emilymassey

Hi, I'm a Fodor's newbie.

This might be the vaguest post ever, but here we go:

My husband will be turning forty in february--yes, 10 months from now --he has never been to Europe, and would like to go to Italy. I want to take him to Munich and then side trip to Austria...But he says he wants to see something 'really old'. HA! So i am trying to figure out what to do/where to go.

I lived in Holland in college and traveled quite a bit, but never made it to Italy. I am not a history buff--quite the opposite, really--and i know that history = italy...so I don't really know where to start. What are the important things to see?

I realize that you can't avoid touristy places--but my favorites spots in europe where those places outside of the touristy areas...Any recommendations on that?

Help me start the planning process....and be kind.

LisaG

New To Italy,

Welcome to the Forum! It would be useful if we knew:

-- how long you will be traveling
-- when you will go (am I to assume Feb.?)
-- what kinds of things you like to do (eat, be active, sit in cafes, go on tours, museums, etc.?)
-- budget preferences? (that will help in recommending hotel/restaurants)
-- mode of transportaton (will you rent a car, will you rely on train, etc.)

That would narrow down our recommendations.

Thanks!

LisaG

mamcalice

Is your question either Italy or Munich/Austria? From my perspective after over 20 trips to Europe, Italy is the definite winner. We have been to Munich and Austria once each and liked them very much. We go to Italy frequently and would like to go even more often. And since it is your husband's birthday trip, you should plan Italy this time.

I agree with Lisa G. It would be easier to advise you if we knew more about your plans and preferences. And remember, "touristy" places are that way for a reason. A trip to Italy wouldn't be complete without seeing the Colosseum!

bobthenavigator

Here is a start, but get a good guide book for more detail:

BOB the NAVIGATOR’S FAVORITE ITALY ITINERARIES

Here is an updated version of my favorite itineraries & my “Bella Italia” photo gallery. I hope you enjoy.
http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3827

1. BELLA ITALIA: Five destinations in 15 days—car & train travel
* Arrive in Milan[MXP] & depart from Venice[VCE]or vice versa.
* Itinerary to include the Italian Lakes, Ligurian coast, rural
Tuscany, Florence, & Venice. Suggested timing is 3-2-4-2-4.
* Option: Drop the coast & rent a villa in Tuscany[ 3-7-2-3].
* Best time to go: May & June or Sept. & Oct.

2. LA DOLCE VITA: Three destinations in 12 to 14 days-car & train
* Arrival & departure from Rome[ FCO] or arrival in Naples
* Itinerary to include Rome, the Amalfi coast, and Tuscany
* Best time to go: Easter to end of October
* Option: Fly into Naples & stay at 2 locations on the coast

3. CLASSIC ITALIA: Three destinations in 12 to 14 days-car & train
* Arrival & departure from Rome—may start trip in Florence
* Destinations to include Florence, Rome & Tuscany/Umbria
* Best time to go: Anytime, but May & Oct. are my favorites
* Option: Consider a weekly rental in Tuscany/Umbria

4. SICILIAN CHARMS: Five destinations in 15 days—car travel
* Connections to Catania & Palermo via Rome or gateway city.
* Itinerary to include Taormina, Siracusa, Palermo & more.
* Best time to go: March to November—May is best for flowers
* See: http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=634

5. THE VILLAGE SAMPLER: My favorite venues for those who enjoy natural beauty and quaint, small villages. Arranged north to south.
* Arrive Milan & depart Rome—car travel-- 3 nites per location
* Itinerary to include Lago Orta, Castelrotto/ Ortisei[Dolomites],
Portovenere[Liguria], Montalcino[Tuscany], & Spello[Umbria].
* Best time to go: May to October for the lakes and Dolomites
* Option: Pick 3 out of 5 and stay longer in Tuscany/Umbria.

uhoh_busted

Airline tickets have gotten really expensive this year, so try to stay as long as possible. Minimum 10 days to two weeks, as Bob's itineraries suggest, or longer.

