leahinsc

My husband has just found out that he has to go to Italy in mid Septon business to -Maniago which is about 1.5 hr from Venice - Northeast. I can go with him but am trying to figure out the following:
-Airfare deals - we'll have to fly out of Asheville or Greenville into Venice and best airfare looks to be on US Air at around $850 (gulp). Any other ideas/suggestions?
-try and get a package?
-We'll have to spend a couple of days on business but then can drive or train? around. Besides Venice where else would you recommend?
-Should we rent a car? At the airport?

TexasAggie

A wonderfully preserved Medieval town pretty close to Venice is Verona. There are substantial Roman ruins too.

Unfortunately I don't have any airfare recommendations... have you thought about flying into Florence? I believe it is less than three hours from Venice. But if your husband's conference is north of Venice, that might not be a practical idea.

realshalott

There would be more likely to be more and cheaper flights going into Rome or Milan, or changes of plane from other hubs like Frankfort or Zurich or Paris. However, mid-September is still high season and it's not far away, so I'd be surprised if there are cheap fares.

How long will you have after the business is over?

jdraper

leah - have you looked at the cost of flights leaving from Charlotte? It's not an overly long drive from the Greenville area and a quick search shows the price to Venice is cheaper than Greenville. I live in the Columbia area and always check flight costs from surrounding areas and have never found the cheapest cost out of Greenville. Usually Charlotte is the cheapest but sometimes Columbia can be cheaper even when there is a stopover in Charlotte. Go figure. Anyway, try checking surrounding airports as it may be worth the time and gasoline to make a bit of a longer drive. You will love Venice so enjoy. If you have the time be sure to take a trip to Florence with a stop for lunch in Bologna. Not a bad drive from Venice and getting the opportunity to see David is worth the trip alone.

leahinsc

We will probably take 2 days at the front end of the trip (7 or 8 days) and do the business part of things and then travel. Am looking into flying out of Charlotte and even Raleigh (family there) and perhaps even into Milan.

polly229

Regarding Florence and seeing David, I read somewhere that you have to book ahead to get into the Academy now. Does anyone know if this is true?

Also, I have heard that thanks to Dan Brown you now have to book ahead to get into the church (the name of which escapes me) to see Da Vinci's last supper. Is this also true?

JandaO

http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/en...sei/accademia/

this may help

MonicaRichards

I love Verona--spent a week there in a great apartment and visited Venice, Vicenza, Gardaland (we had our kids with us) and other towns in the countryside. There is a lot to see in that area. We also really liked Sirmione if you want a picturesque lake town.

capxxx

Re the car: you won't want a car in Venice, so if you rent one, you should plan to finish your trip in V and drop of the car early.

Or here is an alternative: Arrive Venice stay in Venice, pick up car and drive to Maniago, then Lake Como/Dolomites, leave from Milan.

Rent the car at the airport if you are not going into Venice. From venice, rent the car `in' town.

There is good train service to the cities mentioned above, but I don't know about Maniago. Dolomites might be best by car.

leahinsc

Thanks for all these ideas - keep them coming. Ok, so far this is what we have. Got tickets to Venice and the company my husband is doing business w/ will pick us up at the airport and take us up to Maniago where we'll spend 2 nites on business. Then they'll take us back to Venice where we'll spend a couple of nites. From there we were thinking about taking a train and going to Milan, stopping in Verona, going to Bologna, stopping in Modena for the Ferrari museum and then back to Venice to fly out. What do you think? I'd rather train then rent a car but am open to that in which case we might do a different itinerary. Anyone also have any thoughts on getting a 3 or 4 day rail pass?

caroline_edinburgh

I would just spend the whole 5 days or whatever in Venice - there is more than enough to see there.

The Last Supper is fully booked for September, unless you want yoo take a chance on queuing up in case of no-shows.

leahinsc

We really want to see more than just Venice, well, for husband the Ferrari museum is a must at any rate! Perhaps we'll change our minds and just take a trip down to Bologna once we're there, stopping on the way back to hit the museum.

capxxx

I like the Venice + Bologna idea. Bologna is a nice university town, famous for the food.

leahinsc

I'd rather "hunker down" and stay in one or two places and get a feel for the town than wear myself out with alot of train or car travel. Am hearing good things about Bologna and Verona which are relatively close to Venice.