First time in Italy

Old Jun 28th, 2016, 10:22 AM
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First time in Italy

Hello everyone,

We are planning our honeymoon to Italy from Los Angeles in June 2017. We were wondering what airlines you recommend that are budget-friendly but comfortable? We also would like to know when is the best time to book a fight? As it will be our first (maybe our only time) going to Italy we want to see as much of Italy as we can. We are thinking flying into Milan and flying back from Naples. Venice and Rome are a must. We have about 15 day to see Italy. What other cites would you all recommend?


Thanks!
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 10:46 AM
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First, the time frame chosen, June, comes with peak airfares to snag families who can only travel at this time. If you had started looking at airfares earlier this year, you could have observed the fare behaviors for the June 2016 to get some data based observation on what the fare and seat availability look like in 2017. Of course, things do not necessarily repeat each year.

If you are only interested in managing the airfare for specific arrival and departure city combination, your approach works. However, if you are instead interested in managing the overall cost, look at various arrival and departure city combinations and how they integrate into your ground part, that is work on ground and air at the same time to make sure you don't end up with perhaps lower cost airfare that only work with the ground part that is both expensive and time wasting.

Between Milan, Venice, and Rome are way many possible destinations. However, are you counting the entire travel days as 15 days starting from LA? If that is the case, you have 13 nights in Italy, or 12 full days taking out the arrival and the departure days. So you already have too many destinations - Milan, Venice, Rome, Naples, to cover in 12 full days.
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 10:51 AM
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Fifteen days is very little time in Italy (plus travel days!), so you will have to pick and choose carefully. You could easily spend that time all in the south (Rome, Naples, etc.) or the north. You can choose either to do a whirlwind tour of Italy or slow it down and concentrate on the north or the south.

You need to be more specific about your interests to get recommendations. Museums? Ruins? Hiking? Why Italy?

I'd hit a book store or library and at least through a few guidebooks (I recommend Rick Steves). Also, Rick Steves's Europe TV shows from PBS are all free to watch on YouTube; you can dig up the shows on Italy and see what most interests you.

Personally, I don't like to book my airfares more than a few months in advance, but that's more of a personal preference. I book my airfares based on convenience and price. You can check now to see which airlines have good flights into Italy, but from LA you should have some great options. I'd try for direct flights if you can, at least going over, to avoid getting delayed by a missed connection. Delta is the only airline with direct flights (year-round) from my city to Europe, so I usually take that if I can. It's a 10.5 hour flight each way but once I'm there, I'm there.

With only two weeks, I would skip Milan myself unless the museums are a top priority, if Venice and Rome are "musts." Fly into Venice, out of Rome (or Naples but I'll bet Rome will give you better flight options). Stop in Florence off the train perhaps.
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 10:56 AM
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As it will be our first (maybe our only time) going to Italy we want to see as much of Italy as we can.>>

do you want to see as much as you can? or have a good trip?

You cannot see all or anything like all of Italy in 15 days, you can't even see all of one of the cities you have mentioned. once you come to terms with that, then you're set to have a much better time.

What interests you in Italy? it's not all cities, indeed June would be a lovely time to explore some of the countryside, if only for a few days. If you were willing to restrict yourselves to 3 bases, you could fly into Venice, then spend some time on Lake Garda [a stunning place to visit and very tourist friendly with lots of boats taking you to spots round the lake] and then go onto Florence or Rome.

or Venice - Tuscany - Rome.

or...

What I would strongly advise against is trying to cram as many cities as you can into your trip - unless you are already art experts by the time you get to the end you won't know if what you are seeing Michelangelo or Leonardo and you'll care even less. Variety will make what you see special and you'll remember it a lot better.
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 11:24 AM
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Personally I would just do Venice and Rome (or maybe a couple days in Florence in between) and call it good. But do you have interest in spending time in the countryside? Myself, I prefer the cities.

Airfares you just need to get online and start looking around. It's not only about price and comfort, but time of day, how many stops are required, etc. that you need to consider.

Have fun! Happy honeymoon!
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 11:31 AM
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Of course, the other suggestion would be to ADD MORE TIME if you can! Especially if this will be your "only" trip to Italy. Another week would give you time to see quite a bit more. (Hey, it's your honeymoon, right?)
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 11:53 AM
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Well, I would stick with Rome and Venice. We spent 9 nights in Rome and didn't see it all. The great thing about Rome is you can take day trips to Orvieto, Tivoli, & Ostia Antica to see other things and be back in Rome for dinner.

After going to the Amalfi Coast, I would split the time between Rome and the Amalfi Coast.

annhig has it right...focus on enjoying the trip (not hard to do) instead of seeing it all (impossible to do).

