Another 1st trip to Italy Itinerary question :-). Please help
 

Hi,

My parents and I will be traveling to Italy for two weeks from September 25th to October 10th 2004. Originally, we were going to take an escorted tour but spending hours reading your trip reports and other sources have convinced me to do it independently. We will have a total of 13 nights, will utilize train travel and/or other means of public transportation (no car rental).

Rome - 4 nights (possibly staying at Residenza San Pantaleo for 130 Euros a night. We need triple accomodations and are looking for a reasonable hotel in the center of it all)

Florence - 5 nights (considering staying at Hotel Casci for 185 Euros a night and will day trip to Pisa, Siena and somewhere else for a wine tour)

Venice - 4 nights (looking to stay at Palazzeto da Schio for about 200 Euros a night).

We are not extremely interested in museums but more so the architectual aspects of the places we are visiting. Yes, we will do the must see's in every city and most likely take day tours with companies you all have recommended.

This is our 1st trip so please help me make it special. If you have any recommendations on how to change up my intinerary or other hotel possibilities, please please let me know.

Thanks,
Linda

You may want to consider an apartment for some places.You can find them with only three night min. I went with my parents and found that in an apartment we had more privacy.We shared a one bedroom and i had the living room with a fold out bed in the couch. It was much better than sharing a hotel all the time.

Hi Livette,

In Florence, you might find the evening tour and dinner with http://www.accidentaltourist.com/ worth considering.

Ivitaly - thanks for the tip. I am currently checking apartments on sleepinitaly.com. I can't believe how reasonable they are! I have to do a little more research to see where in Rome to stay. I was highly considering Piazza Navonna but the apartment I like is in Campo di Fiori which I hear is a great place to stay. My goal is to stay somewhere central so that we can walk everywhere.

I'm off to Borders to get maps, guidebooks and another information I may need.

Ira, I checked out the site you recommended and it sounds wonderful. I know my parents and I would love to do something like this. I'm leaning toward the walking tour with lunch included. Have you been on these before? Thanks :-).

Linda

Linda, my wife and I just stayed at the Residenza San Pantaleo this past May. In a nutshell, we were unimpressed.

For starters, the hotel was supposed to have a driver picking us up at the airport. He never showed.

The rooms are very small, even by Italy standards. The "son" that changes the bedding and cleans the rooms is a smoker. He smokes in the room while he cleans.

For breakfast, you get a "chit" that you take across the street for a coffee and a roll.

While the location is nice, it can get noisy at night. Also, the "son" starts the laundry early in the morning and the clothes line runs right outside all the windows. So you hear this clothes line creaking all morning.

I would look for a different place to stay in Rome, especially since this is your first trip to Italy. You don't want to start your trip on a sour note.

Good luck to you.

BTW Linda, Piazza Navonna and Campo di Fiori are darn near right next to each other. About a 3 - 5 minute walk depending whether you have to wait for the light at the street you have to cross.

One other thing, Campo tends to be a younger crowd hangout at night. Novona tends to be a little older.

I agree with the apartment idea. We did that on our trip to Italy this summer and wouldn't have had it any other way.

Livette, check out sleepinginflorence.com for Florence apartments. We rented the Lepri apartment from Gianna Galeota and loved the location and ammenities (loft bedroom and futon sofa in living room). There are other apartments she rents in the building, as well. There are several Fodorite's who have had great reviews of her apartments and service.

We used venicerentals.com in Venice and were very pleased there with the apartment and service there, too. I have seen one poster here on Fodors who unfortunately had a bad experience with them, but I have seen others with positive experiences, as well.

Your itinerary sounds great to me. Are you flying into Rome and out of Venice? That would probably be the most cost effective and time saving route.

Mark,

What a horror story at that hotel! I don't think I want to stay there anymore. I do want something bigger and the apartment route seems to be the way to get that. Also, he smokes while he cleans the room! YUCK!!! I have asthma so that would not be good for me.

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience and I'm so sorry it was a bad one. This is why I appreciate this forum so much. I don't know what I'd do without it.

Thanks again :-).

Linda

Linda, I'll be watching this thread. My wife and I are returning to Italy next September, only this time we will be with my mom, brother, and aunt. They have never been to Italy before, and I'm thinking the apartment idea for 4 nights in Rome might be the way to go.

Please share any info you find out.
Mark

Hi Statia,

Yes, we will be flying into Rome and out of Venice. I'm hoping to get reasonable airfare from either Tampa or Orlando, FL.

I will check out those apt. sites as well. The one I currently am looking at in Venice is in the Dusodoro (sp?) area but if I can get something a bit more reasonable without sacrificing too much then I will. Again my goal is to be in the center of it all so we can easily walk everywhere.

