ITALY Readers's Tips - As important as Rome is historically, culturally, and on and on from what you are telling us I suggest you skip Rome.f you are worried about an overwhelm factor, Rome has it. Florence is totally different.ven a soso walker can cover most of the beautiful innercity historical area on foot (most streets are pedestrianonly anyway.nd the train station is ten minutes from the Duomo (the big cathedral, and there is a good bus service all over the city. Congratulations on your good move to arrive in Florence.he airport is not too far.ou will be tired, but try not to take too long a nap or you will not sleep properly that first night, and then you are dragging and out of sync for days.etter to tough it out, go walk about a bit, stop for a drink here and there, have an early dinner (like 7PM which is really early for Italy many restaurants don't even open the doors until then unless they have a bar etc. Then after dinner go for a stroll around the Duomo, it is so impressive day or night, and call it a night.ou will wake up a few times, wondering where you are, needing a drink of water, and maybe you'll lie awake for a while, but not to worry, the next day you will be about 80 percent, and the day after 100 percent.ake some bananas or something up to your room in case your stomach growls at you in the middle of the night. Instead of packing and moving and wasting half a day doing so, stay the entire time in the same hotel but take day trips from Florence.t is so nice to come back to and34;homeand34; after a day away, and in no time you will feel like you belong the neighborhood will be familiar and you will have settled in and relax. Day trips by coach are very comfortable to beautiful Siena (click, several companies do those, and a guide awaits you to show you around, which helps a lot.ait until you get to Florence and figure out which tour you want to go with.our hotel probably has brochures, and every travel agency you come across in your strolls will be able to help you. Annother day you can go by train (about 1 hr to Pisa, see the leaning tower (it really really leans, more impressively than it looks on photos if you want to go up, by appointment only and in small groups, you can book ahead at this site (click. The same day you could go a bit further to lovely Lucca (click or on another day, again by train on your own or with a coach tour. Another day you could take a train to Bologna it has some of the best food, an interesting historic city center, and two very curious leaning towers (click in the middle of town. A bit further is beautiful Modena (click. And look at these: San Gimignano (click Ravenna (click Arezzo (click Trains in Italy are at this site (click. The Florence museums have a joint website where you can see addresses and opening hours, and also get the info for advance reservations for the Uffizi and the Accademia good idea so you can skip the long lines Click here. Florenc

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