Thank you for posting your experience. We love the Cannaregio area, too.

Although, it was kinda hard to picture this one -
"...if you shower while standing over the bidet, the water will not leak into the bedroom..." -
So I assume there was a shower head with the expandable tube/hose attachment. Itake it that there wasn't a bathtub, too?

Thanks for your nice comments. I will post more about what I actually saw in the next few days, plus my photos.

Billy_Bob, there wasn't a bathtub. Every now and then while showering you'd tip the bidet cover over so that the water went into the toilet. I can't say I was doing this the "proper" way, but it worked to keep everything dry.

I had a hairdryer in Venice and Rome - the standard Italian types that look like a vacuum cleaner hose. These work all right actually, but you have to pause every couple minutes because they get too heated.

I really like the format of your report. Was interesting to see that you stopped at Heathrow first. We are flying from Calgary and planned to do exactly the same thing for the same reasons you noted. Would you recommend the Holiday Inn Heathrow?

We also want to return via Gatwick because we are planning to rent a self-catering cottage in Kent/Sussex.

Look forward to hearing more about your trip.

WillTravel: Thanks for all the great tips on how to travel on a budget. I too am a budget traveller and it's nice to know there are low cost accommodations out there. I am planning a trip this fall with about 4-6 other women to Rome and Amalfi Coast. I live in Wash. State just south of the border, but they all live in the Vancouver area. They of course want to fly out of Vancouver. I can't believe how expensive flights are out of Vancouver, so I was interested to see how you did it. If I can't find something comparable, I'm afraid I might just have to fly out of Seattle and join them all in Rome, although it would certainly be more fun to fly together. So it looks like you flew BA to Heathrow and then on to Venice with BMI? and on your return - Rome to Gatwick - was that BMI or Ryanair?
Because I'm going to Rome in March, the fall trip needs to be very budget, which it will be as far as accommodations with us all sharing something, but the airfare can be a real killer. Any ideas on getting a cheap flight from Vancouver? Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Hi WillTravel: Thanks for the expense breakdown re: your trip. The night cost at the Casa Santo Nome di Gesu in Florence wasn't specifically mentioned as you combined the total with the food ordered. How much did it end up being per night for the room (sans food) - 40 euros/night?

I would like to try some of your places in the future - thanks again for the great tips and prices!

Barb: My Mom lives in Seattle and flies to Europe via British Air to visit my sister in Germany. British Air stops in London, then there are connections throughout Europe (Italy, etc). Check out their website as they have very good air specials running nearly all the time.

Huitres: Thanks, but I don't have a problem getting good fares out of Seattle, it's out of Vancouver that's the problem. I'm flying to Roma in March, out of Seattle, for $575.00!! Right now out of Vancouver it is around $900 to 1,000 and that's just to London or Amsterdam!

Barb, I have gotten good fares on Air Canada from YVR-LHR when I looked at just the right time (actually I was checking a couple times per day on various sites for several weeks). If you are willing to consider other options, look at these sites:

http://www.flyzoom.com
http://www.canadianaffair.com
http://www.airtransat.com (not very comfortable, but sometimes cheap)
http://www.selloffairfares.com

Of course consider the exchange rate also, which can make the deals better than they look at first glance. But there are rarely any good deals from Vancouver to anywhere but the UK and less often Amsterdam. I flew EasyJet from Ciampino to Gatwick.

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Huitres, sorry that was unclear. The accommodation at the Florence convent cost 43 Euros per night for a single room with sink, including breakfast (so 172 Euros for the four nights). The optional dinner is an extra 14 Euros per night. You can get budget hotels in Florence for about the same price, but I doubt you'd get as nice a room in as nice a house.

Rick, there are several Holiday Inns near Heathrow. I stayed at the Ariel, which I got on Priceline (I bid $43 USD/night and then there were the extra fees and taxes). I have now stayed there three times, considering my stay in July also. I've had pretty good stays each time, although the room was chilly on Dec. 26 (they did send up a space heater and extra blankets). I'm not sure what the problem was, but they seemed to think all the rooms were like that (and it was a cold night for London). With the extra blankets and space heater I did fine. For my Jan. 9 stay, I was upgraded to an executive room at no extra charge, because with my late arrival they had sold out the regular rooms, so that was very nice.