Thanks for the info :-)

I am advocating for Pallazo Olivia near Piazza Navonna. We had a wonderful experience with them with such a personal touch. They will arrange a car for pick up at airport and anything else you may need. Charming apartments.You may want to check them out as well.Good luck!

Ivitaly,

I did a text search and read your comments on this apartment. How much did you pay? Also, do you have a website for them?

Mark, I will let you know what I find out.

Ok, now I'm really off to Borders. I'm so addicted to this site I can't get off! Thanks all :-).

I strongly agree with getting an apartment. I just returned from Italy with only a week abroad. I stayed in a hotel. I missed not having fresh fruit and vegitables as a regular part of my diet. Sorry to repeat but I also found much of the food very salty. If your parents are on any kind of a heart smart diet this will be a problem in tuscany.

Great food to be had in Tuscany but I appreciate augmenting restaurant meals with healthier at home meals. Just a thought. Next trip I will certainly be using self catering lodging options.

Livette,

I might suggest one change in your itinerary. I really enjoy a mix of cities and countryside on my trips. If you are planning on day trips out of Florence and are not really heavy art fans, I would not recommend staying in Florence for a full 5 days. How about 2 days in Florence & 3 days in Tuscany somewhere? If you really don't want to have a car, choose a town with main bus connections. This will give you a very nice mix and a better overall experience of bella Italia!

Buon viaggio!

Back from Barnes and Nobles not Borders (I still think I live in CT not FL!). I purchased the 2004 Frommers Italy guide, the Rick Steeves Italian phrase book and dictionary and a gorgeous Tuscany 2004 calendar.

I will take the advice from the site and read more than 1 guide book. However, those books are massive so I thought I'd tackle one at a time.

Thanks Sarah and Dayle for your input. Yes, my parents both have to watch thier salt intake but hopefully the restaurants can accomodate this need? However, if they do or don't we still like the appeal of being able to cook up something in our apartment and not always be at the mercy of restaurants.

Dayle, hmm add a town hey? You know I did think of doing but wanted to get away from the moving around luggage so much. That's why I figured we would day trip from Florence. I'm going to devour this guide book and do some more research on this site and others.

I know I'd like to visit Cortona but honestly don't know if that's a daytrip doable from Florence? I will research and find out.

Thanks all. You guys are great!!!

Linda

I like staying in one place and doing day trips Livette too. For me Florence seems sprawling. I live in NYC. If anything I don't understand how anyone can give Florence 3 days. Go with your gut on this one. You know how much your parents are going to want to move around.

Joe Millianare is in Rome next week Monday EST 8pm (?). I looked at them last night and they were in Florence. Stupid show I know but the scenes are nice of the cities. I never watch this show but I know some of these reality shows repeat on other nights. Not sure if this is one of them.

I am considering a trip very similar to this for my mother and I. I was planning on traveling by train as much as possible. We went to Scotland last year and driving just added a little more stress than we needed. We also moved hotels too much (too much carting luggage and time lost) However, am wondering - in Tuscany, how difficult is it to get to San Gimignano, Siena, from Florence etc. via public transport?

Considering buying a ride and drive and getting a car for a couple days.

Sorry to jump into your thread but it seemed silly to start a new one when our trips seems so similar! I know I love all the info here so far!

Thanks - Cathryn

Mrs. MileKing and I (mid 30's) did a similar trip in March 2002, flying in/out of Milan. We spent 6 nights in Rome, 3 in Florence, 3 in Venice, and 2 in Milan. On this trip we wanted to focus on the big cities...we'll hit the countryside when we go back.

Although Florence was our favorite city and we could easily have spent another night there, I'm not sure if I would spend 5 nights there as your itinerary calls for unless you plan on making several day trips outside Florence. I think four nights in Venice is OK, but perhaps a night too long. We would have been fine with two full days in Venice. You can always find more to do in Rome if you desire another night there. Of course, this is our view and a number of people here prefer Venice. Enjoy!

Livette- The website is www.palazzo-olivia.it . We had the Basillio Apt. which was comfortable for three. We paid 160 euros a night. We initially booked for three nights but ended staying an extra night which was not a problem with them. Do a search on Slowtalk.com and you will see good reviews.Piazza Navona was literly three minutes away. My parents have been to Rome on numerous occassions and never stayed in an apartment and somewhere so centrally located.( thanks to the people here i found it!) They are still talking about it! Right around the corner from the apartment was wonderful restaurants,shops, little grocery store etc.Good luck with your many choices as i know the other area you are thinking about is equally as good.

You're fine with your time in Venice. I can't imagine what someone would leave out seeing if spending only 2 days in this most unique of world treasures.