WHO: Husband and Wife and Teen Daughter (15)

HOW: via Atlanta---Delta 70 to Rome, and Delta 75 from Milan. We had enough Delta Skymile to fly in their BusinessElite class. Great service! Worth it even if you have to be on the waitlist like we were (and pay a change fee over from our original codeshare award coach tickets on Alitalia.)

PLANNING and INFO: I read lots of books and web sites. Rick Steves' and Frommers' and Eyewitness books were our main guides. I made hotel reservations by email, bought rail tickets at RailEurope.com, and purchased museum tickets and/or reservations at SelectItaly.com and 'weekend at florence.net.' I know lots of folks recommend buying tickets when you get there, but it sure was nice to have all that done and the tickets in hand before we left. We got right on our trains without a hassle, and stood in no lines for museums, including the Sistine Chapel/Vatican tour.

ITINERARY: Rome, 4 days; Florence, 3 days, with an afternoon outing to Sienna; Venice, 2 days; Bellagio at Lake Como, 2 days; Milan, 2 days.

HOTELS: Rome (Aberdeen Hotel: very good), Florence (Hotel Orto de' Medici: excellent); Venice (Pensione Academia: very good); Bellagio (Hotel Florence: very good); Milan (Hotel Sanpi: good).

RESTAURANTS WE RECOMMEND:
*Rome (Le Colline Emiliane; near Piazza Barberini, make reservation).
*Florence (Paoli; near Duomo)
*Venice (Locanda Montin; in Dorsoduro)
*Bellagio (Trattoria San Giancomo)

TOP EXPERIENCES:
Walking through the Roman Forum; St. Peter's Basilica and Sistine Chapel; Scavi Tour (excavations tour under St. Peter's to grave of Peter), must have a reservation; the Pantheon; Anything by Michelangelo; Florence museums, with reservations helpful; Riding a taxi from the Sienna train station up to the city center; Riding vaporetto #82 on its complete circuit around Venice and stopping at San Giorgio Maggiore Church to go to the top of the bell tower for an incredible view of Venice; Doge's Palace in Venice; Riding the ferry boat from Varenna to Bellagio (beautiful lake and mountains); worshipping with hundreds of others at the Duomo in Milan; seeing Da Vinci's painting of The Last Supper (must have a reservation); people-watching; eating gelato (I had wondered why others made such a big deal out of it---now I know!); and churches, beautiful churches with frescoes and symbols of faith, especially St. Peter's, the Duomos in Florence and Milan, and San Marco in Venice.

OBSERVATIONS:
1) We did a lot of walking! Walking in hot weather means lots of thirst! Buying WATER and drinks throughout each day gets expensive at 2.50 to 4.00 euros per bottle or can! When you're already carrying cameras and other stuff, it's too much to carry 'tap water' from the hotel. So, be prepared in summer for thirst! Even when we were at a restaurant, we would each drink a bottle or two of 'acqua minerale'! At 2.00 to 4.00 euro each liter, that can add up; but I don't think asking for tap water is part of the usual pattern, but maybe we could have.
2) Wear SUNSCREEN and take sunglasses, even for short outings. It is bright and hot. You will bake and stew without protection for skin, eyes, etc.
3) Most TOILETS are OK, but it's always helpful to have a bunch of pre-moistened towelettes or tissues handy. Some train stations have only a place to stand and squat. Use restrooms whenever handy. It's better to make a visit at the beginning and end of a museum visit, than to get out on a piazza and not know where to go.
4) For trains, even if you have a ticket, you still have to stick it in a little yellow validation machine before getting on your train. I never could see that any conductor really cared about that stamp since the print was so small.
5) Taxis really come in handy at times. We usually walk, but at times they give you a much needed break, and the AC feels great! But those taxi drivers in Rome are daredevils (along with everyone else!)
6) Eurostar Italia trains are smooth and fast (must have seat reservations for all routes).
7) Photos: it might be helpful to take two cameras. A 35 mm or digital dedicated to outdoor shots with 100/200 speed film; and another with 800 speed for low light or situations where no flash is allowed. Or, one camera for slides and another for prints. We took a 35mm SLR and a compact camera. Get a lead-lined bag for film, for use at airport security screenings. Those security folk are now so busy that it seems that 'hand inspections' of film are soon going to be impossible. They now make bags that can be used for 800 and higher film speeds for your carry-on luggage.
8) There are so many 'sites' to see and there is so much art-work and history at every turn, it's better to focus on the highlights and 'famous' pieces and keep moving. Rick Steves' city-specific guides to Rome, Florence, and Venice were very helpful in this regard.
9) Ciao!

