Mad Cow's Italy trip discussion thread (3 Viewers)

[JohnnyU]

Going to Italy in May. I need to read this thread.

 

[Chemical X]

Going to Italy in May. I need to read this thread.

they are very dog friendly, emotional and service.

 

[Ilov80s]

Going to Italy in May. I need to read this thread.

Nice, I’m going in early June. Where you headed?

 

[JohnnyU]

Going to Italy in May. I need to read this thread.

Nice, I’m going in early June. Where you headed?

Rome, Florence, Milan, Pompeii, and Venice

 

[JohnnyU]

Going to Italy in May. I need to read this thread.

they are very dog friendly, emotional and service.

What about service tigers on a harness?

 

[Ilov80s]

Going to Italy in May. I need to read this thread.

Nice, I’m going in early June. Where you headed?

Rome, Florence, Milan, Pompeii, and Venice

Very nice. I’ve been to Florence and a bunch of little towns in Tuscany, loved it. Doing Rome and Venice this trip.

 

[Chemical X]

Going to Italy in May. I need to read this thread.

Nice, I’m going in early June. Where you headed?

Rome, Florence, Milan, Pompeii, and Venice

nice trip JU…. i did almost the same exact thing 10-15 years ago. i’ll be back in June, hopefully with a visa for long stay. waiting for that 1st fbg italian cornhole.

if you need advise, let me know. you can see my emotional support peacock.

 

[Dark Matter]

Booked for April 2025:
Round trip to Rome, train to Florence, rent a car and tour Tuscany, train to Venice, fly to Naples, train to Rome. This thread, as many travel threads in the FFA prove to be awesome for great insight and advice so Thank You All in Advance!

 

[Chemical X]

Booked for April 2025:
Round trip to Rome, train to Florence, rent a car and tour Tuscany, train to Venice, fly to Naples, train to Rome. This thread, as many travel threads in the FFA prove to be awesome for great insight and advice so Thank You All in Advance!

enjoy your time! fyi, italy has the 25 year jubilee this year, which is going to increase tourism by leaps and bounds. lots of pilgrims and i don’t mean the turkey eating kind. book accommodations and tours well well in advance, especially religious sites. i’ve kind of added assisi as a must visit for all who come to visit. if you get a chance, i would do it as part of tuscany.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

Booked for April 2025:
Round trip to Rome, train to Florence, rent a car and tour Tuscany, train to Venice, fly to Naples, train to Rome. This thread, as many travel threads in the FFA prove to be awesome for great insight and advice so Thank You All in Advance!

enjoy your time! fyi, italy has the 25 year jubilee this year, which is going to increase tourism by leaps and bounds. lots of pilgrims and i don’t mean the turkey eating kind. book accommodations and tours well well in advance, especially religious sites. i’ve kind of added assisi as a must visit for all who come to visit. if you get a chance, i would do it as part of tuscany.

We loved Assisi. Amazing views.

 

[BeTheMatch]

Booked for April 2025:
Round trip to Rome, train to Florence, rent a car and tour Tuscany, train to Venice, fly to Naples, train to Rome. This thread, as many travel threads in the FFA prove to be awesome for great insight and advice so Thank You All in Advance!

enjoy your time! fyi, italy has the 25 year jubilee this year, which is going to increase tourism by leaps and bounds. lots of pilgrims and i don’t mean the turkey eating kind. book accommodations and tours well well in advance, especially religious sites. i’ve kind of added assisi as a must visit for all who come to visit. if you get a chance, i would do it as part of tuscany.

Yeah, we're waiting till '26 for our trip in part because of this.

 

[Dark Matter]

Booked for April 2025:
Round trip to Rome, train to Florence, rent a car and tour Tuscany, train to Venice, fly to Naples, train to Rome. This thread, as many travel threads in the FFA prove to be awesome for great insight and advice so Thank You All in Advance!

enjoy your time! fyi, italy has the 25 year jubilee this year, which is going to increase tourism by leaps and bounds. lots of pilgrims and i don’t mean the turkey eating kind. book accommodations and tours well well in advance, especially religious sites. i’ve kind of added assisi as a must visit for all who come to visit. if you get a chance, i would do it as part of tuscany.

