spameranne

I am planning a trip for next year for myself and my boyfriend. I have done a fair amount of traveling (semester abroad in Rome + a few odd trips to Ireland), he has never left the country. Oddly enough, when I was in Rome, I didn't see that much of Italy, but rather used it as a jumping off point for other cities in Europe.

What would be a minimum suggested amount of time to go for? This trip would serve (somewhat) as a compromise between staying in the States indefinitely and going off to backpack in Europe for a few months. I have been wanting to go long-term backpacking for a very long time and find the idea of scaling it back difficult. I don't know if I would be able to talk him into taking off work for more that 10 days - is that sufficient?

Also, regarding the absurdity that is the cost of air travel: I don't live the greatest of hubs for international travel (Pittsburgh). I was wondering how good of an idea it was to try to save a few bucks by busing up to New York and flying out of JFK to Dublin, which seems to be pretty cheap, and then catching a cheap flight from Dublin to Italy - probably Pisa or Milan. The whole Pittsburgh - Italy trip would end up taking about two days. Is this insane? Doing this would save about $250, but would tack on an extra day at each end of travel. Is that an absurd tradeoff?

Honest advice is most welcome. Thank you in advance!

Jean

I don't like convoluted routing to save money (esp. on the outbound) because I see too many opportunities for delays, missed connections, etc.

What were you hoping to spend r/t pp?

Is 10 days sufficient? Not for an entire country, but IMO 10 days in Italy is better than 10 days anywhere else! As long as you work with what you have, rather than what you don't have (2-3 weeks, a month, a lifetime), you'll be fine.

ellenem

Yes, for me it would be an absurd tradeoff. Considering that you are already limited by the number of days your boyfriend is willing to take off, I would not waste 2-4 of those days traveling from Pittsburgh to JFK and back again to save a little money. I consider my vacation time to have a value just as much as my money does, so I would not waste time making such convoluted connections--an extra day of unnecessary travel would not a very nice start to the trip.

It would be difficult to recommend which locations would be best for you to cover since we know nothing about your interests. For many first-timers, a trip to Venice, Florence, and Rome fits very nicely into a two-week trip. However, if you are not interested in Renaissance art, Florence might not be the best pick. Tell us a bit more about what your dreaming of doing in Italy and we can make better suggestions.

But a good start might be to consider how much time you will actually have. When you say your boyfriend would take off only 10 days, do you mean two work weeks? If that is the case and you set your days between weekends, you could depart on Saturday (Day 1) and return two weeks later on Sunday (Day 16). However, you will probably find cheaper flights for departures on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Another way to save money on the ticket is to travel off-season.

Flying from Pittsburgh, I suspect you would not work on your departure day, and then fly overnight and arrive in Italy the next morning. Day 2, your arrival day might be a jet-lagged fog, so it often pays to stay in your first location for an extra day to recover. Your last day will be all about getting to the airport for your flight home.

I like to plan to stay in each hotel/location for at least two nights, usually more. I avoid one-night stays because for me it seems like you arrive and then immediately leaving again--not enough time to get a feel for the place and explore. Keep in mind that every time you change locations, you will probably lose about half a day to checking in and out of hotels, traveling to train stations, waiting, and the actual train ride.

kybourbon

>>>I was wondering how good of an idea it was to try to save a few bucks by busing up to New York and flying out of JFK to Dublin, which seems to be pretty cheap, and then catching a cheap flight from Dublin to Italy - probably Pisa or Milan.<<<

I don't find that usually saves money. You have the cost of getting from Dublin to Italy plus you lose time with the extra transport. You only have 10 days. I wouldn't waste it with extra transport connections to save a few bucks.

tuscanlifeedit

I fly from Pittsburgh to Italy about once a year, sometimes twice. My favorite route is PIT > CLT > FCO. I can usually get a decent fare on US Airways. We do much better making our connections on this route than do many of my clients who prefer to fly through JFK.

Next week we are flying Philadelphia to Venice on US Airways. While I prefer Charlotte as a US Airways departure point for Europe, we decided to drive to PHL. It's about 5 hours.