Thanks for the brief yet informative report! As to your observation #1, I would just fill up my empty water bottle at the running fountains throughout Rome. Seemed safe enough to drink from since all the locals stopped by to take sips. One thing I also learned much too late was to buy drinks at supermercatos instead of from the street-side vendors. The €3-4 drinks sure ADD UP as you say!

Can you give me some information about the tour guide/company you used for Sistine Chapel/Vatican? What tour company? What time did it begin? How long did it last? What cost? Did it include the fee to the Vatican museum as well?

Did you do the Scavi tour on the same day as the Vatican museum? (We already have our reservation for the Scavi tour at 1:45 in the afternoon.)

Did you do the Eurostar 1st or 2nd class?

Thanks for your help.

How did it go making reservations for dinner? Did you call or did you go to the restaurant in person? I'm bringing a phrase book with us when we go, but worry about making myself understood over the phone. I have vivid memories of when we moved to Georgia from New England and not being able to make out the thick southern accents unless the person was in front of me. (We once got a call from someone wanting to know if we needed a Georgia will, and I thought he said "wheel" and told him we already had bicycles...)

WATER/FOOD: Yes, lots of people use the public water spots around Rome and other places, but I saw people putting their hands all over the spigots, taking little sponge baths, etc. The last thing we wanted was to get sick! I just don't think it's sanitary, and not worth the risk. And yes, it's possible to buy water at a 'grocer,' but with the heat and walking, you will need at least a bottle every hour or two...and you can't carry that much water. So, all I'm saying is, build into your budget lots of water/drink money. One thing that helped us was eating well at our hotel breakfast (included), eating gelato or a light panini (sandwich) for lunch, and then having a good evening meal. However, timing one's food needs/meals is very important. We Americans like to have 'supper' at earlier times than in Italy. Over there, it can be tough to wait on some of those restaurants to open at 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. when you've walked about 3 to 5 miles that day! Another thing: when the three of us ate a decent meal at a recommended restaurant, it was easily $35 per person with 2 courses, side dish, dessert and water. (We're not wine drinkers).

VATICAN MUSEUMS: For the Vatican museums, we went to SelectItaly.com For $50, they make a reservation for your whole party, family or group for the 10:30 a.m. walking tour through the museum. It's the standard Vatican Museum 'in-house' sponsored 2-hour guided walk in English, pointing out the highlights, concluding with the Sistine Chapel. When we got to the museum that morning, we went in another entrance, by-passing all lines, went into the main hall and presented our reservation paper to the ticket window, bought our tickets (about $10 - $15 each I think), and were on our way. We finished at about 12:30 in the Sistine Chapel, exited directly from Sistine into St. Peter's Basilica, found our way to the rest room, etc., deposited all belongings at a baggage area (as you face St. Peter's, it's to the right of the front steps and this is required for the Scavi tour), then went to the Scavi tour at 1:30 (go to the left of the front steps, past the Swiss Guard, to the Scavi office). To make reservations for the Scavi tour, there is an email address to write: [email protected]. There is a limited number of spots per tour per day, and it costs 9 Euro per person. They will reply to your inquiry in a day or two.
TRAINS: Since there were 3 of us traveling together with rolling suitcases and a personal bag each, we took first class on 2 out of 3 of our major train trips in order to get a bit more space for our luggage and ourselves. It seemed worth it. But even 2nd class on Eurostar Italia is pretty nice.

