Any advice for planning a trip to Italy?

[defendthehill]

Overseas travel is one of those things that is a little more intimidating than needs to be. My wife and I did Rome by ourselves a few years ago and had zero real problems. Of course we had those moments of "is this the right bus we want to get to the Catacombs?" But even with a few moments of uncertainty I loved the fact we did this trip on our own. I am a Rick Steves fan and we certainly used his advice on many things such as hotels and restaurants. Also his suggested touring plans were helpful even if we didn't follow it to the T...

One of our absolute favorite things we did in Rome was a Segway Tour of the city. That was an absolutely fantastic activity that I would book again in a heartbeat! Saved a lot of walking and we saw some things we probably would never had gotten to. I think we paid a hundred bucks a head for a three hour tour with a guide. The segways are very easy to use and by the end of the segway tour I was driving with my knee.....just like our guide.

One other piece of advice from my standpoint. Hotel location is the most important factor for me. I like to pick a hotel that is close to the inner city. Even if the hotel is 20-30 Euros more per night. Location, Location, Location,.....find a good hotel close to most of the sights. I have friends who would rather stay on the outskirts of town and bus in....but the time it take is my concern. The money spent on a location hotel is a good trade off for the time it takes to get back and forth to the hotel....especially in the evening or night after a long day of touring.

I loved our trip to Italy and can't wait to go back again sometime. Maybe I will even take my kids with us this time..........nah....it is more fun without them Have a great time planning your trip and even more fun when you are in Italy! Ciao!

Oh, and I should add...besides the please, thank you, bathroom, type phrases....I do not know Italian.

 

[TallyTutter]

I did Italy on my own. I spent a total of 10 days in Venice, Florence, and Rome. It was a great sampler way to see the highlights of Italy and I definitely wanted to go back and spend more time there.

I booked and open jaw ticket and flew into Venice and flew out of Rome. I took the train between Venice and Florence and Florence and Rome.

I used the Rick Steves books and TripAdvisor to find less expensive hotels and restaurants.

I booked directly with the various museums and Vatican for tours/tickets. Be sure to look into the Scavi tour at the Vatican....it is a special tour of the ruins of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd century tombs underneath St Peters.

Consider going off season. I went in March and while it was cool and sometimes rainy, the rate were much more reasonable and I even had the chance to attend Carnivale in Venice.

HTH

Jill in CO

Edited to add: I don't speak Italian and didn't find not speaking it to be an issue. I did try to learn the basics: please, thank you, good morning, goodbye, etc and it helped. You will find plenty of English speakers in the tourist areas that you will be likely in. Everyone was extremely friendly everywhere I went.

TOTALLY agree with this! I went in 2004 with a group of 60 on a tour. I had to eat, sleep, shop, tour & have bathroom breaks when the rest of the tour did. If you use Rick Steves guide book you will able to plan for your tours & get very good advice on where to stay etc. If you could do a Rick Steves tour (usually less than 20 people on the tour) that would be the best of both worlds!!

Enjoy!

 

[surfgirl]

I'm strongly in the "anti-tour group" crowd. I've done it twice - the first time I visited Europe with my parents in 1984 - "if its Tuesday, it must be Vienna". "If its Friday, it must be Venice". too much time on buses, too fast. Second time was Russia in 1987 when that was the only way to visit Russia! Never again... and I've been all over Europe.

Once you get over the "fear" of being in a foreign country and landing on little sleep, you'll be fine. There may be some hiccups and bumps, but you figure it out. Mr. Surf and I still laugh about some funny experiences ordering food and what we've gotten. They may have been different than what we expected, but they tasted great!

check out fodors.com - go to the Europe board and put in "Italy" in search terms, or "Venice" or whatever. I frequent there and the community is fabulous. From individual hotel recommendations to tour guides, to restaurants, to apartments, to sites. Also check out trip reports - that always gives me a great sense of others' experiences.

Another great website is slowtrav.com. "Slow travel". Their forums are also good - not as popular as fodors, and many cross-posters, but some great advice!

Summer is tough - crowded and many hotels may not have air conditioning. May and September are great times to go if you aren't tied to school vacations.

What do you like ?
=> Art?
--Visit Florence... get advance tickets for the Uffizi, get to the Accademia early. Climb to the top of the Duomo. Read "The Agony and The Ecstasy" about Michelangelo before you go.

=> Stunning sea views ?
-- Cinque Terre. This is 5 hill towns not accessible via car. Trains go in-between. We hiked them all in one day ... wished we had longer.

