Scarlettdz9

Hello, I am thrilled to be planning my life's dream of a trip to Italy in 9/2010. I've had to wait until I'm 49 years old, but at least I'm getting there before I'm 50! These boards have been a great help and a treasure trove of information. Thanks to all for sharing. I do have three questions that I'm hoping someone can help with.

1. We are considering staying at what seems to be known as the Terry House in Rome (http://www.vrbo.com/20263). There will be myself and two of my best girlfriends. Has anyone stayed here or have opinions one way or the other? Main goals: safety and cleanliness. Can't afford to do top-shelf travel, but don't want to stay in hostels either. The Terry House seems to be the right price, good location and clean. My only concern is that all of the renter reviews on the vrbo site are old. There is nothing recent. I'm hoping someone here has stayed more recently and can advise.

2. We are also considering 3 days in Anacapri (http://www.vrbo.com/84783). We will be renting a car and I am wondering if it is better to leave the car in Naples or bring it on over to Capri? Does anyone have any experience with this particular cottage?

3. Finally, where can I find information on the ferry or jetfoils that go from Naples to Capri? I need to find out how much they cost, etc.

Thanks so much in advance! I'm excited!

Buona sera,

Leslie
Oregon, USA

greg

2. You mentioned car, Rome, Napoli, and Anacapri. Where do you intend to use your car? You seem to be interested in not doing a top-shelf travel, but leaving the car idle in Napoli racks up rental and the parking charges.

3. http://www.capritourism.com/en/ship-timetable

Surfergirl

Hi Leslie,

First of all, congratulations on finally achieving the trip of a lifetime before 50 -- for some, like my dad, it just never happened (his fear of flying won out).

Capri is still considered high season, so you will not be permitted to bring your car over there because you are not a resident. My suggestion is that you drive the car to Sorrento, rather than Naples, and take the hydrofoil from there instead.

Others I'm sure will be chiming in on your other questions, but again, have a great trip!

kybourbon

Your links are not working.

You do not want to drive in Naples. Naples driving would compare somewhat to NYC, but NYC would be much more slow and orderly.

You might not want a car at all. What's the rest of your itinerary?

The ferry to Capri will be about 15€. September might be fall/winter schedules so they wouldn't be out yet.

You might check slowtrav and tripadvisor for reviews.

sarge56

Leslie, I am so excited for you! I made my first visit to Italy when I was 51 and I'm returning in four weeks (I am 53 now).

You will love Italy! And you will start planning your return trip as soon as you're home!

Re the VRBO lodgings, you might try a google search on these names and might find reviews at other sites like Tripadvisor.com and Slowtrav. Also do a search here at Fodors to see if anyone has mentioned them.

I cannot answer your other two questions, but I wish you the very best on your maiden voyage!

P

kybourbon

Metro del Mare hasn't even posted summer schedules yet.
http://www.metrodelmare.com/english

Scarlettdz9

Wow, thank you all for your quick responses. I did not realize that visitor cars were not even allowed on Capri. That's a helpful little thing to know, isn't it?

Greg, the main reason we were thinking of renting a car is because we like the idea of adventure, having the freedom to go off the beaten path when the mood strikes. If we see a winding road that looks cool, then we want to be able to go check it out. A cute market? Brakes! It just seems to be easier to travel that way than taking the train. We are certainly open to ideas, though. The price for renting a car for the entire time is about $750, which is less than the train if I'm understanding correctly. Although there are also fuel and parking charges on top of that.

Kybourbon, looks like it's adding the closing parenthesis to the link so it's not working. I'll see if I can go back and edit that. RE: very tentative itinerary -- we have our plane tickets, but everything else is still up in the air and open to suggestions:

9/20 depart Portland, OR
9/21 arrive in Rome. Stay first night there to recover, get our bearings, rent car, etc. Suggestions for where to stay that first night?
9/22 - 9/24 Venice. Considering http://www.vrbo.com/25432.
9/25 - depart Venice for Tuscany. Considering http://www.castelloripadorcia.com/home_ing.php
9/25 - 9/28 Tuscany, Florence
9/29 - Drive south and find our way to Capri.
9/29 - 10/2 Capri with day trips to the Blue Grotto, Pompei
10/2 - head back up to Rome
10/2 - 10/5 Rome
10/5 Depart Rome

What do you think? Too much too fast? Basically, not counting flight days, we've got 14 days on the ground. Not counting airfare, we need to keep the land portion of the trip around two grand. I know it's doable, but it's going to take some careful planning.

Sarge and Surfergirl, thank you for your encouragement. I can't wait to go, too. I'm not 'old' lol, but I do know that I can already look back and see that there were things I didn't do when I was younger because I always thought that another day would come that I'd be able to go that was more convenient, better financially, whatever. I didn't realize that day might never come. Once marriage, kids, jobs, etc. come, you get caught up in a whirlwind that consumes you. If you don't make your dreams happen, they may never become reality. So go, live life while you can!

