe cutting short a day in Venice or Rome to add to Florence so we could stay in Tuscany on the coutryside. Please share your thoughts, as I would like a romantic,non-stressful and memorable trip. One that includes sighteseeing, but more taking in the town and dining and hanging with the locals. Please advise.

    Reply

    1. Hi Quiana,

       I’m glad to know my site has been helpful to you!

       As I mention in the itinerary, you can go to the official TrenItalia website to book your high speed tickets in advance. Just copy and paste the train station names from my itinerary.

       I don’t see much to benefit from taking the bus in Florence. It’s quite compact. Venice is also compact, and instead of the bus, you would actually be using the water taxi service, since it is all canals instead of roads. This isn’t necessary unless your accommodation is far from the train and you would like to avoid walking up and down the many small bridges. But I think working the public transport via bus or water taxi in places as compact as Florence and Venice can sometimes make things less convenient than simply walking.

       My itinerary only allocates two days to Venice. If you have never been to Venice, I wouldn’t recommend cutting one day from those two days. It is considered the most romantic city out of the three due to its beauty, and you can even hire the gondola ride to be at sunset. If you have already been to Rome, I would remove the one day from there.

       You could maybe look for a romantic countryside day trip tour from Florence, or rent a car for a day and go at your own pace. I’m sure you can find some lovely restaurants with stunning views. You could also look into AirBnB experiences. I’ve never tried them, but I’ve heard nice things from friends who have. It allows you some more personal interaction with the locals.

       I hope some of that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

50. Hey Em,

    I am planning from India to Milan (Italy) in coming Nov. Can you help me in giving a day wise itinerary starting from Milan (flight will land), Venice, Rome & Florence. And I have to board flight from Milan again. This will be a 7 day journey for me.

    Thanks

    Reply

    1. Hi Nawanshu,

       As you can see from this itinerary and maybe my 10 day Italy itinerary as well, I recommend 3 nights for Rome, 2 nights for Florence, 2 nights for Venice, and 1 night or Milan. So in order to fit all 4 cities into 7 days, you’ll have to remove 1.5 days from Rome/Venice/Florence in order to make room for Milan and the additional travel time.

       You can really do whatever order you prefer for the loop. But something like Milan > Venice > Florence > Rome > Milan might be slightly most efficient train-travel-time-wise. You might consider going from Milan straight to the next city for your first night, if your flight arrival time allows for it, to save moving hotels by one time.

       The train station you use in Milan would be Milano Centrale.

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

51. Hello, What would you estimate a safe dollar amount this trip would cost. I tried looking on your 2 week itinerary but trying to gauge cost as well. Thanks

    Reply

    1. Hi EJay,

       The biggest cost is going to be housing, and that is going to depend entirely on your personal preferences, your party size, the month or even week that you are visiting, and how far in advance you book. So it’s hard for me to ballpark that for you. I would recommend you look at some places in each city on a booking site (like Booking.com or Expedia) to get an idea of a per night rate for the type of accommodation that you personally will be ok with.

       Besides that, I’ve tried to put all the prices of attractions and transport in this guide, so you can just add up all the attractions you would enter (for example, not everyone will do a gondola ride or enter every attraction) and the transport you would take (for example, using a cab is different than using a bus or ferry).

       If you plan to have a restaurant meal 3 times a day, I’d budget around €60-80 per day to be super safe. But I personally usually spend less than €25 a day on food in Italy, because I have pastries for breakfast, simpler meals for lunch and dinner, and don’t care for wine.

       Sorry to not be of more help!

       – Em

       Reply

52. Dear That,
    You have already done a great help for the first time tourist traveler like us to Italy by this itinerary.
    Please can you also suggest decent 3star / medium range Hotel at centralized location for all three cities ?
    Self (75yrs) with my daughter (41 yrs) are planning the trip in first half of October 2024. Visa takes time so we need to apply now.
    Thanks.

    Reply

    1. Hi Dileep,

       I’m glad this itinerary has been helpful!

       I unfortunately don’t have specific recommendations, but am working on a guide for that and can let you know when the post is live, in case you are still planning at that time. Otherwise, I can say that I usually use Booking.com to search, because I like that their interface allows you to filter criteria (like 3 stars, for example, or maximum cost) and then view the results on a map, which allows me to see where the accommodation is relative to the train station and attractions. (I’m not currently affiliated with Booking.com.) I then copy the hotel address into google maps and see the walking time from the train station.

       Sorry to not be of more help!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Thanks. You responded and am happy for that.
          Will it be possible for you to at least define the area where we should be looking for the Hotel? central area from where the sightseeing spots/train station is closer as we intend taking trains and not cabs. Thank you for your additional support in advance. Kind regards.

          Reply

          1. Hi Dileep,

             I personally always try to book something walking distance to the train station, beacuse I also avoid taking cabs, since I usually travel solo and thus don’t have others to split the cost with.