Yeah, we're waiting till '26 for our trip in part because of this.

We will be there Holy WeekFly out the day after Easter. We knew this going in and decided to embrace it. One of my wife’s best friends has lived in Rome for 5 years. She will help us navigate as needed.

 

[Chemical X]

Booked for April 2025:
Round trip to Rome, train to Florence, rent a car and tour Tuscany, train to Venice, fly to Naples, train to Rome. This thread, as many travel threads in the FFA prove to be awesome for great insight and advice so Thank You All in Advance!

enjoy your time! fyi, italy has the 25 year jubilee this year, which is going to increase tourism by leaps and bounds. lots of pilgrims and i don’t mean the turkey eating kind. book accommodations and tours well well in advance, especially religious sites. i’ve kind of added assisi as a must visit for all who come to visit. if you get a chance, i would do it as part of tuscany.

Yeah, we're waiting till '26 for our trip in part because of this.

olympics in ‘26 fyi.

 

[Instinctive]

Booked for April 2025:
Round trip to Rome, train to Florence, rent a car and tour Tuscany, train to Venice, fly to Naples, train to Rome. This thread, as many travel threads in the FFA prove to be awesome for great insight and advice so Thank You All in Advance!

When in Venice, I loooooooooved Murano and all the glass stuff when I was there. Coulda spent a whole day on the island alone.

 

[BeTheMatch]

Booked for April 2025:
Round trip to Rome, train to Florence, rent a car and tour Tuscany, train to Venice, fly to Naples, train to Rome. This thread, as many travel threads in the FFA prove to be awesome for great insight and advice so Thank You All in Advance!

enjoy your time! fyi, italy has the 25 year jubilee this year, which is going to increase tourism by leaps and bounds. lots of pilgrims and i don’t mean the turkey eating kind. book accommodations and tours well well in advance, especially religious sites. i’ve kind of added assisi as a must visit for all who come to visit. if you get a chance, i would do it as part of tuscany.

Yeah, we're waiting till '26 for our trip in part because of this.

olympics in ‘26 fyi.

God. When? We were looking at October I think

 

[Chemical X]

Booked for April 2025:
Round trip to Rome, train to Florence, rent a car and tour Tuscany, train to Venice, fly to Naples, train to Rome. This thread, as many travel threads in the FFA prove to be awesome for great insight and advice so Thank You All in Advance!

enjoy your time! fyi, italy has the 25 year jubilee this year, which is going to increase tourism by leaps and bounds. lots of pilgrims and i don’t mean the turkey eating kind. book accommodations and tours well well in advance, especially religious sites. i’ve kind of added assisi as a must visit for all who come to visit. if you get a chance, i would do it as part of tuscany.

Yeah, we're waiting till '26 for our trip in part because of this.

olympics in ‘26 fyi.

God. When? We were looking at October I think

winter olympics around february 2026…..milan and other northern areas. i want to go for the hockey.

 

[Orange&Blue]

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

 

[Chemical X]

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

 

[Orange&Blue]

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

Yes, we will have a car.

Exact plans still in work, but general idea is:
D1 Travel from Rome via train, get rental, B&B dinner, castle tour
D2 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre (probably too much)
D3 Siena and San Gimignano
D4 Florence & night train to venice.

Because of this, i was thinking southwest of Florence???

 

[Chemical X]

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

Yes, we will have a car.

Exact plans still in work, but general idea is:
D1 Travel from Rome via train, get rental, B&B dinner, castle tour
D2 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre (probably too much)
D3 Siena and San Gimignano
D4 Florence & night train to venice.

Because of this, i was thinking southwest of Florence???

i think d2 is too aggressive. not an agriturismo, but we stayed at castello di spaltenna in the area, modern, well appointed, but historic. you can do pisa/lucca or cinque, but not both IMO. d3 i would start in SG and do siena last to stay for dinner (sotto le fonti is highly recommended). only part of 1 day for florence proper?

 

[James Bond]

Just got back from some time in Italy. I happened to be in Venice when Bezos got married. It was a zoo. Boy did they hate him.

 

[Nigel]

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

Yes, we will have a car.

