10 Days in Italy for First Timers

Venice, Italy's Grand Canal with buildings lining the sides

For your first trip to Italy, you gotta go big! Well, you don’t have to, but I can confidently say that you won’t regret it if you do.

This 10 day itinerary is the perfect taster menu for first-timers in Italy, if you can keep up with all the walking.

You’ll see at least 8 cities and countless historic sites and stunning vistas. And don’t forget the food!

Experience a wide-variety of Italian fare with both coastal and countryside cuisine to tempt your palate.

Here’s how we spent our first 10 days in Italy.


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10 Days in Italy: The Itinerary

  • Day 1: Rome
  • Day 2: Rome
  • Day 3: Naples & Pompeii
  • Day 4: Florence
  • Day 5: Cinque Terre
  • Day 6: Tuscany
  • Day 7: Bologna
  • Day 8: San Marino
  • Day 9: Venice
  • Day 10: Venice

Days 1-2: Rome

First, let me say that you could spend weeks, months in Rome alone and still not see everything. Two days seems like not enough time. I agree.

However, if you want to see a lot on your first trip to Italy, you have to make choices, and limiting time in Rome is our first choice.

Day 1

If you’re coming from the US, there’s a good chance you’re arriving early morning today. Because of that, I recommend only planning an afternoon half day in Rome for your first day.

Flight delays, lost luggage, getting through immigration, and finding your hotel to store your luggage can all mess up your schedule.

Don’t add the stress of canceling a tour last minute. Leave your schedule open and flexible today.

If it turns out you have more time, there’s always something else to see or another tour to book on the spot.

We arrived in Rome at 9AM, and the first thing on our schedule, besides lunch, wasn’t until 2PM.

Save the biggies for your first full day in Rome.

You’ll probably pass by them, of course, and want to take a thousand photos, and that’s totally fine. But don’t schedule the tour until Day 2.

Our Day 1 tour was an ebike tour along the Appian Way. Even if you’re struggling against jetlag, the ebike does the heavy lifting.

We saw the famous Appian Way, lots of lesser-known Roman ruins, like the aqueducts, and the countryside so close to Rome. We also added on a visit to the catacombs!

It’s a fun, easing-into-Rome activity.

And when you’re done, you get to eat your first delicious dinner in Italy.

That bike tour was actually just a block or two away from the Colosseum, so we got some gelato and caught gorgeous dusk and nighttime photos of the Colosseum before heading back to our lodging for the night.

Rome, Italy's Coliseum at dusk with rich blue sky and stunning yellow lighting in the arches

Day 2

Today’s the big day! Let’s go see all the famous Roman sights!

  • Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill
  • Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona
  • Vatican Museums

You could DIY this. Get timed entry tickets from official sites, show up, and enjoy.

But, there are thousands of others doing that exact same thing, so all the sites will be packed with people.

The only way to avoid crowds in Rome is to book a tour that provides early or late access. I highly recommend booking an early or late tour for the Vatican Museums in particular.

I am not a morning person, even on vacation, so we planned to book this late tour.

Full disclosure: It didn’t quite work out that way for us, so we ended up booking this late afternoon tour instead, but it didn’t change our itinerary very much.

That means you’ll go to the Colosseum in the morning. Splurge for the ticket that includes the Arena Floor guided tour. You won’t regret the in-depth access!

Palatine Hill and the Forum are right next to the Colosseum. If you booked a tour, it’s probably included. If not, it’s easy to add it on your own.

After you’ve explored to your satisfaction, grab lunch and start wandering.

We used the rest of the day to wander our way towards the Vatican, stopping at more sites on the way, like the Altar of the Fatherland, the Pantheon (although, we didn’t go inside), Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and Piazza Navona.

End the day with a tour of the Vatican Museums and St Peter’s Basilica. Our late afternoon tour was still packed to the gills with people.

The evening tour would have fewer people since you’re here past normal visiting hours.

Day 3: Day Trip to Naples & Pompeii

Today we’re taking a simple, DIY day trip to Naples and Pompeii from Rome.

There are tours that will drive you, but it’s easy to take the train yourself which leaves you more flexibility to book tours in Naples and Pompeii.

