Rome and Florence

What to expect the moment you arrive

We did Italy in the off-season and would do it that way again. Rome in low winter sun means you can stand in front of the Colosseum without a crowd pressing at your back, and Florence after dinner belongs to whoever is still walking — the Duomo lit up green and white and pink with almost nobody underneath it. Add one day out into the Tuscan hills for a cellar tasting and you have the whole trip: ancient, Renaissance, and a glass of something red in between.

Arrival notes

From Fiumicino, the Leonardo Express runs to Roma Termini in about 32 minutes and is the simplest option with luggage; a fixed-fare official white taxi from the rank is the other. Never accept a ride from someone who approaches you inside the terminal. Rome–Florence is 1h30 on the Frecciarossa from Termini to Santa Maria Novella — book a few days out for the cheaper fares, and keep bags at your feet rather than the end-of-carriage rack.

Getting around

Both cities are walking cities and the cobbles are genuinely brutal, so pack flats you'd walk ten miles in. Rome's metro is fine and fast but pickpocketing on the 64 bus and around Termini is the real risk — crossbody bag, zipped, in front of you, and don't put your phone on the café table. Florence is small enough to cross on foot in 25 minutes. We walked back to our hotel most nights and felt fine; the attention you get is verbal at most, and a flat 'no, grazie' without slowing down ends it.

Highlights

• 01The Colosseum with an arena-floor or upper-tier ticket — the upper level is where you actually understand the scale of it. Book a timed slot online, never from a tout at the gate.
• 02Florence's Duomo, Baptistery and Giotto's campanile at night. The marble reads completely differently after dark and the piazza empties out.
• 03Michelangelo's David at the Accademia. Book ahead, go at opening, and give yourself longer in that domed gallery than you think you need.
• 04A Tuscan winery cellar day — the big old oak foudres, a slow tasting, and a driver so nobody has to think about the road.
• 05The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill on the same Colosseum ticket. Do them in that order, in the morning, with real shoes on.
• 06Aperitivo hour anywhere with outdoor chairs. It's the most solo-friendly meal in Italy — a spritz, a plate of snacks, nobody rushing you.

From our trip

Photos taken by us, on the ground.