48 hours til 4 weeks in Italy - any last minute advice or tips?
 

Thanks to all fodorites for the many great tips and recommendations I've been given over the last several months of planning. Only 48 hrs. til departure from Toronto non stop to Venice for a few days and then on to Treviso, Dolomites, Florence and Tuscany - starting to feel stressed however with all of the last minute details to attend to - any last minute helpful hints or recommendations from you veteran travellers? Thanks to everyone for all of the info - will be sure to post a trip report in September. Grazie

What a great trip! I can offer you no brilliant last-minute advice...only a sincere request that you have a great time and share a trip report with us when you return.

Buon viaggio!

Take you favourite antacid-it is very hard to mime indigestion at a farmacia...and don't forget to have a great time!

Be prepared for some potential, extremely hot weather. Some friends just returned from Italy and said it was brutal.

Gelato and limoncello

I've been to Treviso and must have missed its attraction but--Venice, Dolomites, Florence and Tuscany--you can't miss. Re: Dolomites. I really think this is a very wide ranging area which cannot be grasped in the first couple of visits. That's not to say it isn't enjoyable--just the opposite. But I have learned to continue to explore the area and use the advice of locals as to trails, lifts, viewpoints, huttes, villages etc. Its going to be crowdwd on the roads but the hikes and trails will be inspiring if you can get up and onto them. Have a great trip! Paul

Tell your credit card/debit card banks you'll be in Europe. I forgot this once and spent an hour trying to make them believe I was in Sicily wanting to pay for a hotel.

<i>....any last minute helpful hints or recommendations from you veteran travellers?</i>

Yes. Please don't take this wrong, but it's time to stop &quot;gathering information&quot;! When it's two days before takeoff, I stop looking at Fodors or any other travel sites. It just stresses me out if someone mentions some landmark I'm not familiar with...and off I go researching it. Too stressful!

I'm sure you've planned well and you can only do so much. Now go get those bags packed....and drink an extra bottle of water!

Have a wonderful time!

Take plenty of sunscreen and light clothing. We were there in late June, and it was HOT!

Kind of agree with the person who said that with 48 hours to go, don't worry about planning any more....BUT....if you're in Venice a number of days, possibly consider 1 or 2 islands...Murano (famous for glass blowing) or Burano (very colorful fishing village). In Florence, I love the museums....Ufizi is very famous art museum....has Botticelli's &quot;The Birth of Venus,&quot; but in the summer, there may be a very long line to get in. Have a great, great time!

Make sure that you have some Euros already in your possession when you arrive at that first overseas airport. It is sometimes not easy or quick to find your way to make the exchange. Don't be like me and have to drink water out of your own hand in the ladies' room because you don't have any money to buy anything in the airport. Bad planning on my part, and never again.