             In Rome, I liked staying in the area between the Repubblica and Viminale metro stops, because it’s flat walking distance from the main train station, but also reasonable walking distance to all the attractions, minus the Vatican.

             In Venice, I would recommend staying on either the same island as the main train station, or just one bridge away (so one of the bordering islands). Otherwise, you will have to go up and down many bridges to reach your accommodation (like I did, and regretted!). There is the option to take a public water taxi, but I think it could add a might more stress to the journey to have to figure out the water taxi system through the canals immediately after arriving and with all your luggage. So that’s why I suggest staying on or near the island with the train station.

             Florence is more compact than Rome and has no canals, so anywhere walking distance to the train station should be fine.

             I hope that helps a bit!

             – Em

             Reply

53. Hi Em!
    I appreciate you for sharing this itinerary.
    We’ll be visiting Europe this coming July and already booked one way flight ticket to Rome (no return ticket yet for a flexible schedule). We’ll be in Italy for a week so this itinerary works for me and my fiancé.
    We’re planning to stay in Hamburg and other cities in Germany too for about 7-10 days as we have relatives to visit. But other than those two countries, we want to add one more to visit even just for 2-3 days only. Can you suggest one where we can go from Italy via train and from there we’ll be flying to Germany? Or Italy-Germany-Another Country? Which route do you think would work best? TIA.♥

    Reply

    1. Hi Yannie,

       The only place outside Italy that I personally think could be reasonable to suggest you go to overland from Venice would be Slovenia. You could travel to the capital, Ljubljana, from Venice by bus, and do a day trip to Lake Bled before flying to Germany.

       If you are willing to travel to Milan first, there are various cities in Switzerland that are a reasonable train ride away from Milan, so you could spend a couple days in Switzerland before flying to north Germany.

       But I think it could be better to fly from Venice to Germany and then train from Germany to country two. If you depart from Hamburg to country #3, you could consider the Netherlands or Denmark. If your travels in Germany take you further west, you could also consider Belgium, which you can reach by train from Cologne or Dusseldorf. You could also reach Paris from Cologne (I’ve actually done this train ride!). If your travels in Germany take you further east, you could consider the Czech Rep, which you can reach by train from Berlin. You could also do the reverse – fly from Venice to one of the country #3 options and then train from them into Germany. Your most convenient airport options to get back home are probably going to be Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, or something in Germany, so keep that in mind too when deciding your end point.

       You have a lot of options, depending on your other stops in Germany, but I hope some of that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Thank you so much for that response and taking your time to suggest all of these. I’d definitely discuss this with me fiancé!
          Also, I was thinking, upon checking the map, is it possible to go Rome-Florence-Pisa-Venice-Vienna or Salzburg-Munich-Cologne (might skip!)-Hamburg? What do you think of this route? We are coming from UAE btw.

          Reply

          1. Hi Yannie,

             Austria crossed my mind, too, but it would take you around 6 hours to get to Salzburg, or 7.5 hrs to Vienna. For me, 5hr+ train rides are where I start to consider short flights instead, because at that threshold, it would take the same amount of time door to door.

             So as much as I personally loved Salzburg, I can’t really recommend that kind of long journey for either that and/or Vienna. I would also recommend a place like Hallstatt on an Austria itinerary, and I’d feel bad to suggest you go all the way to Austria on a long train ride without being able to also fit Hallstatt in, which would be hard with so few days and your public transport options.

             Munich is similar. It would take so long to get there that I personally wouldn’t really consider it worth it for what it is. Munich to Hamburg will also be a long train ride (6hrs minimum). (If you guys do decide to go to Munich, I would just recommend also doing a day trip to Schloss Neuschwanstein!)

             I don’t know if you’ve already seen my 10 day Italy itinerary, but since you mention adding on Pisa, you might consider using your extra 2-3 days to see more of Italy, and then flying to Germany from Venice. You could also thrown in a day trip to Lake Como from Milan.

             – Em

             Reply

54. Hi. Can you recommend hotel for each city?

    Thank you

    Reply

    1. Hi Fleur,

       I am currently working on a guide to that for different budgets and such, and it should be up in the next month or so. I can comment back on this thread to let you know when it’s live, if your trips isn’t for some time!

       – Em

       Reply

55. Hello there,
    Thank you so much for your detailed itinerary. It will be my first time in Italy in August(I know I know, worst time to go but hubby only has time off during this time).
    We have friends that live in Pescara and want to visit them…..however I am not sure where to start off. I am coming from Lisbon…..I want to skip Rome….we will have about 8 days in Italy…..feeling lost on where to start. Any recommendations?

