If you can’t get to Pompeii, you might try a short trip out toOstia Antica. The old harbour city of ancient Rome. You can get to it by a half-hour train ride and it is a fascinating place. Not as gob-smacking as Pompeii but it definitely gives you a feeling for the lives of ancient Romans.
Like Pompeii however, it is big and it will be very hot and I suggest you plan to eat either after or before as the options in the immediate area are limited.
The Ostia Antica looked like it may be a fun little trip, especially since we aren’t really going to be on the sea otherwise. we would have loved to take a day to go down to Positano/ Pompeii, just not sure if time is going to allow.
I also really appreciate the restaurant recommendations. Me and YM are food lovers and adventurous eaters… Mrs. S and the boy… not so much.
On our recent trip we spent 4 days on the Amalfi Coast, which is bloody amazing. But, it’s a little tough to get to and from, driving is very slow and arduous. If you go out there you’ll want to stay for a bit. Is that in your schedule?
We drove from Rome to Pompeii, spent the day there, then drove out to our hotel near Praiano - http://www.lalocandadelfiordo.it/ It was an amazing place to stay, we’ve never been to a place like that anywhere. But that was a full day. Driving back along the coast road that day would have been too much.
Don’t be surprised if the stores close in the afternoon. They will re-open later.
Also there are paid restrooms in Europe.
Telemark, though the Amalfi Coast looks gorgeous, not sure if we are going to have the time to make it there. Not being able to stay longer is going to be a big regret I think.
Me Billy, paid restrooms? Like how much? I don’t want to be caught without proper fundage and have to buy a cup of coffee to use a restroom.
There were some, like in Termini train station, that cost 1 Euro. We didn’t encounter too many of them.
I have been to Italy six times. Skip Pisa. I wish I had. The only reason it’s an attraction is because the tower leans. It’s not worth your time. There is nothing else of importance there. Here is my video from my visit and this is all you need to know.
One day in Venice is enough. It has become a huge parody of itself, overrun with tourists, and difficult to find authentic cuisine. You ought to go once in your life, but that’s enough.
Yes but don’t validate it in advance, do it just before you board the train. The validation is time-stamped. I think you’ll have a problem if you present a ticket stamped the previous day.
Great point about the train tix Cooking with Gas, I can just see that happening. Have you rode with Italo instead of Trenitalia?
I have heard a few people say that about Pisa as well, but my wife is dead set on being a tourist and going, and I’m dead set on staying married to her, so we’re going to Pisa. Thankfully, I managed to get this to an evening trip. Also glad to hear that Venice can be done in one day. It seems like opinions are pretty polarized on the city… my daughter thought that is was more of an overpriced tourist trap than anything, but one of those things you just HAVE to see.
I can’t say that I paid that much attention to which line it was.
That is exactly the reason I went 
Good summary. It is a beautiful and unique setting. (I have to think that it was less touristy in the days before transcontinental travel was so easy.)
Cancel Pisa to make time for Pompeii. Pisa really isn’t worth it. Even if you understand that, you will still be disappointed. Its a waste of time in such a short trip. Also, one day is plenty for Venice. Dont worry about that.
I forgot to mention (though I think I’ve recommended it on another thread) If you are exploring the Palatine hill and have any artistic interest at all, the museum up there has some absolutely jaw-dropping sculptures from ancient Rome. 2000 years old but utterly beautiful and an obvious influence on the masters of the renaissance.
Those, the Pantheon and the food are my abiding memory of Rome.
I don’t think Pisa is worth the visit.
If you are interested in a different day trip from Florence we did one to the Cinque Terre that was the highlight of that trip. Someone had recommended it to me and after a quick look at Google images I was sold. The tour we took had us hike from one village to another, and included lunch, a boat trip and train trips between other villages. Long day but the place is like something out of another world.
Your son would likely love the Catacombs just outside of Rome. All those tunnels and creepy stuff. Walking around the city is great; you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting gorgeous statuary. The walk through the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel is well worth a try.
A cautionary note on walking in Rome: the traffic is horrendous and aggressive. Stopping for pedestrians didn’t seem to be a concept. Be very careful about the mopeds, many of which are unlicensed. They rocket around the narrow back streets without much regard for people.
I also heartily endorse eating as much gelati as is possible.
Go to the Galleria Borghese in Rome to see the Bernini sculptures of David and The Rape of Persephone. They are staggeringly gorgeous, as is most of what Bernini did.
I have a colleague who was a pedestrian (not in Rome but southern Italy) and was struck by a scooter/moped and ended up in the hospital seriously injured, including a ruptured bladder. So yeah, stay alert.
Ah, yes, It took me two attempts in different years.
But it is the best time to go to the Pantheon, and have the water come through the hole in the roof and sprinkle on your head, which made me smile.
Around the corner from Trevi is an excavation of an ancient section of Rome, with tiered walkways. It is very quiet as no one seems to go in there. I really liked it.
My experience is a few years old, but:
Agreed that Pisa was hugely underwhelming and the grounds were jam-packed with people aggressively selling junk (lots of counterfeit purses!)
Agreed that the Pantheon is amazing and shouldn’t be missed. I have a hard time ‘connecting’ with history sometimes but for whatever reason that one really grabbed me.
