We will be headed to Italy in Sept. This is our first time ever to Europe! This is also a part of a larger trip that starts with us flying into GVA then heading to Zermatt (for 2 nights). Pick up the Glacier Express there and ride the rails across the Alps before stopping again for one night in St Moritz. The next day we head south via Bernina Express scenic train to Tirano and then connecting there to get to Milan via regional train...

From what i have read there is not a ton of stuff in Milan, but we would like to see the Duomo and maybe wonder through the big Galleria mall before heading out to Florence. We are staying at the Boscolo Milano. If we got up early we might be able to do that and make a 12:30 train that would get us into Florence around 2:30 on monday Sept 7th. Is that doable? We are staying in the historic center of Florence thanks to a great recommendation from FT member PWMtrav!

So far our list includes

1) Grand Duomo/tower/baptistry/Cathedral.

2) Medici Chapel (Chappelle Medici)

3) Giardino Bardini Garden

4) Church of Santa Maria Novella

5) Basilica of San Miniato al Monte

6) Uffizi Gallery

We have booked the food and nude tour for the next day (Sept 8th) which will cover the Accademia (and other things) so that is why that is not on this list. Again thanks to a recomendation from PWMtrav

My question is how to fit all of this in? What would be the best use of our arrival half day? We check in on the 7th and out on the 10th, before heading to Rome. Maybe we could leave later on that last day in order to get more sights in since we have more time in Rome (5 nights).

I am also confused by the number of different trains you can take from Milan to Florence. I have been looking at Italotreno website but there seems to be a few others that do this route as well. Not sure which is better but i liked the look of the high speed Italotreno's.

Help!

Check also the Freeccie (plural of Freccia), the high-speed trains of Trenitalia. They're about the same quality like Italo (I know some may disagree) and they cost about the same, but there are 10 of them departing Milano for Firenze between 12 and 6 pm and 19 trains between Firenze and Rome during the same time period (looked at the days that you're interested in).

In Firenze, I wouldn't miss Ponte Vecchio and probably Piazza Michelangelo at sunset.

I think you could do Santa Maria Novella in your half-day for certain. Uffizi is probably going to take you a minimum of half of a day. We're not all that into museums and we spent a full half-day there and you could easily spend a full day if you are really into museums.

If you plan to climb the stairs at Duomo (and I recommend you climb at least one but maybe both), plan for at least half of a day at Duomo. There is a lot to see there and it is worth it.

Thankfully, since you are staying centrally, you'll be close to all of these places so getting there won't take any time and you can spend your time at the places themselves.

Santa Maria Novella is right there at the train station, so if you are taking the train in or out, you could hit it at that time.

Get the Firenze ticket. Last year it was 72 euro for 3 days. It cuts the lines. I bought it for just two days and we saved a lot of time not standing in line. It covers the Academia and the Uffizi as well as more things than you can see in the time. We got there and went to the Academia and stood in line for about an hour. The next day we bought the Firenze ticket and got to go straight into all the museums including the Uffizi (and the dome at the Duomo) that had a really long lines. (You can also , I think, buy individual tickets ahead of time, but we didn't do that.)

We are staying here for a point of reference. This location looks to be ideal for exploring.

http://www.granduomo.com/eng-index.php

I just wanted to add the on Tuesday when we do the "food and nude" tour that will end at 2:30 so we will still have some time that day, although I am not sure what part of the city we will be in when it concludes.

I also wanted to ask how far in advance should I be making diner reservations for both Florence as well as Rome?

I am all for cutting lines so I will look into the Firenze ticket.

My wife is more of the art/museum lover than I am, so our list may change a little depending on how much of it I can stand.

I can also advise you Boboli Gardens

If you only had time for one, would you do Boboli, or Giardino Bardini and why?

Do I need (and, can i from the USA) buy my tickets in advance for routes like Milan-Florence and FLorence to Rome? If I do not buy in advance are they a lot more $$$? Or should I just show up the day of and buy at the station?

I would not recommend the Uffizi on your 1/2 day. I am not a huge art fan, but I must say I love thay Museum. The cathedral and a visit to David can easily fill your first afternoon.

