A friend an I are planning a 12 day trip to Italy in October. <BR>Neither of us has ever been and we plan to tour around to as many places as we can by train and by car. <BR>Any and all advice would be appreciated. <BR>Also, if anyone is aware of packages that are available for something like this - that would be great. Good airfare is tough to find.<BR>Thanks!

If you mean October of 2002, I would recommend booking a package tour for sure--especially if you want to visit as many places as possible. Before deciding to work on a slower-paced independent itinerary, I had researched lots of 12- and 14-day tours and had decided to take the Globus "Italian Mosaic" tour (search www.globusandcosmos.com). This is called a 14-day tour, but 2 of the days actually involve flying. The "Italian Mosaic" tour ends up costing a little under $5,000 for two people by the time you add in airport taxes, etc., and includes a lot of meals & all of the admission to major museums, etc. It covers all of the things that I wish to see in Italy someday, including the Venice, Florence, Rome, the northern lakes, the Isle of Capri, Pompeii, Assisi, etc., etc. You take a tour bus everywhere & make frequent stops. <BR><BR>There are lots of similar tours (including shorter versions) offered by a variety of tour companies, including Cosmos, Trafalgar, Collette, Brendan, etc. The quality of the tour & accomodations all depends on how much you are willing to spend. <BR><BR>I hope that helps!

Mike, you have a lot of work to do to plan this late, but it is doable! I have a file of postings on Venice that I'd be happy to share...I am going to Venice mid-October. Just send me an email if you are interested.<BR><BR>Anne

topping!

I planned a trip to Italy in four weeks. With the help of terrific folks on this Web site, I was able to assemble lots of helpful information.<BR><BR>My files are on Florence, Rome, Amalfi Coast,Tuscany and Italy in General. If you are interested, e-mail me and and I will send them along.<BR>

Mike, do a text search on this site for Globus Tours...it was the topic of a recent exchange of interesting posts from people who actually went on one.

Mike, I'd just like to clarify that I'm not a travel agent or anything. And the reason that I decided not to book the Globus tour is that I was afraid I would end up seeing everything in Italy except real Italians. Plus, from reading reviews & talking to travel agents, it sounds like at least half of the supplied meals are in hotels rather than neighborhood trattorias, and you're on a bus with 45 other people day in and day out and if someone is late you have to wait for them, etc. <BR><BR>BUT, if you're looking for cheap airfare combined with lots and lots of sites and minimal planning, then a tour seems like the easiest & most cost-efficient way to go. And after looking through stacks of brochures & searching this forum and the web for hours, I thought the Globus "Italian Mosaic" seemed consistent in quality, had hotels closer to the sights than its sister company Cosmos, and covered everything that I wanted to see. Plus, I met someone who actually went on it & said it was very worthwhile.<BR><BR>However, if you don't like the idea of traveling with a group but also want minimal airfare & planning, then there are "a la carte" independent tours offered through AirItalia, TourCrafters, SelectItaly, and other groups that you might want to check out.

Mike,<BR><BR>I'm not a big fan of tours or packages. You are going to Italy at the best time of the year. Do you know where you want to go? Towards the end of the month you may find better deals. In my opinion you should decide on north or south as your first decision. I'd either do Venice & Florence with a bit of Tuscany (which in my opinion is at its best in October) or Rome and Naples with some of the Amalfi coast. It is not too late for hotels although you won't have your pick of the top places. Please give more information. What places are you interested in, how much money do you have to spend, how do you like to spend your time, what are your interests?

If you only have 12 days to spend in Italy, I recommend you stay 4 days each in 3 cities or villages and day-trip from those cities. You'll enjoy it much more and be less exhausted than if you traverse from Venice to Rome, stopping at all the sights in between. Not knowing your interests, it's difficult to recommend where to go. After 4 previous trips to Italy, I've learned you can't see it all. I'm going to Italy this October (my 5th trip) and it will be my first time to visit Rome. If you're interested in enjoying more authentic Italian food, paying lower prices, meeting friendlier locals and experiencing "La Dolce Vita", then don't visit every tourist site...get off the main path. Rent a car and get outside of the major cities. What's my favorite part of Italy? The people. They're honest and friendly.

I'm going to Italy with 3 friends in mid Oct for 11 days. I'm planning approx 3 days in Rome, 2 in Naples, and 3 in Sorrento. The rest is traveling between them. Those are the towns where we're sleeping but we'll be visiting many other places. I'm a planner and am using the internet and guide books to make my decisions. I'm not into organized tours. We did this a couple of years ago in Northern Italy and it worked out well. We were so much less informed then and it was so much easier. Now I find myself getting caught up in little details. I'm having a terrible time deciding on hotels. In Rome I have it narrowed down to two. Both are small quaint, pensione-style, hotels. One is just slightly west of the Piazza Republica (Hotel Oceania) and is recommended by Rick Steves and the other is just south of the Piazza Quirnale (Hotel Giardino). I can't remember where I found that one. They're both at risk of filling up before I make a decision so I'm on a tight time frame. <BR><BR>Can anyone give me any help in deciding which place to go? Price-wise they're about the same and based on their internet site pictures and descriptions they're pretty similar. It's the locations that I'm most concerned with. One of my friends is a big Rick Steves fan and prefers his recommendation but I'm afraid that's not in the best location so I'm leaning towards the other. I think we'd be happy with either but I'm hoping to get some experienced insight. <BR><BR>As for Naples and Sorrento, I'm at a loss. I prefer hotels that have a website and email where I can send my questions. I found a few on the venere.com website but they require booking through the site so they don't provide enough info to contact the hotels directly. Again, I'm looking for a pensione-style location. We're looking at mostly 3-4 star locations based on price ($200 for quad).<BR>Any suggestions?