The one thing about being a tourist in Italy (or maybe it was just Rome?) was learning how to cross a busy street. You have to be aggressive and just COMMIT to making your way across! The cars will stop (!)
I spent six months in Rome, mostly learning Italian but also using it as a base for being a tourist throughout Italy.
You are doing **enough already **on your Rome/Florence axis already, especially with side trips to Pisa and Venice. Italy will be hot and crowded where you are going, try to slow down and don’t sweat it. Forget adding extra destinations to your trip (although it is hard not to recommend staying in Lucca - we used it as a base for exploring Florence and Pisa as much cheaper and has a direct quick train line to both!) .
Pisa is fine, you are going whatever folk say so enjoy. The whole complex of the Cathedral, Baptistry, Campanile (Leaning Tower) and Camposanto is greater than the sum of it’s parts. It is full of folk selling tat and pick pockets (who are very good at their trade - be aware) but I’ve been twice and not regretted it.
I would strongly recommend **against **heading down to Pompeii this time - you will waste too much time getting down there and back. Force yourself to go back and do that then, together with Herculaneum, and stay on the Almalfi Coast. If you are into Greek ruins you can then also visit Paestum just to the south. Naples itself gets a bad rape and deserves a stay - and Capri too (which transends it tourist trap image if you can be bothered to walk more than a kilometer away from where the hordes stay mooing contentedly). That is another week all together.
Rome has been well covered by others above. All I would add is try to have a meal in Trastevere (literally “over the Tiber” - on the south bank) which is where many Romans still go for a really good meal. I know most Americans struggle with offal but this was where Rome’s butchers lived. They got the offal as part of their pay and so Roman cuisine is full of excellent offal recipes. If you like it then this is the place to go - if not go anyway it is full of all the mainstream options too. If you want to look like you know what you are doing drink beer with pizza and wine otherwise - the Italian (or at least Roman way).
Roman pizza are all crispy thin base and don’t come loaded with topping - don’t bother asking for deep pan or thicker varieties - and prepare for a different (better) experience where less is more.
Eat ice cream every day - Italians most often don’t bother with desert in the evening and have an ice cream whilst walking home. Never order it in a cafe (especially a popular one) served in cups etc - I’ve seen people get a bill larger than the lunch bill for doing so. Have a cone or a paper cup and walk and eat.
Drink coffee (espresso or a ***dopio ***(a double espresso)) at bars standing up. You should get a small glass of water with an ice cube in it for palate afterwards if the place is any good. Don’t expect a big breakfast - Italians generally get on with a coffee and a cornetto (a sort of Italian croissant). Don’t order cappuccino after 11 o’clock or latte in the afternoon or evenings.
Florence is great too - all the obvious sights are worth it, especially a walk down the river for a little while. As you like your food I would highly recommend getting your teeth into a real bistecca alla Fiorentina. It will be eye-wateringly expensive but worth every euro. It is a double steak with the T-bone retained from specially fed herds if it is a real one. Do some research for a good place first.
I could go on - you have realized your first mistake already which is trying to do too much with too short a stay. I would recommend enjoying getting your bearings on a few places over rushing around trying to see everything. Venice on a day-trip I would probably park, but I understand the draw. For me, I would not go unless I could wake up and look out of the window onto the lagoon or the Canal Grande.
Enjoy yourselves. We’re off to Lake Como for a wedding next weekend but then escaping to the lesser known Lago d’Orta for a holiday. A new area to me so looking forward to it myself.
Oh, one last recommendation. Lonely Planet and Rough Guide dominate the European guide book trade and so anywhere they recommend tends to get packed and spoilt.
I have pretty much always been pleased with Cadogan and Time Out Guides (the former for regions and the latter as an extra for particular cities).
Honestly, you can easily see all three in a pretty short period of time- they’re all more or less off of Via Del Corso, which is the street that goes from the National Monument on the Capitoline Hill to Piazza Del Popolo.
The Trevi fountain is probably the best of the 3- it’s visually impressive, and always has a pretty large crowd, with good people watching. Despite that, it’s just a fountain. The Spanish Steps were totally underwhelming- just a whole bunch of steep steps. I found the street leading to them (Via Dei Condotti) much more interesting- it’s Rome’s high-end shopping street.
Piazza del Popolo was similarly uninteresting. One church with some good artwork, and otherwise a big open area with an obelisk in the middle. I’d recommend going to Piazza Navona instead; more “stuff” around it- cathedrals, restaurants, stands, etc… and a really cool Bernini fountain as well. And it used to be a chariot racing track (Stadium of Domitian) back in the day, which is why it’s a long oval sort of shape.
Be really careful about this - the whole train/bus ticket thing is really weird and the instructions are confusing and you will likely get conflicting information from people- even the ones working right there at the train station. Unfortunately, “doing what everyone else does” isn’t going to help you either, because they’re all doing different things.
Also, there may be a strike - which doesn’t seem to mean anything specific. The trains and buses might run, they might not, they might only go one way and leave you stranded 20 miles outside of the city with no way to get back. (This sounds much more whiny than I actually mean it to be. Public transportation works really well when it does, it’s utterly bewildering when it doesn’t, and if you can make it part of the adventure of travelling, you’ll be ok.)