Newbie to Italy (Traveling to Rome,Florence,Venice)

I read some of the posts in this group and they are extremely
informative. So i am confused now. Can any one please help. Here is my
itenary, can some one suggest what places i can visit (combination of
essense of rome and must see's).All dates in january 2004.

17,18,19,20 - Rome
20th afternoon leave to Florence
20,21,22 - Florence
22nd afternoon leave to Venice
22,23,24 - Venice
24th nigth leave to Rome

and 25th flight back to U.S.

Given this itenary,
In rome i was planning on Pantheon, Vatican(Museum,St.Peters and
Sistene Chappel) - Please add to this list.

In florence - Duomo,Academia gallery. please add to this list.
Venice - Please suggest.

Thank you very much
Pal

I can suggest some of the Venice part for you;

St. Marks - Square and Basilica (obligatory, but stunning, and one of the
worlds great landmarks. You will get chills the moment you step into the
open in the Square).

Try not to miss the fish market near the Rialto bridge early in the morning

Burano - the best island to visit - wonderful colorful streescapes

and finally, but most important;

Every street, alley, cay, via, promenade, nook, and crevice you can manage
to get to on foot in Venice. Venice IS the attraction. You are walking
through the best museum in the world. Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk. I
wouldn't even look at my map until I wanted to find my way back. Half the
fun is just tunring corners and going "Wow!"




"pal" wrote in message
om...
I read some of the posts in this group and they are extremely
informative. So i am confused now. Can any one please help. Here is my
itenary, can some one suggest what places i can visit (combination of
essense of rome and must see's).All dates in january 2004.

17,18,19,20 - Rome
20th afternoon leave to Florence
20,21,22 - Florence
22nd afternoon leave to Venice
22,23,24 - Venice
24th nigth leave to Rome

and 25th flight back to U.S.

Given this itenary,
In rome i was planning on Pantheon, Vatican(Museum,St.Peters and
Sistene Chappel) - Please add to this list.

In florence - Duomo,Academia gallery. please add to this list.
Venice - Please suggest.

Thank you very much
Pal

In
.cable.rogers.com,
Aramis typed:

I can suggest some of the Venice part for you;

St. Marks - Square and Basilica (obligatory, but stunning, and
one of
the worlds great landmarks. You will get chills the moment you
step
into the open in the Square).

Try not to miss the fish market near the Rialto bridge early in
the
morning


I generally avoid questions like this, since there is an enormous
range of differences in what people like to see and do. But the
mood strikes me, so I'll name a few of my favorite things to see
in Venice, in no particular order:

Santa Maria Gloriosa del Frari
Santi Maria dei Miracoli
The Accademia Museum
The Ca d'Oro
The cemetery on San Michele
Santi Giovanni e Paolo
The Naval Museum
The Scuola di San Rocco

I'm probably leaving out many of my favorites, but these are the
ones that come to mind quickly.


Burano - the best island to visit - wonderful colorful
streescapes


*My* favorite of the outer islands is Torcello.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup



"pal" wrote in message
om...
I read some of the posts in this group and they are extremely
informative. So i am confused now. Can any one please help.
Here is
my itenary, can some one suggest what places i can visit
(combination of essense of rome and must see's).All dates in
january
2004.

17,18,19,20 - Rome
20th afternoon leave to Florence
20,21,22 - Florence
22nd afternoon leave to Venice
22,23,24 - Venice
24th nigth leave to Rome

and 25th flight back to U.S.

Given this itenary,
In rome i was planning on Pantheon, Vatican(Museum,St.Peters
and
Sistene Chappel) - Please add to this list.

In florence - Duomo,Academia gallery. please add to this list.
Venice - Please suggest.

Thank you very much
Pal

Venice -- it will be cold, but don't miss one of the highlights of Italy --
a ride on the vaporetto from one end of the Grand Canal to the other. Get a
three day ticket and ride as often as you can. I live there part of the
year, and have for forty years -- I still often take two or three round
trips just to look. There are seats inside, but you want to be snugged up
well and stand outside -- the view is worth the shivers. The streets are
likely to have standing water at that time of year -- at least when the tide
is up. Venetians wear boots all day -- you can walk on the elevated
walkways.
The Saint Mark's area- the Basilica, the Doges' palace, an expensive coffee
in Florians ( not across the way at the Quadri where the naughty Austrians
hung out during the occupation); a look inside the spectacular Hotel
Danieli -- (a magical place worthy of Disneyworld -- only real!); visits to
the great churches, the Frari ( there there are concerts almost every
week -- no heat, but as beautiful as it is possible to imagine) and the San
Giovanni e Paolo. The great Accademia museum -- more masterpieces than you
can possibly absorb. Walk from the Piazza up the Mercerie to the Rialto and
wish you were rich.
Almost every church has a masterpiece of art or two -- most of them badly
lit and dirty: there is a group of churches for which you can buy a ticket
for 8 euros and get admission to all of them ( about twenty). But most
churches are free, and even those that charge have areas just inside the
doors where you can stand and get a nice overall view.
The island of Murano is the "glass" island, but there is much much glass in
town, and there is not anything different out there. Nice for a stroll, but
not in January. Ditto Burano -- small and easily strolled, but not worth the
45 minute trip in cold weather.
If the weather is mild, walk and walk and walk. If it is not mild, walk
briskly.
rjf


"pal" wrote in message
om...
I read some of the posts in this group and they are extremely
informative. So i am confused now. Can any one please help. Here is my
itenary, can some one suggest what places i can visit (combination of
essense of rome and must see's).All dates in january 2004.