    Reply

    1. Hi Dina,

       My first visit to Italy was to Rome in August, and I had a lovely time. And my next trip will be this summer, again in August! 🙂 So don’t worry – you’ll have a great time. Especially considering you’ll be spending some time in a less-touristy place and along the coast.

       If you are wanting to roughly follow this one week itinerary but replace Rome with Pescara, this is what I would recommend:

       Fly into Venice from Lisbon. Spend 2 days in Venice. Then take the fast train down to Florence. Spend 2 days in Florence. Then take the fast train down to Pescara. This will require a transfer in Bologna and take around 4 hours. This gives you 4 days in Pescara with your friends.

       To return home, fly out from Rome (FCO) airport. If your friends aren’t dropping you off, the fastest way to get there (besides private transfer) is via Flixbus to FCO. Option two would be to take a train to “Fiumicino Aeroporto,” which requires a transfer at Roma Tiburtina station.

       If you don’t need to spend that many days with your friends, you can tack on the days you don’t need as extra nights in Florence or Venice, to go slower and be less rushed. You could also add on day trips from either Venice or Florence with any extra nights you give those two cities.

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

56. I didn’t see a mention on the best hotels or where you stayed; I was just skimming but also saved the link to revisit. Any recommendations for hotels and also thoughts on renting a car. Thanks in advance.

    Reply

    1. Hi Victoria,

       I would not rent a car for this itinerary. You cover the distance way faster via train. To give you an idea, just from Rome to Florence is 3-4hrs
       by car but just 1.5hrs by fast train.

       I am currently working on an accommodation guide and can respond back to your comment to let you know when it’s ready, in case you are still planning your trip. 🙂

       – Em

       Reply

57. Hello! I’ve read both this and your 10 day guide – thank you so much for going into so much detail, it’s amazing! My husband and I love to travel by train so I’m excited that it seems to be the preferred way to get around.

    I think we’re likely to have 7-9 days, and we’re most interested in seeing the Cinque Terre, Florence and Venice. Do you have any recommendations for the order of them and the best way to get between them? I know you have Florence-Venice here, but you also have Cinque Terre between the two on the other guide hence me asking. We’ll be flying in/out from London.

    Thanks so much in advance!

    Reply

    1. Hi Lydia,

       I’m glad the posts have been helpful in your planning! And I’m glad you’re also fond of trains! They cover SO much distance so much more quickly than by car in Italy when traveling between the main tourist stops.

       If you’d just like to stick to those 3 spots and not Rome, I’d recommend flying into Pisa airport to start. From there, head to Cinque Terre (either La Spezia or whichever village of your choice). Next, train to Florence. And then train to Venice. Fly home from Venice airport. OR, the exact reverse order – whatever you prefer or whatever works out best for accommodation offerings, etc. This way, you have the least backtracking. 🙂

       If you want to tack on Rome, add it before or after Cinque Terre and replace Pisa airport with Rome airport. So Rome > CT > Florence > Venice OR the reverse. Make sure to get the direct fast train between Rome and La Spezia.

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Thanks so much – very helpful indeed!

          Reply

58. Hello…this is such an awesome site and very nice and practical too.
    Would love to hear your recommendations for 4 days to Tuscany region ( Florence plus countryside / wineries )
    Planning to do Rome for 3 nights according to your itinerary and then Tuscany for 5 nights and fly out of Rome .

    Appreciate your time..thank you!

    Reply

    1. Hi Divya,

       I’m glad to know you like the itinerary!

       I think what you suggest sounds like a fine plan! You could find some organized tours from Florence for the 2 extra days there, that combine wine tastings with smaller villages or just show you the Tuscan countryside. I’m not a wine enthusiast, so I’ve never done these tours, but I’ve seen them offered online. You could also rent a car from Florence for 2 days and see whatever interests you most in Tuscany.

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

59. Where do we go for the extended if we have 2 weeks for Italy and have you ever been to Greece? Never been anywhere much as I’m solo and new to all of this! Much help appreciated haha 🤣 thanks in advance!

    Reply

    1. Hi Christal,

       I haven’t been to Greece yet, but this is a detailed guide to how I’d spend two weeks in Italy as a first timer.

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

60. Thank you so much for a detailed post! really helped take away some of the anxiety as a first timer in Europe. I will be staying in Tallinn Estonia for 3 weeks in May, plan to go to Italy for 5 days and maybe Germany for 2 days during last week of May.

    I have couple of questions:
    Out of 3 cities you mentioned, can I still do all 3 or you think I can stick to two cities. In my mind, Rome is must. Considering I only have 4-5 days in Italy.

    Secondly, I have no proficiency in Italian language, do you think I can roam around Italy, especially countryside near Florence with only speaking English and using google translate?

    Finally, this one might be a bit controversial, are people there friendly to foreigners? Especially, if I look like I am from India or Egypt.

