7-12 day trip to Venice, Florence and Rome
Jun 14th, 2015, 05:45 PM
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7-12 day trip to Venice, Florence and Rome
I am a retired woman planning to make a trip to Venice, Florence, and Rome with two companions sometime in the spring of 2016. We are trying to decide whether to go with a tour group or book our own transportation and hotels and possibly find local tours when we are in the country. Since we are all retired and would like to see as much as we can for as reasonable a price as possible, I am leaning toward the latter choice. What advice do you have for us? Can you recommend a tour group--either an all-inclusive tour or a local one? Which month would you recommend: March, April or May? Can you recommend good hotels or B&B's for under $150/night? Thanks in advance for your advice.
Jun 14th, 2015, 06:43 PM
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I am going to these places this summer. My husband and I are travelling solo (not guided trip) which we are excited about but is also a lot of work! Guided trips are a great way to take out the large part of planning and to hit the main places, but definitely benefits of doing it on your own too.
I of course have not gone yet, but I would be happy to share with you where I am staying if you want to email me.
Meagan
I of course have not gone yet, but I would be happy to share with you where I am staying if you want to email me.
Meagan
Jun 14th, 2015, 07:18 PM
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My advice would be: check booking.com or tripadvisor, or another hotel site to choose a hotel that fits your budget, location and needs. You can read reviews, check out map locations and decide which is best for you. Once you arrive in your city, your hotel can advise you on local tours, which will give you some flexibility re timing, weather, etc. Or, since you have time to plan, make a list of sights you just have to see and get a city map! Since you will have a short time in each city, I'd stay in the centro, so you can walk to everything. (Florence and Venice are small, so that won't be a problem.)
My choice for the best month would definitely be May.
My choice for the best month would definitely be May.
Jun 15th, 2015, 05:04 AM
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Early May would be an ideal time to travel. If you have 7 days, consider limiiting your trip to 2 cities. With 12 days, you can manage all 3. We always plan and book our own trips and I fell that you have more flexibility and get to see more than if you take a tour.With the amount of advance time you have, you can easily plan your own trip.
Jun 15th, 2015, 05:45 AM
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Early May would be an ideal time to travel. If you have 7 days, consider limiiting your trip to 2 cities. With 12 days, you can manage all 3. We always plan and book our own trips and I fell that you have more flexibility and get to see more than if you take a tour.With the amount of advance time you have, you can easily plan your own trip.
Jun 15th, 2015, 08:02 AM
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Trains, Italian ones are some of the best in Europe now, are the best way to go between those cities and are easy to book in advance from home (well possible if not always easy!) - www.trenitalia.com is the official site of the Italian State Railways - book in advance for sweet discounts which however are sold in limited numbers and thus must be booked far in advance to guarantee but savings can be sweet! For lots of great info on Italian trains check these neat sites: www.seat61.com - especially attuned to discounted tickets; www.budgeteuropetravel.com or www.ricksteves.com.
Booking trains and hotels is a snap usually so do your own tour - once in a city there are always guided tours to take if you like or just explore on your own. Have no fear of trekking around these places on your own - many folks speak English and the info for trains is all posted in stations.
Booking trains and hotels is a snap usually so do your own tour - once in a city there are always guided tours to take if you like or just explore on your own. Have no fear of trekking around these places on your own - many folks speak English and the info for trains is all posted in stations.
Jun 15th, 2015, 08:56 AM
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I disagree with MmmePerdu. Triple rooms are very easy to find in Italy. I have cousins who are touring Italy starting next week, and they've had no trouble finding a triple room in any of the places they're visiting, including in the small town where I live, which has only one hotel.
In fact, it may be even easier to find a triple room than it is to find a hotel that has three single rooms. If $150 is your budget for one triple room, it's rather low. If that's a per-person budget, you should have no problem. You should begin to think in euros, to get a feel for prices. Also, there are a number of countries that call their currency "dollars" and we don't know which dollars you use.
www.booking.com is a good source for hotel rooms. You can select the city you want to visit, and indicate the number of people traveling and the number of rooms you want. If you enter 3 people and 3 rooms, they'll show you only hotels that have three single rooms available. If you enter 3 people and 1 room, it will show you only hotels with triple rooms available. In order to avoid hotels that are in the boondocks, I suggest that your enter, for example, "Rome center" instead of just Rome.
I think any of those three months (March, April, or May) would be fine. The earlier you go, the less crowding you'll have to endure in these three very popular cities. Avoid the week after Easter, though, which is a very popular week for city breaks in Europe. If you go before Easter, prices will be lower, both for airfare and for hotels. March has a greater possibility of rain, but in recent years, April and May have been rather rainy as well. Fortunately, when visiting cities, you have the choice of visiting museums and churches when it rains.
