DonThomas

I was a young, US Navy enlisted man in 1982 when I was last in Italy. Which means I didn't have much in the way of expenses. All my pals and I got to do was ride a bus through and back. We were able to walk around in Naples, but not Rome. It only made me want to go back. So, I've got the chance but am clueless. It looks like I'll be able to go in February or March. All I know is that I want to "do" Rome for 3 or 4 days walking and/or riding a bus. I don't know where to start. Is there a popular opinion on a travel agent or not to use one? Actually, I'm looking for a rather basic trip. I think I can handle what's needed for air travel, but after that I'm lost. To me, it looks like I just need to book a hotel, walk around and see the sites, and go home. But my wife says there is more to it than that. So here I am. Can anyone point me in the right direction?Thanks, Don

Michael

The Michelin Green Guide for Italy might be a good starting point. If interested in Rome exclusively, look for guidebooks that cover only that city.

StCirq

Well of course there's more to it than booking a hotel and walking around, assuming you want to know what you're looking at.

Get a few guidebooks. Watch some videos. Get a detailed map. Plan an itinerary. Ask detailed questions here. You have complete control over how clueless you are. And being clueless after spending a lot of money to go oversees does not make any sense. Inform yourself.

What's your budget? When are you going? For how long? What do you want to walk around and see? Are you familiar with or interested in the history of Rome? If not, how will you know what you're seeing? If you're not interested in Roman history, what ARE you interested in? Food? Markets? Shopping? Architecture? Religion? What?

You don't need a travel agent. Italy is an easy destination to plan on your own.

Peter_S_Aus

StCirq has pretty much nailed it. Make a rough plan, Say Venice, Bologna, Florence, Naples, Milan, Turin, Rome, whatever.

Then explore the destinations by reading up on them.

You’ll find that after a while, some of the destinations will grab you, and you’ll find that others don’t grab you once you are better informed. Maybe Turin is your thing, maybe not. Maybe small towns excite you, maybe not, but once you’ve done a bit of reading, you’ll be better informed. Italy is so “dense” in terms of things to see, that it’s hard to choose. But the planning really is fun.


People often make their plans based on the number of days they have, but it’s easier to plan working on the nights that you have. Establish the number of nights as soon as you can.

www.venere.com is one of many sites for booking hotels, and it is a good way to find out costs for rooms, even if you book directly with the hotel (which is what we do).

Trip Reports on Fodors are good, and they give an idea of what others have enjoyed – and not enjoyed, too. Scroll down to the bottom of the Fodors Italy page, and you’ll find dozens of reports.

You can easily plan a trip without using a Travel Agent. And I think you’ll have a better trip if you plan it yourself, and visit those places that you missed 30 years ago.

Elyse_Dorm

Travel is simple. Main thing is too have enough money to afford your trip.

1. Figure out where you want to start and where you want to fly out of. Book flights.
2. Check hotels.com or booking.com for hotels near metro stops or train stations and book those.
3. Get an atm card with a low or no withdrawal fee and a credit card with no foreign fees. Notify cards of your travel plans. Also, make sure to leave your cell phone at home.
4. Last but definitely not least, don't forget to have a wad of toilet paper on your person at all times- there seems to be a deficit of toilet paper in public bathrooms in most of Europe.

Grab your passport and your set!

Pegontheroad

I always buy a travel guidebook or two when I'm planning on a trip. My favorites are Frommers and Rick Steves. I usually buy a Fodor's guide also.

Make a tentative list of cities/areas you'd like to see. When making an itinerary, don't forget that you'll lose at least half a day when you travel from one city to another. Thus, 2 days in Venice actually will mean 1.5 days, 1 day in Florence actually means half a day. My guidebooks usually list the distance to the nearest cities and/or the time by train and bus.

If you're driving, on Viamichelin.com you can get itineraries, including distance and times from one city to another.

I agree with all/most of the above posts, except that I've never experienced a shortage of toilet paper. What I have experienced is crepe paper quality paper. It does the job, however. I generally have a packet of kleenex in my purse, though.

The most economical ways of paying for your trip, hotels, etc., is with credit card or cash from an ATM. ATM's are everywhere.

I also agree that you should not bring a lot of cash, but instead get an ATM card that doesn't charge a fee. My Wells Fargo card does charge $5.00 for every withdrawal, so I withdraw the maximum ($500) if the currency is euros. If I weren't so lazy, I'd get a card from my credit union, which apparently doesn't charge a fee. Make sure you have one of the logos on the back--cirrus, star, etc. Notify your bank/cc company before you go.

