dee1843

Ok, I have spent over a month researching for a trip for my 12 yr old son and myself to go to Italy May 30- June 12. I am looking for helpful information about the things I have found and planned. I want to go without a tour since our interests are history (son has taken Latin and learned about italy's history) and fun.

Fly into FCO (cheaper) stay a night in hotel then take trenitalia to Naples- then regional train to Sorrento. I want to rent an apartment for us for 6 days using vrbo or airbnb. Plan on visiting Pompeii, Herculean, Isle of Capri and whatever else looks good.

Take train back to Rome and short stay in apt near Colesseum and visit all main attractions plus leaning tower. Fly back out of Rome to Houston (although flights are cheaper to JFK so might do that)

ANY information is helpful and greatly appreciated. I apologize upfront for being uncertain (never traveled outside US).

PS- Flights seem to be about $2800 for both of us. Is this right, or should I wait to closer to trip????

thank you,
Deanna

xooz

Welcome to Flyer Talk!

You mentioned seeing the "leaning tower", which is in Pisa and nowhere near Rome, not to mention that it's really not worth going out of your way for.

Sounds like you have the right idea for the trip, with the requisite sights, and staying in Sorrento is much better than Naples. The only other thing you could consider is whether to do Rome upon arrival, since you are spending the first night there anyway and then go to Sorrento. Consider whether it makes sense based upon what you want to do in both places, how long you need in each area, and where/when you need to be in place for your departure back.

I'm not very familiar with airfare to FCO, and other people can be of help if you let them know where you are departing from. Check the other forums (e.g. Europe/Italy) for other location specific information.

JMN57

Where are you originating? Hard to gauge airfare without knowing that. Seems that you are flying out Saturday and back Friday. That does make for cleanly scheduling vacation time but lowest airfares are often mid-week. Use ITA matrix (matrix.itasoftware.com) which will allow you to search for best fares for a month.

For a boy studying Latin those are great places to bring a lot of what he is reading to life. I am sure you will have loads of fun.

Added: for kicks, I tried a search from NYC to Rome for a month starting late June. Kicked out the cheapest fare on SAS from EWR with one stop each way for $884 on June 3 returning June 17. It is probably bit early for best fares right now but if you find a good one that works (like this as an example) book it.

dee1843

We are flying out of Houston. I have been looking at fares from NYC assuming we can take Jet Blue or something similar for about $500 round trip for both of us to get us to NYC.

I have looked at Norweign a lot. Is this a good airline? The reviews look ok, definitely not going with turkish airlines even though they have cheap flights.

Deanna

JMN57

Turkish is actually an OK airline and their best price (~$1000 RT pp) via IST is a pretty good deal. I'd be tempted to see if a couple of day stop in IST is possible.

Joanna2360

Sounds like a wonderful trip. You might want to think about taking a single airline from Houston to Rome, even if you are connecting in NYC, since the second flight will not wait for you if your first flight is late, and since neither airline will look after you if you are stranded between flights--that is, airlines do not regard themselves as obligated to other airlines' passengers.

Re timing of purchase: you are traveling at high season for Rome and might want to buy your tickets earlier rather than later if you find the right price. The cheap seats eventually will sell out.

If you are finding the best fare on Turkish Airlines, you could express your reservations or ask questions about that airline on the FlyerTalk Turkish Airlines Forum here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turki...es-smiles-641/

Good luck!

dee1843

I am looking at flying Jet Blue into JFK. There is a 7 hour wait between the two airline flights. I know I will have to pick up my baggage and then check back in with norweign, but the pricing seems pretty good. Jet Blue currently 225 pp roundtrip from houston. JFK to fco 948 pp total under 1200 pp. The return flight will arrive in JFK and we will stay the night in a hotel and catch the next flight the next day.

Is the first leg enough time to allow for delays? How good is Jet Blue?

Perche

I agree with skipping Pisa. Try to resist the temptation to cram everything into one trip. You will waste a whole day on the train just to see the tower for 20 minutes and take the obligatory photo. Your son is young. He has a lot of time to go back.

