This is an itinerary that is covering just major cities in Italy and not focusing on the coast and islands mainly. This is focusing on three main Italian cities, Venice, Florence and Rome as well as covering the Tuscany region. The cities that are close and easy to change and add on to this trip are adding a day in Milan, Bilogna and Naples. Bologna is right on the route and could be a day trip visit on your way. A pit stop to Milan for a night could be possible as well as ending the trip in Naples with a day instead of ending in Rome. You can add an easy half day trip to Pisa on this route from Florence as well as add on the Amalfi coast for a night or two instead of spending extended time in the bigger cities for 4 nights.
Day 1 Fly into Venice
Arrive at the airport and transfer to the city. Walk to dinner in the piazza.
Read my full Venice City Guide blog post here.
Day 2 Venice
- Spend the day at the Piazza San Marcos.
- Visit the Basilica.
- Tour the Doge’s Palace.
- Feed the pigeons in the square.
- Have lunch in Piazza San Marcos.
- Go shopping in the San Polo district.
- Take an evening gondola ride on the canals.
- Have dinner alongside the Venetian lagoon.
- Enjoy the live musicians free concerts at night in the Piazza.
Day 3 Venice
- Explore the Rialto Bridge.
- Shop at the Rialto market near the bridge and all the boutiques and stores in that district. Have gelato overlooking the lagoon.
- Have a lunch of delicious homemade pasta at we love Italy near Rialto.
- Visit one of the wine bars in a quiet city corner to take in the city.
- Take a boat tour of the grand canal.
- Have dinner in the piazza.
- Visit a concert hall to hear the amazing musicians of Venice perform.
Day 4 Day trip to islands off Venice
- In the morning, visit Burano island the lace making famous colorful houses village on the canal
- Visit Murano the glass island where you can get glass workshop tours for free watching the process. You can shop at the local glass stores and artists workshops. Have lunch on the island.
- Visit Torcello island which is full of history, ruins and old churches to tour.
- Return to have your last dinner and evening taking in the piazza.
Read full transportation with boats and using vaporettos read my post here.
Day 5 Venice –> Florence
- Take a 2.5 hour train in the morning and arrive in Florence
- Drop your luggage at your accomodations
- Tour the Duomo grounds, cathedral, baptistry and climb the bell tower for the best view of the city
- Have lunch in the piazza del duomo
- Check out the local bookstore near the piazza, Paperback Exchange and pick up a read to sit and enjoy the piazza life with a gelato or cappachino
- Walking tour of the local area
- Have dinner
Taking the bus from Venice to Florence
The bus can normally cost the same as trains but is usually cheaper. The bus costs 9-14 euros for a one person one way ticket. The bus takes around 4 hours. Flixbus offers the fastest buses. All of the buses have wifi, snacks, and bathrooms. Flixbus departs from Tronchetto, an artificial island connected by the #2 vaporetto, and arrives at Piazzale Montelungo, the main bus parking area behind Firenze Santa Maria Novella, the main train station in Florence.
Taking the train from Venice to Florence
There are two kinds of trains from Venice to Florence, high-speed express trains and slower, regional trains. High speed trains are the best option for travelers, with lots of seating, a quick transfer (less than two hours), cheap prices, luggage storage, and wifi, electrical outlets, food, and bathrooms. Local trains are a budget travelers option. However these tickets are only sometimes cheaper than the express tickets. Local trains take 3.5-5hours. Overnight trains take more than 7 hours. They have bathrooms but only some have wifi or plugins. The truth is express trains are the way to go as you can see.
The express train for this route is $30USD per person one way ticket, the local train is $25USD per person one way ticket. So to save $5 you take 2 hours more to get into the city in not very comfortable accomodations. Look at options and tickets here.
Day 6 Florence
- Tour the Uffizi art gallery
- Tour the Accademia gallery (see the David statue)
- Have lunch at the Mercato de san luenzo a local street market
- Peruse the market and shop for local souvenirs
- Head to the Piazza de republica for a slow afternoon at a local cafe in a busy piazza with a merrygoround
- Have dinner in the piazza
Read my full blog post Florence City guide here.
Day 7 Florence
- Tour the Leonardo Da Vinci art museum
- Tour the Riccardi Medici Palace
- Have lunch at a local sandwich shop
- In the afternoon, tour the Pitti Palace
- Walk through the Boboli gardens and bring a blanket and book to sit and enjoy the beautiful palace gardens after taking a walk of several miles on walking trails overlooking the city
- Go to piazza michaelangelo for the best sunset city view overlook
- Have dinner back in the Duomo piazza for your last night in the city
Day 8 Florence–>Tuscany #1 (San Gimignano)
- Take the 1.5 hour bus ride to San Gimignano in Tuscany from Florence
- Visit the Piazza del Duomo, the busy city square with cafes, gelato shops, towers and old churches
- Have a coffee at a cafe in the square
- Tour the castle Torre dei Cugnanesi
- Visit the San Gimignano 1300 art museum
- Have lunch in the piazza
- Shop in the local boutiques and market for art and handcrafts
- See a great city overlook at the Tower – House Pesciolini
- Go to the Vernaccia di San Gimignano Wine Experience La Rocca
- Wine Tasting
- Have dinner in the square
Read my full blog post about Tuscany region city tours here.
