Florence & Rome Recommendations

If anyone can recommend tours or accommodations in Florence or Rome I would appreciate any advice you can provide. I'm looking to travel there next year & spend about a week between the two.

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If anyone can recommend tours or accommodations in Florence or Rome I would appreciate any advice you can provide. I'm looking to travel there next year & spend about a week between the two.

Well it might help if you told us what type of accommodations you like, luxury, mid-range, budget, and what kind of neighbourhoods you prefer--do you like being in the middle of the tourist "action" or would you rather be in a quieter neighbourhood.

Also, with Rome, what are your top sights that you want to see. Do you favour the ancient sites, museums and renaissance, the Vatican and sights like that. The city is kind of spread out and public transit is sparse.

We spent 5 nights in Rome and 4 nights in Florence this fall and loved it. Florence is very compact, so you can stay out of the hurly-burly if you wish, and still be able to walk everywhere.

I agree with Wendy; recommendations are easier if we know something about what you like and what you are interested in.

If you're staying in Rome and Florence, you can do many things on your own without the need for tours. Both cities invite you to walk around on foot and make discoveries on your own, in addition to seeing the "major" sites.

When we were in Rome for a one day shore excursion, we were very happy with Rome in Limo. When we were in Rome for several days on our own, we didn't use any tours, but got around everywhere by walking and subways. If you haven't already, check out Rick Steves book, very helpful.

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For my 50th we spent 17 days in Italy including 4/5 nights in Rome and 3 nights in Florence. In Rome we were very close to the Piazza Navona and walked there, to the Vatican and the Spanish Steps. In Florence we were near the Straw Market which put us in walking distance to everything We rented apartments through VRBO for both. Location is key. We wanted to immerse ourselves in the city. No city tours; we walked every where. We were traveling with our two college sons and apartments worked well for us. We never cooked but it was nice to have the extra space.

As discussed frequently here, both Rome and Florence are very walkable, so no need to book tours. However, if you do want to do some travel requiring transport, booking one of the many recommended vendors here, like the wonderful Rome in Limo in both cities will get you a discount, typically.

Like the above info, hotels are discussed here frequently. Just a little reading down the board will get you many hotel recommendations.

In Rome, I enjoy the area right around the Trevi. I have stayed at the Trevi 41 twice and really liked it. Very clean, great staff, very well priced and excellent location - literally 1/2 block from the Trevi.

Some unique ideas for things to do in Rome: I have taken two different cooking classes (I booked through viator) and both were such a fun experience. I also enjoyed a Segway tour of the Borghese Gardens one of my trips.

Have a great trip!!!

In Florence we stayed at the Santa Maria Novella hotel. Wonderful hotel within walking distance to the train station and major sites. Florence is very easy to walk as the main sites are close together.

Pre-book the Academia for David and the Uffizi museum to avoid long lines.

Florence and Rome are beautiful places and easy to do on your own with some research. The train is an excellent way to travel between them.

We found Florence to be a very easy DIY city, but I would probably recommend looking into an introductory walking tour with one of the locals. For Rome, since I prefer to see as much as possible without having to constantly look at maps, check transportation schedules, etc., I would recommend booking the first full day with a private guide, as there is just so much to see. I would also recommend saving the Vatican for one of the other days. This way you get a great overview right away, and can then go back to revisit those sites that really interest you and take your time at the Vatican.

We used Aldo Monti's Your Tour in Italy for our ship's excursion, but they also provided a tour for our friends who were staying in Rome for a couple of days. Great company!

We had a great tour with Papillion for Florence also included Pisa and winery but you could alter it if you wanted, guide/driver was great, did Rome in limo for Rome

We absolutely loved our foodie tour a couple years ago with Food Tours of Rome. Not only was the food amazing, but we got a really great city tour along the way. We did an evening tour, which was about four hours. It turned out to be a really good introduction for our friends who were with us as they'd never been to Rome. We are going to do a similar foodie tour in Florence next year.

If you want some inexpensive small group type tours, Angel Tours Rome has lots of options. Again, good introductions. A guide, private or otherwise, is a must for the Vatican!

Depending upon how much time you have, we also like bike tours. We've done a couple in Rome (and other cities as well), and they are a great way to cover a lot of ground and have some fun.

In Florence, if you are into wines and want to see some of the Tuscan countryside and vineyards, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Guidos Tours!! Guido is an amazing guide/sommelier and really nice guy. We've toured with him twice, and he is the main reason why we are doing our pre-cruise days in Florence next year as opposed to Rome.

If you are interested in a 1/2 day walking tour of Florence I'd highly recommend Florence Custom Tours. We did this our first time to Florence and it was a great way to see the main sites and get a good feel of the city.

There is a free walking tour in Rome that we enjoyed very much. Great introduction to Rome.

We stayed at the Ceasai hotel- wonderful small hotel, walking distance to everything.