In
news:,
Dale <> typed:
> We are going to Italy next year...we are planning Milan,
Florence and
> Venice of about 9 days. It looks like Rome is quite a distance
from
> these 3 cities.. Is Rome worth trekking to? I don't like
spending
> all my time traveling when I visit somewhere.
> Any opinions..or maybe someone might have a different
itinerary. My
> wife wants to spend a few days in Milan for shopping etc.
Rome is worth spending a lifetime in. There's an enormous amount
to see and do. My wife and I have been in Rome around a dozen
times, and we're leaving next week to spend four weeks there. We
will see and do things we've seen and done before, but we will
also get to places new to us. However in nine days you can't do
everything and four cities, in my view, is too much.
Of the four places you mention, Milan, in my opinion, has the
least to offer the tourist. Your wife can find wonderful shopping
in the other three cities, and, although I like Milan a lot, my
recommendation is to skip it entirely on a first short trip.
If I were you, I would fly to Milan, but not stay there. Take the
train to Venice immediately. Spend a few days there, then take
the train to Florence. A few days more, and take the train to
Rome. Spend a few days there, and fly home from Rome.
That gives you three days (really less, because traveling eats
into the time) in each city). That's barely enough to scratch the
surface of what each of the three has to offer. Better is to
leave out either Venice or Florence (which to choose depends on
your personal interests), and plan on coming back to another time
to visit it. Or if you can swing it, extend your trip to
somewhere around two weeks, which would let you get to most of
the main sites in each city (but still far from everything).
__________________
Ken Blake
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