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Vagaplan · Travel Itinerary

Rome, Florence & Venice: 10 Days in Italy

The classic Italian triangle — ancient Rome, Renaissance Florence, and the impossible city on the water — at a pace that leaves room to breathe (and a small cat in tow)

9
Nights
3
Bases
10
Days
$3,330
Total est.
$333
Per day
Route
Rome → Florence → Venice
Route Map
Overview
This is the trip almost everyone wants their first time in Italy, and there's a reason: Rome, Florence and Venice are each a world unto themselves, and they sit on one of the best fast-rail lines in Europe — Rome to Florence in 1.5 hours, Florence to Venice in 2. Ten days lets you give each city real time instead of sprinting: four nights in Rome for the ancient world and the Vatican, three in Florence for the Renaissance and a day out into Tuscany, and two in Venice to get gloriously lost. It's built for a couple travelling with a small cat — entirely doable in Italy, where cats ride the trains free in a carrier and pet-friendly rentals are easy to find; the cat settles into each apartment while you're out at the museums, which is exactly how a cat would want it. A car isn't needed (and is a liability in these cities) — trains and your feet do everything, with one optional drive out into the Tuscan hills. Arrival and departure days are kept deliberately light, since you won't know your flight times until you book.
Day-by-Day Itinerary3 bases · 10 days
Base 01

Rome

Days 1–4 · 4 nights
4 nights
~$1,350

Three thousand years of history stacked on top of itself — the Colosseum, the Vatican, and the best carbonara on earth

Where to Stay:Stay in Monti, Trastevere, or near Campo de' Fiori — central, walkable, full of life. Pet-friendly apartments are easy to find on Booking (filter for 'pets allowed'); a quiet rental suits a cat far better than a busy hotel lobby. Budget €120–180/night for a comfortable central one-bed. Monti is the sweet spot: walkable to the Colosseum, full of trattorias, calmer than Trastevere at night.
Best areas to book
Open map in new tab ↗
  • Monti1st choicecentral, walkable to the Colosseum, full of trattorias
  • Trasteverelively and characterful, great for dinner
  • Pratiquieter, near the Vatican, often better value

Booking links search the whole city — use this map (gold = first choice, blue = backups, red dots = main sights) to spot the areas on the booking site's map.

Day 1·Arrival in Rome
1 stop1 free
~$110
Day schedule1.5h
Fly into Rome Fiumicino (FCO) — the Leonardo Express train runs to Roma Termini in 32 minutes (€14pp), then a short taxi or metro to your apartment. A cat in a carrier travels free. · A deliberately light first day — your flight could land any time, and the cat needs to settle into the apartment. Get the cat set up with food, water and a quiet corner, then head out for an easy evening. Rome's headline sights wait for tomorrow.
Trastevere Evening Stroll
~1.5h
FREE

Rome's most atmospheric neighbourhood — a tangle of cobbled lanes, ivy-draped façades, and tiny piazzas that come alive after dark. No agenda needed: wander toward Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere, watch the church mosaics glow, and let the evening find you. The perfect low-key first taste of the city.

💡 Cross the river at Ponte Sisto at sunset for the classic view back toward St Peter's dome.
Optional extras (not pre-selected)
Day 2·Ancient Rome
3 stops1 book ahead
~$130
Day schedule6h
All walkable from a central base. The Colosseo metro stop (Line B) drops you at the entrance. · Book the Colosseum timed-entry ticket online well in advance — it sells out days ahead. Start early to beat both the heat and the crowds.
Colosseum (Colosseo)
~2h
Book ahead

The largest amphitheatre ever built, opened in 80 AD, and the enduring symbol of Rome — 50,000 spectators packed in for gladiatorial combat, mock sea battles, and executions. Standing on the arena level looking up at the tiers, then down into the hypogeum where animals and fighters waited, the scale and the menace of it land hard. One of the genuine wonders of the world.