I agree that your trip will be a bit rushed if you have only seven days, especially if that means only six nights. If you can't stretch it beyond six nights, I would suggest two nights in Venice, one night in Florence, and three nights in Rome. This would really be a whirlwind trip. If you can add days, I would still devote the most days to Rome, which is much larger than the other two cities. I usually consider four nights a minimum for Rome, especially if you want to visit both the Colosseum (with the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill) and the Vatican Museums; these are large and tiring sites, and if you have three nights, you really only have two full days, both of which will be largely consumed with a crowded and tiring visit. If you're great fans of Renaissance art, you might want to add more nights to Florence also.
You should try to fly into one city and out of another. A good choice would be to fly into Venice and fly home from Rome. This will avoid backtracking, and even if the airfare costs a little more, you'll save on the train fare back to your starting point, as well as saving precious holiday time. Most airline booking sites refer to this as a multi-city itinerary; it may be under "other options" or "advanced search".
If you can finalize your travel plans early enough, you can save a lot of money by buying your train tickets early. They go on sale 120 days ahead of travel date, and the best discounts get snapped up quickly. You can buy tickets on www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en , which is the official site of the Italian railway. You have to use the Italian names of the cities, which are Venezia, Firenze, and Roma. Be sure to enter the appropriate time of day as well as the date, because if the default time is late in the day, it will roll over to the next day. Also, use an email address that doesn't end in .net because the website has problems with those addresses.
Another website that sells Italian train tickets with no markup and with all the available discounts is www.italia-rail.com . It does give you a slightly unfavorable exchange rate, and there may be a reservation fee or delivery fee. Don't consider a rail pass for Italy, as it would end up costing a lot more than single tickets for this trip.
You could get an idea of the probable cost of tickets by doing a trial for a date 120 days from now. There will be a change of schedule in early December, and often there's also a change in the types of discount available and adjustments in the base prices. However, there is never a big difference.
Many museums and archaeological sites in Italy offer their own tours in English. There are also walking tours of all three cities. If you have a short time in a city, though, it's often better to see things at your own pace, because tours will often take more time that you would have wanted to spend at a site, and, unless you hire an expensive private guide, they won't be tailored to your interests. They also require you to adhere to a schedule, which makes your time less flexible.
A good guide book will usually have suggested walking tours with maps. There are also tours available on the internet, both written tours with a map, and audio tours, which you can listen to on your phone or mp3 player.
In fact, it may be even easier to find a triple room than it is to find a hotel that has three single rooms. If $150 is your budget for one triple room, it's rather low. If that's a per-person budget, you should have no problem. You should begin to think in euros, to get a feel for prices. Also, there are a number of countries that call their currency "dollars" and we don't know which dollars you use.
www.booking.com is a good source for hotel rooms. You can select the city you want to visit, and indicate the number of people traveling and the number of rooms you want. If you enter 3 people and 3 rooms, they'll show you only hotels that have three single rooms available. If you enter 3 people and 1 room, it will show you only hotels with triple rooms available. In order to avoid hotels that are in the boondocks, I suggest that your enter, for example, "Rome center" instead of just Rome.
I think any of those three months (March, April, or May) would be fine. The earlier you go, the less crowding you'll have to endure in these three very popular cities. Avoid the week after Easter, though, which is a very popular week for city breaks in Europe. If you go before Easter, prices will be lower, both for airfare and for hotels. March has a greater possibility of rain, but in recent years, April and May have been rather rainy as well. Fortunately, when visiting cities, you have the choice of visiting museums and churches when it rains.
I agree that your trip will be a bit rushed if you have only seven days, especially if that means only six nights. If you can't stretch it beyond six nights, I would suggest two nights in Venice, one night in Florence, and three nights in Rome. This would really be a whirlwind trip. If you can add days, I would still devote the most days to Rome, which is much larger than the other two cities. I usually consider four nights a minimum for Rome, especially if you want to visit both the Colosseum (with the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill) and the Vatican Museums; these are large and tiring sites, and if you have three nights, you really only have two full days, both of which will be largely consumed with a crowded and tiring visit. If you're great fans of Renaissance art, you might want to add more nights to Florence also.
You should try to fly into one city and out of another. A good choice would be to fly into Venice and fly home from Rome. This will avoid backtracking, and even if the airfare costs a little more, you'll save on the train fare back to your starting point, as well as saving precious holiday time. Most airline booking sites refer to this as a multi-city itinerary; it may be under "other options" or "advanced search".
If you can finalize your travel plans early enough, you can save a lot of money by buying your train tickets early. They go on sale 120 days ahead of travel date, and the best discounts get snapped up quickly. You can buy tickets on www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en , which is the official site of the Italian railway. You have to use the Italian names of the cities, which are Venezia, Firenze, and Roma. Be sure to enter the appropriate time of day as well as the date, because if the default time is late in the day, it will roll over to the next day. Also, use an email address that doesn't end in .net because the website has problems with those addresses.
