Italy

Day by day

1. 1
   Day 1Rome

   Arrival in Rome

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   Get from the airport into the centre (the Leonardo Express train from Fiumicino is easiest), drop your bags and just walk. Toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain, then cross the river for dinner in the ivy-draped lanes of Trastevere.

   Rome doesn’t ease you in — you turn a corner and there’s a 2,000-year-old column casually holding up a café. That first floodlit evening walk, gelato in hand, is when it hits you that you’re actually here.

   Our take

   Don’t over-plan tonight — Rome is best on foot and slightly lost. Eat dinner late, like the Romans, and book your big sights (Colosseum, Vatican) online now to skip the queues tomorrow.

   Highlights

   • ✦ Trevi Fountain
   • ✦ Dinner in Trastevere
2. 2
   Day 2Rome

   Ancient Rome

   Colosseum, Forum and the Pantheon — 2,000 years in a day.

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   Spend the morning in the heart of the empire: the mighty Colosseum, then the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill where it all began. In the afternoon, walk to the Pantheon — the best-preserved building of antiquity — and Piazza Navona.

   Standing on the floor of the Colosseum, you can almost hear the roar of fifty thousand people. Then you reach the Pantheon, look up through that 2,000-year-old hole in the dome, and realise the Romans were just… better at this than they had any right to be.

   Our take

   Book a timed Colosseum ticket (ideally one that includes the Forum) well ahead — same-day queues are brutal. Go early or late to dodge both the crowds and the midday heat.

   Highlights

   • ✦ Colosseum
   • ✦ Roman Forum & Palatine
   • ✦ Pantheon
3. 3
   Day 3Rome

   The Vatican

   St Peter’s, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel.

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   Dedicate the day to the world’s smallest country: the vast St Peter’s Basilica and its square, then the Vatican Museums, a marathon of galleries that ends at Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. Climb the dome for a view over all of Rome.

   You shuffle through kilometres of golden corridors, half-overwhelmed, and then you step into the Sistine Chapel, look up, and the whole room goes quiet. Some things really do live up to five centuries of hype.

   Our take

   Book the first entry of the morning (or a “skip-the-line” tour) — the Vatican Museums get unbearably packed. Dress code is enforced: shoulders and knees covered for the basilica and chapel.

   Highlights

   • ✦ St Peter’s Basilica
   • ✦ Vatican Museums
   • ✦ Sistine Chapel
5. 4
   Day 4Florence

   High-speed train to Florence

   Glide north in 90 minutes and into the cradle of the Renaissance.

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   🚆Getting there: High-speed train Rome → Florence (about 1h30m)

   A fast train whisks you to Florence in an hour and a half. Drop your bags and meet the icons: Brunelleschi’s enormous Duomo, the goldsmith-lined Ponte Vecchio over the Arno, and the elegant Piazza della Signoria.

   Florence is tiny after Rome — a city you cross on foot in twenty minutes — but every one of those minutes hides a fresco, a statue or a palazzo. The first time the Duomo’s red dome appears at the end of a narrow street, you’ll stop dead.

   Our take

   Climb either the Duomo or Giotto’s bell tower for the classic rooftop view (book the Duomo ahead). And buy your fast-train tickets early — prices jump as seats fill.

   Highlights

   • ✦ Florence Cathedral (Duomo)
   • ✦ Ponte Vecchio
6. 5
   Day 5Florence

   Florence & its art

   Michelangelo’s David, the Uffizi and a sunset over the city.

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   Come face to face with Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia, then dive into the Uffizi, home to Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and more masterpieces than seems reasonable. Cross to the artisan Oltrarno and climb to Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset.

   Photos don’t prepare you for the David: five metres of marble so alive you expect him to breathe. Hours later, watching the sun sink behind the Duomo from Piazzale Michelangelo, you’ll understand why people fall hard for this city.

   Our take

   Pre-book the Accademia and Uffizi (separate tickets) or you’ll waste half a day queueing. Skip the David souvenirs and have an aperitivo in the Oltrarno instead — it’s where Florentines actually go.

   Highlights

   • ✦ David at the Accademia
   • ✦ Uffizi Gallery
   • ✦ Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset
7. 6
   Day 6Venice

   On to Venice

   A city built on water — no cars, just canals and wonder.

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   🚆Getting there: High-speed train Florence → Venice (about 2h)

   Step off the train and straight onto the Grand Canal — Venice has no cars, only boats. Find your way to St Mark’s Square and basilica, cross the Rialto Bridge, then get gloriously lost in the back lanes as the day-trippers thin out.

   Venice should be impossible, and somehow it’s been here a thousand years: palaces rising straight out of green water, the slap of a gondola oar, a bridge over every other street. Wander after dark, when the crowds vanish and it feels like the set of a dream.

   Our take

   Skip the €80+ gondola if it’s not your thing — the €2 traghetto across the Grand Canal and the vaporetto down it give you the water for a fraction of the price. And eat at least two canals away from St Mark’s.

   Highlights

   • ✦ St Mark’s Square & Basilica
   • ✦ Rialto Bridge
   • ✦ Grand Canal by vaporetto
8. 7
   Day 7Venice

   Departure

   One last canal before Venice waves you home.

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   🚆Getting there: Venice Marco Polo Airport is ~20 min by bus or water taxi

   If your flight allows, take the vaporetto out to colourful Burano for the morning, then make your way to Marco Polo Airport. Hungry for more? This is exactly where the 15-day route keeps going, south to Naples and the Amalfi Coast.

   You’ll leave Italy already plotting the return — the regions you skipped, the dishes you didn’t try, the village someone swore you’d love. Nobody does Italy just once.

   Our take

   Leave more time than you think for Marco Polo — getting through Venice with luggage is slow. Spend your last euros on a proper espresso standing at the bar, the Italian way.

   Highlights

   • ✦ Burano island
   • ✦ Fly home from Venice

At a glance

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