17,18,19,20 - Rome
20th afternoon leave to Florence
20,21,22 - Florence
22nd afternoon leave to Venice
22,23,24 - Venice
24th nigth leave to Rome

and 25th flight back to U.S.

Given this itenary,
In rome i was planning on Pantheon, Vatican(Museum,St.Peters and
Sistene Chappel) - Please add to this list.

In florence - Duomo,Academia gallery. please add to this list.
Venice - Please suggest.

Thank you very much
Pal

"pal" wrote in message
om...
I read some of the posts in this group and they are extremely
informative. So i am confused now. Can any one please help. Here is my
itenary, can some one suggest what places i can visit (combination of
essense of rome and must see's).All dates in january 2004.

17,18,19,20 - Rome
20th afternoon leave to Florence
20,21,22 - Florence
22nd afternoon leave to Venice
22,23,24 - Venice
24th nigth leave to Rome

and 25th flight back to U.S.

Given this itenary,
In rome i was planning on Pantheon, Vatican(Museum,St.Peters and
Sistene Chappel) - Please add to this list.

I'd start with a day for St. Peters and the Vatican Museums.
You need to enter the Vatican Museums to see the Sistene Chappel.
Then another day for the Colusseum/Forum. (You might want to
switch those so you don't end up in the Vatican on Sunday).
Check out the Trevi fountain one evening after dinner. And
swing by the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona on your last day,
before leaving town.

In florence - Duomo,Academia gallery. please add to this list.

Don't forget the Uffizi gallery. You might want to do the galleries
(Academia and Uffizi, and maybe others) on your full day, and
hit the Duomo the morning of the 22nd.

Venice - Please suggest.

I love Venice, and found it's best just to wander around.

Thank you very much
Pal

In article , pal
wrote:

I read some of the posts in this group and they are extremely
informative. So i am confused now. Can any one please help. Here is my
itenary, can some one suggest what places i can visit (combination of
essense of rome and must see's).All dates in january 2004.

17,18,19,20 - Rome
20th afternoon leave to Florence
20,21,22 - Florence
22nd afternoon leave to Venice
22,23,24 - Venice
24th nigth leave to Rome

and 25th flight back to U.S.

Given this itenary,
In rome i was planning on Pantheon, Vatican(Museum,St.Peters and
Sistene Chappel) - Please add to this list.

All the Vatican sights can be see in one full day. I recommend seeing
St. Peters first, and very early, so you can have the run of the place
before more tourists arrive. It probably won't be so bad in January,
though.

The Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill, and the museums at the top of the
Capitoline Hill (at the far end of the Forum from the Colosseum) are
another good full day.

I liked the Baths of Caracalla. There is als othe Trevi Fountain, and
the nearby Spanish Steps.

I recommend getting Rick Steves' _Rome_ book. It has a lot of good
info for 'what do see' - included severall less-than-obvious churches
(like one behind the Pantheon called sopra minerva (elephant in
front)).

In florence - Duomo,Academia gallery. please add to this list.

Duomo and Academia would be a good solid day. Get to the Accademia
early (30 min before opens) to avoid a huge line, or, get tickets in
advance.

The next day could be the Uffizi and Bargelo museums. Get to the
Uffizi early, too. In my opinion, depite fewer Michelangelos, the
Uffizi is the best art museum in Florence.

A good third day could be a general walk around Florence, including
over the Ponte Vecchio (near the Uffizzi), before heading to Venice.

Venice - Please suggest.

You could spend a good day visiting St. Mark's early in the morning
(again, to avoid crowds), and the Accademia museum in the afternoon.
You would be well serve by a second day of generally walking and
exploration - Venice is amazing interesting solely in an architectural
sense.

Thank you very much

Sure.

If you're into Michelangelo, note that you'll have good opportunities
to see lots of his stuff.

Rome (Vatican, actually): Pieta (on the right in St. Peter's), ceiling
of the Sistine Chapel; Christ/cross (sopra minerva church)
Florence: Bacchus (Bargelo); Slaves/Captives, David, Leto/Swan
(Accademia), Holy Family (GREAT painting) (Uffizzi); Leonardo/etc in
the Medici chapel place... err, I forget the name.

If anyone out there knows what I may have missed, please post!

Pal

--
Dan Stephenson
Photos and movies from my 3-month European vacation and Wales 2003 at
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

In Rome the Borghese has tons of sculpture by Bernini (I believe you
need a reservation)

In Florence the church of Santa Croce and the Mercato Centrale
(central market) are worth seeing as well as other places people have
listed...

