Help plan Italy trip - Florence / Venice
 

I'm departing from Houston to Amsterdam and will fly out of Paris to go home - from Italy was too expensive for us. This is my itinerary (not much of it). Please help with accomodations and car rental suggestions. I would greatly appreciate it. Please be gentle since it's my 1st post.<BR><BR>May 18 Arrive in Amsterdam<BR>May 18-21 Stay with relative in Zeeland<BR>May 22 Depart possibly RotterDam to Paris and overnite train to Milan and eventually to Florence. Once arrived in Florence, will rent a car for 3 days pick up at downtown location and drive to may be Siena or somewhere around there (please make suggestion) and stay 3 nites. Would like to use this area as a base to visit small towns & see the country side.<BR><BR>May 26 Drive back to Florence, drop off car and stay 2 nites in Florence - hotel suggestion please.<BR><BR>May 28 Take train to Venice and stay in Venice for 2 nites - hotel suggestion please<BR><BR>May 30 Take train from Venice to Milan and then overnite train to Paris.<BR><BR>May 31 Stay 1 nite in Paris so we are rested for the flight home on June 1st. We've been to Paris and have no interest in staying for longer than that.<BR><BR>For train pass, I'm thinking of a 5 days BeNeLux-France-Italy pass currently on sale for $199/pp via Rick Steve's website.<BR><BR>For car rental, AutoEurope or Avis or Hertz for an economy, automatic (ouch) - ~$240/3days.<BR><BR>Please suggest where to stay - our budget is ~100-120/per nite possibly more but not much more. For the 3 days with car, we like to base somewhere and drive to see the countryside.<BR><BR>Thanks all in advance. I've read this forum the last week or so and there is an abundance of info that overwhelmed me.<BR><BR>

Henry--a few off-the-cuff observations:<BR>-It appears you have thought through the itinerary pretty thoroughly. If these are the places you want to go, I think you will enjoy them.<BR>-You are wise to choose possibly to stay outside Florence or Siena; you can much more easily use a car that way. AutoEurope is a good choice; automatic is not.<BR>-Fiesole is a good spot for your stay while visiting Florence and Siena, as well as the rest of the area. Another choice (which I like) is Montecatini Terme, which has lots of hotels and is a nice town.<BR>-Venice will be expensive, but you can possibly find a B&B for $120 per night if you search the recommendations on this web site.<BR>-

I agree that you are off to a good start. How many in your "we" - - this affects the decision about train ticket/pass purchase. I would personally never use an overnight train, but many people seem to think that they are fine. I will point out that flying from Brussels to Italy is dirt cheap - - and I wonder if that train pass is such a good idea if there are more than two in your "we".<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Be sure to check the train schedule. Paris to Milan can be a little difficult. I have taken a sleeper train from Paris to Genova. We were served an adequate meal which we enjoyed with another American couple. While I can't say I really slept, I am a light sleeper, my husband had no problem. Take some ear plugs. Your 3-day rental sounds about right. I am paying $231 for a minimum 3-day rental in Sicily for a manual w/AC. Have a great trip Henry...greetings from Austin.

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Found this post searching for Sicily, and I kind of winced to see the price of a 3 day car rental. Is scooter rental an option for Sicily? anyone have any experiences using a scooter to share? traveling solo. Would hitchhiking get me from one end of Sicily to another?<BR>

You can get a pass with rail/car rental option for 2 days of car rental. I don't think we come out ahead on train travel but it makes the car more reasonably priced. We don't leave for a month so I can't tell you anymore.

Hello Henry, Good job, given your air parameters. Fly from Brussels if you can--that is along way. In Italy, here is a good start on hotels. Search and you will find:<BR>Siena: Hotel Piccolo Oliveto<BR>Florence: Hotel Casci or Relais Uffizi<BR>Venice: Locanda Barbarigo <BR><BR>Good luck !