sunshine7787

Hi everyone!
I just stumbled across this website and am so happy I found you! My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy for my 40th birthday, this is my first trip travelling abroad, and I want to make sure I have everything covered. Any tips you have to share about (anything!) would be greatly appreciated

We will land in Rome Monday April 21st and are planning to stay until Friday April 25th. I have not yet purchased my hotels and have noticed on trip advisor the prices fluctuate daily, hourly even. Is there a perfect amount of time to purchase your room to get the best rate? How much $$ is enough to spend to feel comfortable and safe for the amount of time you actually spend in the room?

From Rome we are moving along to Florence for a long weekend. (April 25-28) Should I buy train tickets from home or when I get there? And from Florence we will travel to Venice staying April 28-May1. Good amount of time in each spot or do I need to modify? I have many more questions but will start with these basics.

Thank you kindly for reading and any responses or advice you give.
Happy and safe travels to all
Angie

tys90

Welcome to FT! You may receive better responses in the Italy specific forum.

As far as hotel rates, you may want to book a refundable rate for now and then keep an eye out for a lower rate. However, you are fairly close to arrival so I don't know how much farther they will go down. I know there are websites that can notify you of a lower rate, I believe Yapta is one of them. Kayak can do that too.

benzemalyonnais

These dates are what I'd consider to be still the off-season, and therefore won't command the high summer prices, nor have peak occupancy rates.

I don't see a reason to lock into a property in advance unless it's THE property you want.

For Florence I remember paying 80E a night for (forget the name) an aparthotel in the Piazza del Repubblica which was a steal. Other than a loud elevator it was right in the middle of it all for a price less than the poorly located Hilton.

Train tickets should be booked in advance if one is booking a high-speed train, in order to lock in the best rates. I think (not sure) that the slower trains are always the same price. I remember booking online through treinitalia and being able to pick seats and get great prices. It was also helpful use international credit cards to purchase the tickets and print them out in advance to save time at the stations.

Not sure about the tourist stuff, I'd leave that to the experts in the Italia forum.

jim5518

Just got back from Italy and we found that booking the trains on http://www.italiarail.com seemed to workout well. They are running specials on Saturdays that were half price. They issue Etickets and you just show them to the conductor.

dukerau

Book trains early IMO, unless it's a regional train (which your Rome - Florence and Florence - Venice shouldn't be). In addition to trenitalia, consider Italtreno. I was in Italy last April and used both companies, slightly preferring Italtreno. I would choose based on price, but also consider that Italtreno sometimes uses a secondary train station in the larger cities (this could actually be more convenient for you, just matters where you're staying).

lwildernorva

Yep, you'll get better answers in the Italy subforum, http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/italy-634/, which is where I suspect you'll soon find this thread.

Since this is your first time to Italy, I think you've probably got the split on days right, but I suspect you'll find Florence the most attractive of the three cities, and the one that if you do a second trip to Italy, you'll make more time for. Venice is Venice. Rome is a very large city, and despite my comments above, you'll find that you won't see everything you want to see in a couple of days. Florence just seems to me to be a perfect balance--not too small but much smaller than Rome with dramatic nearby countryside, tons of museums within the historical area, great restaurants, and surprisingly good (and potentially expensive) shopping. My next trip to Italy, I'll probably spend twice the amount of time in Florence that I'll spend in Rome, but I totally understand that this is a matter of opinion and that you may reach a different conclusion after your trip.

There are a number of hotels in the vicinity of the Roma Termini train station, and I've never felt unsafe walking around the area, but your tolerance for that depends on your comfort level with big cities. I've also stayed along Via Nazionale and Via Sardegna, a little farther from Termini but in accommodations that were reasonably priced. Look at reviews on booking.com, which I've found relatively reliable in comparison with Tripadvisor, since a lot of hotels now actively push for good Tripadvisor reviews.

I tend to view a city hotel as a place to sleep. I want it in a quiet, safe neighborhood that's relatively accessible by walking to the sites I want to see. Relatively accessible for me is a couple of miles walk so if your definition is less than that, you're going to need to look at a smaller scope of properties. I stayed here a year ago, http://www.hotelprincipessaisabella.eu/en/hotel.html, and found it adequate for my needs. Rooms seem to be available for roughly $130/night during the time you're there. There are probably tons of hotels roughly equivalent to the Principessa; it's just the one I found.

Regarding booking hotels in Rome--do it now. You're going the week after Easter, and although the peak at that time of year for visitors to Rome (and the Vatican) will be the week before, I think there are still lots of people who look to do trips in and around Easter Sunday. No reason to fly thousands of miles and then find your hotel options more limited.

