Book Meals and Sites Before we leave?
 

Hi all! New to the site..found it after booking hotels..But, Should I be booking dinner and the sites or tours before we leave on the 21st of June? Kind of wanted to go with the flow...but do want to eat and tour the big name sites...what do you think? Rome 3 days, Siena 3 days, San Remo 1 day, then Bellagio for 3 ..Venice for 2..advice..PLEASE..first trip to Europe..my travel agent hasn't offered much help. Thank-you!

Hi mich,

You don't have to book restaurants before you go unless you have a particular place in mind for a particular day.

May I ask why you are doing "San Remo 1 day, then Bellagio for 3 ..Venice for 2.." instead of Venice for 4 days?

((I))

Ira,
Have seen your name a lot! Don't know why..we heard from some people we work with not to go to Venice at all...that didn't sound right to me...and they were not really friends...my husband does like to move around...car trips are his favorite! so that's why...I'm lucky he doesn't have me in a different place every night!

Hi Mich,

>...we heard from some people we work with not to go to Venice at all..<

My Lady Wife and I have been to Venice about 8 times and are still thrilled each time we go there.

>..my husband does like to move around...car trips are his favorite! <

I can understand that. (This is not to be considered and endorsement.)

2 days in Venice is better than not seeing Venice at all.

If you want to go on the Secret Itineraries tour of Doge’s palace Phone number for reservations is
011 39 041 520 9070.

((I))

Hi stacey,

Venice has stolen Ira's heart. Your only way out of this with him is to remind him this is your FIRST trip to Europe and there will be others. You will return some day to his beloved Venezia, as she will steal your heart, too. (And she will!) :)

Ira,
Thank-you for the information/contact number.
Am a novice and do appreciate your time and knowledge!!

You might want to look on this board for recommendations of tour guides/companies for particular sites and then book it before you go. We thouroughly enjoyed our tours with Context Rome but there are many others mentioned on this board with glowing recommendations as well.

We fell in love with Venice as well!!

Rookie,
Thanks! It is our first trip...and am SO excited! I am sure we will fall in love with Venice and ...can't wait to see what else! Anything you wish you had known on your first trip?
We love history, but...will not want to spend all of our time in museums..love new people, places, sights, and smells...oh and tastes, too!

Personally, I liked Venice, but didn't fall in love with it or want to overstay my 2-night, 3-day visit. Sure, it was cool to see the "postcard" you're used to seeing pop to life when we arrived, but it was super expensive, smelled funny, and was crowded.

To me, it felt like going to Rio de Janeiro and saying you saw Brazil -- an overpriced, tourist-trap city that's quite scenic -- sure, but not representative of the rest of the country.

Now that I've ripped on it -- I will say that Venice is a "must see" at least once. It's a truly unique city, just not one I feel I need to go back to anytime soon.

Happy travels.

Jules

p.s., I'll now assume the position so Ira can give me a good virtual lashing.

:)

Jules

Thanks jgg...So you think we should book the tour's we are thinking of ahead of time? Do they book up fast? Is this the high season (June 21-July 4th)

Jules4je7,
At least now I don't feel quite so bad for only having the 3 and 2 in Venice!

What do you wish you knew on your first time out? Not just Venice...but ITALY

< Anything you wish you had known on your first trip? >

More Italian! Although you will be visiting areas that are frequented by tourists and most Italians working in the tourist areas speak English, they are very appreciative when we try. At least learn the basics and smile alot. My experience was that when I struggled with their language they were patient to a point and then broke into fluent English. It was humbling.

The Italians take their evening meal latee (8:00 and after) than many Americans and linger over it for hours, so try to eat a late lunch or stop for a gelato around 5:00 to tide you over.

Give yourselves time each day to soak up being where you are.

And by the way, I didn't expect to fall in love with Venice. I thought my reaction might be what Jules' was, so I do realize Venice is not for everyone.

I had a few surprises in Italy -- I found Italians (in a massive generalization here) to be harsher than I thought they would be. I had this vision of romantic, lovely, even nice people, and it just wasn't so for the most part.

More than any other country I visited (England, France, Greece and Turkey as well on that trip) I found several people in Italy I had dealings with to be brusque, bordering on rude. I'm generally a very likeable person -- very self-deprecating and willing to laugh at my bad language skills -- and having just come from France where I had GREAT experiences, I was a bit surprised to not find the same welcoming feel in Italy.

That said -- I think if I had known that things were going to be a little more -- how shall I say -- "to the point" with the Italians, I would have worn a thicker skin and not let it bother me.

Most of the places we went (Venice, Florence, Rome) were very nice places to visit. Rome is a fast pace, scooter-everywhere kinda place, but absolutely fascinating. I found Florence to be worth way more time than I gave it.

And one last point -- I wish I'd read Rick Steves' book on Rome more closely, so I wouldn't have gotten ripped off at the cafe near the Vatican (a common practice, apparently). Watch them ring up the food, make them account for each charge, and count your change.

