Hi everyone,
My friend's lovely twin girls (21 years old) are going to Venice, Rome and Florence for their graduation presents. I can give them my 'regular' Italy information but can you suggest places/things in those cities that might be fun for someone their age -- things that your kids might have recommended?

It goes without saying (so of course I'll say it anyway) that I want them to be safe but still have a good time with kids their own age and maybe do something a little off the beaten track.

Thanks for your help.

It is very easy for young people to hook up with other young people in Italy. Italy has LOTS of tourists from all over the world and most young Italians love meeting them. Most are very nice and really want to have a great time. They love showing their country off and will no doubt want to take your girls somewhere. Uh oh, Vespas LOL. The trick here is to make sure your girls are VERY discerning. I can bet 2 or 3 young gentlemen will find them very quickly. Chances are very good nothing serious at all will happen, but they could find themselves in an uncomfortable situation with these young men. Best for them to be polite right away and just move on. Always stay in public. Don't go off with people alone and never with private transportation. Should they want to go see something, stick with public transportation and public places. If guys bother them too much, believe me it is ok for them to just say, "we are NOT interested" Those guys are used to it. With common sense they will have a wonderful time.

Thanks, TravMimi,
They're sensible girls and I don't think they'd do anything stupid but it never hurts to remind them, does it. Especially since, as very pretty identical twins, they get a lot of attention.

Can you recommend any well-located, safe clubs, restaurants, attractions, etc. that are popular with young people.

Sadly it's been a while since I was a "young Italian person". Times and places have changed, so I can't help with that. Having a "young Italian person" I can only help with reminders. One more reminder. Italian kids just don't have the "forbidden fruit" drinking desire. A SURE sign that there is something rotten in Roma is if the people they are with are drinking anymore than something with a meal or a wine or 2 while chatting for hours in a cafe. Very pretty twins will get lots of attention.

Hdm-I'll get back to your question-can give plenty of info. on places and things to do that your daughters will like-from a long-time disco in Venice (Piccolo Mondo) to the Ice Club in Rome-but later.

That would be great, girlspytravel, thanks. I'd love it if they were my daughters, but they're my friend's girls.

STATravel.com specializes in young adult travel. Their website has lots of outings, if the girls are interested in anything like that. But, really, they should do fine on their own if they prefer.

My daughter studied in Florence last year. There are many college-age students in that city, and the girls will probably easily be able to find them and where they hang out. It seemed like Florence stayed open late to accomodate them.

One restaurant where we saw a lot of young adult diners was Acqua Al 2 (pronounced 'aqua al duo'), Via della Vigna Vecchia, 40/R, phone 055 284170 in Florence. It's not especially inexpensive restaurant, but very good and quite lively.

There iss also a place called the Old Stove Irish Pub, which had free wi-fi and the students seemed to visit there a lot. The address is in my trip report below.

Here's my trip reports with my 21-year old daughter from last May, in case they are of help:

Florence-- http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34813784

Rome-- http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34813272

Venice-- http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34814606

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Hey,

I went to Venice, Florence and Rome as part of a longer trip last summer. Florence was my favorite place of the three but here's my blog (http://rae-does-contiki.blogspot.com/) in case you want to check out all I did. I only spent a few days in each city but I traveled with people 19-24 years old, so hopefully your daughters will be able to pick up some interesting tips.

Cheers!
Rachael

Hdm-I forgot to get back to you on this, I'll start with Venice:

In the evenings the girls will want to to head first over to Rialto, in San Polo, behind the fruit and fish market to Campo San Giacometto, (vaporetto, Rialto) anchored by the ancient church with the huge clockface, with all the other young people, go into a wine bar, (bacaro) have a glass of wine and some cichetti, and then be out in the campo socializing with all the handsome Venetian men (and there are many fine looking men in this city, of all ages!). A big hangout for the younger crowd here is MURO VINO E CUCINA - modern restaurant and bar, but everyone gathers outside with their drinks.

The other huge gathering spot (and I would say, this is the biggest for the college age crowd) is Campo Santa Margarita-they will find a HUGE crowd here on Saturday night-Bar Orange is a big spot, but pick any place where there are crowds of young people spilling out of the bars into the campo.

At some point they will want to check out the disco scene in Venice-the one and only-PICCOLO MONDO is 5 minutes from Campo Santa Margarita in Dorsoduro. In the 60's, as I understand it, Peggy Guggenheim suggested the name "El Souk" and so it was called until new ownership sometime in the late 70's. Anyway, it's still going strong. I went here some weeks ago with friends, and it was okay, there are Venetians there, not too many tourists, (it's VERY small) because I don't think most know of it-but any rock star that passed through Venice has stopped in here from time to time -the pictures are on the wall-it closes at 2am.

Tomorrow, Florence, Rome...

^

Y'all are great! Thank you so much for all this info. I'm sure the girls are going to have a wonderful time.

>Acqua Al 2 (pronounced 'aqua al duo'), <

You'll find yourself better understood if you say "aqua al due".

bookmark

The girls left for Israel with their grandad yesterday. They'll visit there and then leave him and go off it Italy on their own, armed with all your wonderful information.

Thanks from all of us!

Here are a few links you may find helpful:

http://www.travel--guide.org/Rome

http://www.travel--guide.org/Venice