The train service in Italy, especially the high-speed trains, is excellent. You can get from Termini to Santa Maria Novella in Florence in about 90 minutes. I've used Trenitalia, http://www.trenitalia.com/trenitalia.html, but unlike most of the US, there is more than one passenger train service and more than one train track at the major Italian train stations--before you take your first train from Rome, give yourself some extra time to get the lay of the land and to understand from which track your specific train run by your specific company will depart--just don't get on the first train you see around your departure time leaving for your destination. For those unfamiliar with the train system, it can be easy to find yourself on a local train rather than an express train, taking twice the time to get where you want.

Some more train pointers. I'd buy before going unless you or your husband is fluent in Italian. There are machines at the stations, but they don't always play nice with American credit cards, and although I think the Italians are generally nice, I haven't had the best experiences with ticket agents, especially at Termini. You can also find some relatively good prices if you book early, perhaps saving $15-20 per ticket. And don't bother booking first class--the journey is relatively short, and the seats in second class are fine.

Also, be aware that unlike most American cities, most Italian cities of any size have several train stations. Thus, it's important to determine the correct station for your destination leaving from Termini. You'll see what I mean when your train for Florence leaves Rome as you'll pass several stations on the way out of the city and then several more as you head into Florence. For Florence, the station you want will almost certainly be Santa Maria Novella, which is in the heart of the historical area, which is also where you'll want to find a hotel. For Venice, you're likely looking for the Santa Lucia station. Don't get off your train before your intended destination! And be aware that although the train companies' websites provide English friendly sites, searches for destinations tend to use the Italian form--so search for trains to Firenze for Florence and to Venezia for Venice.

jackal

Since this question is specifically about travel in Italy, I'll move it to the Italy forum where the experts therein can provide further input.

Please note this thread originated in the flame-free Information Desk forum.

jackal
Moderator, Information Desk

Perche

Some great information above. Here are my five cents.

Do your homework about what you want to do, and especially, where you want to eat. Florence is a matter of taste. As stated, there are a lot of museums. If spending your day looking at renaissance art is what you want, it is the place for you. For others, seeing David at the Accademia and walking through the Ufizzi are enough. Once you've seen the Duomo, walked along the Arno, over the Ponte Vecchio, and watched a sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo, you've pretty much seen the highlights of the city. For many it's a one-timer. There are different opinions on this.

I think you have the split of days about right, although personally I'd take a day away from Florence and add it to Venice.

You MUST get your hotels within the next few days or else you will be paying more, and will be staying in less satisfying places. The good places, meaning economically a good value and good location, sell out well in advance. The reason is because they are small. For legal reasons they can't build a nine story Hilton in the center of Rome, Venice, etc. The best places are going or are gone.

In Italy if the hotel says near the Termini/train station, do not take it. Areas around the train station are always the worst part of the city, visually and for crime. Train stations are tourist central, right where beggars, pickpockets, etc, congregate. It's just not pleasant, nor are the surrounding neighborhoods pretty, or places where you'll want to be walking back to your hotel at 10PM after sharing a bottle of wine. Especially in Rome.

TripAdvisor and similar sites can steer you wrong. People tend to enjoy their vacation and tend to say that every place was spectacular when had they experienced another place they would say it was comparatively a dump. Also, some places would be terrible for $350, but a gem for $85. On TA some terrible hostels on the outskirts of town are rated higher than some five star luxury places where you might bump into Brad Pitt. There is too much comparison of apples and oranges on TA. I'd be careful. Also, most places in Rome say, "close to everything." That's not possible. Rome is huge. The vatican is close to the Spanish Steps if you like to run five miles a day. I suggest staying close to the Pantheon if you really want to be as close as possible and within striking distance of most things you will want to see. It's maybe 2 miles from the train station, and about 10-15 euros by cab.

As for trains, first class is overpriced, but sometimes it's OK to go one up from basic and spend to get a slightly better cabin, a train with a restaurant/bar, and enjoy a glass of prosecco. Look at the Trenitalia site and see if it's worth the difference to you.

As mentioned, there are two main rail companies in Italy; Trenitalia, and Italotreno. I strongly recommend that you not take Italotreno to or from Rome. Trenitalia has a monopoly on the downtown Rome station. Italotreno does not go to downtown Rome. It will leave you on the outskirts of town where you'll have to find a cab, or take another train, quite possibly Trenitalia, to get downtown. And the outskirts are not a great place to be if it's your first trip and you can't speak Italian.

Unless you know a few secret places the food in all three cities anywhere near the tourist areas is generally horrible. People are in a romantic setting and will usually rate it as the best pizza or best pasta they ever had, etc. But if you get a pizza in the tourist areas of these towns you can be 90% certain it was bought at a Costco-like warehouse, and that "ping" you hear is the microwave oven that just finished cooking it. Even the pasta is often microwaved to reheat it, but people are drooling over it because of the setting. Do your homework on places to eat.

You want pizza made with real mozzarella, the type that's in balls floating in water, not sliced off of a "brick" of fake mozzarella, you want it seasoned with great virgin olive oil, not with second pressed industrial olive oil, and you want it cooked properly. Good food is hard to find in tourist areas of any of these three cities if you just wander into anywhere.

In my opinion, Venice is the most beautiful and romantic of all. Sadly, few people ever see the real Venice. They congregate around Piazza San Marco or the Rialto Bridge. Consider that Venice receives 16.5 million visitors per year and has a population of 60,000 venetians. Do the math. That's 275 visitors per resident! And they all congregate at those two places! Look in front of you, behind you, and side to side, and you will not likely be seeing a venetian unless he or she is trying to sell something to you.

A third of the tourists are coming off of cruise ships and aren't even spending the night, just coming for souvenirs and to eat. Restaurants around San Marco, Ponte Rialto, and along the Grand Canal, with a few exceptions, are not expecting their diners to come back, and are not going out of their way to serve great food. Recipes designed to taste like what you are used to eating in america are what you will eat in the tourist areas of these 3 cities.

Get away from the tourist areas in Venice and the city will be magical. Go deep into the Castello and Dorsoduro areas, as well as Canareggio. Unless you're near the train station there is virtually no crime in Venice. Go down the darkest alley, explore as far as you want, anytime of day or night. It is safe (OK, don't leave your purse hanging around in San Marco Square, take basic precautions against pickpocketing, but there is virtually no aggressive or person to person crime.) The farther away you get from the tourist centers (which you should see, but only early in the morning and late in the evening) the better it will get. And the better you will eat. Especially if you like seafood. You really shouldn't stay anywhere near Piazza San Marco or Ponte Rialto.

Your split of days is good, but you are behind in hotel booking, and should probably focus there.

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

Volholic16

Good thread. Long time forum reader, n00b poster here.

My wife and I are actually doing a similar trip, albeit for a little shorter duration. We'll be there April 26-May 3rd. We arrive in Rome from Atlanta (DL 240) about 6:30-7:00 AM Saturday April 26 and are taking the high-speed train to Venice for one night. Obviously we have to take the Leonardo Express from FCO to Termini to catch that train. I debated eliminating Venice all together but my wife really wanted to at least see it for a day or so.

Sunday afternoon, we're taking the train to Florence and spending 3 nights. We've got a half day Tuscany wine tour planned for Monday and then will spend the next couple days roaming around and seeing the sights.

Then Wednesday (not sure what time just yet but probably midday) we're heading back to Rome for the final 3 nights.

Like an idiot, I wasn't thinking clearly when I booked the plane tickets. We should've flown into Venice and out of Rome. We've budgeted for this trip for a while now and decided any itinerary changes would cost prohibitive at the moment. I wish we could stay longer but will still be a great trip. Neither one of us has been out of the country besides to Mexico/Caribbean.

A few questions:

Any idea what time we can reasonably expect to get to Venice that Saturday? I know that depends on a few things, (flight arrival, immigration times, etc...) but what would be a conservative estimate? 2-4 PM? We will not have checked bags.

I've read different things, but what is the consensus on when to buy train tickets? Have them in hand before we go or should we wait until we arrive to buy them? Also, will my standard Visa (has a chip but no PIN) work to purchase tickets if we buy at a kiosk?

Humor me here as this is a generic question, but what are some must-try food recommendations? They can be upper casual places or quicker, less expensive places. I've read TripAdvisor but figured I'd ask here too.

Is cash the best way to pay for hotels, meals, trains, etc...? We'll be carrying different forms of payment to make sure we're covered.

Thanks in advance.

Perche

Good choice not to eliminate Venice. Kudos also for not checking any bags. Shouldn't be a problem getting to Venice between 2-3PM. Lots of variables as you said, but there are trains from Termini every half hour to one hour depending on time of day. The 10:35 and 10:50 get you to Venezia between 2-3. Shouldn't be a problem getting to Termini within four or so hours of landing if there are no problems with the flight, especially at that hour in the morning when immigration is usually lighter.

Train tickets are usually cheaper weeks in advance and you have them on paper or mobile. But there's not a terrible markup at the station, and you get the flexibility of changing trains. For example, if you buy a ticket for the 10:50 train weeks in advance and you get to Termini in time for the 8:35 or 8:50 you won't be able to take them and will have to sit in the train station jet lagged, for two hours. At the station you pay a little more but buy the ticket for the time you want. If you arrive at 6:30AM you might be able to get on the 8:50 and be in Venice at 12:35. That can't happen with a pre-purchased ticket for the 10:50.

