Help me! My friend and I are flying to Italy, specifically Rome. This will be our first trip out of the country. Could anyone tell me how the flight is? Where should I fly out of? Any other advice?

When are you going?

Where do you live?

What are your ages and interests?

What research have you done so far?

What is your budget?

Just fly out of Pittsburgh.

I live in Pittsburgh... We're seventeen... we're going sometime next summer...not sure when yet... we have a pretty low budget... however, we will save up as much as needed to go, we've done some research on hotels but, we just started...

We are planning to fly out of P-burgh...it's just I've had other people that have been there tell me that JFK is the best so I wasn't sure.

Where are you? That would be a good start for now. I could suggest Mascot Airport in Sydney would be a good place to fly out, but of course if you're in NYC that would be inappropriate wouldn't it?

do a text search for a thread I think is called 100 best things to do in rome

haha... Daneille... yes, it would be tough to fly out of sydney! thanks for the advice though

thanks vivaldi... I'll try that

Even people who live near NY try to avoid flying from JFK. JFK is a huge, confusing, hectic airport, and I hate it. I live in NJ, and I fly from Newark. I wouldn't mind flying from Philadelphia, but the inexpensive airport bus that serves my area does not go to that airport.

Just get the best-priced flight you can find starting from Pittsburgh.

Flying is boring, tiring, and uncomfortable, but then it's over and the rest of the trip is usually wonderful. It's just a little necessary unpleasantness to endure in order to have the excitement, pleasure, fun, learning, stimulation, beauty, and happiness of a foreign vacation. The flight BACK from Europe is longer than the flight TO Europe. Changing time zones can be upsetting to the body. One of the best ways to prevent extreme jet lag on the way to Europe is to start functioning in sync with the new time zone as soon as possible, i.e., if it's daylight in Europe when you arrive, don't go to bed, even if you haven't slept since yesterday and you're exhausted; go out and walk in the sunshine.

Get a copy of Rick Steve's travel book on Rome. His basic advice is very good for a first-timer.

Hi

I suggest using http://airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm

for airline tickets. It is, however, too early for discounts. Start monitoring prices around midDecember.

Have you looked at the miniguide to Rome on fodors.com?

You might also want to do a search for "Rome and hostels" and "Rome and convents" for places to stay.

i recommend the hotel des artistes in rome. it is a combination of a hostel and hotel. easy to get to from the train station and in a quiet neighborhood near the borgese gallery.
email me with any questions. [email protected]

I have flown from Pittsburgh to Rome (via Philly) a few times. I highly recommend connecting in Philly as opposed to JFK. JFK is chaotic, but Philly is very east to navigate. The flight to Rome is around 8 hrs. or so; the return flight is a little longer. When you arrive in Rome and after you have gone through customs and collected your luggage, follow the signs for the train platform. You can take the train directly into the city. It costs about 8 or 9 euros and takes 40 min. I have stayed at the Hotel Picasso which is a 15 min. walk from the train station. I found it on www.venere.com It cost 47 euros/night, but that was in February. It's clean and located in a safe area, also in the center of town. Many attractions are within easy walking distance. It's also right off the busline. Let me know if you need any other info.