Exact plans still in work, but general idea is:
D1 Travel from Rome via train, get rental, B&B dinner, castle tour
D2 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre (probably too much)
D3 Siena and San Gimignano
D4 Florence & night train to venice.

Because of this, i was thinking southwest of Florence???

i think d2 is too aggressive. not an agriturismo, but we stayed at castello di spaltenna in the area, modern, well appointed, but historic. you can do pisa/lucca or cinque, but not both IMO. d3 i would start in SG and do siena last to stay for dinner (sotto le fonti is highly recommended). only part of 1 day for florence proper?

I would make Florence (my favorite place in Rome) my home base for this part of the trip, easy daytrips to the other spots. And I agree on D2, Pisa/Lucca doable in one day, adding CT is too much.

 

[Orange&Blue]

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

Yes, we will have a car.

Exact plans still in work, but general idea is:
D1 Travel from Rome via train, get rental, B&B dinner, castle tour
D2 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre (probably too much)
D3 Siena and San Gimignano
D4 Florence & night train to venice.

Because of this, i was thinking southwest of Florence???

i think d2 is too aggressive. not an agriturismo, but we stayed at castello di spaltenna in the area, modern, well appointed, but historic. you can do pisa/lucca or cinque, but not both IMO. d3 i would start in SG and do siena last to stay for dinner (sotto le fonti is highly recommended). only part of 1 day for florence proper?

I would make Florence (my favorite place in Rome) my home base for this part of the trip, easy daytrips to the other spots. And I agree on D2, Pisa/Lucca doable in one day, adding CT is too much.

How busy will Florence be late March?

 

[Orange&Blue]

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

Yes, we will have a car.

Exact plans still in work, but general idea is:
D1 Travel from Rome via train, get rental, B&B dinner, castle tour
D2 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre (probably too much)
D3 Siena and San Gimignano
D4 Florence & night train to venice.

Because of this, i was thinking southwest of Florence???

i think d2 is too aggressive. not an agriturismo, but we stayed at castello di spaltenna in the area, modern, well appointed, but historic. you can do pisa/lucca or cinque, but not both IMO. d3 i would start in SG and do siena last to stay for dinner (sotto le fonti is highly recommended). only part of 1 day for florence proper?

so many places and trying to figure out what to see....we will see florence, but may spread it out between days.

unfortunately your recommended place is booked.

i like the idea of staying in florence.

will look up that restaurant

 

[Chemical X]

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

Yes, we will have a car.

Exact plans still in work, but general idea is:
D1 Travel from Rome via train, get rental, B&B dinner, castle tour
D2 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre (probably too much)
D3 Siena and San Gimignano
D4 Florence & night train to venice.

Because of this, i was thinking southwest of Florence???

i think d2 is too aggressive. not an agriturismo, but we stayed at castello di spaltenna in the area, modern, well appointed, but historic. you can do pisa/lucca or cinque, but not both IMO. d3 i would start in SG and do siena last to stay for dinner (sotto le fonti is highly recommended). only part of 1 day for florence proper?

so many places and trying to figure out what to see....we will see florence, but may spread it out between days.

unfortunately your recommended place is booked.

i like the idea of staying in florence.

will look up that restaurant

well….i like staying at the hotel degli orafi in florence. location is prime and it’s an oasis IMO. just off the Ponte Vecchio. We had friends stay at B&B Hotel in Florence, just over the Ponte Vecchio in the Altrarno. They really enjoyed.

 

[Nigel]

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

Yes, we will have a car.

Exact plans still in work, but general idea is:
D1 Travel from Rome via train, get rental, B&B dinner, castle tour
D2 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre (probably too much)
D3 Siena and San Gimignano
D4 Florence & night train to venice.

Because of this, i was thinking southwest of Florence???

i think d2 is too aggressive. not an agriturismo, but we stayed at castello di spaltenna in the area, modern, well appointed, but historic. you can do pisa/lucca or cinque, but not both IMO. d3 i would start in SG and do siena last to stay for dinner (sotto le fonti is highly recommended). only part of 1 day for florence proper?

I would make Florence (my favorite place in Rome) my home base for this part of the trip, easy daytrips to the other spots. And I agree on D2, Pisa/Lucca doable in one day, adding CT is too much.

How busy will Florence be late March?

