Rome or Florence for a first time in Italy: which city first, and when both

Rome is the better first city if the trip lasts at least 3–4 days, and Florence if it is shorter; anyone with time for both does not have to choose, because the fast train between them takes about 1 h 32. Rome is antiquity on the scale of a city that never ends, and Florence is the Renaissance gathered into a few squares and one bridge.

GuideRome in full, from the Colosseum to Trastevere:Rome →

Rome opens in layers, and the most visible is the ancient one. The Colosseum, opened in AD 80, still stands as a vast ellipse of pale travertine; one ticket (€18) covers the Forum and the Palatine as well, and entry is in a timed slot. From there the way runs through the Forum to the Pantheon, whose dome is about 43 metres across and is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world; inside, beneath the opening at the top that lets the light fall, about ten minutes is enough.

Across the Tiber begins a second Rome. The Vatican is the smallest state in the world, and in its museums the Sistine Chapel keeps the ceiling that Michelangelo painted between 1508 and 1512; a ticket bought online costs €25. Over all of it rises the dome of St Peter's, and the climb to the top is 551 steps (or 320 after the lift). All of this fits into those 3–4 days, but only if nobody hurries.

MuseumsWhich Roman museums are worth the queue, and which are not:Museums in Rome →

Florence is built differently: it begins where the train stops, because Santa Maria Novella station stands in the very centre, beside the church it is named after, and the cathedral is a walk away. The Duomo is easy to recognise by its red dome, which Brunelleschi completed in 1436, and by a facade of white, green and pink marble that was only finished in 1887; the dome is climbed in a timed slot.

North of the cathedral is the Galleria dell'Accademia, where Michelangelo's David has stood since 1873, though it was finished in 1504 (ticket €20). After that the walk turns to the river: across Piazza della Signoria to the Uffizi, which began to be built in 1560 to Vasari's design and hold Botticelli's Birth of Venus; allow 3 h for it. The circuit closes at the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge lined with goldsmiths' shops and the only Florentine bridge to escape demolition in 1944.

2 daysThe same walk by the hour, with the Uffizi and the Accademia:Florence in 2 days →

Scale, which decides it

The difference between the two cities is above all one of scale. Rome has several times the population of Florence, and the historic centre of each is on the UNESCO list, Rome's since 1980 and Florence's since 1982. So Florence can be ‘finished’ in a short stay and Rome cannot be in a long one: in Rome you choose what to skip, in Florence what you have time for.

When the two cities are joined

The fast train takes about 1 h 32, so the journey starts in one centre and ends in another, with no airport and no luggage dragged across half a city. For a spare day, look at what is nearer: from Florence you can reach Pisa (about 1 h by train) and Siena (1 h 15 by bus), and from Rome Naples, by fast train in 1 h 10.

Day tripsPisa, Siena and Tuscany without a car, from Florence:Day trips from Florence →

Day tripsNaples, Pompeii and Orvieto from Rome:Day trips from Rome →

If the trip runs through both cities, start with Rome: it is larger and more spread out, and after it Florence feels like a pause. The order follows history too, from antiquity towards the Renaissance, from the Colosseum towards Brunelleschi's dome.

When to goWhen Rome is most bearable, before the train is booked:The best time to visit Rome →

When to goWhen Florence is most bearable, after Rome:The best time to visit Florence →