I like the way you itemized the transportation and lodging costs. Very nice. Maybe you could also include a breakdown of specific food costs, or at least the big meals at some later time.
I think my travel approach is very similar to yours.

Congratulations! I really admire your budget approach. I'm looking forward to hearing about your experiences and seeing your photos!

WillTravel, your hotel in Rome, with the price and the location is fantastic. I was interested that you enjoyed being by the Piazza Barberini, I too like that location.

But for sure I could learn some lesson from you on how to travel more economically.

Your trip sounds fantastic!

Another here to welcome you back

I can't wait to hear about where you ate (here's hoping your illness didn't affect that!)

I find it so weird that Billa in Venice is open... when in September the building seemed so destroyed. I hope you went to La Cantina right down the street from there...

WillTravel, thanks for the euro clarification re: the Florence lodging. I would like to try your places out. Indeed, you got quite a bargain for all locations - bravo for you!

Here are some pictures. They should be in more or less chronological order, although I had to stop taking pictures at nightfall, so you can't see my nocturnal wanderings. Also I notice at least a few are oddly out of order for no apparent reason. Let me know if the links don't work.

Venice:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAOGTZi3cNmzv4

Florence:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAOGTZi3cNmztw

Rome 1:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAOGTZi3cNmzpg

Rome 2:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAOGTZi3cNmzro

Rooms and bathrooms:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAOGTZi3cNmzwA

Huitres, the convent seemed very family-oriented and I noticed several families staying there.

Wow, WillTravel...you took A LOT of photos!!!

Especially like the bedroom/bathroom pix. Certainly clarifies the shower/bidet situation. Assume the room with the pic of Mary & Jesus over the bed is the convent room? Very appealing in a simple sort of way.

Thanks for the trip report and the great photos. I think they effectively answer the eternal "Should I go to Italy in the winter?" question. Lovely.

Wow, WillTravel, you took a lot of photos (I always thought I do since I use ~ 12 rolls of film per trip). I liked your Grand Canal photos in Venezia, especially the photo with the colorful boats against the red (brick?) building. Nice contrast.

You beat me out with your 43 euros/night place in Firenze. However, my lodging choice comes in at a close 2nd! In Firenze, I have stayed at the Soggiorno Bavaria, Via Borgo degli Albizi, 26 (Tel/Fax: 011 +39 055 23 40 313 E-Mail: [email protected]) The hotel is located in the former 16th Century palace "Montalvo Ramirez" and is in the historic city centre, close to the Cathedral square (Duomo), Dante's House, and the Piazza della Signoria (Palazzo Vecchio and Uffizzi). Being that it used to be a former palace, the rooms are huge with very high ceilings and frescoe-decorated walls with double-casement/wooden shutter windows that open onto a large, inside courtyard/garden. The staff is very friendly and attentive. The single and double rooms with bathrooms range from 50 euros (low season) to 98 euros (high season) and they accept all credit cards (V/MC/AMEX). I have always enjoyed staying there when in Firenze.

Huitres, that sounds like a great deal.

One thing that surprised me was how crowded some areas were, despite the fact that this was winter. But of course much of the trip was around the Jan. 1 and Jan. 6 holidays. There was a big lineup for the Uffizi on the morning of Jan. 2 (I had a reservation), and the Ponte Vecchio and Duomo areas were swarmed when I checked it out Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. When I was walking between the Trevi, the Pantheon, and Piazza Navona on Jan. 6 around 5 PM, it was really shoulder to shoulder all the way, and in order to move you really had to be pushy. But crowds are a lot more bearable if they aren't accompanied by intense heat (IMO). And as someone pointed out, if it makes any difference, there were a lot more Italians in the mix than there would be during the summer, where tourists would predominate. But if you really want a low-season experience, maybe early in December or later in January would work better. But I should emphasize that these crowds did not affect my trip negatively at all.