    Thanks again
    Ak

    Reply

    1. Hi Akbar,

       I’m glad this post has help reduced your pre-trip anxiety!

       If you really want to see all 3, you can, but you will need to cut 1 day each from 2 cities (or 1 day from 1 city and a half day from 2 cities). You will have to be OK with rushing through those cities and maybe not seeing everything. I can understand this perspective if you may not be back in Italy in the future and prefer to see a little of everything. But if you want to see each place that you visit “fully,” then choosing 2 is the way to go.

       You will be fine with English and Google translate. (You’ll honestly be fine without Google Translate too, unless you are going to a place with literally no tourists.)

       Your final question is totally valid. I have never felt racism directed towards me in Italy, but I have first-hand witnessed it occurring to other people (sometimes from other tourists), and I’ve of course heard others speak about it happening to them. In my experience, Italians are friendly in that they are quite chatty/curious and willing to help if you ask or look like you need help. But you are going to find those people who work in something touristic and just seem sick of tourists and might take it out on you on that day. There’s really no way to predict whether you’ll face racism/xenophobia or not on your trip, but I would sum it up by saying I don’t think your experience will be much different than in other western nations. Another thing is that passport privilege is real, and my experience is that of someone with a US passport and a native US accent. I don’t know what nationality you are, so I wanted to mention that.

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

61. Hello, your post is great and very detail oriented. I just wanted to ask one thing, We are a couple travelling with a child, how convenient is travelling with a Child Buggy in Italy, especially on the public transports everywhere.

    Reply

    1. Hi Ashish,

       I’m glad to know you like my post!

       I’ve never traveled with children, so I’m probably not the best to answer how it will be traveling with a child. If your buggy is foldable, you can put it up in the storage above your seats, and there is also storage for large luggage at the ends of of the train carriages. You can book your seats in advance and choose the seats that face a table, so that your child can have some room to draw/play and eat, if you want. And the train stations have elevators, in case you are concerned about carrying things up the stairs.

       That’s all I can say from the perspective of someone who’s never traveled with kids. I hope some of that helps! 🙂

       – Em

       Reply

62. Thank you so much for the details and also the cost saving ideas. This is greatly appreciated as we are doing our visit on a very tight budget. A work colleague and I are doing a week in Italy after a work conference in Athens. We fly in and out of Rome. What would you recommend that we take out of this itinerary to add a night in Monza to check out the race circuit and then go onto Venice or something along those lines. Keep up the great work in helping people enjoy their holidays more 😊

    Reply

    1. Hi Cheryl,

       I’m glad the tips in this itinerary have been helpful for you! 🙂

       If you weren’t flying into/out of Rome, I would say to take out Rome and just stick to the main spots in the north of Italy (Venice, Florence, Milan + Monza, which is near Milan). Then, you can return to Italy and do Rome + Amalfi Coast in the future, if you want.

       But since you are in Rome anyways, I say to keep it in your itinerary. That’s 3 nights. You also say Venice, so that’s 2 nights. Monza is 1 night. With the 1 extra night, you could see Milan. Or you could an extra night in Venice or Rome.

       So you could do something like Rome > (Milan/)Monza > Venice > Rome or the reverse.

       An alternative would be to just do one less day in Venice or in Rome than this one week itinerary suggests. But that would be quite rushed.

       I hope some of those ideas help!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Thank you for your reply, appreciate it 😊

          Reply

          1. You’re welcome!

             Reply

63. We are doing a family trip to Italy in early June with a 2 year old and 8 year old. Excluding flights we are there for 8 full days. We fly into Rome and want to just see a few of the major sites so our adult daughter and 8 year old can see them (we have been before). Next we hope to travel to Sorrento/Amalfi coast, Florence and finally Milan to depart.

    Would you be able to provide some recommendations of how many days to stay in each location and things to do with the kiddos in tow? I don’t want to be burnt out from too much movement but know we have to get to Sorrento & Florence as our main locations. Rome & Milan are a means to an end for flights. I would love to do some shopping in Milan and see the highlights but I won’t be sad if we don’t have more than a day there.

    Thank you in advance for your guidance and this blog! It’s SUPER helpful!

    Reply

    1. Hi Aria,

       I’m glad the blog is helpful!

       I’v never traveled Italy with kids, but I would suggest something like:

       Day 1 – 2: Rome
       Day 3 – 5: Sorrento, other Amalfi Coast
       Day 6 – 7: Florence
       Day 8: Milan

       If by “just see a few of the major sites” in Rome, you mean just view the Colosseum from the outside and maybe enter the free Vatican Basilica, then I think you can cut Rome down to one full day if you really don’t want to spend too much time there. Then you can add that extra day elsewhere, maybe Florence if it’s one of your main spots. I think Sorrento will be easier as a base for the Amalfi Coast with a toddler, because Positano is very steep. You can day trip to the other parts of the Amalfi Coast by either ferry or taxi.