Trains run frequently, starting early and running late. Catch a frecciarossa (high speed) train, and it’s only an hour between Rome and Naples.

Catch the 8AM train to arrive at Pompeii shortly after opening at 9AM. You’ll switch trains at Napoli Centrale and hop onto the local train Circumvesuviana to the Pompeii Scavi station.

Transport Tip: This switch can be confusing. You need the Circumvesuviana line, not the Naples metro lines or the Rail Italia trains. You also have to buy separate tickets.

During peak season these lines will be packed with tourists from Rome, just like you. Get in line and wait your turn. They move quickly.

Waiting on the platform for the next Circumvesuviana train is another adventure…

When you’re done at Pompeii, return to Naples on the Circumvesuviana train. Take another frecciarossa train back to Rome when you’re ready.

Pompeii

I recommend a guided tour or at least an audio tour for Pompeii. There aren’t a lot of signs around the site, and the area is huge.

The official audio guide is an option if you’re on a budget, but a licensed archaeological guide is even better. We took this guided tour.

If you don’t book a guided tour ahead of time through a tour agency, like we did, guides are available on site for in-person bookings.

You’ll have to negotiate price and pay on the spot.

Good to Know: There is very little shade at Pompeii, one café with snacks and water, and bags larger than 12x12x6 are not allowed.

Naples

Many of the guided tours from Rome skip Naples entirely or stop for a quick pizza before continuing on to Pompeii and/or the Amalfi Coast.

But there’s plenty to see in Naples!

  • Take a food tour and enjoy Napoli cuisine.
  • Take a walking tour and learn the history of Naples.
  • Take an underground tour and discover another world beneath your feet.

I will say that Naples felt more urban to us, and that might not be to everyone’s liking, but we highly enjoyed the pizza.

We ate at Sorbillo, but there are plenty of famous pizza establishments to choose from in Naples. I’m not ashamed to say that I dream about this pizza to this day. It was amazing!

Even if that’s all you have time for, grab a real pizza in Naples. It’s not the same anywhere else, including the rest of Italy.

Statues in various poses in a side room of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy

Days 4-6: Florence, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Tuscany

Your next home base on this beginner Italy itinerary should be Florence. It’s a must-see city on its own, but it’s also perfectly positioned as an ideal home base for you to explore the surrounding region.

We suggest a day in Florence, a day for the Cinque Terre, and a day for Tuscany.

However, if you don’t care about wine or small, rural towns, then skip the Tuscany day trip. Do a half day trip to Pisa and another half day in Florence instead.

Day 4: Arrive in Florence

Take an early train from Rome to Florence. Store your luggage and use the day to explore this amazing city. A few favorite stops are:

  • The Duomo, featuring Brunelleschi’s Dome
  • Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze, for the original statue of David
  • Uffizi Gallery, for an incredible art collection
  • Boboli Gardens, to get outside and for stunning city views

Entrance to the Duomo is free. You just have to stand in line, which can be quite long, so I recommend you go early or whenever you see the line is short.

If you want to climb Brunelleschi’s Dome inside the famous Duomo, you need paid timed tickets. Book these far in advance.

Really, you should be booking all your museum tickets in advance. They’re all pretty much guaranteed to sell out.

We managed to get day-of Uffizi Gallery tickets by standing in line, in the rain, twice. Learn from our mistakes: book in advance instead.

How That Happened: We got out of line for the Uffizi because we wanted to get tickets for the Accademia Galleria and you could still purchase Uffizi tickets online, so we figured we’d book those from our phones after we knew what time we would get in at the Accademia Galleria.

Well, we got to the Galleria and the lines were wrapped around the building, with no cover from the rain, and one of the staff told us that it was very unlikely we’d get walk-up tickets that day, based on how long the lines were. So, we went to buy our Uffizi tickets on our phone only to find that they were no longer available online.

We went back to the in-person ticket line for the Uffizi, which I was surprised was still open, honestly, but after an hour or so, we got tickets for late afternoon. They were letting people in as people from earlier time slots didn’t show.

