Starting to plan for Italy -tips/tricks/advice?
Feb 11, 2004, 4:19 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: San Mateo, CA, USA
Posts: 19
Starting to plan for Italy -tips/tricks/advice?
Hello all,
I'm just getting started on researching a trip to Italy in early September... well, to fess up, it's really our honeymoon
Anyway, these boards were such a huge help with planning our Japan trip last spring, and I'm hoping to find the same expertise for Italy!
We're thinking of going for 10-14 days, leaving SFO area on Sept. 5 or 6. I haven't yet narrowed down which towns/cities/areas to include on the trip, so....
-when should I start looking for cheap flights? I'm finding some $750 flights now, but there have to be lower fares out there (I hope)...
-what are the secret but cool places we shouldn't miss? We've never been to Italy before, so the traditional tourist spots are of course on our list, but we don't want to rush around like crazy trying to see everything. Where should we spend our time? (I've heard Siena is gorgeous, for example)
-What's the weather like in early Sept? And should we expect more/less crowds than usual? I have heard that many European schools are actually on break in early Sept...
-are we going to be OK with not speaking a drop of Italian beyond basic phrases in guidebooks?
Any and all advice is much appreciated!
Thanks,
Stephanie
I'm just getting started on researching a trip to Italy in early September... well, to fess up, it's really our honeymoon
Anyway, these boards were such a huge help with planning our Japan trip last spring, and I'm hoping to find the same expertise for Italy!We're thinking of going for 10-14 days, leaving SFO area on Sept. 5 or 6. I haven't yet narrowed down which towns/cities/areas to include on the trip, so....
-when should I start looking for cheap flights? I'm finding some $750 flights now, but there have to be lower fares out there (I hope)...
-what are the secret but cool places we shouldn't miss? We've never been to Italy before, so the traditional tourist spots are of course on our list, but we don't want to rush around like crazy trying to see everything. Where should we spend our time? (I've heard Siena is gorgeous, for example)
-What's the weather like in early Sept? And should we expect more/less crowds than usual? I have heard that many European schools are actually on break in early Sept...
-are we going to be OK with not speaking a drop of Italian beyond basic phrases in guidebooks?
Any and all advice is much appreciated!
Thanks,
Stephanie
Feb 11, 2004, 6:31 pm
#2
Moderator: Delta SkyMiles, Luxury Hotels, TravelBuzz! and Italy
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 26,582
ez062718
You have posted many great questions and it is difficult to know where to begin. First, let me say that I am pleased that you have discovered the beauty of FT and the many resources it offers.
I will, right now, weigh in one issue: I think a bit of knowledge of the Italian language will go a long way to making your trip more fun. Many Italians speak quite good English. However, they love when non-Italians attempt to speak a few phrases. If you have a rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, you will find that some words are nearly interchangeable. Prior to my first trip to Italy, about 30 years ago, I took Italian lessons from a private tutor for about 6 weeks. I learned some very good basic expressions and some pretty good communication skills. (It's mostly about the hands and facial expressions). BTW, September is a wonderful time to go to Italy. Don't skip Venice!!
You have posted many great questions and it is difficult to know where to begin. First, let me say that I am pleased that you have discovered the beauty of FT and the many resources it offers.
I will, right now, weigh in one issue: I think a bit of knowledge of the Italian language will go a long way to making your trip more fun. Many Italians speak quite good English. However, they love when non-Italians attempt to speak a few phrases. If you have a rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, you will find that some words are nearly interchangeable. Prior to my first trip to Italy, about 30 years ago, I took Italian lessons from a private tutor for about 6 weeks. I learned some very good basic expressions and some pretty good communication skills. (It's mostly about the hands and facial expressions). BTW, September is a wonderful time to go to Italy. Don't skip Venice!!
Feb 12, 2004, 5:23 am
#3
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Suwanee,Ga ,usa
Posts: 3,617
First go to http://www.slowtalk.com/6/ubb.x
you can find most of your answers there.
Fodor's travel forum also has much good info.
Your trip depends on what you want and like. You'll get many diverse opinions about where to go, but the final decison is yours. Last year I went to Tuscany, Umbria and the lake Como area. In May I go back to Tuscany and Umbria and will then spend a week in Rome.
I never get too much of Italy.
you can find most of your answers there.
Fodor's travel forum also has much good info.
Your trip depends on what you want and like. You'll get many diverse opinions about where to go, but the final decison is yours. Last year I went to Tuscany, Umbria and the lake Como area. In May I go back to Tuscany and Umbria and will then spend a week in Rome.
I never get too much of Italy.
Feb 12, 2004, 5:30 pm
#5
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: LAX ("QLA" as necessary!)
Programs: UA 1P (residual DL, US, AS), SPG
Posts: 1,357
I am happy to share some insights into trip planning for Italy. It is my favorite country and I have been several times. My last trip was in Sept/Oct. The weather can be fickle but usually pleasant.
My recommendation: 4 days Venice, 4 days Florence, 4 days Rome. 12 days in Italy plus two travelling to/from = 14.