       I don’t really have kid-specific activities to suggest, unfortunately! Maybe a pasta making class, or the gelato making class I link to in the “What to Eat in Florence” part of my two week Italy itinerary? There’s also going to the beach, if you are interesting in doing that in the Amalfi coast.

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Thanks so much Em!
          We got our flights into Rome and out of Milan.
          We’ll do Sorrento for 3 nights but will have another 3 nights for somewhere between there and Milan (which will be our final night).

          We are rethinking Florence because it sounds like it’s mainly an art draw. We’d rather focus on food and shopping with some Fulton art classes for the kids.

          If you had your choice, where would you pick? We’d love to focus more on local culture than city if that’s feasible with the kids, transportation, and time.

          Thanks for your input!

          Reply

          1. *culinary classes not Fulton art classes lol

             Reply

          2. Hi Aria,

             Florence definitely doesn’t have a city feel, like Rome or Milan. Its role in the European renaissance is definitely the reason for its relevance, but it’s not that you just stare at paintings and sculptures in museums while there. The outdoor architecture itself is art, and there are a lot of vintage and artisanal markets to shop at. And I would say you can find culinary classes to book in any touristic destination in Italy, and that you will also find good food anywhere in Italy. So I just want to be clear that Florence isn’t at odds with any of the things you’ve listed that you’re looking for! 🙂

             That being said, what do you mean by “local culture?” Do you mean a place that is less tourist-oriented? If so, you might consider the region of Emilia-Romagna. The main city there is Bologna, and from there you can visit Parma and Modena as day trips. It’s the region where a lot of the most famous Italian foods come from (bolognese sauce, parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar), and it’s a lot less touristy than Rome, Florence, and the Amalfi Coast.

             – Em

             Reply

             1. This is super helpful! Thanks sooooo much!!

                Reply

                1. You’re welcome!

                   Reply

64. Thank you, this was very informative. We are doing 4 days in Italy split evenly between rome and venice. Do you have suggestions on areas to stay?

    Reply

    1. Hi Jewel,

       I’m glad this was helpful!

       For Venice, I’d recommend to stay on the same island as the train station or just a few canal crossings away. I stayed closer to the attractions, and regretted having to drag my luggage over so many bridges. There is obviously the water taxi service, but I didn’t really want to navigate it first thing after arriving.

       In Rome, you can stay walking distance from the station if you prioritize being close to transport.

       Other than that, I don’t have suggestions on neighborhoods or anything. I usually just booked based on where I find the best accommodation available for a fair price and the distance to the train!

       Hope that helps a bit!

       – Em

       Reply

65. My husband and I are flying out of Pittsburgh 9/27 at 10 pm and arrive in Italy the next day at 4 pm. We fly into Rome and fly out of Rome 10/12 to return home. Can you do a itinaeray for us where to stay , how to get around , what to see like your one week plan. Ty

    Reply

    1. Hi Lisa,

       It sounds like you have 14 days in Italy. In that case, my recommendation is what I lay out in my 14 day Italy itinerary. At the end of the final day in Venice, just add a fast train to Rome that night/evening. Then, fly out of Rome the next day.

       Hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

66. Thank you so much for such detailed post. It is exactly what I needed to start planning my Italy trip, and now I hope you can help with that 🙂.
    I plan on doing a 7 day solo trip to Italy, Easter 2025. I want to visit Rome, Florence and mostly Naples, and if I can squeeze in Tuscany great, but not a must for this trip. For me it’s more of a spiritual/mental retreat, a treat to myself. Any suggestions?

    Reply

    1. Hi Liz,

       I’m glad this post has been able to help you plan your Italy trip!

       Florence (a city) is in Tuscany (a region). So you’ll already be squeezing in Tuscany by going to Florence. 🙂

       Assuming you are flying in and out of Rome, I would recommend Rome (3 days) > FLorence (2 days) > Naples (2 days) and then take the fast train (1.5 hours) back to Rome on the final evening to fly out of Rome the next day. OR the exact reverse. If you want an extra night in Florence to do a day trip to somewhere in the Tuscan countryside or a smaller Tuscan village, or if you want an extra day in Naples (since you write “mostly Naples), take it from Rome.

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

67. Thank you so much! Love this site so much.

    We are doing Paris, Casablanca, Marrakech, Fes, , Merzouga, Seville, Madrid, Barca, Rome, Florence (checking out Pisa), and finishing off at Venice. We’ve learned so much from your site. Appreciate you so much for wonderful suggestions.

    However on my last day – I’m actually flying out from Milan…I cannot really fit Milan anywhere on my schedule.
    I have 28 (from the morning) to 30 Sep in Venice. On the last night (30 Sep), would you suggest me to stay in Venice, the next morning take the train to Milan Airport or should I move to Milan on that night? My flight is at 2PM in the afternoon.

