suky

I am coordinating a trip to Italy for July 2004 for twelve family members. We have not traveled to Italy before. We plan to stay over in Rome for two nights before traveling by auto to Tuscany for a week long villa stay. Any suggestions from those who have had similar trips would be appreciated. What is a good (and moderately priced) hotel to stay in while in Rome? Also, any advise on rental cars (we are considering 3 autos vs. 2 mini-vans)? What are good city tours while in Rome so we can get the most out of two days? Thanks so much for the help!

Suky

jh6000

Hi, Suky,

Six or seven of us travel to Europe as a group most years, and we suually rent a sedan and a minivan just for the six of us. A minivan may not hold six people and their luggage. (You will probably want to know up front what people plan on taking in terms of luggage and/or to place limits on luggage if you are to fit in two vans or even three cars).

In terms of three cars vs. two vans:
- if you intend largely to visit the same places as group, the fewer cars the better. Just makes sticking together on the road easier.
- However, if you use vans, the seating is often 2-3-2, which means someone sits in the back seat on their own (which is usually not so comfortable as sitting in the other rows). That said, we always use the van for our day trips, so I would recommend that over the sedans.

In order to get advice on hotels, u probably will want to state some price ranges ("moderately priced" means different things to different people, especially with a much stronger Euro than a year or two ago).

Hope this is helpful.

John H.

suky

jh6000

Thank you for your input regarding the auto rentals. I guess saying moderately priced was too vague. More than zeroing in on a specific price I am really looking for recommendations for hotels that are air-conditioned, clean, and offer good service and value. If you can make any recommendations that would be great!
Thanks,
Suky

jody

so what is your moderate price?

rex

I recommend the purchase of walkie-talkies - - preferably bought IN Italy, at the airport or somewherein rome - - for any trip involving multiple cars trying to stay in communication with each other.

Browse through the Centro Storico for hotels on www.venere.com

Best wishes,

Rex