sognatrice

theregoesminerva:
I posted my email ([email protected]) on the other thread you started seeking information about Marcello Maresca. I think my information could be of use to you, since I am about the same age, and was also travelling solo when I used his services as a guide/driver. You can email me directly for any detailed information you would like me to give you.

Joelleinitaly04

Okay I'm 47 and don't think I'm half bad looking for my age and I went with my teenage son and daughter and nobody was inappropriate to me or my very good looking 14 year old daughter. The guy who sold her a leather jacket said she was "Bella" and some teenage boys were giving her the look at the subway but I caught his eye and gave him the evil mama look and that was the end of that.

Joelle

suze

I've been (only) to Venice, but twice and solo, traveling there by train, and was never bothered in any way by men or boys. I post this to voice another opinion, because the experiences Melissa had sound frightening and might discourage someone from solo travel.

isabel

My first completely solo trip to Italy isn't until next week - but - I have been to Italy (two years ago) and while I was with husband and daughters I went off on my own (and with my teenage daughter) on many occassions and was never bothered by men. Smiles, comments, etc - but never anything remotely unpleasant or bothersome. More flattering than anything actually. I think Melissa's experience was unusual, and while it's too bad it happened to her, I don't think anyone should take her advice not to go out alone in the evening. Perhaps not after midnight or so, but I for one, certainly don't plan on staying in my hotel room in the evening. I've had a couple of momentarily mildly frightening experiences in Paris and in London but I would never consider not going back to those places (as often as I can in fact)or not going out at night. NYC (my home town)and even the small New England town I currently live in are far more scary.

ggnga

I am 50's. Travel solo to europe a few times per year. I have traveled to England, Scotland, Ireland and all over France alone. I train and drive solo.

I recently traveled to Italy in March for a wedding. I was with my husband and others. It was my 3rd trip to Italy. I would not travel there alone especially on trains. I was surprised that I felt this way but it did not feel safe especially on the train from Naples to Rome.

This is strictly my opinion but if I traveled there alone it would be with a driver or tour and not alone on the train.

iamles

I returned from Italy mid June from my first "solo" trip. I felt perfectly safe on the Amalfi Coast as well as in Sicily and Rome. I found that hotel location was most important - I didn't want to depend on taxis or public transportation at night so I made sure that I could safely walk to restaurants, cafes, etc.

Les

caroline_edinburgh

I have travelled alone in Italy as a fortysomething woman and never felt uncomfortable. I had a lovely holiday of a week in Rome, a few days in Amalfi and a week in Capri, almost all travelling by public transport with no problems. To get from Rome to Amalfi I got the train to Salerno and then a bus : this seemed more straightforward then getting the train to Naples, then the Circumvesuviana, etc. From Amalfi to Capri I got the hydrofoil; then back to Rome via the hydrofoil to Naples, taxi to railway station then train.

I stayed in hotels in each place and again had no problems; I'd take a book with me wherever I went and was never bothered when I didn't want to be. On several occasions, when I did feel sociable, I got chatting to other people; and would say that travelling alone is actually better for meeting people than travelling as part of a couple. I have travelled alone in other parts of the world - mainly the Caribbean - and found the same.

I would disagree strongly with ggnga : I think I'd feel more uncomfortable with a driver than on a train or bus - it would seem rather too intimate for my liking.

Barb

I too have been to Italy solo and never had any problems with unwanted advances. I am 50 something too. I went out alone every night - to dinner and walked around afterwards. I've been to Rome, Procida, Amalfi Coast solo. I was actually a little disappointed that I didn't get the Italian "pinch", lol. Maybe next time.

theregoesminerva

This has turned into a very interesting thread with so many comments about unwanted or unwarrented advances or the lack of them.

This makes me want to quit the gym so I will have some lose skin to be pinched!

I am still mulling over all the aspects of my trip and thanks to all of you.
Keep the advice coming, I need it!

theregoesminerva

For the spelling police: loose skin!

ggnga

I was certainly not worried about advances. I was worried because a couple in our party were surrounded in the train station and the thieves tried to snatch the camera from him and his wife's purse. He is a very big guy and a Marine. He fought them off and they didn't loose anything. They grabbed for her purse and whe he went to her aid they tried to snatch the camera and carryon bag from him. While my husband and I were sitting on the train in Naples waiting for it to pull away, 2 different men jumped on the train, ran into our compartment scanning for something to grab and then off the train. We had our few belongings close to us. What if I had been in the compartment alone? Would my bag and purse have been taken. I don't know but I am not willing to find out.

ggnga

Sp. police..lose anything. what is it with loose and lose.

theregoesminerva

ggnga, we have to write lose and loose on the chalkboard 50 times!!

Between what you wrote and what others have written to me privately, I am really having my doubts now. I know alot of you are brave but I am a chicken.

Squak Squak! Lose!! Loose!!

janeygirl

Oh, minerva -

This thread has convinced me that I'll be fine on solo trips. I'm not quite 50 and was tentatively planning a trip to Rome with my sister this autumn. It doesn't look like she'll be able to go so I think I will finally take the solo trip I've been contemplating for a year or so.

Not sure about Rome, though. I might save that for a future trip with my sister. I may just see what kind of airline deals come up for next autumn or winter and base my decision on that.

rex

<<, I am really having my doubts now. I know alot of you are brave but I am a chicken.>>

Perhaps this puts my suggestion of a "Fodorites trip" (spring '05?) back up for consideration?"

Satrt a new thread, perhaps?

SeaUrchin

Minerva, don't be put off traveling solo just because you are chicken!!