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

Yes, we will have a car.

Exact plans still in work, but general idea is:
D1 Travel from Rome via train, get rental, B&B dinner, castle tour
D2 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre (probably too much)
D3 Siena and San Gimignano
D4 Florence & night train to venice.

Because of this, i was thinking southwest of Florence???

i think d2 is too aggressive. not an agriturismo, but we stayed at castello di spaltenna in the area, modern, well appointed, but historic. you can do pisa/lucca or cinque, but not both IMO. d3 i would start in SG and do siena last to stay for dinner (sotto le fonti is highly recommended). only part of 1 day for florence proper?

I would make Florence (my favorite place in Rome) my home base for this part of the trip, easy daytrips to the other spots. And I agree on D2, Pisa/Lucca doable in one day, adding CT is too much.

How busy will Florence be late March?

Not very relative to peak season

 

[Chemical X]

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

Yes, we will have a car.

Exact plans still in work, but general idea is:
D1 Travel from Rome via train, get rental, B&B dinner, castle tour
D2 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre (probably too much)
D3 Siena and San Gimignano
D4 Florence & night train to venice.

Because of this, i was thinking southwest of Florence???

i think d2 is too aggressive. not an agriturismo, but we stayed at castello di spaltenna in the area, modern, well appointed, but historic. you can do pisa/lucca or cinque, but not both IMO. d3 i would start in SG and do siena last to stay for dinner (sotto le fonti is highly recommended). only part of 1 day for florence proper?

I would make Florence (my favorite place in Rome) my home base for this part of the trip, easy daytrips to the other spots. And I agree on D2, Pisa/Lucca doable in one day, adding CT is too much.

How busy will Florence be late March?

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

Yes, we will have a car.

Exact plans still in work, but general idea is:
D1 Travel from Rome via train, get rental, B&B dinner, castle tour
D2 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre (probably too much)
D3 Siena and San Gimignano
D4 Florence & night train to venice.

Because of this, i was thinking southwest of Florence???

i think d2 is too aggressive. not an agriturismo, but we stayed at castello di spaltenna in the area, modern, well appointed, but historic. you can do pisa/lucca or cinque, but not both IMO. d3 i would start in SG and do siena last to stay for dinner (sotto le fonti is highly recommended). only part of 1 day for florence proper?

I would make Florence (my favorite place in Rome) my home base for this part of the trip, easy daytrips to the other spots. And I agree on D2, Pisa/Lucca doable in one day, adding CT is too much.

How busy will Florence be late March?

Not very relative to peak season

agree. march will be in the 50s and you won’t have a sea of tourists. honestly, july and august are too hot and too crowded.
i’d prefer end of may to start of june, before school gets out and the weather is a bit nicer.

 

[Orange&Blue]

Trip booked for March 2026. Fly into Rome stay there for 4 nights, go to tuscany for 4 nights, and then Venice for 2.

Looking to stay at an agritirismo in tuscany. any recommendations?

tuscany is pretty big. will you have a car? what else do you want to do in tuscany?

Yes, we will have a car.

Exact plans still in work, but general idea is:
D1 Travel from Rome via train, get rental, B&B dinner, castle tour
D2 Pisa/Lucca/Cinque Terre (probably too much)
D3 Siena and San Gimignano
D4 Florence & night train to venice.

Because of this, i was thinking southwest of Florence???

i think d2 is too aggressive. not an agriturismo, but we stayed at castello di spaltenna in the area, modern, well appointed, but historic. you can do pisa/lucca or cinque, but not both IMO. d3 i would start in SG and do siena last to stay for dinner (sotto le fonti is highly recommended). only part of 1 day for florence proper?

so many places and trying to figure out what to see....we will see florence, but may spread it out between days.

unfortunately your recommended place is booked.

i like the idea of staying in florence.

will look up that restaurant

well….i like staying at the hotel degli orafi in florence. location is prime and it’s an oasis IMO. just off the Ponte Vecchio. We had friends stay at B&B Hotel in Florence, just over the Ponte Vecchio in the Altrarno. They really enjoyed.

am i crazy for thinking of renting a car from north rome to siene area instead of taking a train to Florence, renting a car, and driving back south to siene?