Another website that sells Italian train tickets with no markup and with all the available discounts is www.italia-rail.com . It does give you a slightly unfavorable exchange rate, and there may be a reservation fee or delivery fee. Don't consider a rail pass for Italy, as it would end up costing a lot more than single tickets for this trip.
You could get an idea of the probable cost of tickets by doing a trial for a date 120 days from now. There will be a change of schedule in early December, and often there's also a change in the types of discount available and adjustments in the base prices. However, there is never a big difference.
Many museums and archaeological sites in Italy offer their own tours in English. There are also walking tours of all three cities. If you have a short time in a city, though, it's often better to see things at your own pace, because tours will often take more time that you would have wanted to spend at a site, and, unless you hire an expensive private guide, they won't be tailored to your interests. They also require you to adhere to a schedule, which makes your time less flexible.
A good guide book will usually have suggested walking tours with maps. There are also tours available on the internet, both written tours with a map, and audio tours, which you can listen to on your phone or mp3 player.
Jun 15th, 2015, 09:18 AM
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You can DIY. But here's some free advice: Assign each part of the trip to each person. For instance, you could each take one city and handle all the arrangements for that city. Or one of you could handle the hotels, one the transportation, and one the tours.
Jun 15th, 2015, 09:36 AM
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As soon as I posted the above, I read another topic that points out a new advantage Italia-rail.com has over Trenitalia for groups of two or more traveling together:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...servations.cfm
It appears that if you buy three train tickets, and there is only one discounted ticket available, Italiarail will now offer you one discounted ticket and two at the higher price. Trenitalia will just offer you the three higher-priced tickets
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...servations.cfm
It appears that if you buy three train tickets, and there is only one discounted ticket available, Italiarail will now offer you one discounted ticket and two at the higher price. Trenitalia will just offer you the three higher-priced tickets
Jun 15th, 2015, 09:42 AM
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I should have mentioned that the topic about Italiarail was an old thread that got resurrected, and a lot of it is outdated; go down to the last reply and work up until the first recent response.
Jun 15th, 2015, 10:02 AM
#14
what bvl, bob, and the others have said.
DIY in Italy is easy and fun so long as you don't try to squeeze in too much. remember that you lose ½ a day every time you move from one place to another, and that very often, less is more.
plus there is loads of terrific advice here from people who will very generously give you loads of help with your planning, and who may even agree with each other, from time to time.
DIY in Italy is easy and fun so long as you don't try to squeeze in too much. remember that you lose ½ a day every time you move from one place to another, and that very often, less is more.
plus there is loads of terrific advice here from people who will very generously give you loads of help with your planning, and who may even agree with each other, from time to time.
Jun 15th, 2015, 10:12 AM
#15
There is a triple room available at Palazzo Mansard Cendon in Cannaregio with a view of Tre Archi bridge. Guglie and Crea stops along the canal in from of hotel.
The entrance to the Jewish ghetto is across the canal.
Thin
The entrance to the Jewish ghetto is across the canal.
Thin
Jun 15th, 2015, 10:27 AM
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Go for as many days as possible and I'd suggest a tour this time. All the schlepping for tickets and transportation will be done for you.
Is Globus still around? That was suggested to DH and me when we took our first trip in 1999. We ended up working with a travel agent who added us on to a booked tour for the planes, trains and hotels so we didn't join up with the group. We had to get our own tickets for museums, etc. Don't know if that still exists.
We also worked with American Express for a couple of trips--same thing, planes, trains and hotels.
Please report back about what you do and how it goes.
Is Globus still around? That was suggested to DH and me when we took our first trip in 1999. We ended up working with a travel agent who added us on to a booked tour for the planes, trains and hotels so we didn't join up with the group. We had to get our own tickets for museums, etc. Don't know if that still exists.
We also worked with American Express for a couple of trips--same thing, planes, trains and hotels.
Please report back about what you do and how it goes.
Jun 15th, 2015, 02:01 PM
#18
I think the issue of an escorted tour vs independent travel often comes down to experience. If any of you has traveled in Europe before, it should be fairly straightforward to do it again. However, you all might enjoy a first trip, if that's what it is, not having to make decisions and arrangements. You'll get some feel for it as you go and may decide to do it all yourself the next time. Or not. But I think a tour can be relaxing in some ways, especially the first time out.
One issue you might encounter with a group tour is that they tend to be arranged for twos, rather than threes, sharing a room. You could end up having to book 2 rooms unless you do your homework and inquire, find a company flexible enough to have rooms for you for 3. The other possibility is to find a company with no single supplement, although there may be limited availability and not 3 singles available on a tour together. No harm in asking as you investigate.
One issue you might encounter with a group tour is that they tend to be arranged for twos, rather than threes, sharing a room. You could end up having to book 2 rooms unless you do your homework and inquire, find a company flexible enough to have rooms for you for 3. The other possibility is to find a company with no single supplement, although there may be limited availability and not 3 singles available on a tour together. No harm in asking as you investigate.
