reticent_aura

B&B Casa d'Oro
address: 14 Monte Cavallo Street, Favaro Veneto, Venice, Italy 30173

yea it's in Mestre. After looking at the Carnivale pictures taken in the evening. I really want to stay in the island itself! Thought it'll only take place in the day.

rialtogrl

danlev, I love Padova but it is not Venice. And I am not the Mestre hater some people are, but it is a pain to have to go back and forth on the bus if you are trying to see the sights in Venice. It sort of takes the magic out of it, to have to go to a bus terminal and get on a bus. And that goes for year round, but doubly for Carnivale when there is a party going on. Why would you want to leave the party?

reticent_aura, there may or may not be any city-planned events at night, but there will be balls and parties with people dressed up going to them (they are expensive) and - especially over the weekend - the cafes and bars will be packed with people, locals and tourists, partying. So if you like a party you should definitely try to stay in town.

Holly_uncasdewar

reticent, if you go to www.venere.com and plug in your dates, set the currency to Euro, you can choose either by Euro amount or star rating (2 star for your budget), you will see that there are some options to stay right in Venice. With just a cursory look, many of the choices were on Lido, but there were still some hotels and b&bs available in Venice proper for a double room at around 80 E per night for the 02/20 to 02/23 timeframe.

BigRuss

<i>I need ideas on whether 100 euro per pax per day INCLUSIVE OF LODGING will be feasible.</i>

Look: you're playing with numbers. You say 60E/night lodging and 100E/pp/day total. Based on the literal meaning of your statements, I calculate 140E per day outside of lodging. That's also assuming that your tickets across the pond are OUTSIDE of that daily budget. If either assumption is wrong, you need more money.

If the assumptions are correct, the trip could be possible based on completing two tasks: (1) finding decent non-flophouse accommodations for 60E per night total (that's dicey, and won't happen in or near Venice for Carnivale), (2) cutting your travels so you hit the big three regions (Venice/Veneto, Florence and Rome, with maybe some Tuscany).

In all likelihood, you will need to up the nightly budget and become fluent in local public transport options.

You also need to understand that no matter WHERE you eat in Venice, it will be more expensive (and smaller portions) than anywhere else you go in Italy.

Personally, I'd pick Siena > Pisa.

reticent_aura

Thanks rialtogrl and Holly_uncasdewar, I'll pick something closer to San Marco or in San Marco itself =)

reticent_aura

BigRuss, I'll definitely increase the budget per day if I were to wanna stay in Venice itself since the Carnevale is on. Most likely I'll be sticking to public transportation as well.

rialtogrl

You don't need to stay in the San Marco district - in fact most people would advise against it. Other boxes to check would be: Dorsoduro, San Polo, Cannaregio, Castello and Santa Croce. They are all areas of Venice proper.

reticent_aura

Great! I'll keep a lookout =)

broncoal06

I did a similar trip to Italy with my fiancee last February and did CT as a day-trip from a B&B in La Spezia (We were on a Pisa to Milan stretch). I'm so glad we did it, because we were lucky enough to have our best weather day of the trip when we went. The trails were closed, but there was enough time to go to Coop in La Spezia, buy enough for a picnic, and use the train to hop around all five towns.

Moral of the story is that it can be done, dependent on conditions. It just depends on whether it's worth the extra effort to do it. If not, tell yourself you'll be back and see it then.

reticent_aura

I really wanna do the trail within the 5 towns! But don't think that the conditions will allow. Most likely I'll keep Florence as my base, and have day trips out of there.

KMacK_ca

Have you contemplated a small two person motor home?

We have done it several times (Spain, Portugal, Italy, southern Germany, Switzerland) and find it a great way to travel on a budget. This is low season for an Italian rental so I am sure you could get a great price. It's transportation and accommodations rolled into one. You also have the luxury of preparing your own meals, if you choose. All of these factors contribute to keeping the budget down. You have to factor in fuel,tolls and 'camping' fees. But some on the camp grounds are beautiful resort-like facilities. Another benefit is that you can go where you want without being tied to only train station destinations. Besides, getting between destinations is where the real adventure takes place. Everything else is sightseeing!

Feel free to ask any questions. I have spent about 6 months of my life (cumulative) driving aroundJtaly. While I am neither an expert nor a local I can certainly advise on European motor home trips! We have been very satisfied with every rental experience we have had through McRent ( a brokerage dealing with multiple countries). They seem to specialize in making it easy!

reticent_aura

Wow it's a whole different adventure altogether! Such a great idea but most likely we cannot use it on our first trip as we'll be in Venice and Rome for 2/3 of the journey. Unless we use it for the Tuscany but it'll be such a pity as we only have a couple of days.

Thanks for the option!

KMacK_ca

You are absolutely correct - no one wants to drive in Rome and Venice you can't!

We typically stay in outlying towns and take the train in to the city. While we don't mind driving a larger vehicle on the highways and countryside, we don't like to do so in urban areas.

PalenQ

I was in the Cinque Terre a few Januarys ago and the weather was in the 60s - now not saying that is usual but it is rarely very cold and I appreciated having all the towns to myself rather than the elbow-elbow experience I had in Augusts.

Have not analyzed your time frame, etc but I would not skip the Cinque Terre in winter just because trails could be muddy or even closed - that has happened even in summer - I'm glad I did not and encourage you to go there if it appeals to you - I took trains between all five cities and did it as a day trip by train from Florence. Lovely train ride to along the coast, via Pisa and La Spezia.

reticent_aura

Then I guess I will! I'll most likely take day trips to CT, since it's along the way from Pisa as well. =)

TexasAggie

Hi Pal,
During your January visit to the CT, were the restaurants and shops open? I'm assuming the ferry service between the towns (allowing visitors to view the coast and the towns from the water) is not running. Just want the original poster to get an accurate idea of what she/he would experience if they go ahead with a Feb visit to the area. The weather is of course an unknown, but I'd find it useful to know info such as if everything is open or closed for the season if I was making the call.

reticent_aura

I've just booked this apartment for my stay of 3 nights in Venice! Phew. The accommodation is really pricey during this length of stay due to Carnevale. It was via Airbnb and it's 280 Euro for 3 nights.
I'll definitely be able to ration my accommodation budget for the rest of my trip as I've spotted a couple of good and affordable apartments in Florence and Rome!

Any ideas on the specific neighborhoods I should plan to stay in for Florence? As for Rome, I'd like to stay in either the Navona area, or the Colosseum area.

PalenQ

During your January visit to the CT, were the restaurants and shops open?>

Well most of them seemed to be open and there were people there - lots of locals of course and folks who seemed to be doing re-modelling, etc - yes everything essential seemed open - some hotels were closed, no doubt due to a lack of patrons.

But the placed is not shut down IME, not at all.

TexasAggie

Hi reticent,
I believe you'll find the Colosseum area less expensive than the area around Piazza Navona. The area around the train station is even cheaper, but not my favorite area. I love the area right around P. Navona, Campo di Fiore, and the Pantheon but it is not cheap, even if you rent an apartment.

reticent_aura

oh ok. Anyhow, it's walking distance to the P. Navona right, from the Colosseum? Not keen on the train station area as well, as I'll just be arriving from the train station and that's it. Will be flying out of Rome back to Singapore. I prefer to be closer to the action, where the places of interests are.