I always bring more than one card--just in case. You'll need a four-digit password.

Don't get travelers checks. With the plethora of cash machines available, they're a waste of money because of their fees.

I keep using my Visa even though it charges 3% for all charges because I earn miles with it. I've been able to take numerous trips to Europe using the miles I've earned.

Have fun!

greg

I think you wife has a good sense of the value of traveling. Why not let her plan the trip?

For your situation, I would recommend going to a library and check out Rick Steves' Rome or Rick Steves' Italy. It does not have to be the 2011 edition. The key attractions don't change year to year. You first need to get a grasp of key attractions in Rome. Ticket, pass, schedules, etc, only confuse you at this stage.

Turn to a page labeled "Rome at a glance." On these few pages, you see the key attractions, at least according to Rick Steves.

Once you grasp some sense of key attractions, you can look at other resources to build a list of what YOU want to do and not what some particular guide book or a person tells you to do.

Using the list of activities you want to do, you can locate accommodation convenient to what you plan to do. You can also schedule when, especially what part of the week, to visit to avoid being in the city when the attractions are closed.

zeppole

Whoa, DonThomas. You've apparently really struck a nerve. How dare you come to Italy and not watch videos ahead of time, or not go on a huge runabout to tourist cities beyond Rome, and what -- you're not following Rick Steves?

I suggest you ask your wife what she means. When I go to Rome, I book a hotel and walk to the sights. So do most people I know. There are some people who book special tour and museum reservations in advance. Perhaps that is what your wife means.

But I wouldn't follow Rick Steves and I wouldn't let your wife get hold of the trip if what she's going to do is make you watch videos, add 4 more cities to the trip or stuff your pockets with toilet paper.

A lot of people I know have a lot nicer time in Rome when they spend most of their time walking around looking at Rome rather than looking at a "to-do" list.

kybourbon

Rick Steve's videos give good basic information for first time travelers. He tells how to use transport, but train tickets, etc. and gives lots of tips. He makes it much easier to understand how things work if you are not used to traveling in Europe. Is his voice annoying? Yes, but you will learn a lot of basics from the videos.

As for toilet paper, there often isn't any in the bathrooms unless the bathroom has an attendant or charges for use (quite common). You can buy a small travel roll at Walmart (the cardboard tube is removed so is very compact) with all the other travel size toiletries.

CYESQ

Another suggestion is to check out apartments instead of hotels. Generally they can be less expensive than hotels and are more comfortable with living room and kitchen. For starters, check out rentvillas.com; viewsofitaly.com; sleepinitaly.com, ownersdirect.com and home away holiday rentals. Am sure you can find something in Rome within walking distance to public transportation and even to some of the sights.

Although most Fodorites prefer traveling on their own, you may want to investigate a couple of day long tours to get you started. See the areas of the city in general and then go back to the specific areas you find appealing.

qwovadis

Have been going there since the late 1960s

LOVE it last there in May but

it has gotten a LOT more expensive.

These days to save get FF miles bonus Credit Cards for

cheap flights most recently AA.com RT usually Milan or Rome

Then hop refional trains cheap from 2 euro per hour

seat61.com eurocheapo.com/venice eurocheapo.com/florence

eurocheapo.com/rome eurocheapo.com/naples for me

Great deals in May on www.otel.com

www.hoteldelfino.com $60

www.hotelpausania.it 59 euro #211 cute awesome little venice

canal view suite...

insuremytrip.com always wise for me

Happy Travels!

qwovadis

onebag.com good packing tips

always carry my own toilet tissues as back up

smaller train stations have those strange

Turkish/Moorish squat toilets little to no tissue

Happy Planning!

hamlet

You may find it helpful to look at routes and itineraries used by tour companies when starting your research. You don't have to book a tour, but it may provide a bit of a framework. Keep in mind that tours tend to breeze through places and so you might double (or triple) the amount of time they spend at a sight or city. Also keep in mind that daylight hours are shorter in Feb and Mar. Not to say that a piazza or fountain under the stars isn't stunning. It just may affect order of visiting places. You can look at sample itineraries on various airline websites or on www.affordabletours.com.

easytraveler

There's also a lot of information online, even the websites with popular guide books like Fodors, Frommers, Rick Steves, have a ton of information on them.

One of the best resources online is google maps.

In the google search bar, just type in "Rome Italy" and a page with a map of Rome and photos of some of its major sights will appear.

