Best way to see Italy with a teen?
 

I've given up on the idea of trying to plan a 5-8 day tour of Italy (Venice and Rome really) by myself and am now looking at some of the tour guides. I don't have the time with my jobs and don't want the stress of trying to do it all - not a vacation to me.

I've seen mixed results for Gate 1 and Globus through this site. Has anyone has direct experience with these or another? I'm looking for only 8 days or less due to our schedules and we'd like to see Venice and Rome in particular. I'm thinking of Gate 1 as they have a ton of dates available for the Enchanting Italy version this summer....any expert advice? We are looking for some freedom to roam but like the idea of having the transportation and hotel already arranged - I could care less about all the niceties of high end hotels, more concerned about safety and getting around!

On my first trip to Italy with my teenage daughter we did an EFtour with her school. This company would get pretty mixed reviews, I'm sure, but we went to Italy, saw alot of the A list sights with a minimum of hassel. It gave us ideas of what to do and where to spend more time on future trips. So if you see one of these companies with a tour that fits with your schedule I would think it will be an overall good experience.

IMO it would not be TOO hard to plan it yourself - the internet makes everything pretty easy but does give you an overload of choices! But you mostly need to find 2 hotels and then manage the train between the cities - www.venere.com is a website that shows where hotels are located so you could find ones that were convenient to the train station (of course the website also has rates and ratings)then buy the train tickets once you get to Italy. IMO you don't need to worry too much about safety - most crime is petty theft - keep your documents well guarded. Both Venice and Rome are delightful cities to wander about - walking tours could be done in both places and then leave plenty of time for whatever.

I like Rick Steves guides - alot of practical info on logistics as well as sightseeing info. He also has I think free podcasts for those that want to do their own thing at the big sites. Hope your trip works out for you!

Why can't your "teen" do the planning?

Only he or she knows what they want to see. It'd be bad enough for any self-respecting young person to be dragged round what a parent wants to see. Being dragged round what a third party who knows nothing about you chooses would have been my idea of hell when I was 16, just as it is now.

But if you and he/she have decided on Rome/Venice anyway, what more do you want? Tell the child to book an open jaw to the two, a train between them and hotels and buy a copy of the Blue Guides to Rome and Venice. Decide what to do each day each day.

I agree that you can do this yourself. With 8 days, it will only be Rome (5 days) and Venice (3). If 5 or 6 days, then I would just stick to Rome. Did the 8 days include travel days? If you do both cities, buy an open-jaw air ticket (fly into one and out the other). Just plug your dates and destinations into Kayak to compare airfare.

For hotel, what is your price range. If your traveling in the summer, a/c is important. Lots of good suggestions will be offered in this forum. To travel between Venice and Rome, take the train, again people on this forum can give you very specific information and resources to arrange this yourself.

As for touring, most major sights offer tours (guided or audio), and you can arrange other tours through your hotel if need be. Some of the better tours do require advanced booking.

I would also suggest that you plan it yourself, so that you get what you want. I took a quick look at the Gate 1 "Enchanting Italy" tour, and that visits Florence as well. If you want to go to Venice and Rome, then why spend your precious vacation time in a place that you don't want to go to? Also, the Gate 1 hotels in Venice aren't even in Venice proper; one hotel location for Florence is kind of ok, the other one I think would be difficult to get out and about by yourself, because of its location. The Rome hotel location isn't too bad. But to be in an out-of-the-way hotel location is a waste of your time and enjoyment! (And the rest of the itinerary, due to stops in Pisa and Assisi, basically only gives you one full day in each of Venice and Rome; that doesn't give you much time in the places you primarily want to be.)

The main things you'd need to plan yourself are the flights, two hotels and transport between them. That's easy enough on the train; there are direct trains in between the two places. I would suggest that, instead of hotels central to the train stations, look for hotels that are central to the sights that you'd want to see. In Rome, look in the Piazza Navona / Pantheon area. In Venice, most areas are close, but consider the San Marco, Castello or Dorsoduro areas. We also like Cannaregio, the part that's close to Castello.

