There will be 4 of us traveling. (2 couples). We are in our late 50's early 60's. We will arrive in Italy on a Sunday and will leave the next Sunday for a 7 day cruise, then 1 or 2 more days in Rome before we fly home. We can divide the days between Venice, Florence and Rome as we wish. Right now we have reservations at Marriotts in all cities, until we finalize our flight schedule. Any suggestions would be great.

it there a marriot in florence? i think the only one near venice is at the airport and maybe the same thing is true of florence.. i presume you are staying on points. if not, or if you can afford, stay in venice and florence. the airport ihotels are just like the airport hotel in peoria. also in rome, if you are at the flora, fine. if you are at one of the hotels on the park, you should consider finding a place in the city.

We are staying at the A/C hotel in Florence on points. In Rome we are staying at the Marriott GrandFlora on points. We are actually going from Florence to Venice just for the day. Not enought time to stay in all 3 cities before the cruise.

Day trip to from Florence to Venice will be tough, but it's what thousands of cruise tourists do. We're in Venice now on a 4 night stay. There are many cruise ships coming and going each day. Piazza San Marco was packed this afternoon with tour groups from at least 7 different cruise ships in town.

I think all you'll be able to do is walk around Piazza San Marco (maybe line up to see the Basilica and Palazzo Ducale), take a tour of Grand Canal (either by public boat - 7 euros per person or private taxi).

There is a public bus that goes up to Piazzale Michelangelo where the view over Florence is just beautiful. There is a very old beautiful small church nearby (creator of Pinocchio is buried there), and if weather permits, walk downhill afterwards towards Ponte Vecchio.

Have gelato (Grom!) and have fun!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am making a list of all the information I am learning on this site.

I lived in Florence for 4 months and I kept getting drawn back to the Boboli Gardens (Giardini Boboli). The gardens go on forever and there are sculptures all around and beautifully manicured landscapes. Its breathtaking. Skip the Pitti Palace in front although some like the decadence of it.

Florence is very small so you can walk from one end to the next which is what I would recommend. The market is known for leather goods and I found the best thing to buy is leather gloves. The quality was great.

Depending on the hotel you stay at the Concierge should make reservations for you at the Uffizi Gallery and to see the David. They might be able to provide you with passes to skip the long lines.

Enjoy the food. Its amazing!!!!

The OP provides little indication of what's really important in answering questons about a place like Florence (unless you're on a guided tour), which is background. My wife and I are fortunate in that (even though Americans) we are Catholic and old enough to have had a traditional education, and we both had an interest in history and art that predated any foreign trips. This always strikes us when we see tourists walking through something like the Accademia or Bargello in Florence or Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy and realize from the glazed expressions that they have no real idea what they're looking at.

So any effective answer must depend on background. That said, Accademia, Uffizi, Museo del Duomo, Bargello, Duomo, Baptistry, Santa Maria Novella, and a personal favorite of mine- the Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine, where you can see in Masaccio's frescos the birth of Renaissance painting. And more. And don't forget some limoncello after dinner.

We definately want to see David and will make our reservations so we don't have to wait in lines. Knowing that we will not have a lot of time in Florence (probably only 2 days) we won't be able to see many things, but don't want to miss the "must see places". Thanks for all the suggestions.

And go to the opera in the just-opened Opera Theater: