My husband and I have 11 days in italy from sept. 24 - oct. 7. We want to see Rome, Florence (Tucany) and Venice. We are not fixated on seeing every single tourist site to cross it off a list but would love to see some real Italy. Our interests are art, food, wine and history. This is our first trip to Italy. I also have MS and walking is not my best trick. I use a cane so long hikes are not appropriate. Any ideas about exactly how I get tickets to museums and exhibits in advance or good city tours to orient ourselves? A friendly, informative tour preferably. Also hotels and restaurants in each city would be GREAT.

Hi Artsupply,

Get started by using the search box above! Just type in the key words you need, such as "Rome hotels", "Rome tours" or "museum reservations". Read, read, read.

Enjoy your planning. It's not too early to make reservations.

Buon viaggio!

When you plan travel in Italy, remember that things close for lunch. That means metal shutters over windows so no window shopping or sight seeing.. people eat. Or, if you are like us, we use that "dead" time to travel from one city to another. But it does sometimes make it hard to see what you want to see, since an entire block of time during the day is "off limits".

How long of a break is customary..? Wouldn't tourists be eating, too..?

I think things locked up for about 3-4 hours mid day... I don't take that long to eat...Naps worked if we were in the town, but usually we traveled during that time of day.

Hi art,

In Florence:

Uffizi and Academia Museum Reservations
The easiest and cheapest way is to call Florence 1016868 (dial around number), 011 (U.S. international access code) 39 (Italy's country code) then 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time. There is a long listing of press 1 for this and 2 for that--press 4 for bookings. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes YOU CAN RESERVE FOR BOTH. This is through the reservation service at the Uffizi and costs beyond the normal entry fee only about 3 euro for the service. This is MUCH cheaper than the commercial booking services.

You will not be charged for the reservations unless you use them.

If you can, I suggest taking the no. 7 bus from the SMN train station (or anywhere else) up to Fiesole (0:20 hr 1E) to watch the sun set over the city from the terrace of the Bar Bleu.

You can take the SITA bus from the Via Santa Caterina da Siena (near the SMN train staion) to Siena (1:30 hr 7E). Be aware that Siena is hilly.

From Rome, you might want to take a daytrip to Orvieto. 1 hr by train.

Re guided tours:
Having watched groups of tourists being herded from spot to spot in a number of cities, I recommend against them.

Florence does have several sightseeing bus lines. Try googling <Florence Sightseeing Bus>.

>hotels and restaurants in each city

What's your budget?

Artsupply, I think for you to see Rome, the absolutely BEST way would be to use the 3 wonderful hop on/off buses that Rome provides-a GREAT value, and a very pleasant and enjoyable way to see Rome without all the walking.

1. The Red double decker city bus takes you to all the major sites

2. The yellow Christian Rome bus-(I like this one) takes you to all the major churches and basilicas, plus gives you commentary on the other major sites nearby

3. The ARCHEOBUS-will take you to the Appian Way and to the major crypts located in and outside Rome, this would be the major catacombs, the Baths of Caracalla, and the Roman Acquaducts

You can start at Termini-and in a 24 hour period use each of these buses, according to your interests, as much as you like. I can advise, that on a beautiful day, being up in the open double decker bus, you can see interesting ancient monuments-perhaps a water fountain or ancient detailing on a building, that you cannot just by walking or at street level-it's really fun, and it definitely cuts down on the exhaustion factor, which you have to guard against when you have MS.

You don't even have to get out, you can do the full turn and just look the first time around, and then the next go-around, perhaps stop at one or two sites that are of particular interest, then get back on the bus at that stop a little later.

Here's the official Rome tourism board site that explains the Stop and Go buses, and gives a listing of their stops-really, a GREAT value, for around 16 Euro (I think it's a bit more now that 13 Euro, which it states on the website, and the Archeobus is less:

http://www.romaturismo.it/v2/romatia...rtematici.html

Ira,
Thanks for the good advice. Since my husband's name is Ira, there must be a psychic reason to listen to your advice!

Our budget is flexible, we want nice hotels, but prefer smaller local hotels, not American chains...I guess our budget is up to about 200 Euros.
We need to stay in covenient locations as I cannot walk long, long distances.

Hi art,

>...Since my husband's name is Ira, there must be a psychic reason to listen to your advice!<

Especially if he is a Scorpio.

Would you be interested in a very good, clean B&B with AC in a residential neighborhood, about 10 min walk from the SMN station on a well-lighted street?

It is basic accommodations, but we were very happy with our stay there.

See www.bedinflorence.it