Then we'll park at an off airport lot using aboutairportparking.com to make a prepaid reservation. We found a rate of about $6.75 per day in a lot that gets excellent reviews and ratings.

You have to add the cost of gas and parking but for two of us, driving to Philadelphia saves a good amount. We've also done it staying overnight in a Philadelphia airport hotel that included parking.

Now about your trip:
Sure you can have a nice trip for 10 days. We rarely get more time than that.

greg

I think the difficulty comes from not being clear about the objectives and the constraints and looking at each component without a criteria to decide which make up meets your objectives within your constraints.

First, just how many full days do you have IN Italy? Because you mention difficulty getting more than 10 days off, I am presuming 10 days including travel days. You really don't have 10 days in Italy in this case. The first and last days are transatlantic days and are usually available only for moving around. That leaves 8 full days.

Now what you are looking at are 8 full day trip and a 6 full day trips where the 6 full day trip is postulated to be $250 cheaper.

Does an 8 day trip accomplish your objectives? How about a 6 day trip? If a 6 day trip does not accomplish your objectives, the $250 saving is a mirage. It is irrelevant. How valuable are two more days in Italy to you? Will you be willing to pay more than $250 to spend two more days in Italy?

If what you plan to do can be done in off seasons, it would cut down the cost all across the board. However, this requires considerable research on what is available/accessible when.

Many people come here after buying what seemed to be good airfare only to find that the flights don't integrate with the ground portion. They end up paying more both in money and time to make the trip work. Make sure you have looked at all key items before hitting that airfare buy button. For many European trips, you would want multi-city flights.

bilboburgler

10 days lets you do a fair bit. I would think through with your boyfriend what you both like to do. If, for instance, you both have no interest in Roman history you can drop Rome, alternatively if you both like University life then choose somewhere like Bologna where the city vibe is a bit younger than other places.

I'd aim for 2 centres and this would be based on money available. Venice is a must as a unique city but I might go there after a more normal Italian city like Bologna, Florence, Verona.

How to convince him about 10+ days. Well this is an American cultural issue. As a none American I cannot advise.

sparkchaser

<i>Also, regarding the absurdity that is the cost of air travel: I don't live the greatest of hubs for international travel (Pittsburgh). I was wondering how good of an idea it was to try to save a few bucks by busing up to New York and flying out of JFK to Dublin, which seems to be pretty cheap, and then catching a cheap flight from Dublin to Italy - probably Pisa or Milan. The whole Pittsburgh - Italy trip would end up taking about two days. Is this insane? Doing this would save about $250, but would tack on an extra day at each end of travel. Is that an absurd tradeoff?</i>

Does the $250 savings consider the expenses from the bus, food, overnight in a hotel, and transport to/from the airport? If the answer is yes <b>and</b> you feel that $250 saved is good enough to justify to yourself the extra travel time <b>and</b> you are ok with those two lost days from Italy, then no it is not an absurd trade-off.


To me I'd rather spend those two days in Italy but it's not my trip.

ssander

Since USAir flies to Rome & Venice from PHL, I suspect there are good connections with Pittsburgh...(to Rome from Charlotte, too).

I know airfares are pretty high right now, but if you are losing 2 days to save $250, that's $125/day...not a good deal, since each day's hotel and food for two in Rome or Venice would cost more than that.

In other words, the VALUE of a day in Italy is more than $125, so I wouldn't give up two days to save $250.

...but of course, that all depends on your personal financial situation...if I could afford it, I'd travel to Europe every other month...but I can't.

If you really can't spring for the money, from a strictly financial situation, it makes more sense to cut two days from the trip and fly (much more conveniently) through PHL or CLT -- and save MORE than $250. The number of days in Italy is the same, and the hassle is much much less.

SS

sparkchaser

What are your travel dates and do you have any flexibility with them?

Picking 10 days out in June 2014, I see an Air Canada fare for $1550. That's a good price. United is a bit cheaper but then you're flying United. Air Canada coach is a significantly better experience than a US domestic coach experience.

I also looked at flying out of PHL and it is actually more expensive to fly out of there than PIT. I didn't see that one coming.

Go to kayak and play around with it and explore the multi-city destination because sometimes adding an overnight somewhere drops the price significantly.