9am–7pm (last entry 1hr before)💡 Pay €4 extra for the arena-floor or underground (hypogeum) access — it's a completely different experience from the standard tiers. Book the exact timed slot online; there are no same-day tickets in peak season. GYG Viator Klook
Roman Forum & Palatine Hill
~2.5h
Included with Colosseum ticket

The beating heart of the ancient empire — the ruins of the senate house, temples, basilicas and triumphal arches where Roman public life happened for a thousand years, climbing up onto the Palatine Hill where the emperors built their palaces (and where the word 'palace' comes from). Included on your Colosseum ticket. Give it two hours and a good imagination.

9am–7pm💡 Enter via the quieter Palatine gate on Via di San Gregorio to skip the Forum queue, then walk down into the Forum from above — the views from the Palatine are the best in the complex.
Capitoline Hill & Piazza del Campidoglio
~1.5h
Square free / Museums €13

Michelangelo's perfect Renaissance square crowns the Capitoline Hill, with the Capitoline Museums (the world's oldest public museums) holding the original bronze she-wolf and a giant marble emperor in pieces. Even if you skip the museum, the terrace beside it gives a sweeping free view back over the whole Forum.

Museums 9:30am–7:30pm
Optional extras (not pre-selected)
Day 3·Vatican City
3 stops1 book ahead
~$140
Day schedule6h
Metro Line A to Ottaviano, then a 5-minute walk. Or a pleasant 30-minute walk from the centre across the river. · The Vatican is overwhelming and gets brutally crowded — book the earliest museum entry you can and consider an early-access guided tour. Dress code is enforced: shoulders and knees covered.
Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel
~3h
Book ahead

Seven kilometres of galleries holding one of the greatest art collections on earth — Raphael's Rooms, the Gallery of Maps, classical sculpture without end — all building toward the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo's ceiling and Last Judgment leave the whole room craning upward in silence. It is exhausting and it is unmissable.

9am–6pm (last entry 4pm), closed Sunday except last of month💡 The single best upgrade of the whole trip is an early-entry or skip-the-line guided tour — you enter before the general crowds and reach the Sistine Chapel while it's still calm. Allow 3 hours minimum. GYG Viator Klook
St Peter's Basilica
~1.5h
Basilica free / Dome climb €10

The largest church in the world and the centre of the Catholic faith — Bernini's baldachin over the high altar, Michelangelo's Pietà behind glass, and a dome you can climb for the best view in Rome. Entry to the basilica is free; the scale inside genuinely doesn't register until you notice how tiny the people at the far end look.

7am–7pm (dome from 7:30am)💡 Climb the dome (cupola) — 551 steps, or take the lift partway. Go to the basilica straight from the Sistine Chapel via the internal passage that some guided tours use, or queue at the main entrance on St Peter's Square (security line moves fast early).
Castel Sant'Angelo
~1.5h
€15

Hadrian's circular mausoleum turned papal fortress, linked to the Vatican by an escape corridor the popes used in emergencies. The spiral ramp up through the ancient core and the terrace at the top — with its bronze angel and panorama over the river and St Peter's — make a perfect late-afternoon stop on the walk back.

9am–7:30pm, closed Monday
Optional extras (not pre-selected)
Day 4·Baroque Rome & the Centre
6 stops4 free1 book ahead
~$120
Day schedule6.5h
Entirely on foot — this is a day of wandering the centro storico. Wear good shoes. · Pre-book the Borghese Gallery (timed two-hour entry) if you want it — it's the one major Rome museum that requires it. A lighter, more spontaneous day after three big ones.
Galleria Borghese
~2h
Book ahead

The finest small museum in Rome — Bernini's Apollo and Daphne and his David in marble that seems to breathe, alongside Caravaggios and Titians, set in a cardinal's villa in a great park. Visits are capped at two-hour timed slots, which keeps it civilised. If you only do one art museum in Rome beyond the Vatican, make it this.

9am–7pm, closed Monday💡 Afterwards, walk it off in the Villa Borghese gardens and out to the Pincio terrace for the view over Piazza del Popolo. GYG Viator Klook
Trevi Fountain
~0.5h
FREE

The most flamboyant fountain in the world — a Baroque explosion of sea-gods and horses filling an entire piazza, fed by an ancient aqueduct. Throw a coin over your left shoulder to guarantee a return to Rome (they collect about €3,000 a day, donated to charity). Mobbed by mid-morning; come early or late.