    Appreciate it very much 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi Thao,

       Thanks so much for the kind words on the site! 🙂 You trip sounds like it’s going to be amazing!

       The decision on Venice/Milan is really up to you. If it’s an international flight, they usually tell you to arrive 2 hours in advance, sometimes 3. So assuming they say 3, you’d need to arrive by 11am at MXP. The drive or train from the center is 1 hour, so you’d need to arrive in Milan by 10am. The train from Venice is 2.5 hours, so that means you’d need to depart Venice’s station by 7:30am.

       Personally, I’d prefer to sleep in Milan and be able to wake up later on that morning of the flight, so I would move to Milan the night before. It would also make me not be worried about any train delays from Venice to Milan. But it’s all up to your personal preference!

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

68. I am planning a 10-day trip to Italy with Thursday as my departure day from the US, and the following Sunday will be departure from Italy. Friday morning is arrival in Rome. Upon arrival, I don’t feel like I’d be able to do much except wait around until 2-3pm hotel for check-in because we’ll have our luggage with us, and we can’t lug that around the city. Then, if we add 2 more cities, we’ll have do do the same process of checking out of a hotel by 11 or noon, traveling to the next destination, and most of the day is already gone by the time we’re checked in and settled.

    How do you manage an itinerary considering luggage and hotel check-ins?

    Reply

    1. Hi EI,

       You can normally show up at the hotel at whatever time, as long as it is within their opening hours, and leave your bags with reception. Sometimes they will even have a special room to store luggage. Then you can leave to explore and return after check-in time. The same for check out. You check out when you need to, but leave your bags with reception. Then you return to pick it up before heading to your next city.

       If you are staying in an AirBnB or something that doesn’t have reception, you can look for luggage storage in the city. This can be lockers or left luggage places with a person there. Train stations often have them nearby or even inside. Just google “left luggage [city name]” and find one close to you. Some even let you reserve in advance. But this is only if you don’t have reception. If you have reception, you should be fine! 🙂

       Hope that helps! Enjoy your trip!

       – Em

       Reply

69. What a gem of a site Em! I’m wondering if you could make a recommendation on how to fit Naples (specifically Pompeii) into this itinerary. I’m taking my daughter there this coming September and Pompeii is on her “must-see” list. Would you add it to the Rome portion of the trip or tack it on at the end or the beginning somehow? She also has the Amalfi Coast on her list but I’m not sure we could add both Naples and Amalfi Coast onto this itinerary on an 8 day trip. Would love your thoughts. I love your itinerary though – it hits a lot of the other places she wants to see (Rome and the colosseum; Florence in the Tuscany area; Venice).

    Reply

    1. Hi Philcho,

       I’m glad you like the site! 🙂

       You can fit Pompeii easily as a DIY day trip from Rome by adding one day to this 7 day itinerary to make it 8 days, which it sounds like you have. So just add one more night to Rome. You can take a look at my 2 week Italy itinerary and scroll down to the “how to get to Pompeii from Rome” section. Then, just do that same journey backwards to return to Rome afterwards.

       If you absolutely must see Amalfi Coast as well on this trip, then I’d recommend booking a group tour to Pompeii and Positano from Rome on that extra 8th day instead of doing a DIY trip to just Pompeii. It’ll be very rushed, but you’ll be able to “see” both Pompeii and the main star of the Amalfi Coast that way.

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

70. Thank you for the awesome itinerary. It is truly impressive and I am excited to save it for future reference. However, I would appreciate your advice on the following matter:

    I am participating in the London Marathon this year. We are planning to spend 10 days in Europe and would like to visit the following cities: Brussels (2 days), Paris (3 days), and Italy (the remainder). Our intention is to finish our Italian journey in Rome and then return to England.

    We would like to visit Rome and Florence during our time in Italy. Given the limited time we have, do we have to prioritize one city over the other? Would you recommend visiting Florence first, followed by Rome?

    Your expert opinion would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

    1. Hi Vaughn,

       I’m happy to know you like the itinerary!

       In this itinerary, I allocate 2.5 days to Rome and 2 days to Florence, so that seems to fit fine with what you have left in your 10 days after spending 5 days between Brussels and Paris. I would fly to Florence’s airport in the morning from either Paris or Brussels, then train down to Rome 2 days later and then fly back home after 3 nights there.

       I hope that helps! Enjoy your trip, and good luck with the marathon!

       – Em

       Reply

71. We. Have 7 days in Italy flying in and out of Rome . No real plans but wanted to train out and then back . Was thinking straight to Florence and then back via Orvieto and the Rome for final 2 or 3 days but absolutely open to suggestions about best use of time and ease of travel ?

