What city in Italy?

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looking for suggestions on what city would be best.

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This will open up a can of worms.

I will just go with my personal preference:

Florence. Florence is fricking gorgeous and romantic and a cool as all hell city. Its a great base of operations if you want to explore tuscany. There are several smaller towns you could simply take the train to (although a car would be better)

There are many great restaurants, amazing wine, great museums, and beautiful things to see. Also very walkable

You definitely don't need 7 days in just Florence, but if you wanted to just take it easy and do some side quests, you could.

You could also do 3 days or so in Rome and 4 days in Florence, if you wanted. Very easy to do both, only 90 minutes by train.

I have only been to Rome once and I did not like it at all. I kinda thought it sucked, to be honest. Others here disagree with me greatly. Many people love it

Rome is certainly worth seeing though

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Do you have to do just one city?

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No, not necessarily - just looking for suggestions from everyone. One place over there I haven't been to.

Fairly easy to drive around?

I dig Italy. Been several times. It's one of my favorite places in the world. All preface for this:

Been to Rome once. As a good friend (from Italy) said the first time I went to Italy. "It's Rome, how do you not go there once?" Go for a couple of days. See the highlights and get out.

Venice falls squarely into that same category but below Rome. I went and could 100% have gone without it. But I can say I went.

Florence is amazing. Everything about it.

But... My go-to is Southern Italy. Amalfi Coast and Sicily are my vibe. Highly recommend both. But stay out of the tourist spots. Find a small town with a family owned hotel and enjoy relaxing and eating amazing food.

Pompeii is absolutely surreal. You can easily spend a full day there. I am not super big on museums/tours but the tour and site are incredible. 10 of 10 recommend.

As far as renting a car, and people always disagree on here, but I have NEVER rented a car. Use the train and car services. They drive like idiots and I don't want the stress. Let the pros handle it.

Just one city?
If you are going to spend seven days in one city without a car it should be Rome.

My first choice would be to fly in to Florence, spend four days there, then take the train to Venice for three days and fly home from there.

One of my favorite trips is to spend a week outside of Florence in the Tuscan countryside, but you will need a car for that.

Out of the larger more popular cities in Italy Naples is pretty dirty and it's my favorite. The food was the best.

if you are sticking with Marriott, which I understand, stick to the cities you mentioned. You could easily fly into Rome and spend three days. Worth it. Book a private tour of Vatican City. Book a tour of the Colesium. Book a great walking tour and relax for a day. It is busy. Lot's of graffiti. Not dirty.

Take the train to Florence. Museums are amazing and a walking tour for a first time visitor is worth it. If you have the points, Westin is a great location with a fantastic rooftop view. 2 days since you only have a week.

Train to Venice for the last two days. You can't go wrong.

You will want to go back many times but the small towns/cities and the coast are the real gems.

Fly to Milan. Rent a car. Spend 3-4 days around Lake Como and drive to Florence for 3-4 days. Milan and the Last supper Mural are worth it. Lake Como might be the finest place on earth. Go to The Grand Hotel Tremezzo and Hotel D'este for a drink or two.,

Take a boat tour on Lake Como and drive to Florence for the most sophisticated city in Italy. Great Florentine Beef and wine. Buy something leather and see David and the sites. Fly back from Milan. I wouldn't waste a trip to Venice unless you just want to go see it. Smells bad to me. Drive everywhere. Roads are great except around Como. Just be careful around the lake as the streets are narrow.

How realistic is 10-12 days to do Venice,Florence Rome and Pompeii by train?

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How realistic is 10-12 days to do Venice,Florence Rome and Pompeii by train?

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Very realistic. Perfectly fine.

The only "problem" with doing pompeii here is that it is the opposite direction of the others, but its a day trip and I am not aware of a high speed train that runs every day from Rome to Pompeii. You'll have to take a connecting local train

Best thing to do is probably just to book a guided tour to pompeii

I'd simply add a day or two if he could.

2 days in Florence is too short. Florence is one of my favorite cities on earth