Click on the map, zoom in a bit. You'll see a blue line which is the Tiber River cutting Rome in half. On the West you will see Vatican City (Citta del Vaticano) and below it is the Trastevere area (The Italian for "Tiber" is "Tevere", so this is the area that is on the other side of the Tiber River, over there "Tras" beyond the Tiber River.)

On the east side is another readily identifiable area, the huge Villa Borgese. Below the Villa Borghese are the seven hills of Rome as well as the "Campus Martius" (Fields of Mars) at the great bulge of the Tiber river. In this huge area will be most of the sights that you will want to see: the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Novona, the Spanish Steps, the Roman ruins such as the Colosseum and the Forum. You'll probably do most of your walking about in this area. You'll also need at least one day for the other side of the Tiber River for the Vatican, Castel Sant'Angelo and the Trastevere.

Next, on the google map along with your reading, if you want to find a particular spot, say, the Trevi fountain (Fontana di Trevi), just type this in at the top bar where it says "Rome Italy" and google will zero in on the Trevi Fountain. So now you know where the Trevi Fountain is located in Rome.

At the Trevi Fountain you will see an "M" in a red box. this indicates a metro station. Rome's metro system is pretty simple, consisting of only two lines "A" and "B". If you google "Rome metro system", a map of the two lines will appear with the names of the stations.

If you familiarize yourself with the map of Rome, you're halfway there to doing Rome on your own.

I know the feeling: "Wow! Big city! However am I going to get around and see the major sights!

The more preplanning you do, the less lost you will feel.Go into google maps and soon you will be navigating around Rome and having fun doing it.

You can get a street view with the little yellow figure on the left. Click and drag him over to wherever you want and drop him. The street view will come up. Now you know what the sight looks like on the ground.

Have fun! Great Trip! Bon voyage! (and, yes, the girls are just as pretty as back in 1982!)

TDudette

Down Fodorites, down!

First of all, welcome DonThomas. I got the impression that you are only going to Rome-am I correct?

Rick Steves is absolutely fine but do read other travels books as well. Although most will name similar places, some are more thorough about opening times and how to get around.

My hub and I usually traveled in March as it was a tad warmer but you'll enjoy Rome no matter which month. Agree with hamlet about looking at organized tours as a framework for places to see. Since you are 30 years older now, you might prefer a guided tour for the Vatican to let someone else do all the ticket buying for you and to avoid standing in line (can still be a factor in March). Your call.

Bus and tram info is available at the tourist info kiosks or look online
( http://www.rometoolkit.com/transport/rome_bus.htm ). Hub and I found those 2 forms of travel to be very easy if we weren't walking.

Check venere.com or tripadvisor.com for hotel ideas. Those sites will help you with locations and can sort hotels by price. Also do a search on this forum for Rome Hotels. Do ask here about specific hotels once you've looked.

I don't think the tp issue is as dire as Elyse_Dorm experienced but it doesn't hurt to carry extra tissues! If you must take tp, remove the cardboard tube-it'll pack better. Also, ignore the advice to not have a to do list. If one has the opportunity to return often enough to savor, that's fine but most of us have a finite number of days and do hope to see as much as possible. Hope you will be able to return for a lingering, more esoteric visit.

Yes, do make sure your credit card has a 4-digit password and use ATMs for cash. Most of the ATMs we encountered default to the checking account. Pack light. We always got a packet of Euros from AAA so we could get out of the airport quick, but many folks here just get money from the airport ATM.

tarquin

I don't plan to the last degree but do always have an informal to-do list. It's amazing what you can forget while you're having fun.

Don, I think you will be amazed by how much Rome has changed in the last 30 years. Although it has lost some of the old atmosphere, it is much more user-friendly now. If you are informed about what you want to do and have a map, you should have no problems.

Michel_Paris

Could do Rome, train to Venice and stay there for a while. Maybe out of Venice you could rent a car and drive around the Lake District then maybe off to the coast (Cinque Terre pehaps?)

How much total tiem had you planned?

mamcalice

Welcome, DonThomas. You will get lots of advice here, helpful and not so helpful, so I'll add mine. It is easy to plan your own trip. Fodors is very useful Go to the "Destinations" tab above and check out Rome and other Italian destinations. Depending on how long you will be in Italy, you probably want to visit more than one city. In February and March, I suggest cities because if the weather isn't fair, there is more to do inside.

If you visit more than one place, fly into the first location and home from the last. Keep asking questions and doing your research. Have your wife help - the trip will be more fun for everyone that way.

Hope to see you back here - there are so many experienced travellers and we can be helpful. Have fun planning.