Italy Trip - please give recommendations:
 

Flying from Newark on the 11th of Sept. Ar. Rome 12th, limo to B&B La Lumiere Di Piazzza Di Spagna near Spanish Steps. 2:00 p.m. Through Eternity "Ancient Rome" tour.
Sept. 13th - 10:00 a.m. Through Eternity "St. Peter's Basillica & Vatican Tour. We have the rest of that day open, and would like resturant suggests and any other ideas you might have. Sept. 14th, Sunday is free, we would like to go to St. Peters Square in the a.m. see if we can see the Pope.
Sept. 15th leave for Florence on Eurorail, Staying at Relais Cavalcanti, near Duomo, checking out on 19th. We are open now for Florence want to see "David" and Uffizi museum. We would also like to take a day trip from Florence, any suggestions.
Going to Perugia 19th and 20th, staying at Sangallo Palace, no plans for that area yet, suggestions please, leaving Perugia on 21st heading back to Rome with departure on the 23rd. We are a mother and 25 year old daughter traveling together, she with a history degree. Please give us resturant, preferably fun local family type and any other suggestions. Checking into Flex Pass lst class with AAA now. If you have any suggestions re: these hotels please advise. Still have reservation at Holiday Inn West in Rome but someone on this board said it is out of the way. May still keep the last two nights booked there in order to get to airport for return flight.Thanks for all your help

Hi Kadurk,

Having just returned from Florence & Venice, I would suggest getting reservations for the Accademia and Uffizi. You don't have to use them if there is no line, but it's nice to have them (for a small additional fee when entering) if the lines are long. I don't have the phone number handy, but I'm sure Ira will pop in here and give it to you.

We spent an afternoon in Fiesole while in Florence and loved it. If you want more info on that, do a text search for my recent trip report and scroll down to my Florence section. There are also numerous other day trips that others will suggest, as well, I'm sure.

Sounds like you and your daughter will have a wonderful trip!

Hi,

Nice trip. A few suggestions:

Why come back to Rome on the 21 if you are leaving on the 23? If you can, come back to Rome on the 22 and stay out by the airport for one night. Add the day to the Rome at the front or add a day to Florence.

Possible day trips from Florence are Siena, Pisa and Lucca, Bologna.

Check with www.railsaver.com to see if a pass will save you money. (Remember that you will have to pay extra if you use the ES* trains or want reserved seats on the IC trains.) If not, you can buy any or all of your tickets at the train station after you finish your tour on the 12th.

Train schedules are at www.trenitalia.com.

There are dozens of restaurant recommendations. Do a text search on "restaurants AND (city)".

Have a nice trip.

The Spanish Steps are one or two stops from the main train station.

Hi statia,

I posted before I saw your note.

From a previous poster:

The easiest and cheapest way is to call Florence 011 (U.S. international access code) 39 (Italy's country code) then 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes YOU CAN RESERVE FOR BOTH. This is through the reservation service at the Uffizi and costs beyond the normal entry fee only about 1.60 euro for the service. This is MUCH cheaper than the commercial booking services.

Thank your for the suggestions. We are now IM'ing to each other where to add the day, Rome or Florence. Had freebies at the Holiday Inn but have kind of tossed them aside because of the location except for maybe the last night.

If I interpret your itinerary correctly, from Florence, could you use one day and a night for a train trip to Venice - about three hours each way. I realize it's some travel, but Venice is worth it. I'll say no more - hope you're able to do it.

You asked for restaurants, in Rome, I believe: Ditirambo, near Campo dei' Fiori, for lunch - and Qunizi e Gabrieli near the Pantheon, for supper (seafood).

Have you considered using Scale Reale for in-city tours? Excellent, and highly regarded by many on this site.

Have a nice trip.

Karduk49-
We stayed at the Lumiere in May. Earlier in the trip, we had also stayed at Albergo Del Senato near the Pantheon. http://www.albergodelsenato.com/
Unless there is a specific reason you'd like to stay near the Spanish Steps, I would recommend the Del Senato far above La Lumiere for location, view, service, and rooftop bar. And I believe it was cheaper for us to stay at the Del Senato than the Lumiere. La Lumiere was nice but it had some kinks to work out- like no hot water in the shower after 10 minutes, credit card machine not working. Also, I preferred the Pantheon area more with its bars, scenery, and restaurants to the Spanish Steps which was mostly shops.

Restaurants- we had great meals at Bramante (Pantheon) and Clemente (Pantheon). Both for dinner.

Just an FYI- we went to Italy for our honeymoon and my hubby wanted to surprise me with a "Limo" from the airport to the hotel. It turned out our Limo was actually a mini-van! Not sure if there was a mix-up or if something just got lost in the translation!

Have a great time!
JaneS

Why the stay in Perugia?

Hi there, A suggestion for the museums & getting reservations while in Florence. You should be able to ask the hotel to secure these for you. I believe there is no extra charge for this. I did it when I booked my room and was a great time saver. Have fun!

Hi Degas,

See http://www.perugiaonline.com/

As for an activity in Perugia, consider a cooking class - actually it was in Asissi - a short (and beautiful)drive from Perugia where we were staying. We did this and had an absolute BLAST!!! Our 'teacher' was Letiza Mattiacci. We cooked, laughed, drank wine, laughed and cooked some more then ATE ATE ATE!!! You can read the report here: http://www.hightide.com/travel.html. Definitely worth the 'price of admission' ($90 each - includes tons of food and wine and shopping for ingredients then making homemade pasta and sauces...lasted from 9am - 4pm although I think it was supposed to end at 1pm!!!) I think you can book through Sally Watkins (www.sallywatkins.com)

I second the recommendation for the Hotel del Senato and Restaurante Clemente in Rome. You can read more details in this trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34436026

Thank you all for your recommendations. I have just tried to reserve Albergo Del Senato and waiting to hear back from them. Sounds really nice. As far as Perugia, my daughter wants to stay there. A friend of hers had studied there for 3 months and told her how much he liked the area. What day trips can be taken from there without a car.

Hi

Assisi is about 1/2 hr by train. See www.trenitalia.com.

Kadurk49-
Be sure to ask for a room facing the Pantheon if you decide to stay there. The views are wonderful!
JaneS