If you've got two weeks, you could base it around the three major cities, while including countryside/small towns, but you may find it better to pick two. Your first night will be spent on a plane, so you start your real vacation on Day two! As a first trip, and looking for romance, I'd suggest Venice, Tuscany/Umbria and Rome. It makes sense to fly in to one and out of the other, and you can plan to NOT rent a car for the time you are in those cities! (Same advice if you pick Rome/Florence.) Spend three nights in Venice and arrange to pick up a rental car outside of Venice, probably in Mestre. Drive to someplace in Southern Tuscany and stay for 4 nights (or more) then turn in your car somewhere like Orvieto and train into Rome for your last 3 nights.

Sometimes Rome overwhelms people...and having relaxed in Venice and enjoyed touring Tuscany and Umbria a bit (distances are short and if you base somewhere around Siena, for example, you can day trip many places) you will be used to Italy and Rome will be like the frosting on the cake. (Especially for someone who loves history.) You can even do a day trip to Pompeii from Rome, if you have a couple more days to spend.

Of course, many people do like to travel through Italy totally on trains, and it is easy. But we love driving, having our own time schedule, and being able to stay in the countryside or in a small village for part of the trip is much easier with a car.

emilymassey

Y'all are great!

--Taking into consideration that flights are expensive, we would prob stay 10-11 days. I don't see us going for 14.
--I was thinking we'd go mid-late March...in hopes that the weather would be moving into Spring-ish.
--I see us doing a mix of things...We do enjoy tours, museums, but we also like to just get lost, wandering around.
--As for the budget, we aren't 'high rollers' so to speak, but we aren't on a college budget either! I foresee a little thriftiness mixed with a few nicer/pricier activities.
--I figured we'd stick to public transportation. May rent a car if you guys had some suggestions!

Thanks for taking the time to respond! I have enjoyed reading each and every post!

Dayle

emilymissay,

OK if it's only 10 days I have to assume that includes your flight days. So you really only have 8 days. That means NO MORE than 2 of the major cities + possibly a day trip from one of them.

Venice is wonderful, beautiful, atmospheric, not too crowded mid-March (I've been there at that time), cool to cold weather, tons of history, art, and some of the best "wandering" in the world.

3 or 4 nts Venice
train to Rome
4 or 5 nts Rome with maybe a daytrip

Or

3 nts Venice
train to maybe Siena or Orvieto 1 or 2 nts
train to Rome 4 or 5 nts

Or
fly into Rome
rent car at FCO
drive to southern Tuscany 3 nts
return car
Rome 5 nts

You need to be specific on your budget. Otherwise we can't make lodging recommendations. I don't get to travel as much as many Fodorites (at least to Europe) and I would describe myself as a budget traveler. My last trip was solo and I tried to keep it under $120 US/nt. Solo is expensive, especially when renting a car.

To me that means not hostels, nice comfy hotels, don't need to be four or five star. Two or three star is usually my lind of place. In Italy stars don't always mean a lot. Hotels are given stars based on amenities, not quality, i.e., if they have an elevator they can be 3 star, but it can still be a dump.

I've found venere.com a great place to start searches (in addition to Fodorites recos here). You can search by several parameters and then sort by location, price, stars, etc. Then I check out the hotel's own web site too. italyby.com is another good one.

There are other great web sites for lodging that you can find by googling the name of the area, such as "lodging in Tuscany", or "agritourismo in Tuscany".

I haven't stayed in a bad place yet in Italy. Mostly I've made my own choices (Fodor's guinea pig), but for some I used recos from Fodorites. A couple of those have been real gems in my book.

Hope this helps!

Lexma90

Talk to the birthday boy about what he means about seeing "really old" things. In comparison to most of U.S. history, most things in Europe/Italy are really old. But if he means comparatively, then is he interested in ancient Roman history? If so, you might want to devote more time to Rome.

I would agree that Venice would be a great other city to visit, in addition to Rome. But if he's interested in Renaissance period history, or art from that time, then consider squeezing in Florence.

emilymassey

Great info!

