The Grand Italy Circuit

Three cities, one country's greatest hits, stitched together by the fast trains that make this the easiest way to see Italy without a car or a compromise. Rome, Florence, Venice — each gets enough time to breathe, the icons handled by morning and the evenings left open for the neighborhood you happen to be standing in. Built for anyone who wants the essentials done properly, at a pace that never sprints. The days follow a rhythm you'll come to trust: something monumental early, when the light is good and the crowds thinner, then a long afternoon that belongs to you. A guided morning through the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine sets the tone in Rome; a timed entry carries you into the Sistine Chapel before the museums fill. Florence answers with the Uffizi, then tastings under the iron roof of the Mercato Centrale, and a climb to Piazzale Michelangelo for the city laid out gold at sunset. Venice is the slow exhale. A cicchetti crawl along the Cannaregio canals — small plates, an ombra of wine, a spritz as the water goes pink — tells you more about how the city actually eats than any grand dining room could. There's a boat out to the Murano furnaces and the painted lanes of Burano, and a gondola if you want one. Come in spring or fall, when the piazzas are lively but not overrun and the walking is a pleasure rather than a test. It suits couples, first-timers, and returning travelers alike: the three that everyone means when they say Italy, done with room to linger.