Two Weeks in Italy: Four Cities or Three Longer Stays

Spend four nights in Rome, three in Florence, three in Bologna and three in Venice. Arrive in Rome on day one and fly home from Venice on day fourteen. The route moves north by train and gives each stop at least two full days.

Choose this version for Roman history, Renaissance art, a food-focused Bologna stay and Venice evenings. If you would rather change hotels less often, skip Bologna and spend five nights in Florence and four in Venice. Both versions are laid out below.

These are fourteen days in Italy and thirteen hotel nights. Your flight from the US may leave the previous evening. This trip does not include the Amalfi Coast, Sicily or a countryside hotel. Those deserve their own time; adding them here would mean choosing a different route.

• Book Rome in and Venice out if the flights work. Returning to Rome adds a long final transfer. For an early Rome departure, spend the last night there and shorten Venice by a night.
• Choose three hotels or four. Bologna earns its place if you want markets, pasta-making and evenings out. The slower route gives those nights to Florence and Venice.
• Match the museum days to the calendar. The Uffizi normally closes Mondays and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection Tuesdays. The Vatican Museums have their own Sunday and holiday calendar. Swap whole days within each stay.
• Use central railway stations. Book Firenze Santa Maria Novella and Venezia Santa Lucia for this route. Venezia Mestre is on the mainland, so it is a different arrival from stepping out beside the Grand Canal.

Day one: arrive and spend the evening in Monti

From Fiumicino, the Leonardo express goes to Termini. It fits a hotel around Via Nazionale well. For accommodation farther into the historic center, a direct taxi may make more sense than a train followed by another journey.

Walk around Piazza della Madonna dei Monti in the afternoon. Keep dinner nearby. If you choose Hotel Artemide, its rooftop restaurant is an easy first-evening option. Sleep in Rome for nights one through four.

Day two: the Colosseum, then Roman pasta

Give the morning to the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine. Choose the ticket according to what you want to enter, including whether an arena visit matters. The amphitheater time slot does not mean the entire archaeological area is a quick visit.

La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali, Via della Madonna dei Monti 9, keeps lunch in Monti. Gricia, carbonara and cacio e pepe are the kinds of Roman pasta to come for. Spend the afternoon browsing the neighborhood rather than booking another major attraction.

Drink Kong, Piazza di San Martino ai Monti 8, is the evening cocktail choice. Use the Monti address when booking, since the business also lists a Campo Marzio location. It is an adults-only venue, 18 and over.

Day three: Vatican Museums and a dinner worth booking

Reserve the Vatican Museums for the morning. In the Raphael Rooms, spend a moment with the central pair in the School of Athens: Plato gestures upward while Aristotle extends his hand toward the world before him. Having something to look for helps in a crowded room.

Pizzarium, Via della Meloria 43, is a counter lunch after the visit. Choose a few small slices with different toppings. St. Peter’s Basilica is a separate visit with its own access arrangements; the extra Rome day means you do not have to squeeze it in today.

Salumeria Roscioli, Via dei Giubbonari 21, is the dinner to reserve if you want pasta and a deli selection to share. This is the restaurant address, not every business carrying the Roscioli name.

Day four: choose St. Peter’s or the historic center

If St. Peter’s matters to you, use the morning for the basilica, then spend the afternoon across the river. Otherwise, walk around Piazza Navona, the Pantheon area and the streets between them, stopping for a longer lunch.

This is also the day that absorbs a museum closure or something you want to revisit. It is a real extra Rome day, rather than another transfer morning labeled as sightseeing. Our four-day Rome guide offers a more detailed version with a Borghese option.

Day five: train to Florence, then cross the river

Take a high-speed train from Roma Termini to Firenze Santa Maria Novella. Italo and Trenitalia sell the route, which takes roughly ninety minutes on the train.

After lunch, walk from Piazza della Repubblica through Piazza della Signoria to Ponte Vecchio. Continue toward Santo Spirito if you are staying in the Oltrarno. Ditta Artigianale, Via dello Sprone 5R, is the coffee stop on that side. Sleep in Florence for nights five through seven.

Day six: Uffizi and a Tuscan lunch

Start with the Uffizi. At Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, notice the figures directing the movement toward the shore. The museum’s explanation points out that the scene shows her arrival rather than the birth itself.

Cibrèo Trattoria, Via de’ Macci 122r, is the lunch choice for pappa al pomodoro, chicken-liver pâté or chicken-and-ricotta meatballs. Choose an early museum start for its lunchtime service; otherwise move the meal to tomorrow.

Spend the afternoon around Santa Croce and Sant’Ambrogio. Scuola del Cuoio is a specific shopping stop for leather bags and accessories. Choose a weekday if you want to see artisans working, rather than only browse the shop.

Day seven: cathedral art and the Oltrarno

Choose the Opera del Duomo Museum or dome climb. The museum is the choice for sculpture and the original Baptistery doors. The climb is for the building itself and the view, with 463 steps and no lift. You do not need to do both to have a worthwhile morning.

Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina, Piazza Pitti 16, makes a wine-led lunch across the river. Order cheese and charcuterie to share, or choose a tasting menu and give the meal more of the afternoon. Continue around Santo Spirito afterwards.

For breakfast alternatives, hotel details and the Accademia option, use our Florence guide.

Day eight: arrive and explore the food streets

The direct Florence–Bologna high-speed train is a short journey; Italo lists services from 37 minutes. Take your time arriving, then walk toward Piazza Maggiore and the Quadrilatero.

Browse the food counters before choosing lunch. For dinner, All’Osteria Bottega, Via Santa Caterina 51, is the traditional-cooking choice. Its published services run Tuesday to Saturday, so move the meal within your stay if needed. Sleep in Bologna for nights eight through ten.

