Florence or Venice, given 4 days (and 4 days in Rome)?

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conley39

Either one would be a good choice. I live about two hours from both and spend about an equal amount of time in the two cities. There's a lot to see and do in either. It's not that one is better, they're different experiences which can both be appreciated for their own merits. November is the rainy season, and there may be some days with aqua alta in Venice. My daughter came to visit one Thanksgiving and it was snowing in Venice plus there was a pretty high aqua alta for a few hours - we still had a great time. The day after, we were in Florence. However, there are a lot of days when the weather is perfect for walking Venice and admiring the art & architecture.

You could consider basing yourself in Florence and going to Venice on the train for a day when the weather is nice. Florence to Venice is about two and a half hours on the faster trains. Your best bet for a full day in Venice may be to take an early train to Bologna (5:47 or 6:30 am) and transfer there to a train to Venice. The early Eurostar from Florence to Venice doesn't get to Venice until 11:17. I frequently go much further than this for day trips here. This would be about equivalent to the day trips I take to Venice or Florence. You can use this site for checking schedules and prices. http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=3fdbe14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD

Other easier day trips from Florence could include Pisa & Lucca or Siena if you choose to go to Florence.

While it's true that the travel time from Rome to Venice is longer, there is a night train that leaves Rome at 10:50 pm arriving in Venice at 5:30 the next morning. If you take this, you can sleep through the night in a berth and not have to pay for a hotel for the night in addition to the train.

Venice is one of the more expensive places. There are good places to eat in either. If you're in florence try the ribollita, cinghiale, or a good fiorentina - and vin santo with cantucci for dessert. In Venice, there's a lot of good seafood (but watch out for prices "per etto" which is the charge for 100 grams pre-cooked). Food in Florence will generally be cheaper, but it obviously depends on where you go and what you order.

Tanked

Venice is a great place and should be pretty nice at that time of the year. It would be hard to pass up, but Florence is my favorite city in Italy. It is easy to walk around the city and there is a lot of sightseeing that you can do there.

Tico Calamity

Do both!!!! You can see rapidly both of them in one day (I have done it). Two days would be more than enough in each city to have a glimpse. Since you are first in Rome, go to Florence which is 3 hours away in train. Stay there 2 days and take the train to Venice (2 and a half hours). See, you can do both. Use the Eurostar trains. For more info go to trenitalia.com, the web for the train station. Also they have automatic vending machines in the stations in english, if you donÂ´t know italian. You defenitely could do both, and both are worth it.

james

venice is smelly

fashonion

Florence is an art and foodies place. It is a beautiful city. It would probably be cheaper then Venice. Venice would be better to visit in spring time.

If you are flying out of Rome then going to Venice after Florence would be a no no,as you may end up rushing yourself.

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