sunnie

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or comments from you experts on this forum on the following: Upon arrival at airport for transfer to my hotel "Cavalleri Hilton" should I pre arrange a Limo or just take a taxi? Is it worth it to take private tours of the major attractions in Rome? Are there some attraction better with a guide then not? How far by taxi or Limo Rome central train station to airport. Is it worth a day trip out of Rome to Tivioli and Hadrian's Villa? Do I hire a guise for this? Any suggestions for 3 days in Amalfi/Positano? I want to make my first trip memorable. Thank you in advance for your help.

ira

topping for sunnie

DRJ

SUNNIE: I don't know why no one has responded to your request. You sound as though you are traveling on a budget beyond my usual one.

At any rate and for what its worth, I always take the train from Fiumicino to the central station in Rome. It is a nonstop and takes 30 minutes or so. I would guess that the airport is about 20 miles from central Rome. I have never taken a tour of any kind in Rome. It is a very walkable city. When I went to the Tivoli Gardens I took a bus from the Batastini stop on the Metro.

BTW, the Cavallieri Hilton has a renowned restaurant.

And on the Amalfi coast I took the Sita bus which is very dependable.

I predict that you will have a difficult time deciding whether you love Rome more or the Amalfi coast. I go to Italy spring and fall and that's not enough.

Ciao e buon viaggio.. DALE

Cicerone

I always find it easier to arrange for a hotel car to meet me at the airport rather than standing in the taxi queue. It is purely a matter of convenience. You will find taxis there at all times of the day and night. The cost of a taxi to your hotel would be about 35 Euros. Your hotel is a bit outside of the main tourist area, will be about 25 minutes by taxi. There is a taxi stand outside the international arrivals terminal. Please by-pass the people standing inside the terminal by the doors as you come out of the baggage arrival/customs area. They are wearing badges and will very politely ask you if you need a taxi, and if you say yes they will direct you to the booking desk inside the terminal. However, the booking desk will charge you about twice the going rate. As I said, by-pass these people and go outside and look to the left for the taxi stand. Taxis are metered.

IMO, it is very helpful to have guides to the major sights. Place the Forum are somewhat hard to comprehend, IMO, without a guide. A walking tour in the evenng of the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain area is a good way to get familiar with the neighbourhoods and then come back later or have dinner. Scale Real is a wonderful guide group that is extremely popular on this site. You need to register with them and book in advance. They have small tours, no more than people. The guides are mostly US graduate students with art, architecture or history degrees and are extremely knowledgeable on their subject. I saw the Sistine Chapel twice and really did not appreciate it until last year when I had a Scala Reale guide to take me through it. Can't recommend them highly enough. Take a look at scalareale.org.

For other suggestions, there is a TON of information on this site. Run some searches like "rome restaurants" "rome guides". Click on "Destinations" above and scroll down to Rome and also Capri & the Amalfi coast.

sunnie

Thank you very much for the helpful information. This site has given me such a wealth of information. I Love it.

ldowst

Sunnie: Amalfi is great - but be careful with the SITA bus. If you are there in peak tourist season, many times the busses are completely full and don't stop. If you find yourself in this situation, take a boat ride to Amalfi and get the bus there (it originates there and you can usually get a seat). Also, you might want to hire a driver to take you around the coast area. Costs a couple of hundred dollars for the day - but makes for a relaxed time. Be sure to take a trip to Capri - it's a beautiful little island. You can take the funicular from the boat dock directly to downtown Capri. Then the bus runs between Capri and Anacapri. Take the bus to Anacapri and take the chair lift up the mountain. Its a very peaceful ride (about 12 minutes I think) and a great view from the top. You can see the whole island in one long day - but we went back twice just because it was so relaxing and pretty. If you go during peak tourist season, you might want to skip the Blue Grotto - could take a very long time to get into it - it's pretty - but not worth wasting hours to see (in my opinion). Hope this helps

Weadles

Sunnie,

I can recommend an excellent guide for a private tour of the major sights in Rome. She is an archaeologist by profession, and on our most recent trip, two weeks ago, she made the Pantheon and Colosseum come alive for our family. Her name is: Dr. Eleonora Ferrazza, and she can be reached via e-mail at: [email protected]. or by phone in Rome at: 3334814322. She is a young woman, (about 25-30 is my guess) and lovely and well educated in every way. She charges $50/hour and there is a two-hour minimum. By the way, we found that 4-5 PM was a great time to see the Colosseum because there were fewer crowds.

We also just returned from the Amalfi Coast a second time, and I can highly recommend our favorite driver there if you need one. Just post again and let me know if you'd like the name etc.

Good luck, and have a great trip!

Weadles

Also wanted to mention that we were in Capri for three days, and did not find the Blue Grotto a waste of time or overly crowded. We opted for a private 2-hour tour of the island, which included a stop at the Blue Grotto. The hotel told us that we should try to reach the Blue Grotto around 1:30 because it would be less crowded then, and sure enough, that seemed to be true. Just so you know, once you get to the Grotto, you have to get off the boat you've come in, get into a small rowboat, and lie down to go through the very narrow entrance into the Grotto. The light and the color of the water ( which they explained comes from the lack of rocks on the bottom of the sea floor) is spectacular, and swimming in it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Buon viaggio!

johnc

Scale Reale are excellent guides in Rome and worth it.
We took a horse and buggy (yeah, what a tourist) around the Forum etc last fall and it was surreal and also worth it (I've been to Rome 7 times).
You want a room at the Hilton facing the city. Have lunch or dinner there, very good.

Ostia etc are great side trips but spend at least 3 days in Rome too.
Amalfi Coast is a great 3 day trip I would leave Capri out if that's all the time you have.