Venice- walk, walk, walk

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 02:52:18 GMT, Dan Stephenson
wrote:

In article , pal
wrote:

I read some of the posts in this group and they are extremely
informative. So i am confused now. Can any one please help. Here is my
itenary, can some one suggest what places i can visit (combination of
essense of rome and must see's).All dates in january 2004.

17,18,19,20 - Rome
20th afternoon leave to Florence
20,21,22 - Florence
22nd afternoon leave to Venice
22,23,24 - Venice
24th nigth leave to Rome

and 25th flight back to U.S.

Given this itenary,
In rome i was planning on Pantheon, Vatican(Museum,St.Peters and
Sistene Chappel) - Please add to this list.

All the Vatican sights can be see in one full day. I recommend seeing
St. Peters first, and very early, so you can have the run of the place
before more tourists arrive. It probably won't be so bad in January,
though.

The Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill, and the museums at the top of the
Capitoline Hill (at the far end of the Forum from the Colosseum) are
another good full day.

I liked the Baths of Caracalla. There is als othe Trevi Fountain, and
the nearby Spanish Steps.

I recommend getting Rick Steves' _Rome_ book. It has a lot of good
info for 'what do see' - included severall less-than-obvious churches
(like one behind the Pantheon called sopra minerva (elephant in
front)).

In florence - Duomo,Academia gallery. please add to this list.

Duomo and Academia would be a good solid day. Get to the Accademia
early (30 min before opens) to avoid a huge line, or, get tickets in
advance.

The next day could be the Uffizi and Bargelo museums. Get to the
Uffizi early, too. In my opinion, depite fewer Michelangelos, the
Uffizi is the best art museum in Florence.

A good third day could be a general walk around Florence, including
over the Ponte Vecchio (near the Uffizzi), before heading to Venice.

Venice - Please suggest.

You could spend a good day visiting St. Mark's early in the morning
(again, to avoid crowds), and the Accademia museum in the afternoon.
You would be well serve by a second day of generally walking and
exploration - Venice is amazing interesting solely in an architectural
sense.

Thank you very much

Sure.

If you're into Michelangelo, note that you'll have good opportunities
to see lots of his stuff.

Rome (Vatican, actually): Pieta (on the right in St. Peter's), ceiling
of the Sistine Chapel; Christ/cross (sopra minerva church)
Florence: Bacchus (Bargelo); Slaves/Captives, David, Leto/Swan
(Accademia), Holy Family (GREAT painting) (Uffizzi); Leonardo/etc in
the Medici chapel place... err, I forget the name.

If anyone out there knows what I may have missed, please post!

Pal

--
Dan Stephenson
Photos and movies from my 3-month European vacation and Wales 2003 at
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

On 7 Jan 2004 14:49:50 -0800, pal wrote:

In florence - Duomo,Academia gallery.

As you have three days in florence, how about a short trip to Pisa to see
the leaning tower & the Dome?

It's 60 - 90 minutes by train (depends what train you get) from Florence to
Pisa. You can buy the tickets at the station, no need for reservation.

In Pisa it's about 20 minutes to walk from the station to the leaning
tower, or about 5 minutes by taxi. So a trip to Pisa can conveniently be
done in a day. You may evtl. also stop by in Lucca, which is a beautiful
old town (can all be done in one day - Florence - Pisa + Lucca and back to
Florence).

Regards,

Frank

Skip Venice. You are not going to see Italy, ou are going on a big
train ride. You will spend more time getting to/on/from train
stations than you will in either Florence or Venice.

On 7 Jan 2004 14:49:50 -0800, (pal) wrote:

I read some of the posts in this group and they are extremely
informative. So i am confused now. Can any one please help. Here is my
itenary, can some one suggest what places i can visit (combination of
essense of rome and must see's).All dates in january 2004.

17,18,19,20 - Rome
20th afternoon leave to Florence
20,21,22 - Florence
22nd afternoon leave to Venice
22,23,24 - Venice
24th nigth leave to Rome

and 25th flight back to U.S.

Given this itenary,
In rome i was planning on Pantheon, Vatican(Museum,St.Peters and
Sistene Chappel) - Please add to this list.

In florence - Duomo,Academia gallery. please add to this list.
Venice - Please suggest.

Thank you very much
Pal

On 7 Jan 2004 14:49:50 -0800, (pal) wrote:

I read some of the posts in this group and they are extremely
informative. So i am confused now. Can any one please help. Here is my
itenary, can some one suggest what places i can visit (combination of
essense of rome and must see's).All dates in january 2004.

17,18,19,20 - Rome
20th afternoon leave to Florence
20,21,22 - Florence
22nd afternoon leave to Venice
22,23,24 - Venice
24th nigth leave to Rome

and 25th flight back to U.S.

Given this itenary,
In rome i was planning on Pantheon, Vatican(Museum,St.Peters and
Sistene Chappel) - Please add to this list.

In florence - Duomo,Academia gallery. please add to this list.
Venice - Please suggest.

Why don't you tell us what sorts of things you most enjoy: art,
history, night life, fine dining, shopping, etc. Especially in Rome,
there are so many things it would be hard to list them all, so maybe
we should concentrate on things that are likely to appeal to you.
-----------
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup