hoping for more helpful info.

I made reservations for the Ufizzi by calling the reservation number.
I was given a confirmation number, but I was not asked for a credit card for payment.
Does that sound right?
Is payment due when you call for the reservation?
Thanks,
Molly

Hmmm ! Have we missed the popular:

Q.How much time to drive from x to y ?

A. Go to www.viamichelin.com and enjoy

Hi ritamolly,

Good question.

It was not a mistake. The Uffizi and Accademia people will ask for the money when you arrive.

We should keep this thread going:

Q. What is the best map for Italy?

A. Michelin has regional maps that have very good detail[400k] for most travel:
# 561=NW Italy
# 562=NE Italy
# 563=centro Italy[Rome thru Toscana]
# 564=south Italy

If you need real detail[200k] then the TCI has an entire series by regions that you can buy in Italy.

How much time by train to go from x to y? How many trains per day?

www.trenitalia.com

Get to the station in time to determine the platform from which the train leaves. It helps to have the train number in order to do this, because the final destination of the train might not be your stop. Study the yellow departures board, found in every station, for your train, for this information. Or

On trenitalia.com, you can find this out by first getting a list of proposed solutions for your journey; click on a solution to find the composite trains and their train numbers. By clicking on the train number, you can find out the names of the last couple of stops before your stop. This will enable you to be prepared to alight at your stop, at which the train may stop very, very briefly before proceeding. Watch and observe how others open the door - it isn't always automatic!

ES* is the Italian Eurostar,the highest speed train, reservations are part of your ticket purchase.

IC is "Intercity" - a fast express train for which reservations are available for an additional fee.

D and IR trains stand for Diretto and Interregionale. No reservations are available - it's first to sit, gets to sit. They are the slowest trains, but also the cheapest, and will stop at small places passed over by the other trains. (You use these between the Cinque Terre towns, for example.)

In general, tickets are considered vouchers, valid only after you date-time stamp them in the little yellow machines in the station. When in doubt, stamp, to avoid being fined by the conductor.

How do I cope with Italian electricity if my electrical stuff is from the USA?


The electricity in Italy varies, with voltage in the range of 115-120. If you are American and your razor or hairdryer doesn?t have dual voltage capacity, you?ll need a current converter to change the current for your 220v appliances. However, dual voltage or not, you will need a plug adapter with round prongs for Italian outlets. When you buy the converter, it usually comes with, or you can also buy, plug adapters. I will add, and many people agree, that even with the proper voltage transformer and the proper plug adapter, American hairdryers and curling irons don't always work that well overseas.

Check in advance: your hotel may provide hair dryers, which would also save your packing one. Many of the hotel web sites have this information. It is difficult to find a hotel bathroom that has an outlet for you to plug in your hair dryer or other appliance. The bathrooms often have outlets for razors, but not for dryers. I have been known to move furniture around in the bedroom trying to get to a wall outlet. Thus, a hotel that supplies its own hairdryers in the bathrooms has a plus in my book.

http://kropla.com/electric.htm plugs and converters around the world

Hook up your modem just about anywhere www.kropla.com/phones.htm

Here is a website with pictures of all the various plug configurations plus other info on electricity
http://www.escapeartist.com/global/photos.html

Correction to Elaine's very useful post:

Europe, including Italy, uses 220V 50 hz power. The US uses 110 V 60 Hz.

These posts are wonderful! I think it would be great if Fodor's included them in their mini-guides to each city. Should we write to the editors??

Nah,

Collectively, we know more than they do.

thaks for the correction ira, I didn't mean to reverse the numbers.

nessuno problema, Elaine.

How can I daytrip to Pompeii from Rome?

This answer assumes that you don't want to take a bus tour, which is offered by several companies, including Enjoy Rome to mention just one. Most of the tours allow 2-3 hours at the Pompeii site; some include a drive through Naples, and some include a shopping stop.

The following info was originally gleaned from several sources, including, notably, a Fodors poster named Walter who now posts under another name. Due credit--Walter's info was very detailed (even more than what I am including here) but spot on.

The trip takes about three hours on the direct ES or IC trains with an easy change of trains in Naples. First you have to find your train from Rome to Naples:
Go to www.fs-on-line.com click-on "English", Now type-in your cities and use Italian spellings only (Roma, Napoli), type in your date, and then click on "Search". You want the Napoli Centrale station.

The Napoli Garibaldi station and Centrale are essentially the same station, Garibaldi is two levels below Centrale and Garibaldi is for trains continuing onward, while Centrale is a Termini meaning the trains end there.