💡 Visit at 7am or after 11pm to actually see it without a thousand phones in the way. It's beautifully lit at night.
Spanish Steps & Piazza di Spagna
~0.5h
FREE

The grandest staircase in Europe, sweeping up from the boat-shaped Barcaccia fountain to the Trinità dei Monti church, flanked by the designer windows of Via dei Condotti. A people-watching classic — though you can no longer sit on the steps themselves (it's fined).

Piazza Navona
~1h
FREE

Rome's most theatrical square, built over the ancient stadium of Domitian and still keeping its long oval racetrack shape — the stage for Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers, its giant figures of the Nile, Ganges, Danube and Río de la Plata facing Borromini's rippling Sant'Agnese church. The rivalry between the two Baroque masters plays out right across the piazza.

💡 Duck into San Luigi dei Francesi a block east for three free Caravaggios (the Calling of St Matthew) — bring a €1 coin for the light.
Piazza del Popolo & the Pincio Terrace
~1.5h
FREE

The grand oval piazza at the northern gate of old Rome — twin baroque churches, an Egyptian obelisk, and Caravaggios in the Santa Maria del Popolo church — with steps up to the Pincio terrace for one of the best free sunset views over the city's domes. A perfect unhurried anchor for a lighter day, a short walk from the Spanish Steps.

💡 The two Caravaggios in the Cerasi Chapel (Santa Maria del Popolo) are free and often overlooked — bring a coin for the light box.
Capuchin Crypt (Bone Chapel)
~1h
€8.50

Beneath a church on Via Veneto, the bones of nearly 4,000 Capuchin friars are arranged into chandeliers, arches and decorative patterns across six small chapels, with a plaque that reads 'what you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be.' Macabre, strangely beautiful, and a quintessential Roman curiosity most visitors miss.

10am–7pm
Optional extras (not pre-selected)
Stay
$720
Food
$360
Transport
$90
Entries
$180
Base 02

Florence

Days 5–7 · 3 nights
3 nights
~$1,080

The cradle of the Renaissance — Michelangelo's David, the Uffizi, and a city you can cross on foot in twenty minutes

Where to Stay:Stay within the centro storico (inside the ring road) or just across the Arno in the Oltrarno — both keep everything walkable. Pet-friendly rentals are common; the Oltrarno (San Frediano / Santo Spirito) is quieter and more local, ideal for a cat. Budget €110–170/night. Avoid anywhere needing a car — the centre is a restricted traffic zone (ZTL) with heavy fines.
Best areas to book
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  • Centro Storico (Duomo)1st choicein the heart, everything walkable
  • Oltrarno (Santo Spirito)quieter, local, across the Arno
  • San Marco / SS. Annunziatacalm, near the Accademia, good value

Booking links search the whole city — use this map (gold = first choice, blue = backups, red dots = main sights) to spot the areas on the booking site's map.

Day 5·Rome to Florence
5 stops2 free
~$120
Day schedule7h
High-speed train Roma Termini → Firenze Santa Maria Novella — 1h 30m, from €30pp on Trenitalia or Italo. Your cat travels free in its carrier. Walk or short taxi to your apartment. · A travel morning, then an easy afternoon settling in and getting your first feel for the city — save the ticketed museums for tomorrow.
Book the train — Trenitalia
Piazza del Duomo & the Cathedral Exterior
~1h
Cathedral free / climbs ticketed separately

Florence's cathedral hits you all at once — the green, white and pink marble of the façade, Giotto's bell tower, and above it all Brunelleschi's dome, the largest masonry dome ever built and the engineering miracle that announced the Renaissance. Just standing in the piazza, circling the building, is the right way to begin. The interior is free; the climbs are ticketed for tomorrow.