Fly into Venice or Rome and out of the other one so you avoid backtracking. Open jaw tickets are usually the same price or marginally more, but you save the cost of a train trip back.
For this trip, you would not need a car. I would look into one daytrip from each city, or stay put and relax--there is certainly enough to see if 4 days in each spot.
Suggested day trips:
Venice:
VERONA (romantic; think Romeo and Juliet), PADUA (20 min. by train) to see the marvelous church and mosaics, or head up to the Dolomites to get out of the heat.
Florence:
SIENA (a must see! The Duomo there will blow you away, and the town is totally charming), LUCCA (also very romantic, especially if you rent bikes and ride along the tops of the city's walls), CHIANTI wine region (can easily be a day trip), SAN GIMIGNANO (definitely fascinating, perfectly preserved medieval town, easily combinable with SIENA for one day trip).
ROME: Appian Way to see the catacombs, but easy enough to spend four days exploring the eternal city!
If you need to cut out one day, leave Florence with only three.
Search the archives for my suggested activities in those three cities, and don't hesitate to contact me if you have other questions...I have an email already prepared and archived that I send out to people planning a trip to Italy.
My recommendation: 4 days Venice, 4 days Florence, 4 days Rome. 12 days in Italy plus two travelling to/from = 14.
Fly into Venice or Rome and out of the other one so you avoid backtracking. Open jaw tickets are usually the same price or marginally more, but you save the cost of a train trip back.
For this trip, you would not need a car. I would look into one daytrip from each city, or stay put and relax--there is certainly enough to see if 4 days in each spot.
Suggested day trips:
Venice:
VERONA (romantic; think Romeo and Juliet), PADUA (20 min. by train) to see the marvelous church and mosaics, or head up to the Dolomites to get out of the heat.
Florence:
SIENA (a must see! The Duomo there will blow you away, and the town is totally charming), LUCCA (also very romantic, especially if you rent bikes and ride along the tops of the city's walls), CHIANTI wine region (can easily be a day trip), SAN GIMIGNANO (definitely fascinating, perfectly preserved medieval town, easily combinable with SIENA for one day trip).
ROME: Appian Way to see the catacombs, but easy enough to spend four days exploring the eternal city!
If you need to cut out one day, leave Florence with only three.
Search the archives for my suggested activities in those three cities, and don't hesitate to contact me if you have other questions...I have an email already prepared and archived that I send out to people planning a trip to Italy.
Feb 12, 2004, 6:08 pm
#6
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Pennsylvania
Programs: HHonors Silver
Posts: 4,030
Cinque Terra. A set of five seaside villages between Genoa and La Spezia in Liguria. Worth a day or two at least. We might try for a week if/when we go back.
We had good results with a combination of a 5-day flex railpass and 3 or 4 day car rental. AutoEurope has good prices on one-way car rentals; the only catch is that the minimum rental period is three days.
Jabez's list of places is good.
Here's our itinerary for a 2-week trip back in May, 2002:
* Flight from US to Zurich; Rail ride over the alps via Milan and Genoa to the Cinque Terra region. (Rail day 1 of a 3-country SelectPass)
* 2 nights in Riomaggiore, southernmost of the 5 villages. One day is just about enough to sample each village; you can walk or take the train the mile or two between each village. You can buy a park pass that includes the train fare, so no railpass day required for exploring.
* Train to Rome, stopping in Pisa around lunch. We walked from the train station to the Tower and Campo. (Rail Day 2)
* 4 or 5 nights in Rome. Location is not tremendously important if you're somewhat close to a subway stop and/or one of the major sightseeing areas. We were a block or two from the Vatican.
* Night train from Rome to Venice. Worth it for the experience of a sleeper car, but we drove back through the region later and I realized that we had missed some nice secnery. The plus side is that we arrived in Venice about 6 AM and walked from the train station to our hotel (near Piazza San Marco) as the city was waking up.(Rail Day 3)
* Two nights in Venice. Could have used another day or two here; we really didn't get to explore as much as we would have liked.
* Pick up rental car (office near train station); drive from Venice to Siena, skirting Bologna and Florence on the way.
* Side trip from Siena to Deruta; bought about 400 of high-quality hand-painted ceramics from one of the shops on top of the hill. Had the stuff shipped home. Back to Siena that night.
* Drive from Siena to small village of Belgirate on Lago Maggiore north of Milan for 2 nights.
* Day on Lago Maggiore, riding the public ferry to Stresa and Verbania for exploring.
* Short drive to Milan Malpensa Airport; drop off the car and fly back to Zurich. Short train trip to Luzern for afternoon exploring; back to Zurich for dinner, spend night near airport. (Rail Day 4)
* Fly back to US.
I developed the itinerary after doing a lot of research and consideration of what was important to our first trip to Italy. In retrospect I wouldn't have eliminated anything, but maybe a day less in Rome and a day more in Venice.
