greenrealtor

Myself and 2 best friends are planning a girls trip to Italy - husbands aren't interested. We are not confident enough to think about driving on our own. We'd like to see Rome, Venice, Tuscany, and a train trip through the Swiss Alps. Tentatively planning an early October departure for 10 days. The planning seems overwhelming to me. I'm looking at different packages and tour companies - please advise! We are so excited to go.

janisj

w/ only 10 days you don't really have time for all of that (unless you go on a guided tour which would not be my choice)

Does the 10 days include your travel to/from Europe? If so you'd only have about 7.5 days for sightseeing. You can do Rome, Venice and a bit of Tuscany in 7 or 8 days by train.

If the 10 days is "on the ground" - then you would have enough time for Rome, Venice and Florence or somewhere else.

Barblab

I would travel by train and do it myself. You could devide up the trip and each of you could be the expert on your area doing the planning and research. Between books, websites and this forum I think you would almost have as much fun planning it as taking it.

caroltis

I too think you are perhaps trying to do to much. I would not take a tour - it's so easy to plan your own trip as there are countless resources available. I would take the train and I would cut out the Swiss Alps part because with the time you have, in order to take into account travel days - you are going to want to spend the remaining time in Rome, Venice and I'd suggest Florence. My experience is that it's way too easy to schedule too much and then everything becomes a blur...you'll see what I mean. Have a wonderful time planning this adventure - that's half of the fun of the trip!

greenrealtor

Yes - the 10 days does include our travel time. We don't have anything etched in stone, but probably should stick to 10-11 days at most. Would a cruise be a good way to go? The train through the Alps sounds awesome - is it? The hassle of packing up and moving alot does not sound like us. A big tour group sounds kind of a hassle - ..........

Grinisa

Here is a sample of how an 11 day trip could work, but it involves a lot of traveling:

Day 1 Depart U.S.
Day 2 Arrive Rome. Morning, check into hotel. Afternoon, wander centro storico (Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, Campo di Fiori) early dinner.
Day 3. Ancient Rome (Colosseum, Forum) in morning. Afternoon, Borghese Gallery.
Day 4. Vatican, shopping.
Day 5. Morning train to Florence, check into hotel. Afternoon, See Michelangelo's David, the Duomo (climb Dome if you wish) and Ponte Vecchio.
Day 6. Santa Croce church, Uffizi Gallery, shopping.
Day 7. Daytrip by bus to Siena.
Day 8. Early train to Venice. Check into hotel. Wander around San Marco/Rialto area.
Day 9. Doge's Palace, one of the art musuems, afternoon trip to Murano, Burano or Torcello.
Day 10. Take the 8:42 train to Mestre and change to the train for Zurich. After going through some spectacular alpine scenery, you arrive in Zurich a little before 3 pm. Night in Zurich.
Day 11. Fly home.

greenrealtor

Wow - I love that sample itinerary. It sounds perfect. How do you set up the trains - do you in advance? The tours in advance?

suze

I like to keep things simple (and never rent a car). I suggest with only 10 days you fly into Venice for 3 days, train to Florence, 2 days, train to Rome for 5 days. Fly home from Rome.

Now all you need is 3 hotel reservations and you are good to go! Planning does not have to be overwhelming if you keep things simple.

(10 days is not near enough time for everything you listed in your original post imo).

suze

You just go to a train station and buy tickets. It's easy.

cmeyer54

Our family did a 10-11 day trip to Italy last August. we flew into Florence and spent the first three nights there, picked up a rental car and drove to Montalcino with stops on the way in siena and one other small village for lunch (get a NeverLost system for sure). Spent three nights in Montalcino at a wonderful little agritourismo, toured wineries, S'ant Antimo, relaxed, etc. then, drove back to Florence and took the train to Venice - four nights in Venice and home from there. If you do the itinerary just posted above, be sure to get tickets in advance for David and Uffizi gallery. We spent a full day at the Vatican on our first trip to Italy a few years back - I guess you could do it in a half day but it would be rushed (just my opinion). On that particular trip, we did 5 nights in Munich, drove to Rome and spent 5 nights there. You'll defintely be skimming the surface trying to do two or three cities with switzerland but that could whet your appetites to return!

suze

As Barblab mentions, I have used the each person plan a city method. It worked great for us. 3 people, 3 cities, each person takes care of researching the hotel & making a reservation, then gathering a list of possible activities for the group. I never bother pre-planning restaurant meals myself, but some people like to.

