nosleepmom

I'll be traveling in Italy with my mother and daughter June 14-30. Below is our loose plan for the two weeks. We're looking for reasonable, comfortable accommodations for three. A big requirement is also high speed internet access as I'll need to work during my trip ... sadly. I'll either need internet access at the place we stay or somewhere I can take my laptop to download data nearby.

Here's the schedule:

Venice 14-17 - pick up car and travel to Como via padua, verona, bergamo

Como 17-19 - travel to florence via parma and pisa

Florence 19-21 - travel to orvieto via sienna

Orvieto 21-23 - side trips to assissi and ? then travel to naples and drop off car

Naples 23-26 - side trips capri, pompeii, and ?, then train to rome

Rome 26-30

I'd love your input on accommodations and must-see stops along our way. We'll be staying with friends in sicily (outside palermo) from 6/30 through 7/8 then back to LA via london for a few days. Any information you can offer will be so appreciated. I haven't been to Italy in 20 years, and this is my daughter's first trip. I'd like it to be full but not a marathon.

I would like to squeeze in the dolomites when we're at como ... is that doable? My daughter is also a girl scout. I thought it would be terrific to see if there are girl scouts/guides who we could meet at 1-2 places along the way.

I know this is a lot of info. TIA. Susan

nessundorma

Can't answer anything about girl scouts (can't the Girl Scouts?) or accommodation with internet access -- which I think in someplaces you are going to have to dig to find if you don't want to stay in high-priced hotels. Internet cafes are not hard to find in most of Italy, but hotels with internet access for their guests can be scarce or pricey.

Just in general, it seems to me you have a very rushed itinerary and are underestimating how long it will take you to get in and out of cities likes Verona, Padova, Parma, Bergamo and Pisa and tour the sites.

Between the 14th-17th, how many different places are you spending the night?


Also, I appears you are committed to flying into Venice and out of Rome, but wouldn't it be simpler to leave from Naples to Palermo? Drop off your car in Orvieto, take the train to Rome, see Rome, then travel to Naples for sightseeing, and leave from Naples to Palermo. Return to Roma from Palermo.

Flame123

Having stayed twice in Hotel Casci in Florence, I can very highly recommend it. It is a small family-run hotel with 25 rooms right smack in the middle of Florence. They have free internet access for their guests in the small hotel lobby, a wonderful big buffet breakfast, very nice and immaculate if not fancy rooms and wonderful hosts that make you feel like family. We had a double and single room this time for 3 people and paid 100 and 70 Euros respectively.

The Tourist House Ghiberti is another option I looked at and was very interested in trying. They are even smaller, only 5 rooms, also in the Duomo area, and offer free internet IN YOUR ROOM, i.e. each room seems to be equipped with a computer and you can freely use it. I chose not to go with them because they had a very strict refund policy and since I could not make definite plans so far ahead of time, I was afraid I might have to cancel and lose quite a bit of money. Check out both of these hotels on tripadvisor and you will read great things. Good luck.

nessundorma

You also might want to ask about parking.

nosleepmom

Thanks for your replies. I am traveling with my mom who needs to fly out of rome on 6/30 so we decided to loop down to naples and return to rome so she can from home from there.

From 14-17 we plan to be in venice so don't feel like we'll need a car until we leave on the 17th. i checked out rail passes, and the car is less expensive for three of us than would be three rail passes.

i know we're trying to cover a lot of ground, but it's my daughter's first trip, and my mom has only two weeks. my daughter and i going to be in sicily for a week in july so we'll have some down time there.

i've tried to arrange it so that we break up big/busy cities with como and orvieto, and naples (lake, country, beach). we're not committed to seeing every site this trip, just give my daughter a feel for traveling outside of north america.

Thanks for the great tips on florence hotels. I hate that i have to be on call for work during this trip, but it's the only way i could work it.

Any recommendations on naples area hotels? I don't need to stay in the city but want to be in the area. Thanks again.

nosleepmom

PS: To me, the beauty of the car is that we can be more spontaneous and pull over if we see a neat place or something going on. when i say via pisa, etc., i mean i'd like to stop and see those places, but i don't plan to explore each thoroughly. on that note, if there is some little gem that you've discovered that's a little off the beaten track, i'd be very interested to hear about those as well. thanks again. susan

Jean

I'm in the less-is-more travel camp. Although I can appreciate your desire for your daughter to see as much as possible on her first trip, please be open to the thought that she'll probably make a second trip... and a third... And, believe me, she isn't going to remember everything from this trip anyway. (I speak from my own experience of a summer-long drive around Europe with my family at the age of 12.)