Recognizing that everyone travels differently, going on a tour like Gate 1 would have been by far the WORST way for my teens to see anything.

You only have two destinations in mind. Fly into one and out of the other, book a hotel in each place, read a couple of guidebooks and look at city maps on the flight over, figure out what you want to see and where it is, then plan each day according to weather and where things are located. Take a train between the two cities.

Gate 1 is often a package rather thana tour - that is the do air, hotels and hald-day tour - and then you do what yu want. Much differnt than a tour - which I very much doutr will give you enough time in any oen place.

Agree that the teen (assuming you don;t mean a young 13) can do a lot of the planning - esp for sights - so you really need only to sort plane and hotel.

If you book your own trip you can connect with walking tours in Venice and Rome and choose the sights you want to see. You have the best of both planning your own trip and guides to lead you through the sights.

Thank you!! I will look into Rick Steves as well...I simply don't want to deal with all the logistics the first time through. I'm hoping to learn a bit more, polish my Italian and have another go at it next year - on our own and with a more specific agenda!

Focus on airfare and hotels for now. If you give a price range, people here can advise on hotels. The neighborhoods Lexma recommends are very good. As for airfare, look at open-jaws if you are doing the 2 cities. All you need to do is plug your dates and cities into Kayak.com. Do it every so often to get an idea of the going rates. For hotels, you can do the same on Venere.com (which also has reviews). Venere allows you to filter on nieghborhoods, price, and # stars. You can also email most hotels directly, and book that way. You should also crosscheck hotel reviews on tripadvisor.

Buy a guide book or 2 and maps of each city. You and your daughter can look at them whenever you have a chance. Also check suggested itineraries in Fodors and other travel sights to get ideas of how to spend your days. You'll be flying for several hours so you can do some of the sight-seeing planning then.

The planning is half the fun.

The logistics weren't as bad as I had feared. Read up online before you go and you'll be fine. Your teenager can probably help with some of this..

You have told us noting about the teen - an 18 year old girl is likely to have completely different interests from a 13 year old boy. And into would help give advice.

Adn you will have truoble finding a tour doing just those 2 cities in 8 days - they generally move much faster than that.

You've convinced me I can do this and so I have. My 15 year old daughter and I are booked to fly into Venice on 31 July and leave from Florence on 7 August. We opted to not go to Rome.

Now - the question I really need help with - hotels!

My daughter wants to "experience" Italy meaning not so many museums. Her big hits are Venice, of course, and Cinque Terre. Here's my dilemma.

I'd like to stay 3 nights in Venice and then go to Cinque Terre, but a 5-6 hr train ride with stop overs doesn't sound all that appealing.

Is it better to go from Venice to Florence - spend the afternoon/night in Florence and then take a train the following morning to Cinque Terre? I'm thinking it's probably an overnight in Cinque Terre and then back to Florence for our last night (we leave at 10am on the 7th from Florence).

Suggestions?

You do not have time for 3 destination---I would drop the CT---too much hassle and not enough time.

I'm not sure if we want to see Florence for 3 days though. Are you suggesting staying longer in Venice and then go to Florence and out of Italy?

What about going from Venice to CT and then just going to Florence to get outta dodge?

What is your hotel budget?

Great Question! I'm looking at staying around $150 a night....

In Florence, check out Hotel Casci. It's great value.

If you're not so much interested in Florence (wonderful primarily for museums), then yes, it makes sense to only go to Florence to fly out at the end of your trip.

If you do stay in Florence, we stayed with our 10yo daughter at Casa dei Tintori, a delightful B&B with wonderful hosts. It's in your price range, too.

In Venice, you could consider Casa Santa Maria Formosa, also in your price range (just barely), with a good location close to Piazza San Marco, but not too noisy.

Excellent thanks!

I think what I'll do is book 3 nights Venice, 3 nights in Florence and then depending upon weather, we can do a 1 day sight-seeing trip to Cinque Terre. It doesn't appear to have any hotel availability in August anyway, so it seems that has made up my mind!

One last question...is it best to book through Venere.com or through the hotel? I've looked on some hotel websites and they say no availability but Venere.com shows some availability...what is that about?