=> Lakes?
-- Lake Como. However, if you aren't going to rent a car, I would skip this. We loved Bellagio, but public transport isn't worth it and to stay in Como proper isn't the same. Some great villas and walking to do in the area.

=> History?
-- Venice. Yes, in the heat of summer, it can get stinky. It also can be incredibly beautiful and stunning at other times. Take the tour of the Doges' Palace (book in advance), climb to the top of the Bell Tower. Spend at least a night here so you can wander at night when all the day tourists have left.

=> Wine Country ?
-- Tuscany or Umbria. San Gimignano is one of my favorite little hill towns. Again, stay here so you can see what it is like when the tour buses leave town.

-------------------
These suggestions are only Northern Italy. I would approach it from the viewpoint that it is too big to do it all - either Northern Italy above or Rome and the Amalfi Coast. I'm not a big fan of Rome - too crazy, too congested, and it isn't relaxing to me, so I admit that colors my perspective.

Also, check out books at the library - it might be last year's tour guide, but as long as you aren't planning specific hours and times, 95% of the information is the same. Use this to make a plan and figure out where you want to go, then buy the tour book.

be flexible with flights. Where are you flying from ? We flying in April to Norway and Sweden and found direct flights for $700 rt. We have to drive 2 hours to a different airport, but for the cost and the direct flights (I HATE to connect!), it is worth it.

Obviously, I love Europe... we took our kids (ages 6,8, 10) to Paris and London last year and had an amazing trip. This year, it is Stockholm and Oslo. I'm in the throes of planning right now... feel free to pm me with additional questions if I don't come back to the thread.

 

[mtblujeans]

Have you thought about doing a cruise?....

This is what I would like to try. There is a cruise that hits several of the main historical cities and then goes down to Cairo and back up again. DH is mostly interested in the sites in Rome so I haven't been able to talk him into a cruise.

 

[jedijill]

A cruise is a nice idea too. I did the Disney 11 night last year and you will have a day in the major cities. We hired private guides for Naples and Rome...you will be able to see the major sites but it will be quick.

Jill in CO

 

[micheleq]

I've been to Italy twice in the off season (rome in February and Florence over Thanksgiving) & I'd highly recommend that! Lower crowds at the major sites.

When we were in Rome (6 years ago), we got a letter from our parish priest saying we were "legit" Catholics (lol) and we were given tickets to the indoor mass with Pope JP II. In the winter the Pope will say mass for a few thousand people inside and it was amazing -- and I am not an especially religious person. At one point in the mass church and schools groups were announced (when the Pope got to their native language, mass was spoken in six languages that day), and these groups of pilgrims would stand up and sing for a few seconds. I can still hear the French school girls singing Ave Maria!

We had to go inside the offices at St. Peter's (a pretty cool thing to do as well) to get the tickets from a very kind Aussie priest who gave me a set of rosaries and my DH a medal. I'm not sure if tickets are still distributed this way, but that was our expereince. I even got stopped by a Swiss Guard trying to go in the wrong door. Those guys do not mess around!

Def. buy the CityPass tickets for all the attractions in Rome (not sure if they have one for Florence), it allowed us to bypass the main line at the Colousseum and it gave us access to several smaller museums that we may not have visited.

And never, ever, eat off a menu printed in several languages. Tourist trap! Learn a little Italian and attempt to speak it to the locals. I found if they speak english and see you are at least trying to speak in their native language, they will assist you.

We stayed at Hotel Accademia off the Trevi Fountain in Rome, around the corner from San Crispino, the best gelato in Italy. Loved it. I was pregnant when we were in Florence, wasn't impressed with our hotel there, but it was off the Central Market. www.venere.com had great hotel reviews and I just booked directly with each hotel thru their website.

Break out the Disney walking shoes & have a great time planning and on your trip!

PS - We were also told by the Vatican that if we had arrived within six months of our wedding (we had been married for a little over a year), and had wedding attire with us, we could have had an audience with the Pope.

 

[Marionnette]

I love cruising! A cruise is a great way to get a taste of multiple cities. But if you want to see Florence or Rome you will have to travel at least an hour from the port to the city itself. You will also be limited to the amount of time that your ship stays in port. If the ship is anchored offshore rather than docking, you will need to rely on the tender's schedule to get back on the ship at night. And even though you paid for all those wonderful meals onboard, you will be tempted to dine ashore (and rightly so!).

We just did a mediterranean cruise from barcelona to rome and hitting the major cities in between. It was a small ship, so we were able to dock while larger ships had to tender their passengers ashore. Our ship stayed overnight in nice and we shared a private guide along with some other passengers that I met on the cruise critic message boards. The private guide was the best money spent on the cruise!