Keith

My wife and I live in the US and are planning our first trip to Europe. In specific, we would like to go to Italy (both Southern and Northern), and are planning a 7-10 day trip. <BR>My question to this forum is as how to get started planning? Are there any good resources of how to 'Do Italy in a week', etc? Thanks, Keith

Monica

Hello Keith, <BR> <BR>When I start my planning (ex: going to Italy this November), I first purchase a couple of books: the Frommer's guidebooks and Insight Guides. Insight Guides is a book providing information on the history of the country, the people, culture, foods, etc. It's not like a typical guidebook like Frommer's or Fodors. Although I love this fodors web site and am here all the time, I personally like the Frommer's books better. <BR> <BR>From there, you can read about the various places and begin to narrow down to a few to several places to visit. When you read about a town, you can determine whether it's worth a day trip, an overnight stay, 2 days, or a homebase for several days. <BR> <BR>There's lots to see in Italy, so choose wisely and remember there will be future trips to Italy. Don't cram it all in on one trip. <BR> <BR>To give you an idea, my friend and I are planning to travel 1-13 Nov. We'll fly to Rome, then take the train to Venice and stay 4 nights. Then we'll rent a car and head to Tuscany and Umbria for about 5 days, then to Rome for the last couple of days. For Tus/Umb, we'll probably base ourselves in a town where we can do day trips. We want to visit Assisi, Deruta, Siena, and a few other places. At this point, it's read, read, read. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps! <BR> <BR>

Doug

Also recommend Karen Brown's site (sorry Fodors) as well as what information is available here. <BR> <BR>doug

Monica

PS: I have a travel page (http://www.luvtotravel.homestead.com/home.html. Once there, go to "Travel Tips" where I wrote about "How I plan my European trips."

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Keith, Here is a start to get you thinking. In that time you will barely make a dent. You can probably only do 3 destinations in that time. Choose well. <BR>Some of your best sources will be: <BR>www.initaly.com www.itwg.com www.twenj.com www.dolcevite.it <BR> <BR>It takes 6 weeks to see Italy well. Since this is your first trip, I would assume you will return several times. Do not feel the need to try and do it all this time. <BR> <BR>BOB the NAVIGATORS’ FIVE FAVORITE ITINERARIES <BR>________________________________________ <BR> <BR>MAGICAL FAIRYLANDS: <BR> * Arrive and depart from Munich--14 nites--May thru Sep.--car travel <BR> * ITINERARY: Salzburg, Dolomites, Venice, Lake Garda, Bavaria <BR>======================================== <BR>BELLA ITALIA: <BR> * Arrive Milan, depart Venice--15 nites--car & train travel--April thru Oct. <BR> * ITINERARY: The Lakes, Ligurian coast, Tuscany, Florence, Venice <BR>============================================ <BR>CLASSIC ITALIA: <BR> * Arrive & depart Rome--12 to 14 nites--car & train travel, all year <BR> * ITINERARY: Florence, Tuscan & Umbrian hilltowns, Rome <BR>============================================ <BR>LA DOLCE VITA: <BR> * Arrive & depart Rome--12 nites--car & train travel--March thru Oct. <BR> * ITINERARY: Amalfi coast, Tuscany hilltowns, Rome <BR>======================================== <BR>OF ALPS & LAKES: <BR> <BR> * Arrive and depart Zurich--12 nites--train travel--June thru Sep. <BR> * ITINERARY: Berner Oberland, Lugano, Lake Como, Luzern <BR>======================================== <BR> <BR>BOB THE NAVIGATOR <BR>

Kathy

Keith, <BR>First, budget your trip. Second, get some books. I can recomend Frommer's Let's Go Italy (ISBN 0312246811), Eyewitness Travel Guides to Italy (ISBN 0789404257)& Fodor's Exploring Italy (ISBN 0679004777). You'll have to figure out what you want to do & see, & these are all good resources. (BTW, I agree w/Monica about Frommer's). Sir Bob the Navigator (knighted earlier on this board along with Ben Haines)made a very astute observation--time will be of the essence & at most you'll get to 3 major cities/areas if you hope to see some sights, as opposed to just "veging out". Once you make these decisions, you can book the flight or train, reserve the hotel room(s), etc., & come back here to get restaurant recommendations! <BR>Best Wishes, <BR>Kathy

Jim Tardio

Lots of good advice given above. I've found that Alitalia has some good deals and lets you design an itinerary that suits you. They get you there and back and book your hotels in any city you want....all for a very reasonable price, very close to what you can book yourself over the internet. <BR> <BR>Seven to 10 days really isn't much time to cover the north and the south, let alone the middle Tuscany region. If you can stretch it to 14 days you'd be better off. Remember, you lose a day coming and going...really giving you 5-8 days. <BR> <BR>For your amount of time I'd probaly go to Rome for 4 days, taking one of those days to travel to Naples and a little ways down the Amalfi Coast. Then I'd Make a stop in Florence and spend the rest of the time in Venice. <BR> <BR>I have lots of photos of Italy on my site if you'd like to have a look. <BR> <BR>www.jimtardio.com/italy.html

wes fowler

Keith, <BR>You don't say when you plan to travel. If time permits, contact the Italian National Tourist Office for brochures and information (all free). Stop in your library or bookstore and browse through the various guides until you find one or two that seem most appealing. (You'll find the address of the Italian Tourist Office in them as well. <BR>Do get a good map of Italy. It's a large country, north to south. Plot your itinerary so that you're not backtracking and keep in mind the time lost in getting from one place to another. <BR>This may be your first trip to Europe; don't consider it to be your last. What you don't see and experience on this trip will give you any number of excuses to go back again and again. <BR>In seven to ten days, be conservative in how much you want to see and be flexible. Four days in Rome, three in Florence and two in Venice would be a sensible, not overly ambitious plan. Florence, part of Tuscany and the Italian lakes could easily fill ten days as well. <BR> <BR>Do a search here on "Italy" and you'll find a wealth of suggestions and information. Do a search also for a posting captioned "How do you plan your European trip?" for some sound advice and suggestions for planning.

Joyce

Keith, <BR>We just got back from our first trip. (5/12-5/27/01) May is the best month...weather was 75-80 degrees everyday. 15 nights, flew to Milan to Venice (3 nights)train to Florence (2 nites) drove to San Gimignano (4 nights) drove to Santo Porto Stefano (3 nights, drove to Rome (3 nights) I felt I got a really taste of italy (especially Tuscany). My hubby didn't like moving every 3 days but it was fine with me.It was really relaxing.

m

I think the easiest for a first time europe/italy trip is venice/forence/rome combo. Maybe with a stop or 2 in between if possible. You can easily spend 3 days in each of these places. My first trip to italy i spent a week in Rome and there is plenty to see and do. Definitely pickup a book or 2 as recommended here. For Hotels i really like the 'Charming hotels in Italy' book. I would then cross reference the hotels that looked interesting in the book with personal references, this board and sites like this that may rate hotels. I've always driven when i went between cities but the trains are very good also. the car gives you flexibility to make stops in and out of little towns along the way. I think since you have 7-10 days you don't want to knock yourself out and try to see everything, it's impossible, that's why so many people return. To start, get a map of Italy and at least one book and pick maybe 2 places you really want to spend time in. Also consider cities where you can easily fly in and out of. Once you get an idea of where you want to start and end your trip, check flight info and start the hotel researching and see what you can fit in in between. It will all come together once you get to that point.