Boboli Gardens are right across from my favorite place to have a glass of wine!

You can buy in advance on the Trenitalia website. Fares are cheaper further out, but you give up flexibility on the ticket. Sort of like an airfare. The day of, you might/probably only have the BASE fare available, which is the most flexible but also the most expensive. Various saver levels are available in advance with a certain number of seats in each. If you look on the Trenitalia website, you can see the fares at each level, so you can decide if the premium is worth the waiting/flexibility.

Let me add my voice to the chorus encouraging you to buy in advance the Firenze ticket or tickets for the individual sites you intend to see. When I was last in Florence in February 2013, when lines are relatively short, my sister and I bought advance tickets for the Accademia. The next morning when we showed up, we bypassed a line of a hundred or so people and got right in. Same at the Uffizi.

In September, you can expect the lines to be longer than I have seen on either of my February trips. I had friends go in September a couple of years ago who told me that they made the mistake of waiting in line at the Uffizi for well over an hour to get in. No reason to do that when you can purchase tickets ahead of time--use the saved time to have a glass of wine or a pastry at an outdoor cafe.

On my February trips, I've not had to make dinner reservations, but again, with more tourists in September, I'd consider making reservations a day ahead--but others will pipe in to correct me if I'm underestimating.

Keep in mind that unlike in the United States, where in a mid-size city there might be one or two train tracks at the one station in town, even in a city like Florence there are several train stations (and even more in Rome) and at the Santa Maria Novello station, there are a number of tracks entering and exiting. Think of it as a small airport and you'll do better.

On my 2013 trip (and despite having experience from a 2012 trip), I managed to get on the wrong train heading for Florence, boarding a slower regional train rather than the high-speed express I'd paid for. On top of that, the train I boarded was run by a company different from the company that issued the ticket I'd paid for. Keeping to the airport analogy, it would be as if I'd bought a United ticket to New York but boarded a Delta jet instead. I know that wouldn't happen at an airport because of the various checkpoints for checking tickets, but boarding trains can be a totally different animal, with the conductor checking tickets long after departure.

For veteran European rail travelers, this may sound funny or ridiculous, but if you're a European train newbie, it's a mistake that can be easily made if you're only used to passenger trains in the US, where all you have to know is to get on Amtrak and there's probably only one train per day going in each direction. From Roma Termini, it would not necessarily be unusual to have two or three trains heading to Florence in the span of 30 minutes. Although you don't need to get to a train station as early as you need to get to an airport, I'd certainly leave a little cushion so that you can buy your tickets and figure out which track you need to use to board the right train.

Hey, I wonder if we ran into each other, I was in Florence in February 2013 as well. Definitely my preferred month to go, although I have a return trip planned for November of this year.

Great time to go although on my first trip in February 2012, I just missed some major snow that had fallen in Florence--there was still some snow residue when I arrived and temps were barely breaking 50. But by the time I left four days later, it had gotten into the mid-60s, and I was fully in love with the city. I'll definitely return.

You may also consider taking a bus up to Fiesole. It is a ruin of an ancient Roman theater and bath high above the city. The views from up there are spectacular. You can see all of Florence. It is just a quick city bus ride up.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesole

OK this is starting to take shape and I think we can fits it all in

I am thinking we can take an earlier train and get into Florence at 1:30. We would probably head to the hotel and drop our bags and then try and hit the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte and Church of Santa Maria Novella that first afternoon. I think this should be possible?


David and the Academia will be covered on our second day. The tour we are taking goes there and skips the lines. I am trying to figure out what to do after the tour ends around 2:30. Maybe one of the gardens?

We should be able to cover the Grand Duomo/tower/baptistry/Cathedral the next day along with the Medici Chapel.

which leaves the last day for Uffizi and a few hours for anything that we decide we want to see once we get there. We will probably take a train out of Florence to Rome around 3 or 4 pm.

Thanks for all the help. I will be sure to buy my Uffizi tickets in advance. Is one or two days enough in advance? I thought we might get them the first day we arrive to use for our last day.