My husband & I are going to Italy (Rome, Tuscany, Florence & Venice) for 13 days in Oct. to celebrate our 20th wedding Anniv. This will be our 1st trip abroad. We like to experience local culture and see how people live. Love going to local markets, eating good food, tasting beer/wine and browsing small unique shops. Our main focus will be a bike trip through Tuscany with Backroads. <BR> <BR>So far I’ve planned the shell of our itinerary – the bike trip, arrival & departure dates, some cities to visit, etc. - but I’m having panic attacks trying to fill in the blanks, mostly on deciding what hotels to stay in and how to reserve them. I’ve bought & received as Christmas gifts, loads of travel books and have begun reading them. Since hotels are my biggest hurdle I’ve decided to tackle them by city, one at a time. Sites to see and restaurants to visit will be next. <BR> <BR>I’ve taken many notes about hotels & various sites from this forum but still having trouble narrowing down choices. I trust the recommendations made by all on this site and would appreciate any help. If sending an email is easier, my email address is [email protected] or [email protected]. <BR> <BR>Here’s our itinerary: Note: Mostly interested in Tuscany & Venice, Rome is our arrival point & Florence our meeting point. <BR> <BR>Thur. & Fri. – Rome <BR>Sat. - Train to Florence - meeting Backroads tour at Florence train station 10am on Sunday <BR>Sun. – Thur. - Backroads Tuscany bike tour (San Gimignano & Siena areas) hotels/inns provided <BR>Fri. & Sat. - Tuscany on our own - driving. (?Monte San Savino, Montepulciano, Arezzo, Cortona?) <BR>Sun. - Drive to Florence, leaving car @ airport <BR>Mon. & Tue. - Train to Venice <BR> <BR>Need hotel suggestions for: <BR> <BR>Rome – $100-$150 (near Piazza Navona?) <BR>Florence – $100 or less (near train station). <BR>Tuscany on our own – suggestions about cities/towns & hotels appreciated. <BR>Venice - $150 or so (near ??) <BR> <BR>Thanks in advance for your help. --- DFW 1/6/01 <BR>

Debbie, don't be overwhelmed - you have a lot of time. We stayed in Castellina in Chianti at Hotel Squarcialupi and had a great large room and nice included cont. bkfst. Had dinner at Gallapappa in an old wine cave that was good, Il Pozzo in Monteriggioni is supposed to have great food - they were closed when we were there. Am including a post by Elaine: <BR>Author: elaine ([email protected]) <BR>Date: 1/04/2001, 5:54 pm ET <BR> <BR>Message: I haven't done this drive, but here is some info <BR>For the Chianti region, there's a great, detailed map available free on the web. <BR>www.monterinaldi.it/en/. Click on "The Map of Chianti Classico area", fill in your name & address on the next screen, and you'll get a map in the mail in a few weeks. It's 1:80,000 in scale, <BR>so it's quite detailed. As a bonus, it shows exactly where all of the Chianti wine estates are located. <BR> <BR>She also has wonderful notes on Florence and Venice - e-mail her at the address above and blame me!! <BR> <BR>Florence is a walking town so get a hotel somewhere in the center. We were on a tour for part of the time and stayed at Hotel Grand Minerva which was great but have no idea of cost. Had a good meal at Palio in Florence. e-mail me if yhou need more info. <BR> <BR>

Debbie, <BR>In Florence I can reccommend the Hotel Casci. They have a good web site which the address eludes me at the moment,but I checked it the other day and it was $115 per night w/breakfast. Is centrally located by the Duomo and very friendly owners. If you only have 2 days on your own in Tuscany I would skip it and stay in Florence for the 2 days since you will have already ridden bikes alot of places and not seen Florence yet which would be a mistake as there is so much there. If not you might want to head to Cinque Terra and get a does of sunshine and salt and see some of Tuscany on the way. In Rome I would try Hotel Campo De Fiori at fax: 001-39-06-687-6003. It's kind of across the street from Plaza Novana and nice. A little over $100 when we were there last year. Small rooms, but fun, all diferent designs. Let me know if you need more info. Pam

We found the hotel Al Gambero on this site for our trip to Venice in 1999. Were pleased. The rooms are small, but have recently been remodeled and also have new, but small bathrooms. The location is on the Calle dei Fabbri midway between the Rialto Bridge and St Marks. A separate restaurant is downstairs and breakfast is included with room. Our rate was 210000L for a double with bath and breakfast. We had room 1 and it overlooked a small canal. Nothing fancy, but clean and well located. We will use the hotel again as would the couple traveling with us. Telephone is 39 041 5224384 fax 39 041 520 0431. <BR> <BR>Venice is a great walking town and best enjoyed at night when all the day trippers depart. Florence is great also. Visit the Leather School at St Croce Church where Michaelango is buried. Many people do not realize it is there. Enter the church and see all the famous burial sites. Then walk to the back right corner and look for small signs to the leather school. We found quality goods and nice prices. They will initial anything you purchase with gold leaf if you request. <BR> <BR>In Venice: Visit Max's. It is a small shop that has local handcrafted goods. Some inexpensive, some expensive. It is near the famous Harry's Bar. Have fun.

Robin, Larry, Pam & Bob ... <BR> <BR>Thanks for your suggestions. Robin sent Elaines Venice notes, very detailed. I will email her for her Florence notes. Looks like I've got my lunchtime reading set for me for the next few days. Hope to have hotels settled by months end. I'm already feeling better. <BR> <BR>Thanks again ... Debbie 1/7/01

Debbie I am jealous you and your husband have so much time to spend planning your trip, I have just begun and we go the end of march. I know I made the bed I must lay in it. I just discovered this web site and hwat a blessing everyone is great. Would it be possible for you to email me to the detiled descriptins you get on Flor. and Venice? Thanks. Gail (email above)

Gail, No problem, I'll be happy to forward. Please keep a journal and post or email your memories. I'd love to hear from someone who is going this year. <BR> <BR>By-the-way - Can anyone tell me how to keep the 'Italy' category on my posting? When I search for Italy postings now, I don't see this one. I only see it in the 'general' category. <BR> <BR>I'm getting a lot of information from other Italy postings and even though it's great reading about all the other places people are visiting and sharing information about, I'm trying to limit my confusion and the search feature for Italy seemed the correct way to go. <BR> <BR>Debbie 1/7/01

Debbie, sounds like a great trip. If you haven't already found it go to www.venere.it.com and that is the what I found to be the best way to choose a hotel. Go to the city you want and there are detailed listings and pictures of the hotels. That, along with the advice here should help you out. At that point you will fax or e-mail for reservation availability. I would agree that you will want more time in Florence and Venice than what you have scheduled. Also in Florence I would find a hotel away from the train station since that is not a very nice area. Print a map of Florence hotels from the website I gave earlier and you will see Florence is very compact. From the train station to Ponte Vecchio is 10-15 minutes walking. Have fun.

Debbie, most probably you didn't pick &lt;subject = Italy&gt; when you first posted this thread. This is the reason why the search function is not able to find it under Italy <BR><BR>Paulo<BR>

Deborah, Thanks, I did find vernere.it and will use. <BR> <BR>Paulo, <BR> <BR>Thanks for the search tip. I thought I selected Italy, must not have.