Abril

I amy trying to plan a trip to Italy that I dreamed of for years. My husband thinks travel anywhere without white sand and crystal water is pointless but has agreed to go mostly due the fact my 9 year old daughter seems to have inherited by love of art and history. I definatly want to see Rome, Pompei, Herkuleam (sp?), the Amalfi coast and if at all possible maybe a day or two in Venice. I want to stay at clean hotels with private baths but am not looking for 5 stars by any means. I also would like to do it on our own not a tour group. If I want to people watch for an hour, I don't to have a specific itenerary minute by minute. Please if anyone could tell me the best places to look for info, hotel reccomendations, times to travel(off peak) etc, etc. any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Also if there are any travel agencies anyone knows of that specialize in independent travel like this I would appreciate it. I am looking at probably 10 days. This might also sound really stupid but if I book my airlines myself, will by ticket dates coming back be the date there or here because of the time difference. I don't want to book a flight I think is on my Thursday and it really be a day different. See, I told you I need alot of help. THANKS

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Hello Abril, Ten days is not much time.<BR>If Rome and Amalfi coast are givens then you will only have time for one other primary destination. I would suggest Tuscany as the third. You need to decide the time of year, your budget range and if a car is a feasible option. Let me know if I can help.

kellyee21

The dates and times on the ticket correspond to where the flight is leaving from.

Maira

Abril--- browsing this site is a great start. Logically, however, without some ideas/preferences of your own, you could quickly become overwhelmed. That's why at this point of your planning you need to narrow it down to region/cities. Suggestion: four days in Rome, hit the road down to Pompeii and Amalfi Coast. That's it (in consideration to your child and hubby . <BR><BR>RE: Time of the year. Suggestion: Late April, early May, late October, early Nov (shoulder season with great weather, cheaper flights). A good teacher would be thrilled that your daughter has this opportunity. For tickets, check flights.com, qixo.com, even go-today.com has very good fly-drive combos at very, very good value. There are fewer flights to Europe and the few are packing pretty good; for early Spring, wait till Jan for rates, unless you get one that's good already (may be the case if you choose a go-today package). <BR><BR>RE: Mode of transportation. We drive, but never in Rome. We rented in Rome and headed out after four days. Train has been highly recommended as well, but I couldn't tell you.<BR><BR>RE: Lodging. Tons and tons of recs for every budget on this site. I have stayed at the Sheraton, wonderful, but far from city centre. I am biased towards Hotel Forte, walking distance to Spanish Steps because they were absolutely wonderful when I made reservations and then had to cancel out. (Next time in Rome that's where I am heading). Due Torri, Pantheon, Domus Julia, highly recommended. <BR><BR>RE: FODOR'S GUIDEBOOK. I own one per every country we have visited (also admit to having some Frommers around, but Fodor's is the one we take with us). <BR><BR>Keep posting and asking away, but also read and do some research on your own. Involve your daughter & hubby (I bought my niece an Italian phrasebook; she was going to be in charge of the food ordering!). Have fun!!

Rex

The Internet is so rich with information and opportunities to book everything you need (air travel, hotels, car rentals) that you don't really need a travel agent. Still, travel agents can be helpful to some kinds of people planning a trip. Do you want an online travel agent? (they hardly seem to exist, it seems to me) - - or near you?<BR><BR>And on what continent would that be? I am taking a great risk here, but are you perhaps NOT from the United states? from Brazil, perhaps? or not from the western hemisphere?<BR><BR>I ask, because your question about departure and arrival dates IS something that can confuse people - - and I don't agree that dates are always expressed as the date from where the flight is departing, as Kellyee suggested. Departures are cited as the date at the city of departure and arrivals are cited as the date at the destination.<BR><BR>Take a flight that leaves Tokyo on Saturday afternoon, December 1, at 12:40 in the afternoon. 13 hours later (at 1:40 am, Sunday December 2 in Tokyo), the flight arrives in London - - but it's still Saturday, December 1 there (4:00 pm) - - and no one refers to this flight's arrival time in London by referring to the time (what some people call "body time") back in Tokyo.<BR><BR>Almost all east bound flights (North America to Europe, or Europe to Asia) arrive a day after they depart (exceptions are the Concorde, and some early morning departures from the eastern US) - - and this is true whether you look at it as origination time or detination time.<BR><BR>Conversely, almost all westbound travel (Europe to North America, or Asia to Europe) arrives the SAME day as the departure when considered in terms of LOCAL time (ignoring the time zone you "left behind") - - just as in my Tokyo-London example above.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Davidx

www.enit.it seemed most helpful to me - actual prices of places to stay and available facilities. I found I had more choice of places by following the map orute on the search - no idea why - probably got the other way wrong!

Maurice

Whithout overstating the obvious: most on-line flight sales sites will list the departure and arrival time and date - or at least a little asterix indicating "arriving next day".<BR>When we've gone to Europe from New York... we fly "overnight" TO Europe - leave about 6PM local time, arrive about 8AM next day local time (where it's about 3AM back in NYC.)<BR>Coming back you lose almost no time at all - Leave Italy at noon local time, arrive NYC 2:30PM SAME DAY.<BR>If you are an art and history buff, I would suggest the big 3 - Rome, Venice, Florence. Florence has a classical amount of renaissence art! For so many images that are an ingrained part of Western culture you can see the originals in their art galleries - David, Mercury, Venus on the Half-Shell(the Adobe Photo-shop lady!)...<BR>If you want to see Pompeii, be sure to read up about the specific houses and other sights before you go, or get a guide at the gate. Don't miss all the good bits of art, moved to the Naples museum.<BR>If you're in that area anyway, see Capri for the sheer awe of a place that's as vertical as it is horizontal.

paul

Hi Abril,<BR>contact [email protected] (catherina), she knows the zone you want to visit, she planned for my family last year and it was a good surprise.<BR>have a good trip!