I was too before I tried it, in fact it never occurred to me to think I would ever be alone in Europe. On a trip, my friend had to leave early for family business and I had the choice of staying with our plans or to go back home. When the decision had to be made I reasoned with myself that she had important business to come back for and I would just be going back to work, so I decided to stay alone.

It was really one of the best experiences of my life. I had a ball.
Some days I thought I would have a breakdown but I didn't and grew so much as a person each time I faced fears and setbacks.

To this day I fall back on the lessons learned on that first trip alone and I think it was the best thing that has happened to me in a very long time!

Barb

I totally agree with SeaUrchin. It is so liberating to know you can do it alone and actually enjoy it. It really spoils you for traveling any other way. I was in Naples the last night of my trip a couple of years ago - had a very early flight out. Just before I went out to dinner, I asked the concierge to order me a taxi for the next morning, 5:30 a.m. He told me the taxis were planning on going out on strike starting at 3:00 a.m. and pointed to a little sign posted by the desk. My stomach lurched. I knew there was absolutely no way that I could haul my suitcase onto a bus, plus buses did not run that early. I asked about private cars, he just kept shrugging. I stumbled out the door, in a daze, wondering what in the world I should do.... just have dinner and go out to the airport and stay there all night? Later learned the airport closes at night so that was not an option. At one point I realized that I was all alone, in the crime capital of the world, walking down a dark alley. I quickly got back onto a lighted street, found a little place to eat, not much appetite. Upon entering the restaurant, a girl came over to my table and said no one in there spoke english, but she would help me with the menu. I ended up telling her the whole story, she invited me to stay with her and she would drive me to the airport and then just about then she disappeared outside returning a few minutes later with this guy, he was a taxi driver!! He told me he would come and get me the next morning. As it turned out, they didn't go on strike and I was able to call for a taxi, but I will never forget the kindness and generosity of those Neopolitans. So the moral of the story is, go, have fun, have new adventures. You will come home with lots of stories to tell and will feel so proud of yourself.

Eloise

I'm now fifty-something, but I've been traveling alone -- with a few exceptions -- in Italy since I was twenty. I've had the odd uncomfortable moment but never, never have I felt seriously threatened.

Your original post asked about the Amalfi Coast and Sicily. The Amalfi Coast happens to be one area that I explored with a friend. So I shall confine my remarks to Sicily.

On my first trip to Sicily -- because I wanted to see the principal points of interest and public transport is not, by a long shot, as well developed in Sicily as in northern Italy -- I took a seven-day tour of Sicily with Compagnia Siciliana Turismo (they have a Web site) that took me everywhere I wanted to go, including Reggio di Calabria for the museum with the Riace bronzes. I stayed on in Palermo alone for a few days to visit the museums that were not included in the tour. One is warned to be particularly careful in Palermo, but I never felt seriously threatened, not even in the Khalsa (sp?) area, which is considered the least salubrious in Palermo but which is also where the Galleria regionale della Sicilia (the fine-arts museum) is located. The number of people who went out of their way to help me far outnumbered the number of people who tried to cheat me: one or two taxi drivers, but I don't have to go to Sicily to find dishonest taxi drivers; there are plenty of them in the city where I live.

On my second visit to Sicily, this past spring, I stayed in and near Siracusa. I find Siracusa -- or at least the tiny part of it that is on the island of Ortigia -- delightful: almost totally Baroque, a little run-down around the edges but full of charm, with a cathedral unlike any other in the world: built around a 6th-century B.C. temple of Athena, the columns of which are still visible, it has a fanciful Baroque facade pasted onto the front of it. I would visit the cathedral and then sit in one of the cafes facing it on the Piazza del Duomo for hours and hours, just soaking up the beauty of the piazza and the life going on around me. There is a fine-arts gallery, the Museo Bellomo, with a few -- not many -- interesting works. Modern Siracusa is best avoided, except that one has to go through it to get to the archeological area and the archeological museum, easily done by local bus. My hotel -- on Ortigia, of course -- was a funky mixture of old and high tech, and inexpensive to boot. One can eat either supremely well or more modestly at ridiculously low cost. I then spent some time at an agriturismo only 6 kms from Siracusa but deep in the countryside. The staff spoke no language but Italian but they could not have been kinder. Normally, they do not serve lunch; because I had no car and was there all day, they happily made something light for me at lunch: salads, pasta dishes, a frittata, with all the wine I cared to drink. And it did not cost a fortune.

Please do not allow some of the alarmist messages in response to your post to deter you from going to Italy alone. You might perhaps feel a little more comfortable on the Amalfi Coast -- there is comfort in numbers, after all -- but a carefully planned trip to Sicily can either introduce you to a cultural diversity that is found nowhere else in Italy -- Sicily has been invaded over the millennia by so many different peoples from so many different cultures -- or give you a wonderfully relaxed vacation with a little culture thrown in for good measure. It's really up to you to decide which you prefer but by all means, go for it! You will not regret it.

nanb

you have already gotten so many replies, but I will add mine for doing a solo trip.
For my second trip to italy, I spent a week with a friend, who then left for Switzerland, and I headed south to Procida and Rome on my own.
I found I did feel a bit lonely at times, but that is only because in italy it seems like people are always with others.
I have since taken 2 more trips to italy but have taken my children.
While I am not sure I would purposely plan another long trip solo, I was very glad that I did do it at least once.
Not only was it the most time I had spent alone since my children were born, but I was at a point in my life where I felt the need to push my limits abit.

If you go, I hope it is a memorable experience for you!

kybourbon

Rex - Are you really in the planning stages for Italy May 2005? I'm always interested in a trip to Italy/Sicily/Ischia.