Thanks again,
leslie

Scarlettdz9

Corrected links:

Rome: http://www.vrbo.com/20263
Anacapri: http://www.vrbo.com/84783

Thank you!

Peter_S_Aus

Just a thought.
Arrive in Rome, and then take a train immediately to Venice. Stay a few nights in Venice, hire the car and hit the road.

Or if you can, fly into Venice, stay a few nights, hire the car in Venice and then hit the road.

I'd avoid a single night stay in Rome, and Venice is an easy place to recover from jet lag. (Little noise, no cars or motor scooters.)

scotty09

having just looked at your itinerary, it is obvious that you are going to be spending most of your time in a car, driving. I know you are from Oregon and need a car to drive those wide open unpopulated spaces. But think of Italy as the size of California but much more crowded, with clogged motorways---with this exception---they have an excellent rail system that can take you anywhere you want.
I leave you with this piece of travel wisdom--you need to visit a country twice--you go the first time to make mistakes, you go back the second time to learn from those mistakes.

kybourbon

I don't think you've factored in paying to park your car (about 30-35€ per day) which won't be allowed in the cities. Cities in Italy have restricted zones (ZTL)and you aren't allowed to drive unless you have a permit (of course Venice has no driving at all). There are traffic cameras everywhere ready to snap your license plate if you cross into the restricted zones. For $750, I would assume that's a standard (most car rentals are standards). Can you drive a standard? Does that include the mandatory insurance and multiple drivers? Do they all have International Driver's permits? Have you priced/located parking in the cities? The road tolls can also tack onto your costs of a car. Read these two threads so you will know what to expect.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...m#last-comment
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-question.cfm

The only part of your trip that you need a car for is Tuscany and you really don't have time to visit the area especially staying somewhere so far south and remote. You are going to spend more time on the road than actually visiting places. Any day trips from there would need to be southern Tuscany, not Florence as it's too long of a drive.

I would do as Peter suggested since you already have your plane tickets. Train to Venice on day 1 because it just wastes time to stop in Rome and you will be tired anyway (another option would be train to Naples/ferry to Capri).

I would drop your Tuscany place as it's too remote especially if you are planning to visit Florence from there (which really doesn't make sense either). What do you want to see in Tuscany?

Have you bothered to figure out how much time you will be spending driving on your vacation? Tuscany to Capri will eat up a day (about 5-6 hours driving time, not counting somewhere to leave the car and catching a ferry), so would Rome/Venice and Venice to that remote place in Tuscany. Much of that travel will be autostrada (interstate), not quaint country roads which would take much longer.

The more you move around, the more you add to your road time and to your trip costs. Capri - ferry from Naples 15€, ferry to and from Pompeii r/t 30€ (probably to and from Sorrento plus train to Pompeii), ferry back to Naples 15€. It's usually more expensive to stay in Capri than on the Amalfi coast as shops/restaurants tend to be more expensive. The ferries don't run late (6 or 7 is about the latest).

bobthenavigator

Fly into Venice--not Rome

Forget the car until Tuscany and drop it in Sorrento.

bobthenavigator

And, you do not want that Castello---too isolated.

Stay in San Quirico nearby at Palazzo del Capitano.
But, that entire region is 2 hours from Florence.

I would start over with this plan :

Venice
Train to Florence
Get car---to Tuscany
Drive to Sorrento--drop car
Capri etc.
Train to Rome

Far less hassle and better use of time.

Mimar

Congratulations on your dream coming true, Scarlett!

But you may have to edit that dream a bit. For most of your itinerary, a car is a hindrance. The only exception is rural Tuscany. You can make your discoveries on foot, in Venice and Florence and Rome. Or you can skip the big cities, stick to the countryside and small towns. Lodgings and food will be cheaper.

It sounds like Capri is a must. Although it makes more sense to base in Sorrento and do daytrips to Capri and Pompeii. (And maybe the Amalfi coast?) In either case, you don't want a car.

I definitely agree to use your first day to get to Venice. It's such a jet-lagged loss anyway, you might as well sleep on the train and get somewhere.

SusanP

That Rome apartment isn't a bad location, although it's not "only a few minutes" from the Pantheon or Trevi fountain, and especially not from St. Peter’s or Castel S. Angelo. I personally like to be closer to the Piazza Navona/Pantheon area, but that's just me. The other thing is that I didn't see an indication of which floor the apartment is on and whether or not there is an elevator. Maybe it doesn't matter to you, but I would definitely want to know that. Keep in mind that if it says it's on the 2nd floor, that's 3rd to an American.

I hope you follow the advice to forget about a car from Rome to Venice and then down to the Amalfi Coast. Such a waste of time, and if you're planning on driving Rome to Venice in one day, as your itinerary indicates, you won't have time anyway for exploring side roads that peak your interest.