In the 16 days before Sicily, I strongly suggest you limit the number of hotels to 4, or at most 5 if you need to break up one long driving day. Consider that you will spend the better part of one day each time you move from hotel to hotel which would turn your stops at Lake Como, Florence and Orvieto into whirlwind tours. Parking will be difficult, and you'll need excellent driving directions, maps, a good navigator and lots of money for autostrada tolls and very expensive gasoline.

You mention that the car rental is cheaper than three rail passes, but have you calculated the route by train using point-to-point ticket prices and have you factored in fuel costs and parking fees?

P.S. Good luck on driving in Naples where I've never seen a crazier breed of driver

5alive

I would agree with the "whirlwind" comment posted already. Italy is more fun to wander through than rush through.

It sounds like you won't spend very long at all in Venice (I haven't been yet), but you would want all three days there. Also, I would spend longer in Florence. If your daughter is a teen-ager or a precocious pre-teen, "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke is a wonderful, odd novel for that age group and takes place all over Venice.

I tried to link up with Girl Scouts (Girl Guides) in Italy for my daughter but had no luck. Unfortunately, the closest international GS house is Our Chalet in Switzerland. Try both of these websites:

http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/home
http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/global/

nosleepmom

Okay ... I'm going to rethink my trip. My thinking on the car was that we wouldn't have to lug our suitcases on and off a train. My mom has a shoulder injury and won't be able to do her own toting. My other thought on the car is if we see something interesting along the way, we can pull over. Since i've never driven in italy, is it safe to assume that one just doesn't pull off the road. is everything the autostrada? I've done the train thing before and seen places along our journey where i wish i could stop but just flew by. I'll be picking up the car after venice and returning it upon arrival in naples. should i be thinking in terms of basing myself in florence and orivieto and taking

nosleepmom

Okay ... I'm going to rethink my trip. My thinking on the car was that we wouldn't have to lug our suitcases on and off a train. My mom has a shoulder injury and won't be able to do her own toting. My other thought on the car is if we see something interesting along the way, we can pull over. Since i've never driven in italy, is it safe to assume that one just doesn't pull off the road. is everything the autostrada? I've done the train thing before and seen places along our journey where i wish i could stop but just flew by. I'll be picking up the car after venice and returning it upon arrival in naples. should i be thinking in terms of basing myself in florence and orivieto and taking trains to the other areas we wish to see? Thanks again for your input.

Thanks also for the info on Girl Scouts. I checked those sites and came up with switzerland also. maybe next year on that. Susan

kmh7

nosleepmom,You don't say how old your daughter is. I spent last summer same time of year with three teens. We were there a month and the kids all felt we moved too much! We did have a car and I felt the flexability was important. We broke up the month with villa rental in Tuscany and did day trips only. It is great to unpack and stay that way for awhile. I think the places we stayed longer had more impact than rushing everyday. The kids liked feeling more like a local, sitting on the piazza etc. Hard to do that with too much time on the autostrada. When we got home they said they felt half of our vacation was in the van we had rented. How good is Mom at navigating? The driving isn't so bad if you have a good map reader by your side. Have a great trip!!

espagnabound

Hi nosleepmom,

I've driven in Italy and I think a car is a good idea because your mom has a shoulder injury. But you need to understand that the most interesting places to visit in Italy are usually towns with walls around them, and inside the walls the town is made of stone alleys that are so old and narrow most cars can't fit through the streets.

You have to park outside the town and walk to see the interesting parts, and if they are popular towns, it can be hard to find a parking place.

So you can't see 3 towns on your way to driving to another town.

Also, if you are planning to go to interesting towns and you need 2 rooms or a big room that sleeps three you have to start making hotel reservations right now.

Why don't you think about going to Venice and then renting a car to drive to ONE place in Tuscany that is near both Florence and Siena. Rent an apartment on a farm or in a small town, and use the car to visit both small towns and big cities in Tuscany from the 18th to the 23.

Drop off the car in Orvieto and take a train to Sorrento. From Sorrento, visit Pompeii and Capri.

Take the train back to Rome.

jabez

I agree that you will miss too much with all that traveling. Your time in Venice and Como isn't too bad, but you don't need a car in either place. The drive to Florence from Como is long and pretty boring (although Parma is a nice stop). Florence,again, is best without a car. And two days is very short.
Orvieto is nice and I love Assisi,but you just don't have the time to enjoy the area. Assisi is a pretty good distance from Orvieto and will take a detour from the better route to Orvieto.
Because you are with your daughter i understand the Parma day trip (it's not on your way to Forence from Como). It would be nice to stop at Lucca and rent bikes tride along the walls. Not far away is Collodi. It's a great town for children (pinocchio themes everywhere and a nice park).
Why not just stay in Florence or nearby with your time after Como? Do some day trips and train from there to Naples.
I also rent cars in Italy, but the trains are often smart alternatives. This would especially be true with a drive all the way to Naples.