Italy itinerary, day by day

Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples and Sicily linked by high-speed rail: the day-by-day route, the sights worth booking ahead, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

🗓️ 7, 10 or 14 days📍 4 stops☀️ Best time: April to June and September to October

Rome · Photo Geni Hoka / Pexels

Route map (numbers = order of the stops).

Italy in 7 days

3 stops · 16 things to do · train

1Venice

Days 1-2

Built on 118 islets from the fifth century onwards, and queen of the seas for much of the next thousand years. Saint Mark's Square, the gondolas and the Grand Canal.

🎟️ Worth booking

Gondola ride30 min · from €40
Thirty minutes on the small canals, where the city looks the way it was designed to be seen.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Doge's Palace, guided2h · from €35
The seat of the Venetian republic, its council rooms and the bridge that took prisoners out of them.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Saint Mark's Square · Rialto Bridge · Murano and Burano islands

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Hotel Bernardi Semenzato (€80 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Antiche Figure (€210 a night) · Luxury: Ca' Sagredo Hotel (€350 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Dal Moro's Venice | Fresh Pasta Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.9 · 7299 reviews · €€
La Vacaria ↗ ★ 4.9 · 1067 reviews
La Nuova Perla ↗ ★ 4.8 · 8745 reviews · €€
Hostaria Osottoosopra ↗ ★ 4.8 · 8051 reviews · €€
Impronta Restaurant Venice ↗ ★ 4.8 · 4876 reviews · €€

Photo Olivier Dalmasso / Pexels

🚄 Train · 2h · 260 km

2Florence

Days 3-4

Where the Renaissance and the Medici began. Brunelleschi's dome, the Uffizi and Michelangelo's David.

🎟️ Worth booking

Uffizi Gallery, skip the line2h · from €30
Botticelli, Leonardo and Caravaggio in one corridor. The queue outside can run to two hours in summer.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Chianti tasting in TuscanyHalf day · from €60
Half a day among the vines between Florence and Siena, with the wine and the food that goes with it.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Duomo and Ponte Vecchio · Piazzale Michelangelo · San Lorenzo market

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Plus Florence (€48 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Davanzati (€175 a night) · Luxury: Portrait Firenze (€590 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Ristorante dei Rossi Ponte Vecchio ↗ ★ 4.9 · 3314 reviews · €€
La tenda rossa ↗ ★ 4.9 · 2734 reviews
I' Girone De' Ghiotti ↗ ★ 4.8 · 5004 reviews · €
Osteria del Fiore - Piazza del Duomo Firenze ↗ ★ 4.8 · 4500 reviews · €€
Antico Ristorante Il Sasso di Dante - Firenze ↗ ★ 4.8 · 3513 reviews · €€

Photo Titouan Jullien / Pexels

🚄 Train · 1h30 · 270 km

3Rome

Days 5-7

The Eternal City, capital of an empire that lasted a thousand years. Colosseum, Forum, Vatican and the Trevi Fountain.

🎟️ Worth booking

Colosseum and Forum, skip the line3h · from €45
The arena that held fifty thousand people, then the square where the empire actually ran itself.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Vatican and Sistine Chapel, guided3h · from €55
Four kilometres of galleries ending under Michelangelo's ceiling. Go early or go late.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Trevi Fountain · Pantheon · Trastevere · Spanish Steps

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: The RomeHello (€45 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Artemide (€190 a night) · Luxury: Hotel de Russie (€620 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Quel che c’è laboratorio Di Cucina ↗ ★ 4.9 · 1998 reviews
Camillo a Piazza Navona ↗ ★ 4.8 · 10383 reviews
Pane e Salame ↗ ★ 4.8 · 8431 reviews · €
Pinsitaly Trevi ↗ ★ 4.8 · 5674 reviews · €
Rione XIV Bistrot ↗ ★ 4.8 · 2202 reviews · €€

Photo Geni Hoka / Pexels

Italy in 10 days

4 stops · 21 things to do · train

1Venice

Days 1-2

Built on 118 islets from the fifth century onwards, and queen of the seas for much of the next thousand years. Saint Mark's Square, the gondolas and the Grand Canal.