Piazza always open💡 Walk all the way around the cathedral — the detail on the marble panels rewards it, and the Porta della Mandorla on the north side is easy to miss.
Piazza della Signoria & Ponte Vecchio
~1.5h
FREE

The open-air sculpture gallery of the Loggia dei Lanzi (a copy of David stands where the original once did), the fortress-like Palazzo Vecchio, and a short walk to the Ponte Vecchio — the medieval bridge lined with goldsmiths' shops that has spanned the Arno since 1345. The classic first Florence wander.

💡 Cross the Ponte Vecchio and climb 15 minutes up to Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset — the whole city and the dome laid out below, the best free view in Florence.
Piazzale Michelangelo at Sunset
~1h
FREE

The panoramic terrace above the south bank, with the entire city — dome, bell tower, bridges, hills — spread out below and turning gold as the sun drops. Touristy, yes, and worth every step. A 20-minute walk up, or bus 12/13.

Mercato Centrale & San Lorenzo
~1h
Free (market); Medici Chapels €9

Florence's great 19th-century iron market hall — produce and butchers below, a buzzing food court above — wrapped by the sprawling San Lorenzo street market and the Medici's own basilica with its Michelangelo-designed library and chapels next door.

Market 9am–midnight
Basilica di Santa Croce
~1h
€8

The 'Temple of the Italian Glories' — a vast Franciscan church holding the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Rossini, with Giotto frescoes and a serene Brunelleschi chapel in the cloister. One of Florence's most rewarding interiors.

9:30am–5:30pm (Sun from 12:30)
Optional extras (not pre-selected)
Day 6·Renaissance Florence
4 stops3 book ahead
~$150
Day schedule6h
Everything is within a 15-minute walk in the compact centre. · The two big museums (Accademia and Uffizi) both require timed reservations — book ahead and space them with lunch between. This is the heaviest sightseeing day; pace it.
Galleria dell'Accademia (Michelangelo's David)
~1h
Book ahead

You round a corner and there he is — Michelangelo's David, 5.17 metres of flawless marble carved from a single flawed block when the sculptor was 26, standing at the end of a hall lined with his unfinished 'Prisoners' that seem to struggle out of the stone. Photographs genuinely do not prepare you. Half an hour in this one room is one of the trip's peaks.

8:15am–6:50pm, closed Monday💡 Book the first slot of the day (8:15am) and you'll have David almost to yourself for ten minutes. The rest of the gallery is small — an hour total is plenty. GYG Viator Klook
The Uffizi Gallery
~2.5h
Book ahead

One of the greatest art museums in the world, built around the Medici collection — Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, room after room in a U-shaped gallery overlooking the Arno. It is a lot; go slowly, pick your battles, and don't try to see everything.

8:15am–6:30pm, closed Monday💡 The Botticelli rooms (10–14) are the heart of it — head there first before the tour groups arrive mid-morning. Allow 2–3 hours and take a break on the rooftop terrace café. GYG Viator Klook
Climb Brunelleschi's Dome or the Bell Tower
~1.5h
Book ahead

463 steps up between the inner and outer shells of Brunelleschi's dome bring you out at the lantern with all of Florence below — passing directly beneath Vasari's enormous Last Judgment fresco on the way. If the dome's timed climb is sold out, Giotto's Campanile next door gives an almost-as-good view (and a view OF the dome).

Dome climb 8:15am–7pm by reservation
Bargello National Museum
~1h
€10

The greatest collection of Renaissance sculpture in the world, in a stern medieval palace — Donatello's bronze David, Michelangelo's early works, and Brunelleschi and Ghiberti's rival competition panels for the Baptistery doors. The essential complement to the painting at the Uffizi, and far quieter.

8:15am–1:50pm (closed some days)
Optional extras (not pre-selected)
Day 7·Into Tuscany
3 stops1 book ahead
~$160
Day schedule10.5h · busy day
Best as a self-drive day (rent a car for 24 hours from a Florence depot, ~€50) or an organised small-group tour from Florence — either keeps the cat resting at the apartment. The Tuscan back-roads are the point. · A day in the countryside between two intense city stints. If self-driving, note that Siena and San Gimignano historic centres are ZTL — park outside the walls and walk in.
Siena & the Piazza del Campo
~3h + 1.25h each way
Town free / Cathedral €7

The most beautiful medieval city in Tuscany, built in warm brick around the Piazza del Campo — the scallop-shaped square where the bareback Palio horse race is still run twice a summer. The striped Gothic cathedral is one of Italy's finest, and the whole walled centre is a car-free maze of steep lanes. Give it the morning.