DINNER RESERVATIONS: We got lucky with walking in to restaurants without reservations. I think we were lucky because we arrived so early (7:00 to 8:00!), but later, most of those good places were full of people. At the Le Colline Emiliane, a small, high-quality, family-run place, we ate there on a Thursday night and made reservations for Saturday night as we were paying our check. In other circumstances, I'm sure your hotel desk could make a call for you, or you could show up in person and make a reservation if it's nearby. Our experience was that most places had waiters or staff who had a pretty good working knowledge of tourist English.

Welcome back! We are going to Rome at the end of July and have a thirteen year old girl - wondering what your teenager especially enjoyed?

Thank you, Asbury10, for your very helpful reply about your day at the Vatican. That is exactly how we planned to do it and I am glad it worked out well for you. I don't know if my understanding is correct, but I am under the impression that the tour you describe is of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel only and that it does NOT include a tour of St. Peter's. I would like time for that too. I guess if the Vatican tour starts at 10:30, we could get to St. Peter's very early and see that first. Does this sound correct to you or am I misinformed?

Do you remember how many people they allow in the tour group?

Where did you have lunch between the morning tour and the Scavi tour? I was concerned that if the morning tour ends at 12:30 and you must check into the Scavi office by 1:30 if there is enough time with all the crowds and all the walking to get something to eat.

When you were on the train, where did you keep your luggage? I am concerned about security and theft.

Hope you don't mind all these questions. Thanks again.

ttt

Nice report--I love the readable format.

Thanks for a nice report! Can I ask how much it cost for the taxi from the train station in Siena to city center. Also, the personal bag ya'll carried ,about how big was it? Do airlines allow a 22" carry-on with the matching tote bag? Thanks

Thank you so much for your informative report, which I will definitely take to good use myself soon. But I had heard that it is not necessary to reserve train tickets. Have I been misinformed? Thanks for your help.

Sorry, I forgot to say, my last post was directed to Asbury10. Thank you.

Travler2 - when is your Scavi tour? Ours is at 1:45pm on 7/2.

ANSWERS to above questions:
To rq10463: Our daughter is 15, (16 in a couple of weeks), rising junior in high school. She hasn't had European or art history yet, so a lot of the history and museum visits involved new learning and information. But the experience of being in Rome, with thousands of people on the streets, motorcycles whizzing by constantly, the "bigness" of ruins like the coliseum or churches like St. Peter's...the fun of eating in new restaurants and making gelato stops...was fun. I would say, however, that after the long flight and the immediate heat of Rome and doing lots of walking...those things take a toll on afternoon enthusiasm. Plus, while we parents like to look at a lot of the art, it's not quite as interesting for the teen. Our pre-trip talks about what we were going to see and to be prepared for new experiences seemed to help.
To travler2: Glad you asked your question, enabling me to clarify that I should have inserted the word "museum" after the Vatican when referring to the in-house tour. You will do the walk-through of St. Peter's on your own either before the tour or after the Scavi tour. Please be advised that the choice of doing the Scavi tour means that you will not be able to go back through the Vatican museum to look more closely at what you have seen or what was not covered in the walking tour. (We didn't even go in to the Egyptian or Etruscan sections.) The Vatican museum closes around 3:00 to 4:00 or so, which is when the Scavi tour will end and you would not get readmission to the Vatican Museum either. However, we felt that the highlights of the Vatican museum were the Raphael rooms and the Sistine Chapel, and were glad we chose to take both tours plus our own St. Peter's walk-through around 3:00. We even went up on the roof of St. Peter's for a great view of the area. As for lunch, there is no food vendor or even drink vendor up around the front of St. Peter's. There might have been a cafe in the Vatican museums, but we did not look for one. The only food or drink vendors seemed to be located outside St. Peter's square (a long walk). So, if you can grab a bite in the museum, plus a drink, you can avoid skipping lunch until late in the afternoon.
Each Scavi tour group was around 9 persons, no on under age 15 allowed. No cameras or bags either (must check). The walking tour in the Vatican museum had around 20, and the combination of the guide's Italian accent and the heavy crowds inside sometimes made it hard to understand. So be prepared for a few limitations. But we were glad we didn't have to stand in line to get in.
When we were on the train, on Eurostar Italia, we could easily put our luggage above the seats on the racks (just like airline cabins). On other trains, I'm sure you would have to put them in a luggage rack at the end of the car or use an available empty seat, if possible.