🎟️ Worth booking

Gondola ride30 min · from €40
Thirty minutes on the small canals, where the city looks the way it was designed to be seen.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Doge's Palace, guided2h · from €35
The seat of the Venetian republic, its council rooms and the bridge that took prisoners out of them.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Saint Mark's Square · Rialto Bridge · Murano and Burano islands

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Hotel Bernardi Semenzato (€80 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Antiche Figure (€210 a night) · Luxury: Ca' Sagredo Hotel (€350 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Olivier Dalmasso / Pexels

🚄 Train · 2h · 260 km

2Florence

Days 3-4

Where the Renaissance and the Medici began. Brunelleschi's dome, the Uffizi and Michelangelo's David.

🎟️ Worth booking

Uffizi Gallery, skip the line2h · from €30
Botticelli, Leonardo and Caravaggio in one corridor. The queue outside can run to two hours in summer.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Chianti tasting in TuscanyHalf day · from €60
Half a day among the vines between Florence and Siena, with the wine and the food that goes with it.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Duomo and Ponte Vecchio · Piazzale Michelangelo · San Lorenzo market

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Plus Florence (€48 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Davanzati (€175 a night) · Luxury: Portrait Firenze (€590 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Titouan Jullien / Pexels

🚄 Train · 1h30 · 270 km

3Rome

Days 5-7

The Eternal City, capital of an empire that lasted a thousand years. Colosseum, Forum, Vatican and the Trevi Fountain.

🎟️ Worth booking

Colosseum and Forum, skip the line3h · from €45
The arena that held fifty thousand people, then the square where the empire actually ran itself.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Vatican and Sistine Chapel, guided3h · from €55
Four kilometres of galleries ending under Michelangelo's ceiling. Go early or go late.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Trevi Fountain · Pantheon · Trastevere · Spanish Steps

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: The RomeHello (€45 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Artemide (€190 a night) · Luxury: Hotel de Russie (€620 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Geni Hoka / Pexels

🚄 Train · 1h10 · 230 km

4Naples and Pompeii

Days 8-10

A city that argues with itself, and the buried town next door. Pompeii was sealed under ash in 79 AD and dug out almost intact.

🎟️ Worth booking

Pompeii, guided visitHalf day · from €45
A Roman town frozen mid-morning in 79 AD. A guide is what turns the stones back into streets.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Capri by boatFull day · from €70
A day on the island the Roman emperors kept for themselves, and the blue cave under its cliffs.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

UNESCO old town · Real Neapolitan pizza · Chiaia seafront

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: La Controra Hostel (€40 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Piazza Bellini (€150 a night) · Luxury: Grand Hotel Vesuvio (€420 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

La Locanda del Monacone. Napoli, Rione Sanità. ↗ ★ 4.9 · 3875 reviews · €€
Enoteca e Trattoria La Cantinetta ↗ ★ 4.9 · 1027 reviews · €
La Locanda Gesù Vecchio Civico 4 ↗ ★ 4.8 · 964 reviews · €€
Amiro Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.8 · 758 reviews
AZZUPPA Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.8 · 509 reviews · €€

Photo K Studio / Pexels

Italy in 14 days

5 stops · 25 things to do · train + flight

1Venice

Days 1-2

Built on 118 islets from the fifth century onwards, and queen of the seas for much of the next thousand years. Saint Mark's Square, the gondolas and the Grand Canal.

🎟️ Worth booking

Gondola ride30 min · from €40
Thirty minutes on the small canals, where the city looks the way it was designed to be seen.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Doge's Palace, guided2h · from €35
The seat of the Venetian republic, its council rooms and the bridge that took prisoners out of them.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Saint Mark's Square · Rialto Bridge · Murano and Burano islands

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Hotel Bernardi Semenzato (€80 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Antiche Figure (€210 a night) · Luxury: Ca' Sagredo Hotel (€350 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Olivier Dalmasso / Pexels

🚄 Train · 2h · 260 km

2Florence

Days 3-4

Where the Renaissance and the Medici began. Brunelleschi's dome, the Uffizi and Michelangelo's David.