Grinisa

I'm glad you found my itinerary helpful. There are many trains between Rome and Florence and Florence and Venice and in October, I wouldn't worry too much about getting tickets ahead of time. You can wait until you are in Rome and go to the station or a travel agent (there is one very centrally located by the Pantheon in Piazza Santa Maria Sopra Minerva) and buy the train tickets there. For the Venice/Zurich train, you may want to get the tickets ahead of time but Trenitalia won't sell them over sixty days out. You don't need to do any guided tours with the itinerary I specified but if you choose, you may want to contact a company like Context Rome for a tour of Ancient Rome andthey also do a good Vatican tour. That way you won't have to stand in line at the Vatican. Get reservations in advance for the Borghese Gallery, the Accedemia in Florence (David) and the Uffizi Gallery. Also get reservations for the Secret Itinerary Tour of the Doges Palace. You don't need to take a tour bus to Siena; you can just go by local bus. Same in Venice; just take the vaporetto to Murano etc.

greenrealtor

Thank you all so much. I am feeling so much better about the trip! The ideas for itinerary - the tours - everything - so helpful. We are from Indiana - have never traveled abroad - I've just always wanted to go to Italy. The search is on - airfare will be the next task I think. Please keep the ideas coming!

cmeyer54

Try to book an open jaw ticket so you can avoid circling back to your first city to fly home; be flexible, October is still high season for Italy and the fares will be high if you want to stick to particular dates.

enzian

greenrealtor,

You might pick up a copy of Rick Steve's Italy 2007 guidebook. It gives detailed instructions on travel logistics that are very helpful to first-time travelers to Europe. Some people don't care for his specific food and lodging recommendations, but that's OK. It is his "how-to" information on trains, getting around, museum reservations, public transport, etc., that is so valuable. His guidebooks are specifically geared toward first-timers who want to plan their own trip rather than take a tour, and he gives you a lot of confidence that you can do it.

Do book your flights so you fly "open jaws"---into Rome and out of Venice, or the reverse. That will give you more time to enjoy each place.

Don't worry about trains until later. Start reseaching each city and look into hotels you might like. This is not too early to reserve the good ones for October (but not too late either).

And don't feel bad about leaving out the Swiss Alps--October is getting late for the most spectacular areas of Switzerland. Just plan on making another trip. You and your friends will have so much fun on this one, you'll do it again, guaranteed. (Maybe your husbands will even want to go next time).

greenrealtor

Enzian,
Thank you for the info on Rick Steve's book, I looked it up and ordered it - also a copy of Italy for Dummies! Maybe I'll calm down until I can read the book and get it straight in my mind how this can work. I was even wondering if a cruise would be a good way to go - have any thoughts? I thought I'd start shopping airfares. Any particular website or tips on that? Again, thank you.

enzian

You can get a good idea of fares from www.kayak.com. I use it just to find which airlines are offering the best fares, then go to the airline's actual website. It may not show fares for open jaw flights. In that case, just try from your gateway city to Rome, for example, to see what airlines look best.

It might be cheaper from some east coast cities than otheres, if you habve a choice about that. Or Chicago may be cheapest. Hopefully someone else can advise you on that---I'm on the west coast and fly direct, so I'm not familiar with the best fares farther east.

It helps to be flexible on your dates---some days are cheaper for flying than others---some say Tuesday and Wednesday are best. The British Airlines website, for example, will show fares every day for a week o a month so you can compare.

enzian

I couldn't resist doing a quick check---Kayak showed both Delta and Northwest offering roundtrip flights for under $900 in October. This was for Chicago to Rome, connecting at JFK (the Delta flight) or Amsterdam (Northwest).

The_Judge

I did an October trip to Italy last year & spent almost a year planning it-I would suggest forgetting about the Alps & concentrate on the big 3 of Rome, Florence & Venice-we did sidetrips to Pompeii(return to Rome same day) & overnight in Padua on the way to Venice.We went for the art first & history second but you have to decide as a group what you want to do.Some definite suggestions:
*Fly in one end & out the other
*Try Lufthansa's 1-stops to Italy
*Take early trains-travel times are short & you can see a lot on arrival instead of blowing a day
*Must get DK Eyewitness & National Geographic guidebooks & maps for each city & Rick Steves Italy book
*Book tours w/ContextRome & ContextFlorence-we did 6 w/them & excellent is an understatement
*Make a list but if you miss something,relax & enjoy yourself
*Must sees-Rome:Vatican, Borghese & San Clemente; Florenceanta Croce,David & Uffizi;Venice:Frari and San Roch;Paduacrovegni Chapel & Il Santo Good Luck

rosetravels

Hi greenrealtor-
Your title caught my eye as I first thought - hmmm older women traveling...then realized I'm 47 myself

Definitely do it yourselves - no cruise, no tour. It might seem daunting still but it's not. We've all done it!

Kayak.com allows a multi-city trip so your airfare will be easy and it's really nice to not backtrack.

I think Suze's suggestion is great - 3 cities, 3 hotels, 3 people. If you each choose your city you'll find lots of detailed information on what to do, where to stay and eat on this forum.

We were in Rome at Christmas and I loved a little guide book called 'City Secrets Rome' - it had fun little asides that made us feel like experienced travelers.

Going to Italy will be much easier than you can imagine, especially if you're not renting a car. Once you arrive somewhere you can settle in and walk and enjoy the city. You'll have such a great time! Remember to not overplan, take time to hang out and enjoy the lifestyle.