Day nine: breakfast, markets and Morandi

Pappare’, Via de’ Giudei 2, has pastries and coffee, with eggs or pancakes for a larger breakfast. Follow it with the Quadrilatero. A Bologna Welcome food walk is the alternative if you want someone to explain what you are tasting.

The Morandi collection at MAMbo makes a smaller-scale art afternoon after Rome and Florence. Look at how the same vessels change in relation to one another across the paintings. Use an open day; Monday is normally closed.

Day ten: make pasta, then Santo Stefano

Choose a cooking class through Bologna Welcome with a morning departure. The listed experience includes the meal you prepare, so lunch is already part of the plan.

Walk around Piazza Santo Stefano afterwards. Ruggine, in Vicolo Alemagna, is the evening drinks option. Its Il Profeta is a Negroni variation with cucumber and fennel. Small plates may be enough after the class lunch.

Day eleven: arrive at Santa Lucia and settle into Dorsoduro

Take the train from Bologna Centrale to Venezia Santa Lucia using the high-speed network. Choose your hotel’s arrival route before deciding whether to walk or use a boat: the number of bridges matters when carrying a suitcase.

This version stays around Dorsoduro. Start with a walk toward the Zattere waterfront. Cantine del Vino già Schiavi, Dorsoduro 992 on Fondamenta Nani, is a cicchetti and wine stop nearby. Choose a few things from the counter; the venue lists Monday–Saturday opening and closes Sundays.

Sleep in Venice for nights eleven through thirteen. The evenings are a major reason to stay here rather than visit between two train journeys.

Day twelve: San Marco and a seafood meal

Book St. Mark’s Basilica for the morning if it is a priority. The basilica, museum and other areas have different ticket options. Then visit the Doge’s Palace if you want the government rooms and palace route.

There is an important ticket distinction: the palace currently admits holders of St. Mark’s Square Museums tickets without a specified time slot from noon onwards. Do not assume that product grants a 9am entrance. Choose the ticket that fits your morning, or make the palace the afternoon visit.

Al Covo, Castello 3968, is the restaurant choice farther east. The menu includes bigoli in salsa, market-led fish dishes and Diane’s chocolate cake. It closes Tuesdays and Wednesdays; on another day, it can be lunch or dinner. Dinner requires at least two courses, including a main, so this is a proper meal rather than a quick pasta stop.

If you want only one major attraction, keep the afternoon for the streets of Castello. That gives the day room for a longer lunch.

Day thirteen: modern art and a vegetable-led lunch

Visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Dorsoduro. It opens from 10am to 6pm and closes Tuesdays. If this day falls on Tuesday, swap it with yesterday’s plan, then fit Al Covo around its own closures.

La Zucca, Santa Croce 1762, is a lunch choice across the city if you want a change from fish and pasta. Its seasonal menu gives vegetables real attention: pumpkin flan, vegetable lasagne and a vegetable platter are examples. It also serves meat, so it is not an entirely vegetarian restaurant. It opens Monday to Saturday and closes Sundays.

Make the walk part of the afternoon, continuing toward San Giacomo dell’Orio. If you would rather stay in Dorsoduro, return to Schiavi on an open day for a lighter meal and spend the rest of the afternoon by the water. You do not need a lagoon-island excursion on top of this day.

Day fourteen: fly home

For Venice Marco Polo airport, compare Alilaguna water transport with the ACTV or ATVO buses from Piazzale Roma. A hotel in Dorsoduro is not at the bus terminal, so compare the whole journey from your door. Treviso airport is a different transfer.

The city’s 2026 access-fee period has ended. Since July 27, the official notice says no payment or exemption request is required for that levy. Check the city’s new guidance for later years; this is separate from accommodation tourist tax.

Our two-day Venice guide adds meal choices and a more detailed order for the sights.

Keep Rome days one through four. Travel to Florence on day five and use days six and seven for the Uffizi and cathedral routes above.

On day eight, choose a Siena day trip if another Tuscan city appeals. Otherwise stay in Florence for the Accademia or more time in the Oltrarno. Day nine is a slower Florence day for shopping, a long lunch and any collection you have not yet seen. These are Florence nights five through nine of the overall trip.

Take the train to Venice on day ten. Use days eleven and twelve for the San Marco and Dorsoduro plans, adjusting for opening days. Day thirteen is an extra Venice day. Spend it in the neighborhood you liked most, or devote it to another gallery; you have time to choose after arriving. Leave on day fourteen after Venice nights ten through thirteen.

Choose this version if Bologna’s food activities do not excite you enough to justify another move. It gives up the dedicated pasta-making stay and buys two more Florence nights and one more Venice night.

Hotel Artemide, Rome, suits someone who wants breakfast, a rooftop restaurant and a small 24-hour gym in one place. Via Nazionale fits the Termini and Monti side of this route.

AdAstra, Florence, suits couples who want to spend some time at the accommodation. Individually decorated rooms, roll-top baths and a terrace facing a private garden make it especially appealing for the five-night version. Choose the room category for the view you want.

Hotel Pendini, Florence, is the alternative for central walking access around Piazza della Repubblica and breakfast before a museum morning.

Hotel Metropolitan, Bologna, suits a food-focused stay with a roof garden to return to for a drink. Its position between the station side of the center and Piazza Maggiore fits both arrival and walking days.

Hotel Pensione Accademia, Venice, suits someone who prefers traditional rooms and a garden to a flashy hotel scene. It has two gardens, antique wood furniture and Murano-glass chandeliers; breakfast and an aperitif can be taken outside when conditions allow. The Dorsoduro location fits the Guggenheim and Zattere portion of this route.

For less time away, compare our ten-day Italy routes. For a trip devoted to food in one region, see the Bologna week.

For a slower trip built around hotel time, compare our Italy honeymoon routes.