    Reply

    1. Hi Ian,

       There seem to be direct trains between both Orvieto and Rome and Orvieto and Florence, so I think that sounds like a fine plan! And the trains are regional, so they’re the kind where the price stays the same.

       I hope you enjoy your trip!

       – Em

       Reply

72. Thanks so much for this post. I learned so much. We are coming to Bari, Italy for a conference and will have about 3-4 days prior to hang out in Italy. I would like to make the most out of it despite not having 10 days. LOL. Do you suggest we focus on just Rome or try to do Venice too, etc. I would be curious on your thoughts.

    Reply

    1. Hi Danielle,

       I’m glad this post was informative!

       If it were me, because I knew even before my first trip to Italy that it would be a country I planned to make serval trips to over my lifetime, I would just stick to Rome. And maybe make a day trip from there to Pompeii (or even Amalfi Coast if you’re up for it and want to get a quick taste for it). That’s because I’m the type of person that would rather see a place more thoroughly and then see a new place thoroughly next time, rather than feel like I still had stuff left to see in both places because I was rushing.

       But if you don’t know that you will get another chance to see Venice and prefer to just make sure you “tick” both Rome and Venice off your list this trip, you could squeeze my Rome part of the itinerary into two days (I say something about if your flight gets in late on day one, tack its sites onto day three) and then take the fast train up to Venice for two nights before returning back south on the fast train again. So it’s really up to you!

       I hope that helps!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Thanks so much for the prompt response. Rome it is!
          -D

          Reply

73. This looks great! We’re planning a trip for summer 2”2025 (two adults, two teenagers), and have two weeks total to split between Italy and Greece. Any suggestions on itineraries, getting from Italy to Greece, etc?

    Reply

    1. Hi Jennifer,

       I’m glad it’s helpful!

       I haven’t been to Greece yet, but Rome and Venice both have international airports, so I’m sure you will have no problem finding flights between either of them and Greece.

       I assume you might want to see Athens, Santorini, and Mykonos. There are nonstop flights between each of those and Venice/Rome. I would probably make one flight connect to Santorini, because it’s far from Athens anyways, so you might as well start or end there. This is all assuming you would want to see the 3 biggest spots in Italy and 3 biggest spots in Greece during your two weeks, which I of course don’t know if you do. 🙂

       I hope that helps you get started!

       – Em

       Reply

74. I am a new traveler, I have 2 kids that will be 17 and 14 when we go. I will be 53 (just in case I am a senior citizen). I have not idea how to budget for a week long vacation to Italy. Can you give me some idea? We will be going April-June sometime 2024.
    Thank you.

    Reply

    1. Hi Bows,

       How exciting! Travel planning is definitely a skill that gets better with more practice.

       To give yourself a rough idea, you can do the following:
       – look up flights for your trip. See what dates, times, and prices work for you. Don’t book this flight yet, but note the cost somewhere (Excel, Google Docs, scratch paper, whatever you prefer).
       – based on the dates of your flight plus this itinerary, decide what dates you will overnight in what city. So what dates in Rome, in Florence, and in Venice. Look up hotels for each city during those respective dates. Note/write those costs somewhere, or even go ahead and book the hotels if they offer free cancelation.
       – go back to my itinerary and decide which attractions you plan to enter. Unfortunately I am working through updating the prices for 2024 and haven’t gotten to this 7 day itinerary yet. But you can see the up to date prices and links for everything in my 14 day Italy itinerary. Note/write the costs of all the attractions you want to enter.
       – Then, go to the TrenItalia website and look up the train journeys you will need to take, based on the details in this 7 day itinerary. Decide which time you would likely take, and note/write those costs.

       Add up all those costs (flights, hotel, attractions, and trains), and those will be the total of your minimum costs! Keep in mind to convert any euro prices to your home currency. Then, depending on how much you think you will eat a day, add in food costs. Are you likely to eat 3 sit down meals in a restaurant each day? If so, I would budget 20 euros per meal per person to be on the safe side. If you are likely to just grab a pastry for breakfast, street food for lunch, and only sit down in a proper restaurant for dinner, or if your hotel comes with breakfast included, that will save money. If you stop for gelato or snacks every day, that will add up. So by budgeting for 60 eur a person a day, you’ll be on the super safe side. (For reference, I usually spend less than even 30 eur a day on food in Italy, because I travel on a budget. But like a said, with 60, you can be on the safer side if you and your family prefer more comfort than I do. 🙂 ) Lastly think if you will want spare money for souvenirs, and if so, add some buffer budget for that too.

       And that’s your total budget!

       I hope that wasn’t too dizzying and was helpful! I always budget on Excel or Google Docs to keep it organized.

       – Em

       Reply

75. Hello! My husband and I are trying to plan a 1 week trip to Italy and your itinerary is perfect!! Thank you so much for sharing.
    We plan to relax a little more than maybe what you suggest, but I’m also concerned about food. Do you have food & dessert recommendations for each city? I like to eat well during trips haha, thank you in advance!