This comment may get negative feedback, but as a first-time visitor you should read Rick Steves' Italy book (and his website) to help trim your list of places to visit. His restaurant recommendations were all good, but at one restaurant in Rome we realized that just about everyone else had a copy of his book in their daypacks (we asked; everyone got a good laugh).
Other tips:
You could either plan your itinerary in detail before going (as we did) or play it by ear, going for more flexibility (an extra night in Vennice traded for a night somewhere else later, perhaps). Keep in mind that September is still busy from a tourism perspective, so you'll have less hassle and better accomodations if you plan ahead.
The turnpikes in Italy are fantastic. They even take credit cards at the automated toolbooths. Just stay out of the left lane.
It's much cheaper to make train reservations in Italy than using a service like RailEurope. We reserved the Rome-Venice sleeper while in Rome. But we would have benefitted from reservations on the Zurich-Milan train in a special observation car, but it was too late to reserve the morning of arrival in Zurich.
Have fun.
We had good results with a combination of a 5-day flex railpass and 3 or 4 day car rental. AutoEurope has good prices on one-way car rentals; the only catch is that the minimum rental period is three days.
Jabez's list of places is good.
Here's our itinerary for a 2-week trip back in May, 2002:
* Flight from US to Zurich; Rail ride over the alps via Milan and Genoa to the Cinque Terra region. (Rail day 1 of a 3-country SelectPass)
* 2 nights in Riomaggiore, southernmost of the 5 villages. One day is just about enough to sample each village; you can walk or take the train the mile or two between each village. You can buy a park pass that includes the train fare, so no railpass day required for exploring.
* Train to Rome, stopping in Pisa around lunch. We walked from the train station to the Tower and Campo. (Rail Day 2)
* 4 or 5 nights in Rome. Location is not tremendously important if you're somewhat close to a subway stop and/or one of the major sightseeing areas. We were a block or two from the Vatican.
* Night train from Rome to Venice. Worth it for the experience of a sleeper car, but we drove back through the region later and I realized that we had missed some nice secnery. The plus side is that we arrived in Venice about 6 AM and walked from the train station to our hotel (near Piazza San Marco) as the city was waking up.(Rail Day 3)
* Two nights in Venice. Could have used another day or two here; we really didn't get to explore as much as we would have liked.
* Pick up rental car (office near train station); drive from Venice to Siena, skirting Bologna and Florence on the way.
* Side trip from Siena to Deruta; bought about 400 of high-quality hand-painted ceramics from one of the shops on top of the hill. Had the stuff shipped home. Back to Siena that night.
* Drive from Siena to small village of Belgirate on Lago Maggiore north of Milan for 2 nights.
* Day on Lago Maggiore, riding the public ferry to Stresa and Verbania for exploring.
* Short drive to Milan Malpensa Airport; drop off the car and fly back to Zurich. Short train trip to Luzern for afternoon exploring; back to Zurich for dinner, spend night near airport. (Rail Day 4)
* Fly back to US.
I developed the itinerary after doing a lot of research and consideration of what was important to our first trip to Italy. In retrospect I wouldn't have eliminated anything, but maybe a day less in Rome and a day more in Venice.
This comment may get negative feedback, but as a first-time visitor you should read Rick Steves' Italy book (and his website) to help trim your list of places to visit. His restaurant recommendations were all good, but at one restaurant in Rome we realized that just about everyone else had a copy of his book in their daypacks (we asked; everyone got a good laugh).
Other tips:
You could either plan your itinerary in detail before going (as we did) or play it by ear, going for more flexibility (an extra night in Vennice traded for a night somewhere else later, perhaps). Keep in mind that September is still busy from a tourism perspective, so you'll have less hassle and better accomodations if you plan ahead.
The turnpikes in Italy are fantastic. They even take credit cards at the automated toolbooths. Just stay out of the left lane.
It's much cheaper to make train reservations in Italy than using a service like RailEurope. We reserved the Rome-Venice sleeper while in Rome. But we would have benefitted from reservations on the Zurich-Milan train in a special observation car, but it was too late to reserve the morning of arrival in Zurich.
Have fun.
Feb 12, 2004, 6:34 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: San Mateo, CA, USA
Posts: 19
Thank you so much, everyone - keep the advice coming! Jabez, I will be certain to check out the slowtalk.com site. SFOTraveller and pdhenry, thank you so much for the itineraries and suggestions, they're very helpful. We were going to avoid renting a car, but maybe it's worth looking into it for a few days when we're outside of Rome. Hmmm...
Any thoughts on staying in a hotel vs. renting lodging in a villa or other local spot? Do you need to reserve lodging in advance in most places, or can you find rooms easily once you get into a town?
Grazie
Stephanie
Any thoughts on staying in a hotel vs. renting lodging in a villa or other local spot? Do you need to reserve lodging in advance in most places, or can you find rooms easily once you get into a town?
Grazie
Stephanie
Feb 13, 2004, 6:27 am
#8
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: From and of Boston.
Posts: 4,973
I just posted a little report from a magnificent trip to Italy.