🎟️ Worth booking

Uffizi Gallery, skip the line2h · from €30
Botticelli, Leonardo and Caravaggio in one corridor. The queue outside can run to two hours in summer.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Chianti tasting in TuscanyHalf day · from €60
Half a day among the vines between Florence and Siena, with the wine and the food that goes with it.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Duomo and Ponte Vecchio · Piazzale Michelangelo · San Lorenzo market

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Plus Florence (€48 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Davanzati (€175 a night) · Luxury: Portrait Firenze (€590 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Titouan Jullien / Pexels

🚄 Train · 1h30 · 270 km

3Rome

Days 5-8

The Eternal City, capital of an empire that lasted a thousand years. Colosseum, Forum, Vatican and the Trevi Fountain.

🎟️ Worth booking

Colosseum and Forum, skip the line3h · from €45
The arena that held fifty thousand people, then the square where the empire actually ran itself.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Vatican and Sistine Chapel, guided3h · from €55
Four kilometres of galleries ending under Michelangelo's ceiling. Go early or go late.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Trevi Fountain · Pantheon · Trastevere · Spanish Steps

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: The RomeHello (€45 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Artemide (€190 a night) · Luxury: Hotel de Russie (€620 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Geni Hoka / Pexels

🚄 Train · 1h10 · 230 km

4Naples and Pompeii

Days 9-11

A city that argues with itself, and the buried town next door. Pompeii was sealed under ash in 79 AD and dug out almost intact.

🎟️ Worth booking

Pompeii, guided visitHalf day · from €45
A Roman town frozen mid-morning in 79 AD. A guide is what turns the stones back into streets.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Capri by boatFull day · from €70
A day on the island the Roman emperors kept for themselves, and the blue cave under its cliffs.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

UNESCO old town · Real Neapolitan pizza · Chiaia seafront

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: La Controra Hostel (€40 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Piazza Bellini (€150 a night) · Luxury: Grand Hotel Vesuvio (€420 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo K Studio / Pexels

✈️ Domestic flight · 1h15 · Naples → Catania

5Sicily and Taormina

Days 12-14

A Greek theatre facing Etna, a volcano that has never stopped working, and a coastline the Greeks, Arabs and Normans all claimed in turn.

🎟️ Worth booking

Climbing Etna, guidedHalf day · from €65
Up the black slopes of the most active volcano in Europe, with a guide because the craters move.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Ancient theatre of Taormina · Isola Bella beach · Catania markets

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Taormina Hostel (€42 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Villa Schuler (€165 a night) · Luxury: Grand Hotel San Pietro (€300 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Ethica Chef’s Table and Garden ↗ ★ 5 · 378 reviews
San Michele Ristorante Taormina ↗ ★ 4.8 · 152 reviews
St. George Restaurant by Heinz Beck ↗ ★ 4.8 · 107 reviews
Ristorante Pizzeria Porta Messina ↗ ★ 4.7 · 12360 reviews · €€
Liola Osteria and Bar ↗ ★ 4.7 · 1306 reviews · €€

Photo Judicaël C. / Pexels

Hotel prices are per room per night, activity prices per person, checked when written. Some links are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide): we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

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Good to know before you go

🍽️ What to eat

Neapolitan pizza: soft dough, wood fire, and best eaten in Naples.
Regional pasta: carbonara in Rome, ragu in Bologna, and never the same twice.
Gelato: artisan ice cream. Walk past the tubs piled high and glowing.
Aperitivo: a spritz and small plates at the end of the afternoon.
Espresso: standing at the bar, and no cappuccino after a meal.

⚠️ What to avoid

Restaurants with photo menus and a man outside waving you in, especially near the monuments.
Check the bill for coperto and service before you add anything.
Cappuccino after midday marks you out. An espresso works at any hour.
Shoulders and knees covered in churches, and that includes the big ones.

Plan this trip

📒 The free printable Italy guide→ 🗓️ Best time to visit Italy, month by month→ 🎟️ What to book before you go→

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