In Rome's Termini station is a board on the right wall side exit (Via G. Giolatti) listing the train schedules. You?ll probably want to take an ES (Eurostar) or an IC (Intercity) train and will need to decide first vs second class, smoking or non-, and seat reservations. You can use credit cards.

When leaving that day also check the TV monitors for destination/binario /time of your train. The binario is the track number.

Be sure to stamp your ticket before you go to your train, using the little yellow machines. You will see everyone doing this.

At Napoli Centrale train station near the front doors is a wide staircase going down to the Circumvesuviana trains, the commuter train to Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Sorrento. At the bottom of the stairs bear left, you come upon a hallway with the Circumvesuviana ticket windows on the left (Metro ticket windows on the right).

Don?t go through the turnstiles opposite the ticket windows. Continue down the corridor and turn right. At the end of this hall are the Circumvesuviana turnstiles. On the wall in front of you 2 boards will post the next 2 arriving trains, you want the *Sorrento* train (don't worry if it's not listed yet). Half-way down *each* platform is another Departure Board and it will list that train's destination and time. The train's destination for you will be "Sorrento". The stop you want
is "Pompeii Scavi-Villa dei Misteri". Once there, you walk under the tracks outside the station turn right and walk about 50 yards.

The Pompeii station still had a luggage storage room last I heard, but it was unattended. You might want to secure your stuff with a travel cable and lock.

At the excavation site there are licensed guides who charge by the tour.
The price is the same for one or more people, so see if you can join with some others to divide the cost.

Alternatively,Rick Steves' book has a very good self-guided walk, and I am not normally his biggest fan.

Many people also, or instead, like going to Herculaneum because it is much smaller, better preserved, and less crowded.

very helpful, elaine

I know all the posters here have very good intentions. But I firmly believe all tourists deserve clear and accurate information. Please, before you make a contribution like this, take the time to clean up your info. Otherwise, you're not really helping anyone.

I come from a family of boaters and the word "navigation" was taken seriously. If you found yourself on water during a storm or in darkness you needed precise information to get you home safely. So, to narrow the focus of "bobthenavigator," I offer the following:

The Alilaguna is a boat (a bus has four wheels). The fee is 10 Euro from the airport to San Marco or Zaterre. Here is their fee chart: http://www.alilaguna.it/?funzione=12...2&valore=0

Bob's "private speed boat service" is actually called a "water taxi" or just plain "taxi." The word "taxi" appears on every taxi boat along with its registration number. The taxi business is regulated and fees are set. Don't expect any speedy boat rides. Speed is regulated in the lagoon and feels like a snail's pace to speed boat fans. Your water taxi trip-time will completely depend on your final drop off destination.

Vaporettos are boats, too, but are commonly called "waterbuses". A one-way ride on the Grand Canal is 3.50 Euro. A 72 hour pass (3 day) is 22 Euro. Here is their fare info: http://www.actv.it/eng/vapo_tariffe.htm

Again, Bob's "private sleek speed boats" ARE taxis and will cost you 10 Euro per person in and around the lagoon, depending on where you wish to go.

For one of Venice's most intellectual tours, you may wish to check out Venicescapes (http://www.venicescapes.org/) Michael Broderick is adorable but, oh, so intense.

Venice should be experienced in a lifetime. Never limit your visits unless you must. I prefer even numbers.

I agree with Vino Vino for cichetti and a great bottle of wine but expect service to be surly if you don't speak some Italian. And, if you need your American hands held in a Venice restaurant jam packed with Americans on a budget, by all means dine at San Travaso or Alla Madonna (which Bob did not mention).

For an interesting alternative to staying in a hotel, try staying in a convent or monastery.

Bob, thank you for your suggestion. ;-)

NYCFoodSnob, Bob was talking to me. ;-)

I'm sure you had good intentions, NYC, but you aren't helping anyone if you can't condescend properly! When you write "You may wish" instead of the correct "You MIGHT wish" [to check out Venicescapes] you are really letting down the snob ship, as it were. And what's this "final drop-off destination" business. What other kind of final destination did you have in mind for that water taxi? Please! Redundancy is soooooo tacky.

Hey folks,

I had hoped that this would be a list of useful information, please try not to turn it into a cat fight.

(my apologies to cats)

Thank you! You answered ny map question! I will return to this thread in the coming weeks.... I am sure.

Ira

When life hands you lemons, you can fret about 'em or make lemonade. My remarks were tongue in cheek.

See you in Italia in 04 : - )