1h 15m drive from Florence (70km) Cathedral 10am–7pm💡 Climb the Torre del Mangia (the Campo's slender tower) for the view if your legs are willing, or just sit in the square with a coffee and watch the city go by.
San Gimignano
~2h + 0.75h each way
Free to enter

The 'medieval Manhattan' — a tiny hilltop town bristling with fourteen surviving stone tower-houses, the last of the 72 that rival noble families once built to outdo each other. The views over the vineyards from the top of the town are sublime, and the world-champion gelato at Gelateria Dondoli on the main square is not a tourist myth.

45 min drive from Siena (40km) Always open💡 It's busy by midday — arrive in the late afternoon as the day-trippers leave and the golden light hits the towers. The Vernaccia white wine is the local speciality.
A Chianti Winery Stop
~1.5h
Book ahead

The road between Florence and Siena runs through the heart of Chianti Classico — cypress-lined drives, stone farmhouses, and estates that welcome visitors for a tasting and a cellar tour. Castello di Ama, Felsina, or any signed 'cantina' make a perfect mid-afternoon pause. Book ahead, and mind the drink-driving limits if self-driving.

By appointment, typically 10am–6pm GYG Viator Klook
Optional extras (not pre-selected)
Stay
$540
Food
$270
Transport
$140
Entries
$130
Base 03

Venice

Days 8–10 · 2 nights
2 nights
~$900

The impossible city built on the sea — no cars, no roads, just canals, bridges, and 1,200 years of improbable beauty

Where to Stay:Stay in a quieter sestiere like Cannaregio or Dorsoduro rather than right by San Marco — calmer, cheaper, more local, and a far better base for a cat. A pet-friendly apartment on a side canal is the dream here. Budget €150–230/night (Venice runs higher than the mainland). Remember everything moves by foot and boat — pack light, as you'll be crossing bridges with your bags.
Best areas to book
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  • Cannaregio1st choicelocal, calmer, better value, near the station
  • Dorsoduroarty and residential, lovely canals
  • San Polo / Santa Crocecentral, near the Rialto market

Booking links search the whole city — use this map (gold = first choice, blue = backups, red dots = main sights) to spot the areas on the booking site's map.

Day 8·Florence to Venice
4 stops1 free
~$150
Day schedule6.1h
High-speed train Firenze SMN → Venezia Santa Lucia — about 2h 5m, from €30pp. The station opens directly onto the Grand Canal. From there it's a vaporetto (water bus) or a walk with your bags to your apartment; the cat rides in its carrier throughout. · Step out of the station and the Grand Canal is right there — one of travel's great arrival moments. An easy afternoon of first impressions; the big sights are tomorrow.
Book the train — Trenitalia
Vaporetto Down the Grand Canal
~1h
Vaporetto ticket €9.50 single (or day pass €25)

The best-value sightseeing in Venice: ride Line 1 the length of the Grand Canal from the station to San Marco, past four kilometres of Gothic and Renaissance palaces rising straight out of the water, under the Rialto Bridge, for the price of a transit ticket. Stand at the back in the open air. It's how to grasp the shape of the city in 40 minutes.

Runs all day💡 A multi-day vaporetto pass pays for itself fast and saves queuing. Ride it again after dark when the palaces are lit and the canal is quiet.
Rialto Bridge & Market
~1h
FREE

The oldest and most famous of the bridges across the Grand Canal, lined with shops, with the bustling Rialto food and fish market on the San Polo side (mornings only). The surrounding lanes hold the best bacari (wine bars) for cicchetti — Venetian tapas eaten standing up.