Day 4 Alternate: Half Day Trip to Pisa, Half Day in Florence

If you choose to skip exploring Tuscany’s wineries and small towns on Day 6, then I highly recommend you use Day 4 for your half day trip to Pisa and use the above Day 4 itinerary for Day 6.

You’ll take the same early train from Rome to Florence, but when you arrive in Florence, store your luggage at the station and hop a regional train out to Pisa.

We loved Pisa. It was far less hectic than the other Italian cities we’d visited so far.

Don’t get me wrong. The museum complex with the leaning tower, cathedral, and other buildings is still packed with tourists, but it wasn’t quite as bad as the bigger cities.

We did a DIY half day trip, meaning we didn’t book a guided tour to get us there. We booked official museum tickets and train seats ahead of time.

It’s easy enough to do without a guide, but if you’d prefer having someone else handle the logistics, there are tours available.

A half day is plenty of time to climb the leaning tower, explore the basilica, and tour the other exhibits in the museum complex. When you’re done, take the regional train back to Florence.

You should have enough time left in the day to retrieve your stored luggage, check into your accommodations, and visit something in Florence before calling it a night.

I highly recommend you wander near the Duomo at night. It’s gorgeous.

Manarola, Italy on the Cinque Terre showing off its brightly colored homes on the rocky cliffside

Day 5: Day Trip to Cinque Terre

This is a long day. You’ll leave Florence at 7AM and won’t get back until 8PM on this guided tour.

Guided tours take care of transportation and shepherding you through the busy national park and villages on your first visit. (Yes, the Cinque Terre is a national park.)

If you’re a nervous traveler, I recommend a guide for your first visit. The trains get hectic in the summer!

But if you’re a reasonably confident traveler, you can totally do this day trip on your own without a guide, and you’ll save a lot of money by doing so.

The train to get to La Spezia from Florence is straightforward when booking online. You will want to book ahead so you don’t lose any time.

In La Spezia, you’ll switch to the local train line that takes you into the Cinque Terre. The trains and ferries between the towns are crowded, yes, but they run frequently.

It’s easy to get lost in the back alleys of the adorable towns, but these are not big places. You’ll find your way out pretty quickly.

Our guided tour skipped Riomaggiore at the beginning and went straight for Manarola. We took amazing photos, got tasty focaccia, and then took the train on to Corniglia.

In Corniglia, the dreaded stairs from the train station were under construction so they had a shuttle van taking visitors into town.

Many of us skipped the shuttle and walked the hairpin roads instead. I think that was much better than the stairs would have been!

We ate lunch at a local restaurant and then hiked to Vernazza. The hike is not for everyone. It’s quite hilly and narrow with sheer drops in places.

But the views (and lemon slushies at the halfway point!) are totally worth the effort. It was a beautiful hike!

In Vernazza, we got gelato and admired the main square which was the inspiration for the kids’ animated film Luca. It’s instantly recognizable if you’ve seen the movie.

Then, we took the train on to Monterosso al Mare. After exploring the shops, buying some souvenirs, and sticking our feet in the sea, we hopped the ferry to Riomaggiore.

Be one of the first ones on the ferry so you can get a good seat on the left side of the upper deck. You’ll stay dry (if it’s not raining) and have fantastic views of the Cinque Terre towns and cliffs as you speed back down the coast.

In Riomaggiore, we took more photos of colorful houses, got some tasty snacks, and walked through the Tunnel of Love to the train station. It’s a long tunnel. Don’t underestimate that if you’re on a time crunch.

From there, you’ll take the train back to La Spezia. Either your guided tour will bus you back to Florence, or you’ll take the regional trains back to Florence on your own.

It’s a very long, exhausting day, and so totally worth it!

We’ll be back for another trip where we’ll take our time in this area, maybe even stay in one of the five towns, but for now, I’m very glad we made the time to fit a day trip into this itinerary.

Four tiers of marble columned arches on the front of the Pisa Cathedral

Day 6: Day Trip in Tuscany

Florence is the most common home base city for exploring Tuscany. Day trips, whether by tour or rental car, are a great way to see the beautiful countryside.

Many guided day trips from Florence to explore Tuscany will include Pisa, and basically all of them include a stop at a winery for a tour and tasting.