You have a good amount of time there, but you don't have as much time as you think. You will get there May 31st, jet-lagged, and won't get much done that day. You'll spend most of June 1st traveling to Sorrento, getting there too late to really do anything. Your sightseeing will start June 2nd, and will have to be done by the evening of June 11th. That really gives you 10 days of sightseeing. You can do a lot with that, but don't spread yourself too thin.

Twenty years ago I took an 11, 14, and 16 year old on a tour of Italy. They needed their down time, and your son will too. The heat can be brutal, like Houston except that unlike the way you spend your time in Houston, you will not be in your air-conditioned home. You will be standing outside in the sun in very, very, very long lines, or inside hot, humid, non-air conditioned public transportation systems, being jostled in large, sweaty crowds.

With a 12 year old you'll need a few days where you don't have much of an itinerary planned. Just get a gelato, get a pizza, maybe spend a day at the beach, take a nap, lie around, and let him recharge. If he gets dragged around to sites every day in those crowds and in that heat, he'll be anxious to get home.

If you spend six days in Sorrento you'll lose most of a day traveling back to Rome and get there the evening of the 7th. You'll have to be done with your sightseeing in Rome by the evening of the 11th. I think to a 12 year old who enjoys history Rome might be the most spectacular of the places you mentioned, and you won't be leaving yourself much time there if you're spending six out of your ten days in Sorrento, and spending parts of the other days on a train.

Herculaneum and Pompeii are a similar experience to a 12 year old. It will be a long, tiring day walking in the heat and humidity of June. If you take your son to Pompeii one day, then take him to Herculaneum the next day to walk around a bunch of ruins in the heat, I'm not sure he's going to be too happy that. I'd drop Herculaneum.

When you say Pompeii, Herculaneum, Capri, and something else, plus Pisa, and you haven't even started to see Rome yet, and no down time, and you're asking people to give you even more suggestions of things to do, and you'll be with a 12 year old, it's going to be exhausting. Italy is a place where you have to go slow, and relax. Replace Herculaneum with a day at the beach somewhere on the Amalfi Coast, with lots of gelato, and pizza outdoors at night. Some things he's just going to enjoy more when he's a little older.

I'd consider cutting some of Sorrento in favor of more time in Rome, as Sorrento is really just a cruise ship drop off place. When you do get to Rome, in that heat, with those lines, you should only see one major thing per day, plus maybe one minor thing, or no other thing, just stroll.

For example, go to the Forum, then just go a plaza, have a pizza, and relax. In the evening go out, stroll, have a gelato, relax. The next day explore the Colosseum, then to a nice plaza or to to the Spanish Steps, then relax. The next day go to the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peters, have a gelato, a pizza, walk along the Tiber, relax.

For Rome, make sure you do your research on how to avoid the lines at each of these places. Even though he's from Houston your son will not be happy standing around on line for two and a half hours in the sweltering heat waiting to get inside the Vatican Museum, then walking around the crowded museum for hours standing in front of a bunch of paintings. He'll be exhausted before he gets into the place.

I also wonder why you aren't considering doing Rome first since you'll already be there, then going south. Once school gets out things get progressively more crowded in Rome. I think kids getting out of school is a little less of an issue for the south.

I agree that a tour is not required for walking around. You can do that with a good walking guide book. For some specific sites, however, sometimes a guide can really help. Even if it's a do it yourself audio guide that you pick up at the place. For example, the Forum is incredible. But without a guide you won't have much of an idea what you are looking at. It's the same for with the Colosseum. Even if you just rent an audio guide, hit the pause button, and then point some things out to your son, that's better than staring at ancient buildings whose story you don't know.

Also, sometimes, the only way to beat the crowd is to hire a guide who has line-cutting privileges. It's a little bit costly, but I remember my 14 your old, a very fit cross-country runner, also a history buff, barely able to stand in the heat in the Forum, and just wanting to go to McDonald's and back to the hotel. Same for my 11 and 16 year old. And they went to grade school in Houston and Miami.

