Just returned from Southern Italy and wanted to thank everyone on this site for making our trip so wonderful. We used hotel,restaurant and tour suggestions. This is a summary of our trip and if anyone wants more info., please e-mail me or post a question:<BR>3 days Rome - Hotel Due Torri (Piazza Navona)<BR>2 days Tuscany - Fattoria Il Colle (agritourism)<BR>1 day Assisi - Hotel Fontabella<BR>1 day Cassino - Forum Palace (a dump)<BR>2 days Naples - Parteno B &amp; B (wonderful)<BR>2 days Capri - Caesar Augustus (wonderful)<BR>1 day Fiuggi - Albergo Ambasciatori (spas)<BR>2 days Rome - Hotel Art Deco (near train station)<BR>After the 1st 3 days in Rome, we rented a car thru Avis($500) and hit the road. We put on 800 miles with no problem. This is our 2nd time renting a car in Italy and we think it's the only way to go. <BR>The only problem we had was using ATM's in the Naples - Capri area. Our card would not even go! Luckily we had American $ so converted it at a bank. The ATM worked in Rome when we 1st got there, then we tried it at about 20 different banks in the South with no luck but then it worked again when we returned to Rome. I will always have an alternative plan after that. If anyone knows why that happened, please let me know. The weather was 70 - 75 everyday with no rain. The people were so helpful and kind and the gelato was outstanding.

Hi Carol,<BR>Thanks or your post. My wife and I are planning our first trip to Italy. What did you do with your two days in the Naples area?<BR><BR>What kind of debit card did you have? Mine says Cirrus?

Hi Carol - I'd like to hear your impression of Naples, especially if it was your first time there.

Sad to tell you that,except for the 4 days in Naples and Capry, you have never been outside central Italy during your trip.

what the hell is Capry? are you serious??

Capry is a typo, and the rest of the trip took place in CENTRAL Italy (Tuscany, Lazio, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo and Molise, some people also include Sardinia, is Central Italy, not Southern Italy).

You only carry a single type of ATM card? Very courageous, if so. In Napoli area I found the key trick was to ignore any sign or error statement from the machine. If it says it takes Cirrus cards, then very possibly it will take anything but Cirrus. If the machine says your card isn't authorized for intn'l use, then it is probably fine for use in other apparently wrong machines. I found Bank of Naples machines the most forgiving, Deutch Bank the least.

Alice: Sorry to have offended you about Southern Italy. I guess Capri was as far South as we wanted to go so considered this trip the &quot;South&quot;<BR>From now on I will just read messages instead of writing anything.

Come on Carol, don't be that way, you let one pissy woman turn you off your travel report? The rest of us are interested, and I like your style, keep it up.

I agree. Ignore Alice. Just a day or two ago, she said Venice is a dump.<BR><BR>

That Vice is a dump or not is disputable. If you tlk to Italians, you will find mny that share my opinion: Venice is a tourist trap that is fine only for people with too many money to spend, too crowded, with a horrible weather and with constant stench from the stagnant waters.<BR>That Rome, Assisi, Cassino, Fiuggi and Rome again are NOT southern but central Italy is said by every geography schoolteacher to her thirdgrades, at least here in Italy. Are we supposed to dispute geography? What if I posted a message on a Us forum sayin &quot;Trip report, southern Us&quot; and than claiming to have been in New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and New Orleans?

&quot;What if I posted a message on a Us forum sayin &quot;Trip report, southern Us&quot; and than claiming to have been in New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and New Orleans?&quot;<BR> I'd ignore that post, too...nitpicker!

Well, personally I hav the hope to teach something about Italy too, beside leraning about other places and a biut of English too.

Alice; Actually I've enjoyed some of your other posts. Just thought you were being picky. Your comments on Venice might also aplly to ANY popular Tourist destination. I live in Colorado (It's snowing today) and don't ski because it's TOO EXPENSIVE around Vail and Aspen. There are places around the Grand Canyon that are ripoffs. Same for Tower of London, Eiffel Tower etc,etc, etc Also, most Americans WOULD think <BR>Chicago is southern, since sadly a lot of high school seniors can't locate Mexico, Canada or often the USA itself on a world map.

Children, please. Let's not quarrel.<BR>I am sure that Alice did not intend to be nasty. She was posting in a foreign language, and should not be expected to convey the subtleties of expression of a native.<BR><BR>Carol,<BR>I'm very interested in how you spent your time in Naples.

Carol,<BR><BR>What was it like Driving A Car in Naples???

Sorry to be so sensitive - I think I still have jet lag, let down now that our trip is over with, Daylight Savings, or all of the above.<BR>To all interested in Naples: I was a bit apprehensive about going there but I had been there 12 years ago and had fond memories that I wanted to share with my husband. Entering Naples off the autostrada was a bit of a shock - it looked the the slums of Detroit (I live in Detroit.) The area that that we stayed in, though was wonderful. Our room overlooked the Bay of Naples, the restaurants in the area were great and the people, though most did not speak English, were probably the most helpful, kindest people throughout our whole trip. We're not museum travelers but we do just love to walk and walk and that was what we did for 2 days. We did take a boat over to Ischia one morning because there was an American aircraft carrier in the gulf and my husband was fascinated with it and wanted to get as close as possible. We have about 12 pictures of this ship!<BR>As far as driving, we drove to the B&amp;B and then to a garage to park the car for the 2 days we were there. My husband did not think the driving there was anything unusual unlike Rome which he said he wouldn't do on a bet.<BR>

Thanks Carol,<BR> Glad yo had a good trip.

How were the other places...specifically assisi? we are staying at the fontebella for a night also in a few weeks.Did you eat at the hotel?

Connie: No we did not eat at the hotel except for breakfast. We make it a practice never to eat at any hotel if we can help it but we always ask the front desk to recommend a restaurant that is not touristy and we've never been disappointed. The place in Assisi was to the right of the hotel as you walked out the front door and up the hill a bit. I don't remember the name but it had very good food and a comfortable atmosphere.<BR>Have a great trip.