First time Italy: Much excitement and Some Questions
 

Hello everyone,

My partner Robert(o) and I are travelling to Italy for the first time EVER! I have been silently (my friends, colleagues and family will tell you different) planning this trip for 15 months. We are now 7 weeks out and I am so excited I feel like I am holding my breath.

I had initially planned something quite insane in terms of hotel and place changes (after many versions and some mildly expensive cancellations and re-booked flights.. ah well)….. our pared down itinerary is as follows:

1.10 Arrive Roma in time for dinner (8.30pm) after 22 hour flight from Oz. We plan to eat and sleep or drink and sleep. (Hotel). I will see the Trevi fountain on my first night if it kills me. (It’s not too far from where we are staying).
2.10 Day in Roma to recover (from flight or drinks or both) and find out bearings.
3.10 Midday train to Cortona and spend week (villa small group bit fancy tour)
10.10 Morning train to Firenze (apartment)
17.10 Morning train to Venezia (apartment)
23.10 Morning flight to Palermo, collect rental and drive to Agrigento for night and next morning (Hotel)
24.10 After lunch drive to Taormina (B&B) stay four nights
28.10 Drive to Catania and fly to Roma for one week (apartment)
4.11 Fly home after lunch.

Our weeks are not filled in. We have lists/ research/options. And if, for example, we wanted to spend the night in Siena then we will. I have booked the Uffizi for our first night (Saturday) in Firenze, late night opening.

Questions
I do have some questions that I have not been able to answer despite my incessant/obsessive research and reading. Hoping you can help me.

In Australia, Optus offers a $10 per day global roaming unlimited calls and text and 50 MB of data. Has anyone used it? I will call them but just wondered if anyone had used this and if it was sufficient.

I am having problems booking trains and I would like to know the best site to book through.

Rob has attended Italian language classes and I can read many words in Italian but we are both pretty hopeless. Hoping emersion will work. The apps that translate speech and text look fabulous. Has anyone used it?

My birthday is 2 November All Souls Day following All Saints Day and a Monday so is that likely to be a closed day for businesses? It's Ok my husband can cook….but was hoping for something special.... lunch or dinner.

Ciao and Grazie.

Kym

Sounds like a wonderful trip!

For trains just book through trenitalia.com or italotreno.it. It's only necessary to book for the more expensive trains if you want to get cheaper tickets. For the standard regionale trains there is no need and no advantage in pre-booking. The automated kiosks at stations are very easy to use and often there is a manned ticket office open.

For phone, is it really 50mb? - that's not much. I know Vodaphone have a similar arrangement. You'd have to do the sums to work out whether it's good for you. Their call rates will be on their website. I've also heard mention many times of a SIM card which you purchase in Italy called Tim Welcome. It's apparently 20euro and lasts a month, with fairly generous allowances. Another alternative is goSIM, which you can purchase online before you leave Australia.

Of course it's always polite (and fun) to try out your skills in the local language but you will find that most people in Italy who work with tourists every day will have some English. I wouldn't worry to much about any language barrier. A smile and goodwill will go a long way.

Enjoy your holiday.

Italians observe November 1 & 2 as a family time to visit cemeteries, and usually have a family lunch as part of that, often in restaurants rather than at home. It varies from region to region as to how strictly or elaborately this is observed, and most families would simply gather on Sunday rather than both days -- so in general, I would not expect to find a lot of restaurants shuttered Nov. 2. But you should always check in advance if you have your heart set on a particular eating destination wherever you go in Italy, whichever day. Most Italian restaurants are run by one or two people, and if they need to close, they will.

The Trevi fountain is under repair, partly surrounded by scaffolding, with the target date for finishing being October. You might want to check back closer to your departure date to see if that target was met. You might not want to "kill yourself" getting there after a long plane flight if seeing half of it can wait until the next day.

The TIM package for tourists is 20€ but you have to buy the actual sim card as well for an additional €10 so it's really 30. It has a lot of call time but only 2G of data and we ran out after just over a week and only used it for gps on the phone a few times. We were kind of shocked we ran out but we did. So I doubt 50mb would last very long. What will you be doing with it?

They were making progress on the Trevi - I was there in March and then again just last week. In March it was all covered. But last week the bottom third was still covered in scaffolding.

Thank you so much for your responses.

The whole trip feels a little perfect.....for us. I gained a lot of knowledge and insight from reading here and elsewhere for months and months. And months.

The Optus deal is 50 MB a day which is accumulative. We will have a second phone so will buy a local sim. Think I answered my own question.haha. Don't dont want any horror surprises about global roaming when we get home and I like to stay in touch and write.