We don’t drink alcohol, so we weren’t excited about most of the tour options, feeling like we’d be wasting half our day at wineries. You, however, might feel the opposite and think that sounds like a great day. That’s why I left it in the itinerary. 😉

We opted for a DIY half day trip to Pisa instead. We fit that in on Day 4 and used Day 6 to explore Florence.

If you want to DIY explore Tuscany, you need a rental car. Otherwise, book a tour and they’ll take care of logistics and transportation.

Siena is the most popular stop on a tour of Tuscany. The Piazza del Campo is gorgeous, at least what I’ve seen from photos.

We’ll come back for this region, so I don’t have any personal recommendations yet.

Day 7: Bologna

We opted to add Bologna to our itinerary initially purely for logistical reasons. We wanted to day trip to San Marino and a quick transfer to Venice.

We could have done both of those from Florence, but we would have lost more time to train travel, so we added a stop in Bologna instead.

We took a morning train, arrived in Bologna and stored our bags at the train station, and went to explore the city. We came back later that evening to retrieve our bags, check in to our Airbnb, and then leave again for dinner.

Bologna has amazing food, interesting history, and gorgeous porticoes. It’s an old university town, and it even broke away from the Vatican for a while.

There’s an enormous church with a distinct façade in the main square of the historic center. They wanted to build the largest church in the world and were well on their way to accomplishing that when they got back on good terms with the Pope.

The Vatican is pretty adamant that St Peter’s in Vatican City is the largest church in the world, so they made Bologna stop construction on their church. You can see where they literally stopped in the middle of construction and came back later to finish it without enlarging it further. Two very different designs!

We got the City of Bologna visitor card, a sightseeing pass that includes a couple of tours and entrance to several public museums.

The Discover Bologna walking tour is worth it to get the basic history of the city and to see several of the big sites in an hour or two.

We also toured the famous Clock Tower, saw the leaning towers, and explored the Medieval Civic Museum.

If you have time, take the trolley up the hill to the Sanctuary of San Luca for gorgeous views over the city.

If you’re not into history, both Ferrari and Lamborghini have museums and showrooms on the outskirts of Bologna and into Modena. Go spend a day admiring expensive, fast cars instead.

Day 8: Day Trip to San Marino

Check off another country while you’re here! Visit San Marino, a tiny country in the hills of Italy.

We chose Bologna as home base for this adventure because it’s easy to get to Bologna from Florence, easy to get to Venice from Bologna afterwards, and it’s only an hour from Bologna to Rimini by train.

Rimini is where you’ll catch the bus to San Marino.

Once you arrive in San Marino, you’ll have the day to explore this beautiful, mountaintop country. Just make sure you keep track of time so you can catch the bus back to Rimini.

Visit two of the three towers, see beautiful views of town and the surrounding countryside, and perhaps enjoy a quirky museum or two.

San Marino is also a shopping hotspot because it’s duty-free. You’ll see a lot of cheap souvenirs and alcohol, but also a lot of leather goods and other locally- or Italian-made items.

If you don’t care about country counts, history, castles on hilltops, or duty-free shopping, then this day trip isn’t necessary for you.

You could still day trip to Rimini from Bologna, though, and enjoy a nice beach day instead!

Venice, Italy's Grand Canal with buildings lining the sides

Days 9-10: Venice

Ah, Venice.

You’ll either love or hate Venice. There aren’t a lot of people in the undecided middle.

It’s overwhelmingly busy and hot during the summer and large parts of the city are underwater during the wet season. Low season is brief.

St Mark’s Square will always be packed, but if you get a few blocks away, crowds drop dramatically.

For me, it’s 100% worth visiting all the touristy spots on your first trip. Then, you can skip them next time and enjoy a slower paced, less crowded time in Venice.

If you know where to go, or rather, where to avoid the crowds, Venice is truly a romantic and mysterious city.

Must Know Info: The City of Venice charges a day trip fee per person for visitors who aren’t staying in the city proper and paying a tourist tax that way. If your hotel is on the mainland and you take the train in each day, you’ll have to pay the Venice Access Fee.