Not to discredit my husband, but I usually plan and he 'oooo and ahhhs'. Ha! So basically, he said Italy and I am going from there!

I am not as concerned with where to stay as I am with what cities to visit. I have found that less is more. In that once you start city hopping, you start to lose track of where you saw what...etc.

I think that Florence and Venice would be great--i have been interested in both. What makes those two cities different? I am also interested in the coast.

I'm going to swing by B&N today and pick up a map of Italy, so i can become a little more familiar with the geography.

question: are most places in Italy within driving distance? too vague? ha! how far is florence from Venice or to Rome via train or car, which ever is most convenient.

I realize i'm requesting a lot from you guys! I should prob go and buy a book! but what fun is that?

Dazedandconfused

Florence, IMO, is much more art-and-museum oriented than Venice. Because Venice is a port city, it's a bit different, and you'll see some of that in the architecture. Also, Venice will be cooler. Next year, Easter will be on April 8th, so a week either side of that may see an increase in traffic to Italy in general as it's a popular Easter venue, however, most "Easter traffic" will be headed to Rome. I must indeed be like my moniker, as I could have sworn I'd written a response to your post earlier, but the stalwart, steadfast Fodorites here have given you good information, and I wish you and your DH a wonderful trip. Which coast are you interested in? Amalfi? Or Ligurian, or....?

nytraveler

All of europe has history - not just Italy. In fact for history you should probably head to Greece. And you will find roman remains in France, Spain, Germany and the UK - among others.

If he wants old he should love ancient Rome, Pompeii, Florence/Tuscany (pre-Roman etruscan remains) - but if he wants to appreciate what he's looking about he should do some reading before you go. Otherwise you are stuck with the least common denominator group guides - who have some misinformation - but mostly a lack of any really useful information. (I heard a guide in the forum - and all she talked about was Caesar being stabbed and Nero fiddling - not a clue as to what Rome was really like.)

willit

Emilymassey, I loved the bit about going somewhere really old - I felt exactly the same when I turned 40, and I chose Rome on the grounds that "if I am going to be ancient..."

Personal Opinion, Italy is dangerous. It has an addictive quality to it that keeps some people craving their next trip.

Must sees are difficult as they are so dependent on an individual's tastes. Oversimplification would be Rome; the Capital the two obvious attractions being the sites associated with the Roman Empire (Colosseum etc) and the grandeur that is the Vatican.

Florence is about the Renaissance and art.
Venice is just Venice - there is nowhere like it. Tourist traps? Maybe, but tourists have been coming to all three for hundreds of years because the places are so special.

I feel that in 10 days, two cities is enough. You can do day trips from Florence (Siena, Pisa, Bologna, Arezzo, Lucca to name but a few). There is enough in Rome to keep most people amused for weeks rather than days. Venice is the sort of place you may not wish to leave at all (although Padua and Verona are easy trips)
Unless you have the urge to drive through Tuscany and Umbria, public transport is more than sufficient.


I would suggest, as others have that you do a little reading around the subject, and see what appeals to you.

annhig

hi emily,

i haven't read all the responses you've got here, but if I've judged the mood correctly, I'd agree with the venice/Rome idea. loads of wow factor and more than enough old bits for your DH to wallow in. my DS said that the Romans re-invented the word BIG, and when you get there, you'll see what he meant.

in 10 days you'll be able to see loads, but take it at a nice leisurely pace and do some day trip s- even Pompeii if you want. Florence is lovely but it IS mostly museums and you will be VERY rushed if you tried to fit in all 3.

have a great trip!

Lexma90

For becoming more familiar with the geography of Italy, you can use google maps, or your favorite equivalent. You can use the driving or the public transportation feature to get times and distances between any location you're interested in.

We're happy to provide many suggestions, but in addition to supporting your local bookstore, your local library will have many guidebooks. I like Eyewitness for my initial "idea" phase, as they have lots of pictures.

Florence is great, but primarily so if you're interested in Renaissance history and art. If not so much, then Rome and Venice may be better choices for you and your husband.