we have the following itinery :

3 nights Rome
1 night Siena
3 nights Florence
3 nights Venice.

what should we do, shouldn't we do, go see, be wary of, etc…….

Ta !

I've done Rome and Venice. I would recommend getting up early and just wandering. There is loads to see and non of it was a waste of time IMHO.

Best bits in Rome for us were The Forum, The Colluseum ana Pallatine (all next to each other). Trevi at night was spectacular as was the atmosphere in the square outside The Pantheon.

Venice isn't that big so you should see a lot of it in 3 days.

Get a map and a Lonely Planet Guide, read up and then go for it.

Siena: Just wander around. The old centre of the town isn't too spread out so you can easily see all the main stuff during the day. All the locals go for a wander at night too (in between eating and drinking).

spent a lot of time in Rome sightseeing – best to just wander around and see what you stumble upon, St Peter's is epic
oh and avoid the park near the train station when it gets dark

that's what we thought – just get up and wander.
any particular highlights / stand out momento's anyone ?

In Venice steer very clear of St Peter's (or Mark's – I forget) square for drinks unless you have inordinate amounts of money.

Use the boat buses to get around – *much* cheaper than a Gondala.

any particular highlights / stand out momento's anyone ?

Nearly getting caught by a tour group enjoying the delights of my then girlfriend down a back alley in the middle of the day. But unfortunately that will be off the cards for you 🙂 Gawd, that was 20 years ago this month :-O

the best thing about Rome is driving round it like you're in the Italian job
and the Colloseum looks better from the outside than from the inside

In Rome we found Campo de' Fiori to be a really nice square.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campo_de'_Fiori

try and get there when the market is on, was fascinating sitting watching folk over a coffee.

Some really nice pizza places in all the little alleys around the back of the Trevi fountain too.

Piazza Novona is just accross the road too:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_Navona

Its a bit more touristy but a nice open square full of artists selling their stuff

Other than that the Forum and Pantheon as already mentioned were hightlights for me

Ohh, and if you want to cross a road, don't just stand at the edge by the crossing – you have to take your life in your own hands and step out. The second you do, all traffic grinds to a halt.

And watch your wallet – in Rome especially.

Rome – As Harry says, plus Spanish Steps and St Peters Square, but I wouldn't bother doing the tour of the vatican (overpriced and boring). Most of the main tourist attractions are near the underground, which unlike any British subway, is clean, cheap and on time.
Florence – Boboli Gardens, Pallazzo Pitti, I could go on but frankly there are so many piazza's and places of interest in Florence you won't be stuck. If you want to see the original Statue of David in the Galleria della Academia then you're better to pre-book tickets so you can jump the queue, same with the Uffizi Gallery (otherwise there are various copies of the statue around the city). And for an amazing place to eat go to Il Santo Bevitore for a real Italian meal, it's on Via de Santo Spirito (google maps).

Ohh, and if you want to cross a road, don't just stand at the edge by the crossing – you have to take your life in your own hands and step out. The second you do, all traffic grinds to a halt.

Forgot about that! We called it the Leap of Faith!

I think that you can pre book joint Forum/Colloseum tickets which means that you don't have to queue. I could be wrong but it is worth checking.

for us a magic moment (evening) was taking a taxi to Trastevere, eating there and then meandernig back to our hotel through centre of Rome at night – came across the Trvi fountain and several other "sights" by accident and just milled woth the evening crowd. On a more mundane level get one of the hop on hop off tourist buses from Termini.

One handy tip I heard before we went last year. You can buy a combined Forum/Coliseum ticket from the Forum; much quicker than queuing up at the Coliseum.

Paul

Firenze (Florence)

DAY 1

1. The Campanile/Duomo, If you or anyone are scared of heights/enclosed spaces, do the Campanile only. This is about half a day (3 hours)

2. Coffee and Lunch in one of the side streets near the dome.

3. Palazzo Pitti, the Oltrano based Medici Palace. The gardens, Jewels and State rooms are the best. 4-6 hours required, the gardens are lush!

Day 2

4. Santa Croce – again worth the tour – 2-3 hours followed by Ice Creme and lunch

5. Palazzo Vecchio – Coffee and people/statue watching for an hour or two.

6. Shopping and Ponte Vecchio in the afternoon and early evening.

Day 3.

7. Galeria D'Uffizi – if you like art, 3 hours max.

8. Coffee and cake at Hemmingways Cafe.

9. Santo Spirito and Santa Maria Del Carmine Churches – Worth the visit.

10. late lunch in Spirito Square.

