We are traveling to Verona for business in late September. Our personal time begins late Sept. where we want to travel to and spend a few days in Venice then travel south to Rome. Wanting to get advice on whether to take the train down and stop in various cities (ie. Florence, ???) then finally spend about 3-5 days in Rome where we fly out second week of Oct. Total trip is about 14 days including time in Verona. What are recommended cities to see and modes of transportation from Venice to Rome. Wanting to visit sights but not wait in long lines (skip the line tickets?) Is a tour recommended? Any advice on the type of Vatican tour? Trying to get the best advice to make the most of this trip. First time in Italy. Would a trip south of Rome be recommended. thanks
Reply to this Sounds like a good trip. In Rome if you want to see the Vatican buy a ticket in advance on line, it will save you a couple of hours waiting - you don't need to take a tour. The Colosseum has a huge line for buying a ticket but if you go to the Palatino first and get a combination ticket for those two and Forum you can visit the Colosseum without waiting. Tivoli and Villa Adriana outside Rome are also beautiful places, can be reach by public transport. If you have the time go to Pompeii, you can take the train to Napoli and then the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii. But there are so many things to see in Rome you may never get outside the city. Late September is a good time to travel, still warm but not hot. Be prepared for lot's of tourists though.
Reply to this In Rome - if you can take the bike tour of the city, its really nice. 5 days sound reasonable for Rome because there are many sites and museums to see, and its the city best seen at a relaxed pace. We enjoyed just sitting by the water fountains and Spanish steps.
Florence is nice beautiful city to visit too.
We did Florence - Napoli - Pompii - Cinque Terre, spending 1 day at each place and I think that was too rushed. Spending more time in Florence and Cinque Terre and skipping Pompii would have been better in retrospect. You can see the descriptions on my blog.
Reply to this you can visit "Castel del Monte in Puglia", Trulli of Alberobello in Itria Valley and Sassi of Matera .
All this location are in UNESCO World Heritage. <snip>
[Edited: 2015 Feb 03 12:41 - traveltalesofawoollymammoth:258356 - No URL addresses please]
Reply to this We bought our tickets for the Vatican on line and it worked perfectly. Used the Roma Card which covered transport on the metro - saved the hassle of buying tickets each time we went on the metro. We did the open topped bus tour to the Appian Way but felt it expensive and not that brilliant . Went on train (free again with the Roma Card ) to Ostia Antica the port of Rome.
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