Italy in 2 weeks

Comments: This trip plan was designed for travel with a 3 year old. The plan itself is just a general guideline- major deviations can occur with a 3 year old. While this plan went from South (Rome) to North (Venice), it can just us well be done North to South. In fact, I would do it that way if I was do this again.

Day 1: Depart from USA

Day 2: Arrive in Rome, jet-lagged.

• Tip: Plan for at least a day of jet-lag. You will miss a whole night’s sleep traveling from Italy to USA.

Day 3: In Rome

1) Galleria Borghese (3 hours including travel time):

• Museum featuring some of Bernini’s most famous sculptures such as “Apollo and Daphne”

• Tip: requires advance reservation, done easily on the Internet.

2) Fontana di Trevi

• Tip:Extremely crowded. Worth a picture.

3) Pantheon

• Ancient Roman temple attributed to Emperor Hadrian (2nd century). Converted into a church and tomb.
• Tip: Would be worth a guided tour.

4) Roman Forum

• Tip: Would be worth a guided tour. These ruins require their story to be told.
• Buy the Rome Archaeological Card from ticketitaly.com

5) Colloseum

• Tip: Would be worth a guided tour. These ruins require their story to be told.

Day 4: Pompeii

• http://wikitravel.org/en/Pompeii
• Tip: Possible to visit Pompeii from Rome in one long day. Start by 8 AM, catch a Trenitalia train to Napoli Centrale (Naples) and then switch to a local train (Circumvesuviana) from Naples to Pompei Scavi.
  
• Tip: Definitely worth a guided tour. These ruins require their story to be told. More important, you can easily get lost in these ruins.
• Trenitalia: http://orario.trenitalia.com/b2c/TimeTable

Day 5: Rome- Vatican

1) Vatican museum

2) St. Peter’s Basilica

• Tip: Definitely worth a guided tour. Try Through Eternity (www.througheternity.com) for a thorough 6 hour tour in American English.

Day 6: Cinque Terre

• Collection of 5 villages in a national park setting.
• Plan on a 6 hour train trip (Trenitalia) from Rome, and spending the night there.
• From Rome, take a train to La Spezia and then a local train from La Spezia to one of the Cinque Terre villages.
  
• Tip: This is over-hyped and worth visiting only if you are into outdoors/hiking. The villages themselves have very little to offer. One could call them picturesque in a shabby sort of way.

Day 7: Pisa

• Arrive in Pisa from Cinque Terre
• Pisa is famous for its Leaning Tower and the adjacent baptistry, featuring a pulpit by Nicola Pisano, a pre-Renaissance sculptor.
  
• Depart to Florence
• Tip: Florence is an 1.5 hours from Pisa. You can visit Pisa in a day-trip from Florence.

Day 8: Florence

1) Galleria Degli Uffizi: Fine museum with Florentine Renaissance paintings.

2) Accademia: Smaller museum with Florentine Renaissance sculptures (the crowd-puller being Michelangelo’s David) and paintings.

• Tip: Make advance reservations for both museums. Spend more time in Uffizi than in Accademia since the former is much, much larger.

3) Fiesole: Nice hill-top town about 30 minutes from Florence. Besides a great view of Florence, Fiesole has Etruscan (the pre-Romans) ruins that are worth a look.

• Tip: Take Bus Number 7 from Accademia to Fiesole

Day 9: Florence to Siena

Siena is Florence’s aristocratic cousin. Medieval Florence was ruled by merchants while Siena was ruled by feudal landlords. Present-day Siena definitely feels upscale compared to Florence. Siena is a day-trip from Florence.

1) Duomo: Medieval cathedral with sculptures by Bernini, Michelangelo and Nicola Pisano

2) Piazza del Campo: Large town square with a re-make of a famous medieval fountain

Tip: Take the Sita/Tra-In bus from Florence to Siena. Buses run every 30 minutes.

Day 10: Florence To Venice

Take the Trenitalia/Eurostar to Venice from Florence. In Venice:

1) St. Mark’s Basilica: Somewhat gaudy medieval cathedral dedicated to St. Mark

Day 11: Venice

1) Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace): Medieval palace with a large collection of paintings by Venetian Renaissance masters. Nice views of St. Mark’s square from the palace.

2) Accademia: Museum with a large collection of paintings by Venetian Renaissance masters

3) Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari- Well-preserved cathedral with original works by Venetian Renaissance masters. Titian and Canova are buried here.

Day 12: Venice/Murano

1) Murano: Venitian island famous for its glass works

2) Correr Museum:

Day 13: Return to USA