    Reply

    1. Hi Ria,

       I’m glad the itinerary is helpful!

       I would take a look at my two week Italy itinerary, if you haven’t already. On that itinerary, I list foods (desserts included) to try in each stop based on what each destination is known for or what was invented in that destination. All the stops on the one week itinerary are included in the two week one. Just search “What to Eat in Rome,” etc.

       I don’t have many specific eatery recommendations aside from that 🙁 I do remember liking the Grom ice cream chain, and I think Trattoria al Gatto Nero is where Anthony Bourdain ate in an episode of his show where he visited Burano (the day trip from Venice). I didn’t eat there because I wasn’t visiting during their opening hours, but I had it on my list.

       I hope that’s a little helpful!

       – Em

       Reply

       1. Hello, my family (sisters and our mom and dad) are taking a Greek Isle cruise round trip from Rome (Civitavecchia) 8/25/2024 with Naples as one of the port of calls. We have booked flights to FCO arriving 8/19 and will have 6 days to explore before the cruise. Could you suggest an itinerary that is elderly friendly? ( mom and dad healthy in their 80s) Love to take the trains but not sure if renting a car makes more sense for us? Thank you so much!

          Emily

          Reply

          1. Hi Emily,

             Sounds like a very nice summer!

             If I am understanding correctly, you will arrive in Rome 6 days before the cruise, and THEN travel by cruise to Naples at some point?

             In that case, I would recommend 3 days in Rome and another 3 days in Florence. I would devote two of those days in Florence to Florence itself and use the 3rd day to do a day trip somewhere if you feel up for it (Cinque Terre, Sienna, San Gimignano, Pisa, are all options). You could also just leave the 3rd day as an extra day split between Florence and Rome (so 3.5 days in Rome and 2.5 in Florence), if you want to move slower and not pack as much into each day.

             You could also do Venice instead of Florence, if it interests you more. But I said Florence because I think Venice doesn’t need more than 2 days, that Florence is easier to do a day trip from, and that Florence is closer to Rome.

             I personally wouldn’t travel by car between the main cities in Italy. The train is much faster (Rome-Florence is 3.5-4 hrs by car and 1.5 hrs by train, just to give you an idea). If you want to rent a car for one day to visit somewhere harder to reach, then it could be worth it.

             Hope that helps!

             – Em

             Reply

76. Hello! My daughter and I are planning a trip to Italy this summer. I love the itinerary you’ve shared. I’m curious. If we had 2 or 3 days to add ti this itinerary, which city/cities would you suggest between: Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Milan? And wbere would you suggest we add it/them to the itinerary? Thank you!

    Reply

    1. Hi Angela!

       I’m glad you like the itinerary!

       If you have 3 extra days to make the trip 10 days, then my ten day Italy itinerary is exactly what I’d recommend. 🙂 It tacks on Cinque Terre with a quick couple-hour stop in Pisa and then also Milan. If you only have 2 extra days, or don’t want to rush as much, I would personally just see Cinque Terre and Pisa (Cinque Terre being the priority).

       I haven’t have time to update the 10 day itinerary yet, due to a change in the train travel times between Cinque Terre and Venice, but I will likely update it this week to be: Rome > Cinque Terre > Florence > Venice > Milan. Or the exact reverse can be done, too.

       I hope that helps!!

       – Em

       Reply

77. Rome looks stunning!

    Reply

    1. It is! One of my faves for sure 🙂

       Reply

78. Wow, a true whirlwind trip. I have to admit, I have been to all of those places and you did hit the big attractions. I agree that skip-the-line tickets are so worth the slightly higher price. A church that I would add to the Rome sites is Santa Maria del Popolo. Your photos are fantastic. Loved your Florence and Venice recommendations. Italy is my favotrite country, too.

    Reply

    1. Whirlwind is a good word for it, lol!

       Thanks so much for the church reco! I’m jotting it down to visit on my next stop in Rome. 🙂

       Reply

79. You have such beautiful photos–This made me miss Italy so much! Can’t wait to be able to travel!

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much, Denise!!

       And yes, I can’t wait either!

       Reply

80. You absolutely nailed it with this itinerary!! I did pretty much this exact trip two summers ago and I couldn’t agree more with all of your recommendations. Very well written!

    Reply

    1. Aw, thanks so much!!

       And wow, I’m sure doing that trip was so fun! It’s taken me multiple trips to see all the “big” items, but I sometimes want to redo them with a fast-paced itinerary like this just for the thrill 🙂

       Reply

81. I’m seeing so many posts about Italy lately and I love reading them every time! This brings me back to my trip in 2019. I can’t wait to visit again!

    Reply

    1. Same here, counting down the days practically!

       Reply