Complete novice planning a trip to Italy
 

We are planning a trip to Italy this fall, and I have a few questions. The travel agent that has booked a cruise for us recommended TourCrafters to book a (flexible, I don't want to spend every moment with a tour guide) tour with all the hotel arrangements. The idea of a tour company - at least a flexible one - appeals to me because I have no idea what is out there or what to look for, and that could be alleviated with a reputable tour company (hopefully? Please correct my novice self if I'm mistaken.)

We'd be booking a land only package, as we really want to fly Continental (or partners), and we're wanting to visit Rome and Florence (seven night stay).

I'm still slightly torn over whether or not the tour company is worth it for us. I get that experienced travelers are better able to book every detail, but that's not us right now. How easy/difficult would it be to book decent, reputable hotels in those two cities for one who's never been there?

The second question - travel insurance. We are looking at Access America, after getting their name off of the Continental website. We are looking at one of their products that isn't the standard Continental Product (better coverage). Does anyone have experiences with this company or recommendations to make?

Suggestions? Help!

luvmyguys,

I have been to Italy once, last year April thru May 18 days and did the planning myself and was very pleased with the results. I started by internet searching accomodations that I found in several of the more popular tour books. That search "aimed" me to many reviews by travelers. I refined my selection from there. The main criteria I used was budget of course and proximity to local transportation, the metro buses etc. Lots of Fodorites will make recommendation based on thier experiances too. Outline what you want to see in both Rome and Florence. Sit back and read all the recommendations. Give it a shot. You will find (I hope) that the research will enhance the visit.

Regards,

Rolo

Generally, I think travel insurance is a scam or just pure bs.

Check with your credit card company to see if it offers travel insurance just for booking the ___ (flights, hotels, etc) with it so you don't have to cough up more money for nothing.

Actually, I have some real life reasons for wanting travel insurance.

In 2005, we took a trip from Texas to Disney World. Hurricane Rita hit during that time, and it messed up our travel plans. HOWEVER, it wasn't heading for Disney World (where Disney would have given us some kind of compensation, even if park tickets for a later time), it was heading for our house. Disney doesn't care if it's heading for our house, and we had reasons that we had to get back there. We are planning on going right in the midst of hurricane season.

Last year, my husband was treated for cancer, and three weeks after his remission, my mom was diagnosed with leukemia and died 5 weeks later. Although he's still safely in remission, if for some reason it comes back (the policy we're looking at would cover that possibility), we wouldn't be able to go. And in the case of my mom, had she gone into the ICU the day before we were to leave, you can be sure that we wouldn't have been able to go.

In February of this year, my sister in law and her cousin were about to leave for a trip to Cancun, when a close family member passed away. They purchased trip insurance that allowed them to cancel the trip with no financial penalty (cancel - not rebook for a later time).

There are a bunch of other reasons, but yes, trip insurance is a non-negotiable for us.

"How easy/difficult would it be to book decent, reputable hotels in those two cities for one who's never been there?" It is really very easy, but does take some time, though I think the time is worth it and you will be rewarded for your research.

First check out hotel reviews on Trip Advisor for Florence & Rome:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g1...ny-Hotels.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g1...io-Hotels.html

These are hotel reviews written by people just like you and me and if you read enough of them you will get a good idea of what you are looking for. You can cross reference them on the fodors site by putting in their name in the search and see what additional comments come up.

You can also check out other threads on here that talk about neighborhoods in Rome and Florence to get an idea of what neighborhood might work best for you. In Rome, my favorite neighborhood is near the Pantheon.

I always just email the hotels to find out availability and confirm pricing. It is easy and conversing with them always gets me more excited for my trip!

Good luck!

If you're only planning on visiting Rome and Florence, you can certainly identify and book two hotels within your budget. Although tour companies often offer what sound like great lodging deals, the hotels are often not in the part of the city where you really want to be.

So, tell us your budget and the type of hotel you prefer (small/big, any particular amenities you like/need, etc.), and the recommendations will follow. You'll want to make reservations ASAP for this fall.

Okay - Rome. We definitely want to see the Vatican. From what I've seen, and based on jgg's suggestion, it looks like the Pantheon and the surrounding area would be centrally located to the places we'd like to hit. In any event, something in that area across the Tiber from the Vatican would probably be the general area we'd like to stay. We'd like to stay under $300 a night. A/C is essential, and breakfast would be nice.

Florence - after some perusal on threads here, I found the Antica Torre Tornabuoni, which looks wonderful and close to the places we'd like to visit. (Any other suggestions?)

Thanks to everyone for their help so far! Keep it coming!

In Rome look at the Albergo Cesari (www.albergocesari.it). We have stayed there twice and really enjoy it. Excellent location!

Travel insurance is a good thing. Booking tours as opposed to planning yourself for a simple trip like the one you plan on taking is a no-brainer unless you're a total travel newbie-wuss or just can't be bothered.

It's typically not a good idea to buy travel insurance from the tour company or airline (what if they go bankrupt?). Buy it directly from the insurance company. You can research the various insurance companies on insuremytrip.com. For a pre-existing condition to be covered, you must purchase it within 14 days of any down payments for the trip (hotel, airfare, etc.).

It's easy to train between Florence and Rome (90 minutes). If you fly to Rome, train to Florence upon arrival, spend a few days, train to Rome for the rest of the trip.

I think that you can do better planning this yourself than by taking a packaged tour. You asked “how easy is it to book decent hotels?”, and I would suggest that it’s not hard.

You are indicating a seven night stay, so four nights in Rome and three in Florence would work well. The suggestion to take a train direct to Florence when you arrive in Rome is good, and Florence is less hectic than Rome. Rome airport is OK, and a train ride from down-town.