Chip card will not work at the kiosk. You need a PIN. Use your ATM card or euros. ATM is better so that you don't have to use a lot of euros and then go to the ATM machine.

You're not going to get accurate restaurant recommendations from TripAdvisor. Most people are on their first trip to Italy sitting in a gorgeous piazza having a pizza, and say it was the best pizza they ever ate, when it was actually microwaved frozen food.

You'll have to do research. I recommend relying on experienced critics. Also, you might want to stick with regional specialties (e.g., don't eat seafood in Florence, etc.). Specific restaurant recommendations depend on where you are staying. Rome is a big city. It wouldn't make sense to recommend a place near Piazza del Popolo if you are staying in Trastevere or near the Vatican (which would be a bad idea for a first timer), or in Venice a place in Castello if you are staying in Santa Croce (another bad idea).

Take care of your pizza fix in Rome. The closer you are to Naples, the better the pizza. In Venice, don't eat in any restaurant that serves pizza, much less eat the pizza.

For Rome, Katie Parla (I have no conflict of interest) is a food reviewer for the NY Times and Bon Appetit who has lived in Rome for many years. She has an app that is very helpful. It can even be used when you are offline. You will be a much better off relying on her restaurant recommendations in your area than relying upon a random TripAdvisor review of someone in Italy for the first time who might be comparing the food with Olive Garden. Preview it at:

http://www.parlafood.com/my-rome/

In Venice there is an association called Associazione dei Ristoranti della Buona Accoglienza. More or less, "association of the restaurants of the good welcoming." It is made up of restaurants that were fed up the reputation for bad food that Venice has because most of the restaurants exist to serve bad food to the millions of tourists who don't know any better. They hold each other to the highest standards of fresh, authentic venetian food at a fair price.

For example, one of the restaurants is owned by the former president of the Rialto fish market. He still has a stall at the market and every day he brings the freshest fish to his restaurant and that's what you eat. I've eaten in all of the restaurants that belong to this association. All are fairly pricey, and some are more pricey than others, but it is worth it to eat real Venetian food. You will not have a bad meal at any of these restaurants. Most require a reservation, as do the good restaurants in Rome. You can make a choice and do it by email. If you go for lunch it is very reasonable, and you may not need a reservation. If you want a great meal go to one of the restaurants that are members of this association. Most of these restaurants are hard to find because they are in the neighborhoods for Venetians, and you will have to walk and constantly ask for directions. Note, if you can get a reservation for Alle Testiere, it was recently named one of the 100 best restaurants in the world, and is no more expensive than the others. The association's website is below. Click on the button on the right to see the english version.

http://www.veneziaristoranti.it/menu-ristoranti.php

Of course there are some great restaurants in Venice that are not members, but the ratio of good to bad is very low, especially in restaurants along the canal, near Rialto, and close to San Marco Square. But unless you know which ones they are, you might eat a bad meal during your one night in Venice.

Just about every restaurant and hotel takes credit cards. Hopefully, you have a card that doesn't charge an international fee. The only reason for cash is when you go to the corner bar for a coffee and a pastry, get on a traghetto, buy something in a small shop, etc.

slawecki

http://www.veneziaristoranti.it/menu-ristoranti.php

i have eaten in most of these restaurants. i really liked one, and could never get into another. the rest are just full of themselves, and very expensive.

Volholic16

Awesome. Thank you for the replies. We will most definitely keep the recommendations in mind.

In Venice, we're staying at the Pensione Guerrato (not too far from the Rialto).

Florence: Hotel Perseo (near the Duomo)

Rome: Trevi Luxury Rooms (as the name implies, near the Trevi Fountain)

lammy52

sunshine7787

We are visiting Rome also (9-14 April) and whilst researching saw that Culture Week, which gives free entry to most museums runs from 16 - 25 April.

Link gives a few details

http://www.budgettravel.com/blog/rom...re-week,11215/

slawecki

michela scibilia: i thought this one to be the best. very expensive. over $20 for about 100 pages. seems to be a 2014 edition. i would get that one, as the restaurant scene is changing in venice. was a few dollars less in venice, but book stores are not easy to find.

SJOGuy

Any other year, the week after Easter might mean a lull in the visitor numbers, but Apr. 27 is the dual canonization of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II. I was reading today they're expecting a possible extra five million people to come to Rome the last part of April with Holy Week leading into canonization week leading into the May 1 Labor Day holiday. I'd grab something immediately.