The tricky part is that it’s not applicable every day. In 2025, it will apply April 18 through July 27, but not every day.

Check the official website here before you leave to know whether or not a fee is required for the day of your trip.

In 2025, the fee is 5 EUR if paid 4 days ahead or 10 EUR if paid within 3 days of your trip. There are exemptions, which you can read on the website, but you’re unlikely to qualify if you’re just a tourist visiting for the day from the mainland.

Take the earliest train from Bologna to Venice that you can stand, store your luggage, and spend the rest of the day exploring Venice.

Day 9 – Touristy Venice

Spend a day knocking out all the touristy things. It’ll be a hectic day, but worth it so you can relax and wander on your second day.

St Mark’s Square is home to St Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, and the Campanile tower. The Bridge of Sighs is just around the corner, and you can walk through it as part of the Doge’s Palace tour.

All of these are worth seeing once in your life. There’s an incredible history here, even if you’re not a religious person.

We ate lunch by the Grand Canal (yes, that’s a tourist trap but fun nonetheless), stopped by Rialto Bridge, Accademia Bridge, and the Bridge of Sighs for photos, and ended with a tour of St Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace.

We smushed into public ferries, got yelled at for wearing our backpacks on the ferry (you’re supposed to take them off and keep them by your feet), and then gave up and walked to escape the crush of people.

But the truly Venetian things are hidden in the residential areas and back alleys in local shops. Not the ones full of imported trinkets, but the ones with Italian made goods and food. That’s where you’ll go tomorrow.

Day 10 – Wandering Venice

After you’ve spent a full day slogging through the crowds to see the highlights of Venice, it’s time to take a full day to just wander Venice.

Hop on a ferry that circles the outer loop of Venice for some amazing photo opportunities. It won’t be anywhere near as crowded as the ferries running up and down the Grand Canal in the center.

We explored the Arsenale and the Naval History Museum right next to it, walked through public gardens, and stumbled upon beautiful churches in the most out-of-the-way places.

It’s a good bet you’ll get lost at some point, but you can never get that lost.

It’s not that big of a space, and you’re surrounded by water. Have offline maps so walking directions can come to your rescue if you really need it and a day pass to use the ferries when you inevitably stumble upon a stop unexpectedly.

If the idea of wandering around without a plan intimidates you, then use this day to see some of the other, slightly less busy sights in Venice.  There’s a Da Vinci Museum and the Peggy Guggenheim art museum, for starters.

Alternatively, book a food tour so a local guides you through the alleys and shows you all the best spots for authentic Italian food, unlike the very touristy restaurants in the busier areas.

It’s hard to go wrong here. Whatever you choose, there will be beautiful sights and delicious bites nearby.

Good to Know: You could spend this day exploring other islands in the Lagoon. We chose to save this for another trip when we have more time, but it’s doable if you choose one for a day trip.

The most popular ones are Burano (the bright houses and lace-makers), Murano (glass blowing), and Lido (the beach).

What Else to See in Italy with More Time

There are a hundred different ways to tour Italy, but you can’t see it all in 10 days.

We purposefully left these options out of our Italy first-timer trip because we thought they deserved more time than a 10 day itinerary could give them.

Amalfi Coast

You could day trip from Rome to Amalfi Coast instead of visiting Pompeii and Naples. We opted to make this its own trip later so we could take our time in this area.

Northern Italy

We reserved most of northern Italy for a different trip. We’ll be back to see Milan, Lake Como, and the Dolomites another time.

Southern Italy

Sicily is slowly but steadily gaining more tourists year over year with Palermo showing up in travel spaces more and more. Likewise for Sardinia; although, I’m not sure Sardinia counts as southern Italy since it’s an island directly west of Naples.

We personally made a bee-line for the bigger spots first and recommend saving this region for another trip later.

Happy travels!


Headshot of Rachel Means at Clingmans Dome in Smoky Mountains

About the Author: Rachel Means

With six-figure student loan debt and only 10 PTO days per year, Rachel started traveling the world. A decade later, she’s paid off her loans, changed careers, and been to 42 US states and 17 countries. She’s an expert at planning and budgeting for travel and loves to help others do it, too! Read her full story here.


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