Hi,
I have a question, last year my wife and I did a 2 week Trafalgar Tour of Italy. We enjoyed it, but it only TOUCHED it. We spent a little over 5 grand for the tour including air.
Now my question is, could I afford to do this on my own staying at 4 star hotels for 2 weeks, doing independent travel for the same amount. We would like to stay in Rome, Florence, Milan, and Venice, with some side trips. We really are not the B&B type and don't want an apt. Trains between cities would work for us.

Thanks
Bob

Hi NY,

$5000 is rather tight if you insist on 4* hotels.

No, not now, and not in those cities.
Why 4 star hotels? See my budget at slowtrav.com under " planning".

Air from where? from London? No problem. What month?

More info needed to provide a meaningful answer.

Best wishes,

Rex

Agree with the above. Tours like Trafalgar usually mix in stops at cheaper places along with the major cities, whereas you want to stay exclusively at the latter.

I think you could manage a three-star vacation for that amount, but not a four-star, especially not in Venice or Milan which are very pricey indeed. Carefully chosen, three stars should provide you with all the required goodies - lift, A/C (in summer), decent furnishings, etc. etc.

One bonus is that the independent traveler can choose to stay in smaller, much more conveniently located hotels than those favoured by groups, so while the hotel room might be of three star quality, the location will be more like four or five star for convenience and atmosphere. You can also get better meals for your money as an independent.

Good luck Bob, you'll have fun on your own.

NYPDRET: 5 grand with all your food and shopping or just the price of the tour?
Having never stayed at 4 star hotels outside of Las Vegas with a deal. Aren't they at least 300 euros a night in Florence and Rome and 100 euros more in Venice. 14 nights at 325 euro is 4550 x $1.23 is $5596.50.

Part of this depends on the definition of "four star" - - some rating systems (for example, Mobil) use four (diamonds, in their case) as the top of the line. But venere.com uses 1 through 5, plus "5L" (luxe)... and these might be the same as the official Italian (government) rating system.

And I make no assumptions about how picky you might be on locations (though none of these listed below is in a "BAD" location)...

There ARE "four star" hotels that can fit in your budget, for example...

http://www.venere.com/it/roma/quirinale has a special promotion - - 3 nights for 495 euro (April 3 to 6)

In November, http://www.venere.com/it/firenze shows 19 of 35 four star hotels at or below 150 euro per night - - and the five star Villa Antea for 109.

In Venice, http://www.venere.com/it/venezia/metropole has a rack rate of 170 euro, and on numerous selected dates, March-June, they offer a junior suite (250 euro) at the rack rate of the double room.

So, it can be done.

But did you retire from NYPD to Juneau? Toronto? Bristol, Tennessee (a thread this weekend lamented the high cost of flights from there)...

The cost of your flights, and when they will occur will make or break your plans.

Bringing your message back up "to the top", since it is your first post here ever...

Just keep in mind that a 4 star hotel might well not offer you anything more than a 3 star hotel in terms of what you want in a hotel. The difference between a 4 and 3 star hotel could be because of such things as the availablity of conference rooms or the size/location of the lobby.