Other than that, it was fantastic. The gelato was to die for, the Colisseum did not disappoint, along with a million other things I saw along the way. Don't miss the Pantheon in Rome.

:)

Jules

Thanks Jules and Rookie!
I have Italian for Traveler's on CD...and will remember to just try and be in the moment...not planning everything too much...but, watching for things mentioned here.

I have been to Venice twice (only times I've been in Italy) and I love it and I would return there again in a heartbeat, probably before going anywhere else in Italy (I visited in combination with Paris and Switzerland trips).

I was not interested in doing any formal tours, so don't know how to advise about that. We had a great book of maps that showed different walks which we followed on our own. Mostly we just wandered around and got lost.

Things that would have been helpful to know:

1) You stamp your own ticket before boarding a vaporetto.

2) Vaporetto numbered routes go both directions (so when boarding the 52 for instance you want to be sure it is headed toward the train station not the Lido... learned that one the hard way!).

3) If you look up at the corner of old buildings there are often arrows painted, pointing the general way to major sights like San Marcos, Rialto, Accadamia bridge, etc. This can help if you get turned around.

4) Ask your hotel the name of the closest vaporetto stop name and its route number.

I never book meals, but then again I'm pretty casual about restaurants. Just look around for what looks best when I'm hungry, or during the day for someplace nice for that evening.

As for your itinerary, not enough days in Venice :-)

If you know what company you want to use and the dates you would like to go, I would suggest reserving now. While I have only been in March, summer does tend to be a busy time.

<Anything you wish you had known on your first trip?>

1.How easy train travel would be. Travelling with kids I was worried about getting all our luggage on the train, etc. It was a breeze!

2.Street names in Rome are chiseled in stone on the sides of buildings. Not too many street signs like we are used to here.

3.Make sure any restaurant recommendations you have include the address!!! It is much easier for you to find it yourself on a map. By the way we used the streetwise maps and loved them. Laminated, easy to fold and despite the smaller size we never found a street, no matter how small, that wasn't on there.

It's amazing what things one finds enchanting. We only spent two days in Venice and the three things we remember most fondly are the vegetable market near the Rialto Bridge (What are those long pinkish beanpods with pale yellow spots?), the fish market with stalls of fresh fish, particularly the octopus, and a delightful shopowner from whom we tried to get directions back to the Rialto after getting hopelessly confused in the tiny little alleys which even the sunbeams seemed reluctant to enter. After numerous hand gestures, blank looks, big smiles from both her and us, she sent us on our way with one final word "couraggio".

What's up with the mention of cats and Venice? I have seen it come up few times now...are there a lot of cats around...love cats..
Am staying at the Belevedere for three days end of June...any suggestions for "must do's"?

Good Lord! Venice is a unique world treasure unlike any other place on earth. Smelled funny? That's the smell of a port city. It's not an amusement park. It's not a tourist trap anymore than Florence, or London, or Rome. It is more expensive than many destinations primarily because, here's a shocker for you, EVERYTHING has to be brought in by boat and then hauled to its destination by hand labor. Some people might have noticed that there weren't a lot of cars, trucks, motorscooters, and taxicabs roaring around the streets of Venice.

Take it from a fellow Michigander..if you have two FULL days in Venice you will be fine. I was actually thinking 3 days in Rome was short.

We went for our first time in April and were VERY disappointed by Venice but we had horrible weather. It was cold, rainy and VERY windy, and just not the swepted away romantic place we hoped. We almost did not get to take a gondola ride but it cleared up our last night and so we went. That's when we got to see the romantic, lovely side of the city. We followed it up with a concert in a small basilica and ended on a high note (no pun intended).

Have a wonderful trip!

Thanks Michigan Girl!
Am really looking forward to it!
Just read the latest info about booking on another thread...Ira has all of the numbers! Thanks All!

Just yesterday I booked the Doge's Palace Secret Itinerary tour for 20th June, online, using this site : http://www.museiciviciveneziani.it/f...ione=biglietti. You can choose whether to pay upfront by credit card or not - I did as it seemed less hassle. €15 pp for the full tour in English. I noticed that some dates around then had few tickets left.

I also booked entry to St Mark's basilica (free) using this site : http://www.alata.it/eng/BOOKING/sanmarco.asp.

And a week or two ago I booked & paid for the ghost walk (following recommendations on this board) using this site : http://www.tours-italy.com/venice/ghost_walk.htm.

I have not booked any restaurants yet but then I'm not planning on eating at Michelin-starred establishments.

Agree with the poster who said they wished they'd known more Italian on their first trip.

A useful Venice tip I saw on this site only yesterday is that a street name may exist in more than one sestiere, or district, so try to get the street name *& sestiere* of anything you're looking for.

michiganstacey, we noticed that there were a lot of cats all over Venice. And, to top that off they were the largest cats I'd ever seen in my life. I don't know why this is, other than perhaps the amount of seafood that is thrown out daily. Perhaps they are well fed from the overage that gets tossed? :D

I try to avoid single nights anywhere... but if you have your heart set on San Remo - go for it. I'm not a Venice fan. Llearn if you are - and if so, come back for a week.

