EuroTrip - 14 days Trip to Switzerland, Italy and Austria (Part 2)

Part 1
Part 3

This post covers 5 days trip itinerary to Italy that includes 2 days in Rome, 1 day in Florence and 2 days in Venice.

Recommendations/Tips

1. Follow Rick Steves Guide for monuments visit in Italy. They are good and free to download
2. Buy entry tickets online to avoid queuing in the lines
3. Stay close to Pantheon area in Rome to enjoy  wonderful street lane experience
4. While booking a hotel in Venice, see if you could get a room facing a canal. You will get a good experience of Gondolas passing by
5. When you (as a couple) take a Gondola, prefer sharing it with 2 more people; otherwise it is difficult to take pictures of yours as a couple
6. Have Gelato ice cream every day :-)

We had earlier planned to stay in Rome for 3 days and rest in Venice. But many of my friends told me later to not miss Florence, so I shortened Rome by one day and gave half day to Florence. We used AirBnB and chose a place close to Termini station. Owner of the house was an old Italian lady and she made sure that our stay was as comfortable as it could be. On the first day we visited a lot of places because of our shortened trip. We followed Colosseum > Palantine Hill > Roma Forum > Venezia Palace > Piazza Navona > Pantheon > Trevi Fountain > Spanish Steps > Colosseum (in Night).  You could avoid Palantine Hill and Spanish Steps if you are in a hurry. All others are just masterpieces which cannot be avoided at all.

Next day we were off to Vatican city. You should enter via the Museum instead of Bascillica, see the Sistine Chapel and other paintings by great artists and then go via internal route to St Peter’s Bascillica (the church). There will be lot of people selling tickets and making up all kinds of story, so avoid all of that and buy your ticket online. Use Rick Steves awesome guide for all monuments. They are just awesome and free.

Third day we left for Florence early. We visited only David, Duomo and central place, which is at a walking distance from the train station. We had not purchased tickets for David and thus ended up queuing up for more than 1.5 hours to get in. The David statue is worth a visit. Duomo is excellent and the church is also good. After some sightseeing we left for Venice by train in the afternoon and reached Venice in evening.

We loved Venice and, honestly, it was a welcome break after visiting so many churches. This city is so awesome, everything on boat. However, general consensus is that this city is so expensive that in a decade or it will just be a grand theme park. So you should plan your travel early ;-) Never mind, we started off our day with a tour of Grand Canal following up the beach in Lido, coming back to the central place and just visiting and trying to get lost in venice lanes. The experience roaming in those lanes is very good and you should try to get lost in those lanes (if you can). Next day we visited St Marks Bascillica, the clock tower, did a Gondola (suggest doing it during the evening time) ride, went to Frari Church and spent most of our time at the central square. We totally avoided the Murano and Burano islands as most said it is an ok visit. After spending two days, we took an overnight train to Vienna in the evening.

 

The picture below lists the price of visiting monuments in Rome, Florence and Italy.