Tuscany + Venice + Rome All in a Week?

ishamaus

New member
Good morning...we are planning to be in Tuscany this coming November. The trip itself is 7 days. We fly into Milan and then have a rental car that we'll take into Montecatini (where our hotel is for the week). I realize Tuscany is a decent size, and there are quite a few towns that could easily keep us occupied for the week. Last night, my wife was telling me how much she'd like to see Rome and Venice as well. I told her there is no way, unless we are constantly driving and not actually savoring any of the sites. She disagreed. Well, we spent 3 weeks in the Philippines a few years ago. This is her home country. She wanted to pack so much activity into our 3 weeks that she hurt her back and we were confined to her brother's house for a time as she couldn't move very well. I don't want a repeat of that, so am I right that trying to include Rome and Venice in addition to Tuscany in 7 days is a recipe for a very rushed and unfulfilled vacation?

Thanks in advance!
 
Tuscany - Venice & Rome

Buongiorno -

I can certainly appreciate your concern - as well as her desire to see as much as possible in Italy.:cool:

I understand that the car comes with the package - but .... can I suggest this:

Day 1: Milano train to Venice / overnight in Venice

Day 2: Venice train to Florence late afternoon pick up your car and drive to Montecatini

Day 3: Late start, enjoy Florence (I would check the trains back into Florence so you don't need to think about parking)

Day 4: Tuscany day trip or wine tour

Day 5: early morning Florence to Rome via Train and back again late evening

Day 6: Pisa and Lucca

Day 7: Siena

Departure

I do feel that adding Venice and Rome will create a more hectic itinerary for you, it is possible to do it all...



Buon Viaggio,

Donna Denise
 
I can understand your concern as well as your wife's wish to pack in Rome and Venice to "see it all" since many, many packages offer just that, those 3 towns in a week. I see that Donna has tried to offer a way to make it possible, too.

My opinion is that you both should first see what Tuscany has to offer - we have had lots of questions about using Montecatini as a base over the last two years so we decided to dedicate an article to day trips from Montecatini:
http://www.discovertuscany.com/montecatini/day-trips-from-montecatini.html

It is a lot! Decide what you want to see in Tuscany first - including Florence, which as Donna has suggested, is best reached by train from Montecatini - and only after decide whether ONE of the two your wife wants to visit can be added on.

It will have to be a compromise between you two. I personally believe those packages that include all 3 cities in a week are NUTS! They herd groups around, not giving anyone a chance to really see anything beyond what the organizer has planned as a route and down-time is limited. You head back home more tired than when you arrived - not the best way to enjoy a vacation.

Make sure to schedule "relaxing time" in Montecatini Terme, enjoying the spa centers in town too! ;-) To really enjoy your vacation :D

If neither can be included, it is one reason to make it back to Italy for a future trip!
 
Sorry for the late reply. Thank you much! I am not a traveler at all, and would be fine staying in one place, but she certainly ix more adventurous than I. Thank you for the suggestions, both of you. I don't think she realizes just how much there is to take in, and perhaps after one 2- or 3-hour car ride we'll be both ready to dial it down a bit and take it slow. I do wonder how driving around Italy will be for a lifetime Midwest US driver :) I know about the ZTL zones, so trains sound like a better option in some cases. Thanks again!
 
Good morning...I wanted to post a quick follow-up, as we went on our trip to Tuscany last month. In reality, we had five days, so I would definitely want to add a few more days if we were to return (and I think we just might at some point :))

We ended up relying solely on trains and bypassed the car rental altogether. I think this was a wise decision as the trains were more than adequate. That said, touring the countryside was not possible without a car. Maybe next time. We did do a side trip to Rome in one day, and I believe that was adequate time to tour the primary sites. More in-depth exploration of places off the tourist path would require another day or two for sure. We also did a side trip to Pisa. I wanted to visit Lucca, but we never made it due to time. Montecatini, where our hotel was located, is a charming place. We spent a day walking around town.

Venice was another place my wife wanted to see, but we ran out of time. Again, we have several places on the list for next time, and now that we have some experience with Italy I think we'll be a bit more adventurous next time around :)
 
Thank you for sharing your experience with us, I agree that 5 days is not enough as Italy might be "small" but very packed with things to see and do and requires time to really experience it. I do hope you make it back soon and see the spots you missed and revisit other places! :) Happy holidays!!
 
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