Rome, Florence or Venice

lemontart

brazilianwax wrote:

Jo -

Seriously - I didn't see any of what the other posters described and would go back to Florence in a heartbeat.

If anyone knew what London was really like there wouldn't be so many tourists, would there??!!

London has a lot more going for it than florence- London has lots of galleries, theatres, cineamas, a much wider selection of eateries, a better transport system more effiecient tourist information offices and is a damn site cleaner than florence with very few pedlars harrasing you as you wander around and a wider variety of historic sites and parks. There is simply no comparison between the two,

Liz
xx

italiastar

lemontart wrote:

Florence is a dump - full of pedlars and theives and dirty. I was there in November and you could not walk 10 yards with out some one trying to sell you something on the street. ok day visit for ulrezzi gallery but thats about it but defo watch your bags and wallets there awful and police do not really care either,.

Liz
xx

I found the pedlars quite nice - I bought a Camera tripod from one for 3 Euros (although he did originally ask for 10) It was quiet fun, He guessed I was English and insited on speaking to me in English - I made out that I didn't understand and spoke to him in Italian, quickly finding out that my Italian was much better than his - we had quite a bit of friendly banter. Travellers to Italy will find that peddlers are part of the territory - you find them anywhere there's tourists - If you don't want to get involved with them, just ignore them - they soon get the message. I certainly don't feel vunerable with them around.

italiastar

lemontart wrote:

London has a lot more going for it than florence- London has lots of galleries, theatres, cineamas, a much wider selection of eateries, a better transport system more effiecient tourist information offices and is a damn site cleaner than florence with very few pedlars harrasing you as you wander around and a wider variety of historic sites and parks. There is simply no comparison between the two,

Liz
xx

Mmmm - I'm not arguing about what London has, but it's a hole! where else can you walk down a tourist street with the stong smell of urine with other unmentinables on the floor and feel unsafe ! - that was my experience a few weeks ago in the middle of the day betweem Picadilly and Leicester Square. A few minute earler, I was approched and asked if I was looking for a "Lady" but a normal looking attactive woman - at least in Italy you can spot the women offering services a mile off - literally. That actually is one of the things that annoys me in Italy.

brazilianwax

lemontart wrote:

London has a lot more going for it than florence- London has lots of galleries, theatres, cineamas, a much wider selection of eateries, a better transport system more effiecient tourist information offices and is a damn site cleaner than florence with very few pedlars harrasing you as you wander around and a wider variety of historic sites and parks. There is simply no comparison between the two,

Liz
xx

Ummmmm, I live in London, and can't agree with most of your points (especially about transport, beggars and cleanliness!).

There are so many galleries in Florence that we didn't manage to do even half of them in a week!!! And we spent a whole afternoon in the Boboli gardens, which beat every London park hands down.

We weren't pestered, robbed or attacked in Florence, and the people we encountered there were lovely.

But we can't all like the same places, and we're all entitled to our opinions!

italiastar

brazilianwax wrote:

But we can't all like the same places, and we're all entitled to our opinions!

Well Said !

lemontart

italiastar wrote:

I found the pedlars quite nice - I bought a Camera tripod from one for 3 Euros (although he did originally ask for 10) It was quiet fun, He guessed I was English and insited on speaking to me in English - I made out that I didn't understand and spoke to him in Italian, quickly finding out that my Italian was much better than his - we had quite a bit of friendly banter. Travellers to Italy will find that peddlers are part of the territory - you find them anywhere there's tourists - If you don't want to get involved with them, just ignore them - they soon get the message. I certainly don't feel vunerable with them around.

I have visited rome and pisa and whilst there were handfull of pedlars in pisa there were none in rome

Liz

hardpressed

united4ever wrote:

Spending seven days in the above three cities, so planning 2 nights in two cities and 3 nights in one city. But don't know which of the three to spend the longer three nights in. Anyone any advice on which city would be best to spend 3 nights in, or alternatively if we could make ashort trip somewhere off this route for one night. My wife and I are travelling by train throughout. Thanks

I'd be interested to know how you arranged to travel by train, is it a package or have you booked travel and accomodation seperatly?

acemoola

I've been to all three and all are fab in different ways.
I don't agree with the posts about feeling threatened in Florence, we went all over down back steets and didn't encounter any of the above.
I felt more threatened in Rome. In venice at night, all the day tourists !!!!!! off and the streets are dead and we were glad to be heading back to the Lido, because it was a bit weird (try Des Bains hotel on the Lido - sumptuous and free deluxe boat to and from Venice).
From Florence we also stayed in Lucca (birthplace of Puccini) and Viarregio on the coast, which were only about an hour a way on the train - dead easy and nice to see a bit more of the beautiful countryside.
I would say could tire of Rome and environs more easily and can do most of the big sites in two days.
Venice is my favourites, very magical and if you stay on the Lido, you can have city/beach type break, as well, which gives you a gentle breather from all the sightseeting and culture.
Have fun:j

3plus1

Firenze, Venezia and Roma are all tourist cities.

Firenze is huge, every year you get something close to 2 million foreigners arriving to poke around. Obviously there is a lot of crap aimed at tourists, but you just have to know what you're doing.

I mean, San Lorenzo is an awful place to be at night - even the locals avoid it. Not nice. There's a bit of drinking related violence, and dodgy looking types.

Anywhere in the centro storico, you'll find people trying to sell you crap for money, but this is true of any big Italian town.

On the tourist side of the Arno, everything is expensive. But if you cross the bridge over into Santo Spirito, hey, it's much more in the spirit of MSE.;) I mean, you could easily buy an small one scoop ice cream for €4 on the tourist side, and one very large scoop ice cream for €1 at the gelateria near Ponte alla Caria. Internet Train charges €6 an hour in the tourist side, but my friend Ali charges around €2 at his internet cafe in Santo Spirito.

You should definitely head up to Piazzale Michaelangelo for the best view of the city, and if you've never been to Firenze before, you have to do the basics like go to the Uffizi. (But go at around 1pm when everyone is eating as the queue will be shorter.;))

The tourists love Firenze, although the residents do mostly hate it, because they think it's very dirty, and covered in crap (caused by the tourists). Don't let any of the other posters put you off - I mean, where do you live? I bet there's a dodgy area somewhere close by, you just don't go there. You have to know where to avoid.

Oh yeah, and make sure you pick up a free map from any Apt (tourist office). You'll be grateful you did so.;) Any Apt will be able to let you know what's currently going on in the city.

Venezia is very confusing indeed; make sure you get a map. You will get lost repeatedly without one. There's less to see and do there, unless you want to go out and visit some of the islands. By the way, try to avoid getting the vaporetti unless you want to get fleeced. Seriously expensive.

The only smelly part is Piazza San Marco, but that's because of all those damn pigeons. I hate them. I always avoid Piazza San Marco.

A train ride away from Venezia is Verona, but that should just be a day exercursion, nothing more.

I haven't been to Roma in quite some time, but I think I would feel safer in Firenze.

If there's anything else I can help with, just give me a shout. I know Firenze and Venezia fairly well.

altyfc

I have visited all three and, of them all, my vote would go to Florence.

If you want to see what there is to see and do in each city, try these links:

Florence attractions - Rome attractions - Venice attractions