Coach on any airline is not gonna be too comfy but consider airlines with an economy plus type section that will be a little better than coach. (Air France, Delta, and others).
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 01:35 PM
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And don't cut Venice short. So many tend to say "1 or 2 days in Venice is plenty"... No it's not (ha-ha!)
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 01:40 PM
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On a 15 day trip (which could mean 14 nights or even 13 nights actually in Italy), 2 nights in Venice might be all they have time for, if they also want to see Rome, Naples, Milan...
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 01:49 PM
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The only non-stop flights between LAX and Italy in June 2016 are to/from Rome. I assume 2017 will be the same. So, if minimizing your air time is a goal, consider an itinerary starting and ending in Rome. If a connection in one direction makes sense, we prefer going through Zurich and Munich rather than Frankfurt, Paris or London. We haven't connected in Amsterdam.

You can have a lovely trip/honeymoon in two weeks. Three weeks would be great, four weeks would be fabulous, and five weeks would be heavenly... You get the idea. Just plan a 2-week trip that doesn't involve too many destinations. Which destinations depends are on your interests. If your stops are more than 3 hours apart, you'll lose more than half a day moving from place to place.
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Old Jun 29th, 2016, 04:41 AM
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Many people above have offered great ideas to help you enjoy your honeymoon. However, when traveling in Italy...less is more. Also, since this is your honeymoon think about enjoying that experience. The Italians have a saying, "Il dolce far' niente," "the sweetness of doing nothing."

Using the multi-city flight strategy is a cogent planning approach. If it were me, I would fly into Venice and home from Roma for a few reasons; 1. Flying into Venice would give you the opportunity to walk off possible jet lag in a very unique city, and 2. Venice is a very romantic city and this is your honeymoon.

IMHO, visiting Venice, Florence, and Roma will provide you with enough time in each location to see the highlights. Italy will seduce you while you are there and you will probably want to return.

Buon viaggio,
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Old Jun 29th, 2016, 05:16 AM
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The first thing you need to do is get a couple of good guidebooks and read them - so you can identify your must sees in Italy.

Then determine how many days you really have on the ground . If we do a trip we leave on a friday night and take 2 full weeks and 3 weekends as well as tie to a holiday weekend - so we actually get 16 days on the ground versus only 13.

If it were me and the honeymoon was right after the rush, rush, rush of a wedding I would fly into Milan and head right for Lago di Maggiore to have 3 days or so to relax and get on the local timing. Then I would pick 3 more places to visit (4 is really the most you can do in the days you have and see much of anything).

For me it would be Venice, Florence and Rome - but yuor choices may be different based on your interests.

As for airline - they ar all awful unless you buy up-price tickets - so go for schedule and which is offering a deal.
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Old Jun 29th, 2016, 11:47 AM
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Good point about wanting to relax after a wedding. I like the lake idea for part of the trip, instead of all cities.
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Old Jun 29th, 2016, 01:01 PM
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Keep an eye on Emirates Airlines. They fly from LAX to Milan, with a stopover in New York, and often offer some really great fares. www.emirates.com

Lee Ann
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 09:06 AM
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Hi Everyone, I've been reading all the great information you're giving on Italy. My family of 5 (3 grown children) will have a week to spend in Italy from Dec. 7 - 14. From what I gather Venice and Rome are the best choices? We'd prefer to stay in one city the entire time so we don't have to rush around. Someone at my husband's work told him that Rome is full of Europeans during December on their own Christmas vacations and Americans aren't really welcome. Is that right?! I can't imagine that's true. Also, what is the weather at that time of year in those cities? Thanks for your help.
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 09:06 AM
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Hi Everyone, I've been reading all the great information you're giving on Italy. My family of 5 (3 grown children) will have a week to spend in Italy from Dec. 7 - 14. From what I gather Venice and Rome are the best choices? We'd prefer to stay in one city the entire time so we don't have to rush around. Someone at my husband's work told him that Rome is full of Europeans during December on their own Christmas vacations and Americans aren't really welcome. Is that right?! I can't imagine that's true. Also, what is the weather at that time of year in those cities? Thanks for your help.
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 09:41 AM
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Whether Venice and Rome are your "best" choices depends entirely on what interests you, and I assume the interests of 5 adults are varied. Maybe part of the week in a smaller town rather than just two big cities would appeal. All of you should take some time to research, think and talk about what everyone wants to get out of this trip.

"Americans aren't really welcome." That has not been my experience in Italy. Anywhere. Anytime.

Weather predictions require a crystal ball, but you can look up past records.

http://www.weatherbase.com/
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 09:52 AM
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<and Americans aren't really welcome. Is that right?!>

No. That's ridiculous.

<from what I gather Venice and Rome are the best choices?>

It just depends what you want to see and do. Venice is much smaller and less hectic a pace than Rome.
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 09:54 AM
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<and Americans aren't really welcome. Is that right?!>

not that i've seen. They are a little out of step, culturally, but really no one has an American hang up. The culture issue gets harder the further south you go, but relax, it's your honeymoon.
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 10:02 AM
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Everywhere in Europe is full of Europeans enjoying Christmas vacations. Americans are quite welcome everywhere I've ever been in Europe. Rome and Venice are two fine places, but obviously there are hundreds of others, depending on your interests. Someone at your husband's work should not be consulted any further on traveling in Europe.
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