Since you have your plane tickets, continue on to Venice immediately upon arrival in Rome, then follow bobthenavigator's itinerary. Don't waste the first jetlagged day in Rome when you could be resting or sleeping on the train to Venice.

tuscanlifeedit

I agree, train immediately to Venice. You can sleep on the train.

Driving out of Rome can be stressful. You will hear lots of people say that they did it and it was OK, but we've driven in and out of Rome several times, and really, I hate it.

Spending on night in Rome before Venice is a waste of your time and money.

Me? I wouldn't drive at all this trip.

When you are on highways, you are not going to see any interesting little roads or cute markets.

If you want to do daytrips from any of your stops, I think you can indulge your adventurous streaks in that way.

Find out about market days, and plan a train or bus trip to take one or more in.

If you do decide to stay in Tuscany, and Florence is high on your list of places to see, pick a town that is closer to Florence.

PRLCH

We stayed at Terry's House at Christmas for a week. I posted a review - see link. I hope this is of some help to you.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...and-venice.cfm

dcd

Just some other thoughts to consider.

I agree that a car is mostly a hindrance. Also, driving in various parts of Italy can be a REAL challenge and rather scary. Lots and lots of fast cars and scooters to deal with in the urban areas.

If you're committed to flying in and out of Rome, I'd also be inclined to burn the first day getting to Venice because Day 1 is usually a blur anyway thanks to jetlag. I'd spend the first 3 nites in Venice.

I'd then take the train to Florence and spend 3-4 nights in that area. Instead of renting a car, you could "rent" Luca Garappa, a private driver, guide and historian all in one. Luca gets rave reviews on this board. We had him for 1.5 days in 2006 and he's great. We thoroughly enjoyed his company. http://www.hillsandroads.com/ You might compare his rates for your group versus a car (with no guide). He could take you to various towns in Tuscany and beyond. If you wanted to spend a night in another town (Siena?), he could drive you there.

I'd then take the train to Naples and catch the hydrofoil to Capri and spend 3-4 nights there. We spent 3 days there last year and fell in love with the island. It's a shame most people only do day trips there. Your vrbo property looks nice, but relying on the buses is a bit of a pain. They don't always run on schedule and the seating capacity is very limited meaning you might have to skip a bus (or two in the busy season) and wait for the next one. The buses are not comparable to those in the US. They are a fraction of the size, seating maybe 12 people with room for others to stand. This is what they look like: http://www.amalfi-capri.com/capri/practical/buses You should be outside the busy season which will help with the crowding factor.

If there were a nice vrbo property near Capri town, I'd recommend staying there. I agree that the town itself can get rather busy when the day trippers arrive, but staying slightly outside of it allows you to enjoy it when it's not busy. Plus many of the things to do are while on Capri are easily walkable from Capri town, which means less reliance on buses compared to staying in Anacapri. Also the dock is there which makes it easy to hop a boat and visit a town or 2 on the Amalfi Coast for day trips.

There are plenty of things to do on Capri that will easily fill 3 days. Regardless of where you stay, don't miss the trip up Mt Solaro in Anacapri. Breathtaking views. It's easy to spend a day in that town seeing and doing various things. We thought the Blue Grotto was a rip off. The boat ride around the island is very nice and there are such trips which do not stop at the Grotto.

Pompeii is NOT a realistic day trip from Capri. From Sorrento, Naples, or Rome, yes.

I'd then spend the better part of a day getting to Rome and spending 4 nights there.

You're going to love Italy and you're going at a great time of year.

sarge56

Leslie, I am urging strongly that you follow our advice and train to Venice as soon as you land in Rome.

My daughter and I are doing the same thing. We arrive in Rome at 8:00am. We are taking the Leonardo Express train (30 mts) from airport into the main train station in Rome (Termini). We are then catching the "bullet" train (#9408) departing Termini at 10:45am (there are regular departures all day). We will be in Venice by 2:30pm. If you drove, no way would you be there by then, nor would you have been able to snooze during the trip.

2nd class seats are perfectly great. You should know that Trenitalia (the Italy Rail web site) does not accept American credit cards. So, you can either by them from Rail Europe or do what most of us do... we just buy them upon arrival in Italy. You will still be able to get some discount fares by having 2 or more people in your group, and with 7 days advance purchase. There are plenty of trains and plenty of seats.

P

scotty09

Leslie from Oregon,
the advice on this page is phenomenal---everybody wants you to have a memorable trip..... without a car! Follow in the footsteps of Sarge56 above and you won't go wrong.....I know it is hard to go from a car culture in the USA to a train culture in Italy, but just remember that you will meet more Italians in a train......
in bocca al lupo!
buona fortuna e buona vacanza!