Oh dear I had heard the Trevi was unscaffolded. Oh well..no big drama.

Thanks for the information about the November observances. I'm sure I'll find the prefect restaurant. Wont matter it's Rome!

No one used the language apps? ....I think I'll get anyway...and write a review later!

Grazie

I was at the Trevi Fountain yesterday, just passing by and only the bottom third is now scaffolded. No water as yet but in seven weeks that could all change. It is looking amazing!
No idea about your phone plan but many places have free wifi and your hotel probably will too. Just use their wifi and stay connected that way.
Book your trains through Trenitalia. Change the language to English using the UK flag top right on the site. You need to know stations in Italian e.g. Rome is Roma Termini, Florence is Firenze Santa Maria Novella, Venice is Venezia Santa Lucia etc.

November 2 is not of any importance in Rome (1 is), so you will only run into the regular monday closures when you are looking for a restaurant. Check out Chowhound Italy board for ideas.

Just buy your tickets at the train stations- machines are very easy to use.

I have not used the language apps. One useful app is Eat Rome (Elizabeth Minchilli) and I believe she has one for Florence and Venice. Katie Parla also has a good food app for Rome.

Kym, we bought a couple of these SIM cards:
http://www.woolworthsglobalroaming.com.au/

In the past, we have used ANZ travel cards, but found that the ANZ exchange rate and ATM fees in Italy were a bit horrible.

Citibank Plus Transaction accounts give a better rate, and there are no ATM fees.
Easy to open an account on line, and their security protocols are good.

We head from Melbourne to Paris this Saturday, three weeks in France and Italy, then five weeks in just Venice.

I used two different apps for translation during our trip to Italy the last two summers. Google Translate works very well, and I also liked SayHi. Like others have said, many Italians have some English. And if not, they work with you to help everyone figure things out. We are working on our Italian, but in the mean time, these apps and the patience of our Italian friends work well.

Your trip sounds wonderful-enjoy!!

If you buy online you get can get significant discounts. I recently bought two tickets Naples to Rome (on the Inter-City) and paid just 19 euro for both tickets.

You don't get discounts like this buying from the ticket machines.

Please note that November 2nd is a working day but November 1st, all over Italy, is a festive day. Transportation runs on the Sunday schedule, shops are closed.

Wow thank you all so much.

Know Chowhound site so will do some more reading. Thanks.

Peter, 5 weeks in Venice !!!... I'm pretty sure I've read some of your posts..... Made me decide on at least a week. Originally we were to spend one and half days and I thought I'm travelling this far to spend no time in this amazing place. A week won't be enough but it's way better than 1.5 days.

I have been trying to book through Trenitalia. I must be getting something wrong....but will keep trying.

Happy to hear about the Trevi. We'll be there When we first arrive and then again four weeks later. I don't think its possible for me to be disappointed. I refuse. Haha.

Also happy to hear about Woolworths global roaming deals and will look into and I like the idea of the comfort of the translate apps. For emergencies maybe...or for fun.

Thanks so much for all your advice and sharing your knowledge... and my excitement.

Grazie

Kym

Kym, if you click on my user name, you would find several trip reports from Venice. Might be of interest to you, an Aussies view on La Serenissima.

Trenitalia, if the station names are just a bit off the thing just does not work. Also more than 120 days out it is useless, though early November is only 90 days away

Five days in Rome sounds perfect and you can easily do a lot of day trips to the countryside and many Unesco sites worth visiting, one of my favorites is Tivoli. Here's just a few of my favorite sites worth visiting in Rome and also an amazing food tour worth doing in Trastevere

http://travelphotodiscovery.com/rome...-you-to-visit/

http://travelphotodiscovery.com/tras...d-local-foods/

Thank you Peter...you must be just about to fly out? Enjoy! I like you're pre trip report.

Thank you too emorata. That food tour definitely appeals to me. It also seems be great value. I'm very tempted to book it for my birthday... To hopefully be with other people who would be fun... But that's at the end of our holiday...and it seems it's best appreciated on first day/s of visit. Also loved loved loved your photographs. (I'm a student of photography..always and forever a student). I hope to capture something, just one, anywhere near as good.

Thanks Bilbobuglar. I think I have been trying to book trains that don't go in the direction I want. Haha. The first train I need is from Roma to Camucia. The best way I think is a regional train to get the times etc we want. And can't do that till a week out or on the day. The others Camucia to Florence and then Florence to Venice are easier and have managed to complete my bookings. Thanks for your help.

6 weeks to go. Woo hoo.