11. Chill and drink your way upto Borgo and the surrounding market streets for dinner

brilliant thanks…….

anyone for anymore 🙂

Be careful in Rome if you use the metro from the main trainsation, my wife got her purse lifted out of her hand bag (zipped up etc) and two weeks later someone I worked with had the same happen despite being warned! The scale of the Vatican is very impressive, but I would agree about the Forum, Pantheon etc etc and just wander about.

In Venice there is a clock tower in the corner of St Marks Square which gives fanastic views, and I agree the price of drinks on the square is obscene, we went about 4 years ago and it was about 10 euros for a coffee.

If you can pre book museums in Florence it is worthwhile doing, or be there when they open, we wanted to see the statue of david but the 1hr queue was not worth it (for me anyway).

I am envious as I'd love to go and do the same. We did Rome, Florence, Lucca, Siena and Pisa a few years ago and have also been to Lake Garda and Venice. Always had a good holiday, good food and excellent wine.

good food and excellent wine……….

superb…………. 🙂

Yes, just generally be careful in Italy around the public squares – kids come up and throw newspapers in your face, then lift your wallet. Don't eat close to the main squares either expensive and touristy.

I would add the Ghetto in Venice to that list – and the Vesuvius pizza place near it. And a side trip to Verona on the train if you have the time it was ace.

I got up at 7am to start q'ing for the Uffizi and it was still hoaching !

I will contain myself to a single comment on each:

Rome — eat ravioli mimosa at the Taverna Trilussa in Trastevere

Siena — drink a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino

Florence — eat a gran pezzo (a rare steak) at the Buca Dell'Orafo, right next to Ponte Vecchio. But if you ask for a gran pezzo in a different restaurant, they may think you're asking for c*ck. In other restaurants I recommend asking for a 'fiorentina', unless…

Venice — drink spritz

That is all.

Cut one of the Florence days and go to San Gimignano instead
Rome – the Chiesa di san Ignazio in Rome – off the via corsa – has the awesomest trompe a l'oeil ceiling with a fake dome painted inside the real one

As said before, the water busses (Vaporetto) in Venice are very good and work out cheaply with a day ticket or a tourist card. You can take them all the way around the "island" of Venice which is quite nice (although takes a while) if you can get seats in the open air bit at the back of the boat.

The clock tour in the main square is great for views so worth the money. I went there last week for a day trip and that was the only touristy thing we did, we spent most of the time wandering around the back streets just poking around and finding cheap (but good) places to eat and drink.

If you haven't got a hotel booked we reckoned the area near the Public Gardens, or by the Orto Vaporetto stop looked nicest.

+1 on cutting at least a day off Florence, huge let down. Mind you, I don't really like Renaissance art, YMMV. (Personally, I'd skip the damn place altogether!)

Add another day to Rome, and another day enjoying Umbria. There are loads of hill-top towns that are great to wander around. Hadrian's villa in Tivoli is worth a visit, too.

Siena is the best by far!

If 3 days in Florence is too much a day trip to Lucca or Pisa

Another vote for San Gimignano. Beautiful place.

Are you driving into Florence? Don't! They have something called the ZTL which basically bans all cars except residents, 24/7 all year round. Clicky Linky We drove in and 18 months later (yes 18 months) received a fine for 140 euro.. It's basically a tourist trap.

Venice, sit in St Mark's Square and enjoy a drink or a coffee. Very expensive but you are on holiday after all. Then go and get lost, just go for a walk down all the alleys you'll end up at a canal or the sea eventually. We spotted Gondoliers heading for lunch in a back street restaurant and followed them in, cheap, good food.

+1 for Lucca. Particularly if you can stay of an evening and eat at the Trattoria Da Giulio. This started life as a peasant cafe, serving simple tuscan fare to the workers and street cleaners, but has built a reputation since whilst actually changing very little. One of my Italian colleagues is friends with the owners; I've been twice, once with him and once he arranged a reservation for me at short notice as I was there with my wife. Both times it has been stunningly good.

It's also Cippolini's home town.

another vote for san gimingniano, truly wonderful place to wander round, Venice was wonderful to just wander away from the crowded routes, and also the quieter areas of the islands, Murano and Burano, in particular the boat trip over that direction seeing the different church towers all leaning over at different angles. If you decide to go to Pisa, just go on the train from Florence, apart from the tower and the surrounding church and square, Pisa is a real s**thole, but I found it well worth it for the tower