Hi,

We(Me, my husband and 1.8 year old 1 child) had decided to have our new year vacation in Italy. I saw that most of the museums and places are closed on 25 and 26 December so I planned to travel from BASEL to ROME on 26 December so that I can reach Rome on 27 December 2009. Below is my itinerary and question/suggestions whether I should go like this or any better itinerary.

1) Reaching on 27 December from Basel to Rome.
Stay in Rome for 2 day-- 27 to 29 and visit below places

• VaticanMuseum: Includes Sistine Chapels, Raphels Room, and St Peter's Basilica
• Colosseum, The Roman Forum, Palatine Hill
• Naples and Pompeii

Need to know whether 2 days is sufficient for this in Rome?
How far is Naples and Pompeii and is worth to visit this places and how can we visit this places. ?
I will not be traveling by car, I will be using the public transports so please advice are these things covered through public transport and are they good to opt for.?

2) Reaching Florence on 30 December Morning by Train and check out hotel by 31 December to travel to Venice
Needs to cover

• Il Duomo - Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
• Michelangelo's David at the AccademiaMuseum
• Brunelleschi's famous dome and Giotto's BellTower
• PisaTower

Is it possible to cover PISA tower on 30 December 2009 and other small places of Florence.?
How far is Florence and Pisa tower and how can we reach there by train our by bus from Florence?

3) Reaching VENICE on 31 December evening or after noon by train.
Plan to stay for 2 Day that is 31 Night and 1 Jan 2010.
Needs to cover

• San Marco, Santa MariaFormosa, Marco Polo and the RialtoBridge
• St. Mark's Basilica
• Gondola Ride with musician (What will be approx price for this. IS required to book now)

How far is Florence to Venice by train.?
Are 2 days sufficient for Venice?

4) Going to Milan on 02 January 2009 in morning from Venice to Milan.
Visiting Milan few places

• Leonardo's 'Last Supper' painting in Santa Maria delle church

and then catching train back from MILAN to BASEL

Can you experts tell me are my itinerary needs any changes.?
I will not be traveling by car, I will be using the public transports so please advice are these things covered through public transport and are they good to opt for.?
What will be the train fare between the cities point.?
Is there any need for euro rail pass. Will this going to benefit us?
Any place which I had missed out to see?
Also provide if you have any good, cost effective hotels to stay in these places.
Please Please give your expert advice so that my vacation gets successful
Thanks
SOnika

Wow, you trip seems to cover really good places of Italy but unfortunately I have to tell you that you will not have enough time to make it possible: due to the distance and the public transportation you are planning to use.

I would say to split this jorney into more trips.
For greating the 2010 I would suggest you to spent all the days you have listed here just in Rome (belive me they will not be enough).

G

PS:I am Italian, leaving in Milan

I agree with gioffrey - and I'm not Italian. I've been to Rome three times, and I still have neighborhoods I want to visit and sights yet to see. 2 days is definitely not enough. You can definitely spend 2 days in Rome and see lots of stuff, but you will feel like you are literally running around to see everything on your list.

Naples and Pompeii are about an hour to 2 hours away from Rome by train, Euro star is faster and InterCity trains take longer.

As for Florence, I suppose you can see everything on your list in one day, especially since you haven't listed the Uffizi Gallery or Palazzo Pitti. Pisa is about an hour away from Florence by train or bus and the only attraction there is a square with all the monuments including the leaning tower. With the sunset so early these days, I am not sure you'll be able to squeeze Pisa and Florence into one day.

Two days in Venice is nice, especially since it's fun to just wander around and get lost there.

Good luck and enjoy your vacation!

I would not contemplate a trip like that with a 1.8 yr old child.
Maybe just one of those towns would be feasible.

I think the train from Milan to Rome is three hours on the Eurostar.

Venice and Milan are cold at that time of the year and it often rains.
Milan has more rain than London.

I respectively concur with the previous opinions here, that is too much for one trip, you won't enjoy it and won't even remember what you saw. Take it easier, Italy is not going anywhere and there really is a lot to see in all those places.

train schedules and prices: http://www.trenitalia.it

We've done rome for 3-4 days with a toddler. By the fourth day everyone needs a day off..

There are cobblestones and uneven paths everywhere in rome - pushing a pram/stroller/buggy is hard going.

I've only done Rome, I haven't done any other italian cities. We did the same stuff in Rome twice (once without kids two years ago, this time with three kids and grandma) - and enjoyed repeating our adventures.

I can recommend the Rome B&B association for a private apartment rental within the city - check the exact locations. We stayed near the colosseum both times.

http://www.b-b.rm.it/

The advantage of a private rental is you can eat/drink and be merry and if the child wants to run around they can...more room than in a hotel or motel...

We can also recommend in some ways the hop-on-hop-off bus, however, be warned that they have an unreliable timetable and waiting on the side of a narrow busy street in the cold/shade/wind for 45 minutes for the bus is not fun.

I would not expect taxis to have appropriate baby seats, or bother using them...

I would not recommend taking the public trains with a baby/stroller - you are an absolute target for pickpockets and beggars.

I would probably recommend the public buses with a toddler, but not with a pram.

So, my recommendation -

Fly to Rome or take the train.
Take the express train from Rome airport to Rome main train station.
Get accommodation between the main train station and the Colosseum.
Plan to do the colosseum and roman forum one day.
Vatican and St Paul's Basilica one day.
Trevi fountain/spanish steps/etc third day.
Use the hop-on-hop off bus for the two days (vatican/trevi fountain etc).

Take it easy.

There is so much to see in Rome.

As they say...Rome was not built in a day.

oh, and watch out for pickpockets/beggars...

Final tip - the people who offer tours in English outside the colosseum, may actually be legitimate tour guides- ask them for their ID - we did an excellent walking tour of Colosseum and the Roman Forum - you jump the queue, avoid the traffic, and you are free to leave the tour whenever you've had enough. They went slow enough for our children, and we managed it with a pram...it was I think 20 Euro for adults including entry and the toddler was free...