Taking the bus from Florence to San Gimignano
The bus is the fastest and cheapest option unless you choose to rent a car which is pretty expensive. The bus is about 8€ per one way ticket. Otherwise to take the train you need to stop through Poggibonsi and then take the bus from there. The train doesn’t have a direct journey which makes the bus more effective for this trip. The bus takes around 90 minutes each way, including the bus change in Poggibonsi.
You must board the Florence–Poggibonsi bus at the bus depot in Via Santa Caterina da Siena 15, next door to the Santa Maria Novella train station. When you buy your tickets, look for BusItalia Nord Line 131 Florence–Siena. The buses run every hour, Monday through Saturday, but less busses on Sundays and holidays. Tickets can be bought on your day of travel.
The bus from Florence to Poggibonsi takes about 50 minutes. Next you transfer onto Bus 130 San Gimignano-Siena. There is a 15 minute wait, and then it’s 25 minutes to go from Poggibonsi to San Gimignano. This journey is best to leave earlier in the morning so you have plenty of time to explore in the city for the day.
You can check the schedule at the bus station before you go, or use this Busfox online timetable to plan.
Day 9 Tuscany #1 (San Gimignano)–> #2 (Siena)
- Take the 1 hour bus from San Gimignano to Siena, Tuscany
- Visit the Fortezza Medicea, a brick fort with beautiful walking trails and city views for your morning walk
- Go to the piazza del Campo and tour the clock tower, palace and the art museum
- Have lunch
- Visit the beautiful cathedral
- Shop for ceramic souvenirs at Antica Siena
- Wine Tasting
- Go to Osteria degli Svitati for dinner and wine
Read my full blog post about Tuscany region city tours here.
Taking the bus from Siena to San Gimignano
- The bus takes 1 hour-1.5 hours between the two cities. The ticket is around 5 euros per person since a roundtrip ticket is 11 euros.
Direct Bus from Siena to San Gimignano
There are two main direct line busses between the two cities shown below with map pdfs.
130 A: Siena – Poggibonsi – San Gimignano (valid since 11 June 2016)
130 R: San Gimignano – Poggibonsi – Siena (valid since 11 June 2016)
Non-direct Bus, Poggibonsi City tour stop
There is another bus that stops over in Poggibonsi if you would want to see another small Tuscany city on the route.
a) Siena – Poggibonsi
Bus 130 (see above) or 131 ordinary line:
timetables on this page -> Florence Siena
b) Poggibonsi – San Gimignano
Num 130 is the bus from Poggibonsi to San Gimignano:
130 A: Siena – Poggibonsi – San Gimignano (valid since 11 June 2016)
130 R: San Gimignano – Poggibonsi – Siena (valid since 11 June 2016)
Day 10 Siena, Tuscany–>Rome
- Take the bus or train from Siena to Rome city (3-3.5 hours)
- Take a hop on and off city tour on one of the many local tour busses to see all the sites
- Have lunch
- Go to the Colosseum & arch of Constantine
- Tour Palatine Hill Roman Ruins
- Tour the Roman Forum
- Have dinner in the piazza
Taking the bus from Siena to Rome
The bus takes 2.5 hours and costs $12 USD. The cheapest and best bus company is called Flix bus. Really when compared in the Tuscany region the bus is more effective and can take you between the smaller village wine country areas. This is a good option if you are on a smaller budget and a shorter trip with less time. See the company and tickets here.
Taking the train from Siena to Rome
The train takes 3 hours and costs $22USD. The train is great and effective for traveling between major cities in Italy. When trying to tour the smaller Tuscany and wine country it is normally longer and way more expensive. The perk to the train is if you have a longer time in your itinerary and a larger budget so that you can enjoy the beautiful picturesque trip. See the company and tickets here.
Day 11 Rome
- Tour Vatican City in the morning: the Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, climb to the city overlook, tour the tomb grottoes, and see the Sistine Chapel
- Have a late lunch near the Vatican & shop for souvenirs in the little market and shops along the main street
- Tour the Pantheon
- Have dinner in the Piazza Novana
Read my full Rome City Guide blog here for food, transportation and hotels.
Read my Rome bucket list here.
Read my top list of unique things to do in Rome here.
Read my Colosseum and roman ruins guide here.
Day 12 Rome
- Tour the Catacombs of San Callisto and Domitilla in the morning as a half day trip since they are outside the city center
- Have lunch
- Tour the Borghese gallery and art museum
- See the Trevi Fountain
- Have dinner and drinks in the Piazza
Day 13 Rome
- Shop at the Porta Portese flea market
- Visit Janiculum Terrace for a drink overlooking the city and walk on the river trails in the park
- Go to Buco della serratura di Roma city park and overlook to look through the secret keyhold view
- See the Mouth of Truth Sculpture
- Visit Circus Maximus Roman Ruins
- Visit Baths of Caracalla Roman Ruins
- Have dinner & drinks in the piazza
Day 14 Fly home
Head to the airport to be flown home
Transportation
The budget way to do this trip includes two flights (in and out of Italy) and all train and bus transportation between cities. The train is very fast and reliable in Italy and there are certain places the bus is most effective. The best and cheapest way to book train tickets in Europe is through ItaliaRail.com . This is the best budget options and timetables.