I try to research restaurants in every city (it is so easy to eat expensive and crummy food in Venice). I make very few reservations, but I do have a few (we leave for 3 weeks in Italy on Sunday... I have 3 meals reserved).

I definitely think you should have museum reservations where possible - it saves a ton of time (and some places require it). We have reservations for St. Marks, Uffizi, Accademia, The Last Supper, and Borghese. We'll drop into a few other places... From everything I'm seeing, Italy will be jammed this summer - and many museums are booked thru June (for advanced reservations).

As far as the people - I have always found Italians in large cities and small to be amongst the friendliness in the world. I can not give a single personal example of rudeness, etc....

In any event, enjoy...

You've gotten a lot of excellent advice on booking for various sites, but I haven't seen much (under your post) on food/eating/restaurants.

Some of us obsessive foodie types (that's me) book many restaurants (dinner only) ahead of time. But that's not for everyone. You might take along a list (short or long) of restaurant possibilities, to avoid the possibly inevitable search for a restaurant.

But also, keep your eyes open. All restaurants are required to post their menus. If you're passing somewhere and see a place you like, and want to return later, stop in and ask if you can make a reservation for dinner. (And remember where the restaurant is located.)

In Rome, "pizza bianca" is a popular item. It's basically a plain, salted foccaccia, but it's SO GOOD. You can get it from pizzerias, the kind that have pizza by the slice. Oh, and pizza by the slice is great too, with much more variety than pizzas in the U.S. (especially if you like stuff like eggplant and zucchini). You can find those in Siena as well (I haven't been to San Remo or Bellagio, so I don't know about there.) Venice has little bars that serve great lunch food, risottos and the like.

Have a wonderful time!

Lexma...Thank-you!
I do love to eat...so I know when we are there...we will hope to choose wisely...I am printing your suggestions!

Michiganstacey, have a wonderful trip! I'm excited for you. We all loved our first family trip to Italy last June.

Our only regret: not taking restaurant recommendations with us for every single meal. The best meals we had were all recommended by either frequent Italy travellers on-line, or else they were in the Rick Steves guidebooks to Italy (available in your local bookstore or on his web-site www.ricksteves.com

The best recommendations on this web-site come from travellers who have been to Italy more than once, I found. I had a wonderful 72-year-old man writing to me who had been to Italy 6 times. His recommendations were right-on!

Rick Steves has recommended atmospheric family-run ristorantes with good prices for Italy. We found his recommended restaurants to be better AND CHEAPER than the places we just wandered by and randomly chose on our own!

Fodors guidebook is excellent for seeing the star ratings for the different attractions so you can figure out what you most want to see. We didn't bring the book with us to Italy but I consulted it at home in the planning stage and developed our itinerary while consulting it.

Travel agents often don't know as much as frequent travellers on this fodors site! www.slowtrav.com is also great for Italy info, although they will tell you you are moving way too fast, they still have good info. I have a great AAA travel agent because I love her personality and she gets me good airline tickets when I don't feel like getting them myself. But because of fodors I sometimes know the latest news before she does!

You don't need to book any meals before you go. But you can have someone from your hotel (front desk/or concierge) phone in your dinner reservation if it's a popular place. We would stand there and wait while they phoned in the reservation and thank them when they were finished. We didn't always make reservations for dinner, sometimes we just showed up for dinner.

Oh! I could go on and on. If you want my restaurant recommendations write to me at [email protected] and write Italy or Rome in the subject line (I pre-screen e-mails before deciding to open them.)

Best restaurants in Italy are small family-run places in my opinion! They have the best food and the best atmosphere. They have repeat customers, including locals and returning travellers.

I hope your hotels are centrally located in interesting walkable neighborhoods near some major attractions. This makes a big difference.

Venice, Rome, and Siena are all wonderful! You will never forget your first sight of Venice.

Buon viaggio!

I use several sources for restaurants. And while I have a handful of reservations, I have tons of lists (I've probably spent 30 or more hours just on restaurants for this trip). My sources:

1. DK top 10 (top 10 Rome, top 10 Venice, etc).

2. Great Eats Italy (only restaurants, great details including specials, price).

3. City Secrets Rome and City Secrets Florence, Venice, and the towns of Italy.

4. Rick Steves (esp. for those nights where price matters).

5. Restaurant Web Sites (about 1/3 to 1/2 have them) - for those I learn about thru the above. Typically have menus, etc..

I highlight the short list on a map - and then I can quickly see what is in the area as we are travelling and get hungry. I have reservations at La Chuisa, Osteria La Solita Zuppa, and one in Venice but the name escapes me (we arrive fairly late and I wanted to have that first night covered - it's a Rick Steve's recommendation). In spite of the fact that it is very easy to get great food in Italy - it is also very easy to spend a ton of money on poor food. And nothing dissappoints like a bad dinner in Italy.