So, where are *you* going next?

[Adrian]

And then he can ride a polar bear over to the hockey game.

[Sneakeater]

While saying "eh".

[nuxvomica]

Shit, thanks for the heads up! Looks like Croatia it is!

let me know if you want any recs for the coast and/or Istria

[nuxvomica]

Montreal next weekend!

[taion]

Italy for a week or so the week before Memorial Day, for the first time ever. Thinking two (or all three) of Florence, Rome, and Venice. Uhh. I wish Milan could fit in there somehow.

[Sneakeater]

I think even three is probably too much for one week.

[taion]

Umm, never mind, I think. I just looked at the flights.

[taion]

Wait, no, I just can't internet.

[taion]

Rome! And Florence! But not Venice! Or Milan!

[Sneakeater]

That makes more sense.

[Sneakeater]

Of course, my idea of a vacation is to pick a city any city and just plop down there for a week.

[joethefoodie]

Two is plenty, depending on how long your week is.

[taion]

Sunday morning in, Sunday morning out.

 

I think the plan is mostly Rome, but I feel like going to Italy for the first time and not making a detour to go to the Uffizi would be like going to a milonga and not dancing.

 

I'm generally a member of the "plop down in a city for a week" camp. My last 3 real trips out of the country were just that, with Paris.

 

In a vacuum, my first choice would have been Barcelona, but I'm probably going there in December for NIPS.

[Steve R.]

Our first Italy trip, years ago, was one week in Florence, one week in Rome. We thought, when planning it, that we'd explore some of the surrounding areas and go to other towns in Tuscany, but we never got out of either city. Now, I can't imagine going to either city for fewer than 4 days and we've already been to all the major (and many other) sites. In Florence, its not just the Uffizi, its the Accademia (David), the Duomo and at least 10 other significant churches, where the art work rivals the museums (like Santa Croce & the one above Plaza Michelangelo, where the Franciscan monks chant every evening). Then there are the markets, the bridges, the neighborhoods (oltr'arno area especially), the leather and mosaic studios, the handmade shoe places...

 

Same with Rome… less concentrated culture, but more places to see.

 

One week, 2 cities? If you plan carefully, not a bad intro. If you're not into planning and structuring your days, you'll need the entire week in either place.

[taion]

I don't pretend that I'm going to be able to enjoy Florence in any meaningful way. Aimless wandering is one of the things I enjoy the most about traveling to new cities, and there simply won't be time for that.

 

The trade-off is just that it feels more worthwhile to take the train and spend a couple of days in Florence to see, like, a few things – than to not have done so at all. Judging by the relative lengths of the threads here, Rome seems to be a more interesting place to "just" hang out anyway.