Travelling Rome to Florence is easy – it is a two hour approx train trip, and trains run every hour. There’s no need to book in advance, but if you are near the station, it’s worth buying your ticket a day prior, or when you arrive. We got caught on this one – the train we’d planned on taking was full, so we spent an hour browsing the book shop and drinking coffee. The ticket vending machines speak English, and accept Visa cards.

Hotels – indicate a price range on Fodors, and you will get a heap of responses. It helps to indicate where in Rome you fancy staying (I know little about Rome so can’t comment). We’ve stayed twice at the Pace Helvezia in Rome and it was OK.

Once you’ve sorted transport, then you can start to think about what you want to see. The Vatican, Forum, Colusseum etc in Rome are sights you would not want to miss, and we like the Palatine too. It is quiet and peaceful. There are guided day tours available, and again I’m ignorant of them, as we tend to just blunder around. Post a query on Fodors and you’ll receive good advice. I’m inclined to think that any day – or half day – tour that you book locally will be better than the tour you get with the package tour. The group is likely to be much smaller, and move more quickly.

Florence is Art Central, Art Warehouse, Mr Art and Arts’r’Us rolled into one. I might confess that we’ve visited none of the big ticket galleries in Florence, and again, others will comment. A bus trip from Florence to Sienna is a great day trip. Take the bus – the train station is a half hour walk – all uphill – from the centre of Sienna. We stayed at a rotten hotel in Florence (walls made of cardboard) and next trip we’re booked at the Hotel Casci – its well reviewed both here and on Trip Advisor.

Hotel booking is easy – we used www.venere.com for bookings on our first trip, and now we email the hotels directly.

Travel insurance – well, we don’t leave home without it.
I could throw a spanner in the works and suggest Venice for four nights (fly into Venice) and then train to Rome for three nights.

But I’m a bit of a Venice tragic, you see.......

I think everyone has safely talked me out of the tour company. LOL.

Buying travel insurance direct from the company - check. I usually end up calling the company directly, just so I can ask my 1000 questions. I ended up getting an independent quote just in doing that (which was actually cheaper than what Continental quoted for less insurance). I'll definitely check out the insuremytrip website.

Any opinions on the Hotel Diocleziano (hoteldiocleziano.it)? Trip Advisor had good reviews of it, and I like the location.

NOW - my next question - Which city would be better seen on a weekend? Our trip will be Friday to Friday (departing the US on Thursday), with the likely transfer from one city to the next on Monday. I understand that Monday is a day off for many businesses, so making the transfer on Monday sounds like a good plan. Is there an advantage (in terms of sightseeing attractions being open) in either city?

Thanks!

The insurance companies will send you a policy to review before you purchase, if you ask. It pays to read the fine print.

The hotel is not a good location. It's near the train station. I would stay somewhere more central.

Suggestions?

OK, here comes the Contrarian. Access America is a good company. If your airfare is not refundable, it's worth getting it. Most hotels will not charge if you cancel within 24-48 hours before the date. If you have older parents, or have any health issues, having travel insurance is great. My husband's mother had heart attacks on the eve of 2 of our trips.

And I happen to think that a tour with free time is a great way for a newbie traveler. You sacrifice your own scheduling BUT someone else buys all of your tickets and gets you from point A to B.

My DH and I started with a totally guided tour to Greece in the 80s, got a more flexible one in the early 90s and then started winging it. At the time there were many travel agencies and we found one who hooked us up with the air and hotels of unfilled tours.

Many things are closed on Monday or Tuesday so we try to travel on those days. Many things are closed for lunch-you will not have to factor that in if you take a tour! We like staying on or near a street with lots going on. We get a room in the back but have only steps to food after a long day.

Hope to see a trip report from you and best of luck.

In Rome, I like the Hotel Portoghesi. It's a basic 3* in a great location near the P. Navona, but on a quiet side street.

http://www.hotelportoghesiroma.it/

Travel insurance isn't worth it for MOST travellers. It's like buying extended warranties for appliances and automobiles--yes, on some occasions some "lucky" person will actually have something happen that allows them collect from the insurance, but that is the exception. The value of MOST people's vacations is not sufficient to justify travel insurance. In many cases, much of what is reserved can be cancelled for no or low cost, or some portion of the trip items are covered under your credit card.

But for some people, it's worth paying for the peace of mind that such insurance provides.

One exception would include someone at high risk for accident or health problems who does not already have health insurance that would cover them outsider their home country.

If you do decide to get the insurance, READ THE FINE PRINT. What one paragraph gives you in bold print on the first page, a little phrase might take away from you in fine print on a later page.

One thing I would add: at the time of year you plan on going, you probably would not need air conditioning. In fact, I am not sure you can even get A/C before the first of May (they don't turn it on).

Another good place for Italy help and hotel reviews is SlowTrav.com. Look at their forums to post questions. And look up their reviews. Otherwise, I can't help on accommodations because we always stay in apartments.

Why we like travel insurance:

DH creased the side of a car against a post in Bergen, Norway, and our travel insurance paid the entire $1,000 cost without a question. the whole thing with CDW and such is moot if you have a good travel insurance policy.

Our son's rental car was mashed by a hit-run driver in hawaii and the trip insurance paid the repair bill with no hassle.

I broke my foot while in Alaska and the insurance paid for me to rent a wheelchair and to fly home first class to keep my foot elevated. And it paid for my share of the rental 2 months later on an apartment in Rome that I couldn't get to because of the foot.

Because we are in our 70s we might fall ill and not be able to make a European trip -- and lots of the costs are prepaid, so we don't want to lose the money.

>>>the whole thing with CDW and such is moot if you have a good travel insurance policy.<<<

Maybe, maybe not. Some insurances/credit cards that cover in other countries exclude CDW in Italy and Ireland.