💡 The market is a morning thing — by afternoon it's packed for photos only. The bacari around it are where to be at aperitivo hour.
The Jewish Ghetto, Cannaregio
~1h
Free (museum/synagogue tour €12)

The original Ghetto — the word was coined here in 1516 — a quiet campo ringed by Europe's first and tallest 'skyscrapers', five historic synagogues and a moving museum, in the heart of the most authentically Venetian sestiere. The antidote to San Marco.

Scuola Grande di San Rocco
~1h
€10

A confraternity hall covered, wall and ceiling, in more than fifty paintings by Tintoretto — his life's masterpiece, often called 'Venice's Sistine Chapel'. Hand-mirrors are provided so you can study the ceilings without breaking your neck. Sublime and rarely crowded.

9:30am–5:30pm
Optional extras (not pre-selected)
Day 9·St Mark's & the Islands
3 stops2 book ahead
~$150
Day schedule9h · busy day
On foot around San Marco; vaporetto out to the lagoon islands (Line 12 from Fondamente Nove). · Book a timed slot for St Mark's Basilica to skip the long queue — it's worth the €3. Start early before the day-trip cruise crowds peak around midday.
St Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco)
~1.5h
Book ahead

The most exotic church in Western Europe — a Byzantine treasure-house of five domes, encrusted inside with 8,000 square metres of gold mosaics that glow in the dim light, built to house the stolen relics of St Mark and to show off the loot of a maritime empire. The Pala d'Oro altarpiece and the bronze horses upstairs are extraordinary.

9:30am–5pm (shorter Sun)💡 Book the timed entry online to skip the piazza-long queue. Go right when it opens, when the morning light is best on the gold mosaics. GYG Viator Klook
Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale)
~2h
Book ahead

The seat of the Venetian Republic for a thousand years — vast council chambers hung with Tintoretto and Veronese, the gilded apartments of the Doge, and the Bridge of Sighs leading across to the prisons (where Casanova was held and from which he escaped). The 'Secret Itineraries' tour through the hidden interrogation rooms is the best version if you book ahead.

9am–7pm💡 The standard ticket includes the main rooms and the Bridge of Sighs; the separate 'Secret Itineraries' guided tour gets you into the attic prisons and torture chamber and is worth it. GYG Viator Klook
Murano & Burano
~4h + 0.75h each way
Free (vaporetto fare; glass demos vary)

Two islands in the northern lagoon, each unforgettable: Murano, where Venice's glassblowers have worked since 1291 and still put on furnace demonstrations, and Burano, a fishing village of houses painted in violent candy colours, famous for its lace. A half-day round trip by vaporetto and the best escape from the San Marco crush.

40 min by vaporetto (Line 12) from Fondamente Nove Daytime — islands always accessible💡 Go to Burano for the colours and the light, especially late afternoon. Combine with Torcello next door for its ancient cathedral and Byzantine mosaics if you have time.
Optional extras (not pre-selected)
Day 10·Departure
1 stop
~$70
Day schedule1.5h
From Venice it's the Alilaguna water bus or a land bus/train to Marco Polo Airport (VCE), or the train onward from Santa Lucia. Allow extra time — moving with bags and a cat carrier through Venice is slow by design. · A genuinely light final morning — your departure time sets the pace. One last coffee on a canal, then the slow journey out.
A Last Morning in the Quiet Calli
~1.5h
€3 (coffee & pastry)

Venice before the day-trippers arrive is a different, gentler city — mist on the canals, shutters opening, deliveries by boat, your footsteps the only sound in the back lanes. Have a final espresso and a pastry standing at a neighbourhood bar, take one more bridge at random, and let the city go. You'll already be planning to come back.

