Originally Posted by
Battistini
I am planning a solo European trip August 23-September 1. Options I have considered included London, Paris, Rome, Chiavari, or Naples. I will travel to ONE of these locations. My current favorite is Rome. I have scrutinized the wiki thread on Rome accommodations. I understand that the best location for a tourist is around the Pantheon. Albergo Del Senato is repeatedly recommended. Also an "Albergo Cezare". Is Albergo del Senato still a favorite? I am having trouble finding this "Albergo Cezare". Are other hotels that are luxurious like Harry's or Grand Hotel Minerva as desirable as Senato? Looking at the pics of the Senato its rooms seem terribly small though I can't find dimensions. Its cost appears to be similar to Grand Minerva without being able to directly compare apples and apples (meaning rooms of comparable size).
Is this a fool's errand? I know people have a low opinion of Italy in August.. Would a trip to Naples staying at the Hotel Vesuvio be more relaxing? I enjoy window shopping, shopping, light museum visits maybe relaxing at a café. I need strong air conditioning that's for sure I sweat like a pig.
. if you do select Italy, forget Chiavari. it's a small town near the beach, and almost everyone in Italy takes most of the month off and go to the beach. It will be mess. The beaches will be packed.
Naples is a super nice place to be at any time in the year. And because of its water location it doesn't get too hot. Naples is not chaotic. It's Italy without the tourists, so it's just normal Italy. However, a lot of the best places will be closed, as in most other cities, so you will be trying to go to places that are just not open. Normally I'd never say anything negative about Naples, but second thoughts about August in Naples.
You absolutely should go one place and stay there, and not go flitting the Amalfi Coast and doing all other things that turn a vacation into a wreck of packing and unpacking. Sorrento is not a place to visit. They speak English, not Italian, because in August almost everyone there is a tourist from the UK. Even the signs are in English. There's a beach, but not really. It's not functional. If you go to Positano, at the beach there won't even be enough space for you to place a towel on the sand and lie down.
The best way to ruin a trip to Italy is to not stay put, and to go to multiple places in a week.
A week in Rome is never too long. I spent part of this August both of the past two years there. It's hot. That's not too big of a deal. The advantage of Rome is that unlike most other places in Italy during August, just about everything will be open. A closed restaurant here and there, but that's about it. I just got back from Rome 6 weeks ago, on my fourth trip there last year. it's never too much. You can live there for five years and still not be close to seeing half of what Rome has to offer. You will never get bored, and it will never be dull. If it's hot, that's what gelato is for.
Staying near the Pantheon is good because you can walk to most places. I personally don't like Albergo del Senato because it's right on Piazza della Rotonda, meaning literally right on the Plaza where the Pantheon is, so it's super touristy. There will be street musicians playing electric guitars, singing Bob Dylan songs, and that sort of nonsense. It has the atmosphere of a carnival.
I used to stay at Albergo Cesari a lot, but not since new management. I can't imagine they made it worse. It's not super luxury but you can get a decent room from there and it's a five minute walk to the Pantheon, and everything else. When you exit, you won't be in a carnival scene with street jugglers as in Albergo del Senato, instead, you will have normal coffee and pastry shops to go to. I wouldn't eat anywhere around the Pantheon, especially at any of the restaurants in the Plaza where the Pantheon and del Senato are. It's all frozen, microwaved food. There are some good places in the neighborhood, but you'll need to do some research on that.
I wouldn't stay at Harry's, even for free. It's right in front of the Fountain of Trevi. They have installed monitors in the Plaza during hight season so that the Plaza doesn't get absolutely overwhelmed. It would be the most touristy, noisy, crowded experience possible in Rome. I don't know Minerva, but I know the neighborhood. It's a little too close to the Pantheon for me, being only one block away, but at least that one block gets you away from the terribly noisy and touristy Plaza (della Rotonda) in front of the Pantheon where del Senato is.
If you go to Italy and go to 4-5 places in one week you will just be wasting your time.