Overall, I wouldn't be asking for suggestions for more things to do. I'd cut Pisa and Herculaneum, and Capri as well, unless the boat ride means a lot to you. That saves you three days, allows some downtime, and even a day at the beach along the Amalfi Coast, or even two days at the beach. With a 12 year old at that time of the year, I'd think about relaxing, not cramming in more things. If he sees the highlights of Rome, that will be plenty. He won't forget it. If you try to do too much, he won't be able to wait to get home.

Temedar

Why fly both into and out of Rome when you can arrive straight at Naples and leave from Rome? The tickets from IAH cost about $1200 pp on Turkish (which actually is a good airline) with 1 stop in Istanbul on both ways. Other options are way more expensive, so it may be a good idea to wait a bit for lower fares or to play around with dates if that's possible for you.

JMN57

Look at the travel time on the Turkish flights - in/out of IST and an overnight there each way. The cost is good in terms of $ but not so good in terms of time.

Temedar

Right, but only on the outbound. On the way back from Rome the overnight stay can be avoided

KLouis

Although I usually agree with what Perche writes, allow me to dissent this time:

a) Ercolano is a unique experience, especially for a boy of 12: You see a) how deep the place was buried under ashes, etc. and b) haw far the harbour exit is today from the actual coast line. Moreover, there is an on-site "high-tech" museum that beautifully explains the whole "event".

b) Capri and the boat trip is something that my kids enjoyed most the first time we went to the area (~25 years ago!). I understand that swimming on the costiera may be great for a grown-up but it is, still, just swimming for a 12-year old boy. A boat trip to an island, in contrast, is a unique experience, especially if you live in Houston.

c) Finally, let's not make the Naples bay area sound like thaaaat bad in early June. It is warm but the average is still 18-28 centigrade.

Otherwise, as most said, away with Pisa!

rsqrott

OP, I'll be following your progress with interest as I am in the early stages (as in, just started) of planning a trip to Italy. Unfortunately I can't offer you any insight into the actual trip but I can help you with this:

I think that 7 hours should be sufficient, especially at that time of year. I fly Jet Blue domestically whenever possible and I always find it to be a good experience. The airline has always been accommodating when flights were changed or canceled due to weather (August from HPN to MCO, happy hurricane season).

If you're taking JetBlue you'll likely be flying into T5. There's an excellent tapas bar (Piquillo) in T5, BTW. You'll collect your bags, then take the airtrain to whatever terminal your International flight is departing from.

Good luck and happy planning.

dee1843

Thank you for all the great responses. I have checked out Turkish Airlines but the reviews for economy are a bit questionable and the travel time plus wait time in the airport is rough. Right now I like the combo of Jet Blue with Norweign. I got a Barclay card (since I don't fly much so no miles) and will have a travel credit of @ $500 for the airline tickets. The combined price is about $2500 for both of us, with the credit it makes it very reasonable for that time of year.

I do believe I will swap my plans and stay in Rome. Thank you for reminding me about kids and school. Rome will surely be busier than Sorrento. I will leave Pisa for another time (hopefully). Herculean, Pompeii and Vesuvius are the main things my son wants to see so they will be a definite.

I am the one who wants Capri and explore Rome. Although my son is psyched about many of the sights including the collesseum which I plan on splurging on gladiator school for him (you're only a kid once) I don't know if we will go to the Vatican (don't shoot me). Down time is expected as we mainly plan on one "sight seeing adventure" a day. The rest of the day will be wandering around or hanging out and enjoying culture (and pizza, gelato, and anything else that smells or looks good)

Thank you for helping with my questions and there have been wonderful suggestions that I am taking to heart.

Deanna

KLouis

Roma, centro storico: gelato at Giolitti's, granita di caffe' next to the Pantheon, gran caffe' at Sant'Eustacchio and much more!
Surriento: granita di limone, pizza al metro at Gigino's (Vico Equense), torta caprese at... Capri and much more!
Enjoy!