From 7am
Optional extras (not pre-selected)
Stay
$440
Food
$220
Transport
$160
Entries
$80
Budget Breakdown
CategoryAmount
Accommodation$1,700
Food & Drink$850
Transport$390
Car Rental$50
Fuel / Gas$30
Tolls$20
Parking$20
Public Transit$270
Entry Fees & Activities$390
Total Estimated
$3,330
~$333/day · Excludes flights
Costs shown per couple, excluding international flights. Italy's cities are not cheap, but the trains between them are fast and affordable — book Trenitalia or Italo high-speed tickets a few weeks ahead for the lowest fares, and a small cat rides free in its carrier. Skip car rental entirely except for the optional Tuscany day; the cities are walkable and have heavy restricted-traffic (ZTL) fines. The biggest single savings: book all museum tickets online in advance (avoiding both queues and tout markups), and eat where the locals do — a bàcaro crawl in Venice or a Florentine lunch counter costs a fraction of a sit-down tourist dinner.
Logistics
Connectivity

Italy has excellent 4G/5G coverage everywhere on this route. An Airalo Italy or Europe eSIM gets you online the moment you land, useful for live train times and museum bookings.

Get eSIM via Airalo
Travel Insurance

I used to skip travel insurance. Then I needed an emergency appendectomy three days into a Rio trip. World Nomads covered all of it — surgery, hospital, everything. They cover emergency medical, evacuation, trip cancellation, lost luggage, and adventure activities.

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Practical Notes
Key Tips
  • Travelling with a cat in the EU needs an EU pet passport or an EU health certificate, a microchip, and a valid rabies vaccination — arrange the paperwork with your vet well before you fly, as the rabies shot has minimum timing requirements.
  • Cats ride free on Italian trains in a closed carrier under the seat; book your own seats early for the cheapest high-speed fares and a guaranteed spot.
  • Book every major museum (Colosseum, Vatican, Uffizi, Accademia, St Mark's, Doge's Palace) online with a timed slot — queues without a reservation routinely run over an hour in season.
  • Beware the ZTL: the historic centres of Rome, Florence, Siena and San Gimignano are restricted-traffic zones with automatic camera fines. If you rent a car for Tuscany, park outside the walls.
  • A 'coperto' (cover charge) and service are normal on Italian restaurant bills — tipping beyond rounding up is not expected. Coffee standing at the bar costs a third of what it does sitting down.
  • Venice charges a day-tripper access fee on certain peak days — staying overnight (as you are) exempts you, but keep your accommodation booking to hand.
Watch Out
  • Pickpocketing is common on Rome's crowded buses and metro (especially the 64 to the Vatican) and around the major sights — use a zipped inner pocket and stay aware in crushes.
  • Don't leave a cat shut in an apartment in the July–August heat without working air-conditioning — another reason late spring or autumn suits this trip far better.
  • Restaurants right beside the big sights (Trevi, St Mark's, the Duomo) are mostly tourist traps — walk five minutes in any direction for better food at half the price, and avoid anywhere with a tout outside or photos on the menu.
  • In Venice, follow the yellow signs to 'Rialto', 'San Marco' and 'Ferrovia' (station) rather than your map app, which struggles in the alleys — and expect to get lost anyway. That's part of it.
Best Time
April–June and September–October are ideal: warm days, long evenings, and manageable crowds. July and August are hot, expensive and packed (and Venice can smell of low tide). November–March is quiet and atmospheric, with far cheaper museum tickets, though some days are cold and Venice can flood (acqua alta).
Currency
Euro (€). Cards are accepted almost everywhere, including contactless on transit, but carry some cash for small bàcari, market stalls, and church entries. ATMs (bancomat) are widely available.
Language
Italian. English is widely spoken in tourist areas and by younger Italians. A little effort goes far — 'buongiorno', 'grazie', 'permesso' (excuse me) and 'il conto' (the bill) cover most situations.
Visa
Italy is in the EU/Schengen Area. EU/EEA citizens need no visa. USA, UK, Canada, Australia: visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180. From 2025 the EU's ETIAS travel authorisation may be required for visa-exempt visitors — check before you book.
A Note From Rex

These sites, attractions, tours, and food spots are suggestions — your trip, your rules. Skip what doesn't interest you, linger somewhere you fall in love, stumble onto something not on the list. This guide is here to make planning easier, not to be followed to the letter. Make it your own.

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Vagaplan · by The Bearded Vagabond · thebeardedvagabond.comItinerary generated by AI — verify details before travelling · Rome, Florence & Venice
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