MORE ANSWERS:
To jaja: I think the taxi from the train up to Sienna was around 7 euro plus my 1 euro tip. Be sure you take it all the way up to the Duomo, then you can walk downhill to the piazza. We then walked all the way downhill, about 40 minutes back to the train station. For luggage, we were using 22" carry-on's with no stuff in the side pockets, plus a personal bag, small backbag, and camera bag. On Delta, they didn't look twice at us. We carried the 22" pieces on for outbound, and then checked them coming back. When we got back to Atlanta, we still had to retrieve our bags and then re-check them for our connecting flight home. And we could not "carry them on" from the international flight to the domestic flight. Security is tight. We stood in line about 30-40 minutes at immigration/passport control at Atlanta before getting our luggage and going through customs and re-checking the bags for our next flight.
To happygypsy: For most trains, you can buy tickets at an automatic ticket dispenser in major train stations (with Visa, etc.). Seat reservations are not required, EXCEPT for all Eurostar Italia trains. You must have a ticket AND a seat reservation. For example, we bought all our Eurostar tickets through RailEurope.com For regular, local trains like Florence to Sienna, or Milan to Varenna, I purchased them in advance at the train station. The machines are easy to use and you can select English, just like with ATM 'Bancomats'.

Asbury10: Thanks for your clarification about the Vatican tours and the Eurostar. It has answered many of my questions. Even though I have a stack of the latest guidebooks, the practical advice of fellow travelers is enormously useful to me.
(To Donnabee: Our Scavi tour won't be until October. Hope you have a wonderful and safe trip. I look forward to your trip report.)

Asbury10: BTW, I was so glad to learn you were successful in getting your waitlisted business elite flight on Delta. With our Delta FF points we were only able to get economy with their partner, AF, but we are on the waitlist for Delta business elite. This gives me a little bit of hope. You were also lucky to be able to do most of your travel with carry-ons. My husband and I can travel easily with two 22 inch carry-ons. But AF is more strict than Delta, I think. They tell you that the carry-on may not exceed 45 in. all around INCLUDING handles, legs, and wheels! (With legs and handles my bags would stretch to 23 1/2" if they interpret this strictly.) Also, they say they will WEIGH the bags and it cannot exceed 22 lbs. (Last year I actually had BA weigh my carry-on and we just made it by weight.) So I don't want to take a chance that I won't be allowed to carry-on my bags at the last minute when I get to check-in. I have decided to check a 24 in. bag and carry-on a smaller tote with enough clothes, etc, for 2 days in case my checked-in bag gets lost. But I now I have some small hope that the Delta waitlist might come thru.

The waitlist flight may come through after you have departed on your trip. It was very helpful that I checked my Delta itinerary on the internet on a computer that was in our Rome hotel lobby. When your waitlist flight has "call Delta" next to it, Jackpot! They may not know where to reach you, so it's good to check at your hotel computer or an internet cafe. Be aware that they may have to charge a $100 per ticket change fee, which they did for our outbound flight; and I think they were supposed to for our return flights (which cleared the waitlist two weeks later as noted above). But when we got to the check-in at the Milan airport, no one mentioned it. (And I don't think it's fair to pay it twice, simply because they don't clear the outbound and inbound waitlists for an itinerary at the same time).